“Why you’re following,” I clarify evenly.
“You remind me of someone,” she says with a shrug.
“Oh yeah? Who’s that? Make it good, I could use a boost these days,” I reply with a chuckle as my demeanor lightens slightly.
“Your brother.”
“What?” I ask in shock.
My hand closes around the cup so tightly that the fucking lid pops off and spills coffee all over the table.
She smirks as she leans back in her chair, hops down then goes to retrieve some napkins. When Embry comes back to the table, she wipes up as much as she can before she pushes the small pile of wet napkins to the side then sips her latte again.
“I guess it’s time for us to be honest with each other, Robbie,” she begins as she pushes her brown hair behind her ears, then folds her arms on the newly dried spot of the table. “The Grant name reaches much further than you probably thought it did. I don’t care about the fires, but I knew you lived in the same vicinity that they kept springing up in and I saw you watching us working to put them out the other night.” My leg begins to shake as I bring my feet up on the railing of the stool.
One. Two. Three.
I count slowly because the world is starting to look a little hazy now and I’m afraid of hurting her in a place where people can see it happen.
“Anyway, I am a Portland girl before you think that was a lie,” she continues as her smile widens ever so slightly. Any further and she’ll look like a goddamn jackal, but I think that’s the point of her game. “When you disappeared for those few years to Thailand, August came up here. I don’t know what he was looking for, but he found me in place of it. Anyway, we became friends for the brief time he spent here and he talked about you. A lot. Almost to the point of obsession. He asked me to look after you if you ever found your way south like he always knew you would. So while I don’t particularly give a fuck if you did or didn’t start the fires, I will tell you to cut the shit just in case. August may be dead, but I guarantee that it doesn’t give you the right to lose your mind and destroy things to cope with your grief.”
I push back my stool so quickly that it topples over and falls on the floor with a loud clatter. I ball my fists at my side and stare her at with more hatred than I felt for Atasha and grit my teeth.
“He isn’t dead—he left to take care of some things. There’s a big difference.”
Embry, completely unperturbed by my reaction, reaches for her coffee and sips it again. “If you say so, kid. Just remember that while big brother may not be watching you anymore, he made damn sure to set up eyes everywhere.”
Before I have a chance to say anything else, Embry gets to her feet, grabs the pile of wet napkins and her coffee and tosses them in the trash can by the door.
Giving me a two-fingered salute, she walks back out into the world that I never quite understood leaving me to wonder if this is real or a fantasy.
Chapter Eight
Night fell almost two hours ago.
I’ve been sitting on the floor in my room, arms wrapped around my knees and staring at the ceiling.
August has eyes everywhere.
I can’t shake that notion from my head, but what hurts me the most is that he felt like he wouldn’t be able to trust me. Like I would need a babysitter whether I wanted one or not.
I lower my gaze toward the clock that sits on the nightstand next to August’s glasses then get to my feet.
It’s almost time for me to get to the end of the game since it’s obvious to me that Embry doesn’t know that there’s a beginning before the finale.
It’ll be my way of showing August that I can be whoever I want to be and that he never had to worry about his little brother.
But first, I have to call the conquering hero and her merry band of assholes to me so I can show them all.
Trent Robert Grant isn’t crazy, nor is he incapable of caring for himself. He just loved his brother more than anything in the world, and now that he’s gone, he’s been feeling a little lost.
The apartment smells of accelerant and it puts a smile on my face. I don’t know if anyone will be able to put this fire out since I’ve done my best to cover every corner, crack, and crevice with it, but that’s not the point.
I don’t give a fuck about material things—I care about August and he’s gone. There’s nothing left for me in this cruel world, no matter how much I try to make believe there is.
I walk over to the nightstand and pick up his glasses, set them on my face, then walk out of my room.
If anything survives, I want to make sure that this would be it. August doesn’t deserve this, but I do.
I don’t know how to survive without hurting others and while it was fun for a while, without my brother to get me out of the messes I no longer find myself in, there’s no point.
I head into the kitchen, grab the keys to the place, then walk out the front door. I head over to the nearest neighbor and knock a few times until someone answers.
An old woman with gray hair, a robe wrapped tightly around her body and an unsure smile on her face greets me.
“Can I help you, young man?” she asks in a grandmotherly tone.
“Yeah, I live next door,” I say pointing at the small four apartment building, “And I was hoping I could use your phone since I don’t have one.”
She looks me up and down for a moment, probably trying to figure out if I’m a danger to her like most people do.
“Of course,” she finally says after I morph into the little boy lost routine that always helps me get my way. I won’t hurt her because she reminds me of Grandmother and I always loved her the most after August.
“Thank you,” I tell her softly as I follow her inside. She closes the door behind me then tells me to follow her, which I do.
Once we get to her small living room, she points at the phone, then goes back to sit in her recliner and watch her show. What she’s doing awake at this hour is beyond me, but I’m grateful for it.
I punch nine-one-one into the face of the telephone and wait until someone answers.
It only takes two rings.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
“There’s a fire. I can smell it. Same neighborhood as always,” I say quietly into the phone before I disconnect the call.
I put the receiver back into its place, smile at the old lady then walk over to her and give her a gentle kiss on her cheek. She seems surprised but delighted at the notion. I assume she doesn’t get much company and she won’t have to worry about strange men knocking on her door again anytime soon.
“Thanks,” I say softly with a nod before I walk out the front door and head back to my place.
Chapter Nine
I decided to take one last walk around my apartment. I felt so proud when I first got it because it was mine and I did it on my own.
Now it seems like nothing more than a prison orchestrated by the person I loved the most who felt I needed a minder even when he treated me as an equal to my face.
Maybe August didn’t love me as much as I thought he did, but I’m going to do my best to show him and everyone else that Trent Robert Grant can stand on his own two feet.