“You know that harming animals is a bad sign, right?”
I nodded. “I didn’t then. But I know now.” What had ever happened to that kid? Corey Trebbler was his name. He had lived with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Even though I’d never liked him, I hated knowing he’d been left there. That had to be the worst feeling in the world.
“Where is this guy now?” Something changed in the tone of her voice. When I brought my gaze back to her face, she had an intense look shimmering in her eyes.
“I have no idea. He moved away when he was eleven.” I couldn’t imagine he’d made anything of himself, based on his childhood personality. He had been quite mean, and a bully.
I hated bullies. Picking on good people for selfish or greedy reasons had always raised my ire. Like when I found Vienna in the alleyway…
“You’re such a good person, aren’t you Merrick?” She murmured, and the quiet notes of her voice rolled down my back like a warm bourbon on a winter night. “In a few months, remind me and we’ll look him up,” she said.
Then, with just the slightest hesitation, she completely surprised me with her next question. Not because I hadn’t wanted to answer it, but because I was caught off guard that Vienna would initiate such a conversation.
“You mentioned you’d been released from a program the night we met, and that you had admitted yourself for forming unhealthy attachments.” She paused and I nodded in confirmation and for her to continue. “What happened for you to decide to go into rehab?”
10
Vienna
It had been nearly three days since my "meeting" with Fletcher Reed. He'd called multiple times since then, at near enough the same time each day. That told me he waited to be secure before calling the number. Twice today, I'd let him go to voicemail.
The exasperation in his voice amused me. The third time, I answered with a single question, "Do you concede?"
His huffed sigh wasn't an answer. So, I gave him five more seconds. "It's not that simple."
"Wrong answer." I hung up and turned the phone off. Merrick, who had been in the kitchen working on making bread of all things, gave me a quiet, if curious, look. A thousand unspoken questions gleamed in his eyes but he never gave them a voice unless he thought I was upset.
When I smiled, he gave a satisfied nod and returned to his kneading. I honestly didn't have the first clue how to make bread, but Merrick had given me a list of everything and I'd fetched it for him. He offered to go with me, but until I took care of the pesky details about his identity and background, I didn't dare risk it.
Risk him.
The flutter in my chest at those two words had me standing. I had some unfinished business in the basement, but I'd limited my time down there until after Merrick was asleep. While he'd been sparring with me and working out in the gym next door in addition to keeping the house sparkling—no prints would survive under his steady and focused ministrations—I hesitated involving him in the other parts of my life.
There was staying with me, where I could look after him, and there was dropping him in the deep end of the darkness I'd lived in all my life. The purity Merrick possessed was truly rare. I didn't want to diminish his light for any reason.
"Going somewhere?" Flour dusted his fingers. Despite the fact he wore an apron over his button down and khakis, he still managed to look cool and comfortable. He was also one of the neatest cooks I'd ever seen.
Well, Daddy had been neater, but then no one could be Daddy. Instead of coating my whole kitchen in flour, Merrick limited it only to the counter and the dough he worked on. He had no streaks on his face or his hair.
"Vienna?"
"Hmm?" I blinked slowly, pulling myself back from examining him. "No, not really. Just thinking about things."
"Anything I can help with?"
Confiding in him would be an easy thing. Maybe too easy. A phone rang from the front of the house. The office. Only two people had that particular number, one of whom was dead. There was a reason I didn't carry that phone with me anymore.
"No, I'm afraid not. But I do have to take that call."
"Well if I can, just say the word."
He meant it too. I almost believed if I asked him to jump off a ledge, he'd do it. How had he survived in this world? That thought gnawed at me as I walked into the office and closed the door behind me. The phone ringing waited for me on the clean desktop. Like the living room and kitchen, the room shone. No dust or fingerprints.
But Merrick hadn't touched the phone. The faintest ring of dust outlined where it lay. That—thoughtful consideration added another layer to the sweet man. I was rapidly discovering that, not only did I want to keep him, I never wanted to let him get away.
Dropping into the seat, I answered the phone. "Uncle David. I wasn't expecting your call until next week."
"Dion has been compromised." David Lennox had been one of my father's closest "friends." They were very nearly brothers, just not by blood. He'd been my uncle for as long as I could remember. When Daddy had to hunt, he would take me to Uncle David. A lot of my skills had been learned at his knee. He was the only other person who had been at Daddy's funeral.