“I’ll stay up with you,” Eli replied. “Got some television to catch up on.”
“I’ll assume you want to use one of my screens,” Wilson grumbled. “Fine. Take the one on the far right. It’s the least accessible when I’m at my keyboard.”
“You mean you have to turn your head to see it?” Eli asked, deadpan.
“Yes,” Wilson hissed. “Now stop talking so I can work.”
As Lu, Forrest, and I filed out of the room, we met Casper and Farrah in the hallway.
“Hey,” Casper said. “Was just comin’ to find you. Any news?”
I filled him in as we strode back toward the massive kitchen.
“So you’ve got the names of his highest in command,” Casper said when I’d finished. “That’s good.”
“Any information is good,” I replied. “But this shit will get us nowhere. Just because we know who they are doesn’t mean I know where they are or what they’re doin.’”
“Chances are, those men were loyal to the father, not the son,” Casper said, rubbing his chin. “Wouldn’t be pleased with that particular patricide.”
“Assuming they know,” Forrest replied. “Which they probably don’t.”
“So, maybe we need to make sure they do,” Casper said.
“Again,” Lu said tiredly, “if we knew where they were, that would be a possibility. Maybe. But we don’t. Those men have pretty much disappeared.”
“On the compound?” Casper asked.
“Probably,” I replied.
“They stole one of our trucks,” Casper told me, his tone grim. “Didn’t sell the contents.”
“That’s fuckin’ fantastic,” I replied sarcastically.
“Only one,” Casper said, like that made it any better. I knew exactly what the Aces bought and sold, and that kind of firepower in the hands of an adversary was not a good thing.
“We’re not going to figure out anything more tonight,” Lu said, stretching her arms above her head. “Let Wilson do his thing and we can meet up again in the morning.”
“Works for me,” Forrest said. He looked at me. “I’m gonna head out for a bit—get Cecilia those antibiotics.”
“Thanks.” I turned to Casper. “Fill Cam in?”
“I’ll do it in the morning,” Casper replied. “He already crashed for the night.”
“I swear,” Farrah said, wrapping an arm around her husband’s waist. “We raised a bunch of weaklings. Who goes to sleep before midnight?”
We went our separate ways and I grabbed a bottle of water for Cecilia before going upstairs. She’d been in bed for hours already, but I knew she’d be up with the baby throughout the night. When I opened the door to her room, she was already awake.
“Hey,” she said softly. “How’d your meeting go?”
“It went,” I said, closing the door behind me. “Wilson’s digging deep, but finding anything out takes time.”
Cecilia shook her head. “I still can’t believe this. No good deed goes unpunished, right?”
“We’ll get it figured out,” I assured her, setting the water bottle on the nightstand. “How’re you feeling?”
“Like I got run over by a truck,” she said with a little groan. “But my mom found some bedding, so at least I’ve got that going for me.”
“I see that,” I replied. The bed had been made up with sheets and a comforter, and she was tucked inside, lounged back on a couple of pillows with Olive asleep against her chest.
“All this stuff was brand new,” she said, patting the bedding on her lap.
“Lu must’ve bought it,” I said as I kicked off my boots. “The rest of us would’ve been happy with sleeping bags.”
“Oh, whatever,” she joked as I sat down beside her. “I’ve seen your house. You like expensive shit.”
I let out a startled laugh. “What?”
“You’ve got expensive furniture,” she pointed out. “And your bedding is soft as a baby’s ass.”
“I made the furniture,” I said, leaning against the headboard with a sigh. “And bought the only bedding I could find that didn’t have flowers or cartoon characters on it.”
“You made it?” she asked in surprise. “Really?”
“I like working with my hands,” I replied, flexing my fingers. I lifted them up a little from my lap and showed her the tiny scars from all the times I’d nicked and sliced them up working on various projects. “It relaxes me.”
“I get that,” she said. “I like to quilt while I’m binge watching TV.”
“Quilt? Seriously?” I could not imagine the wild girl I’d chased all over Eugene quilting.
“My gram and great aunt taught me,” she said with a shrug. “I have a hard time sitting still. If I’m not doing something while I watch TV, I fall asleep or get bored.”
“Now, that I can believe,” I replied.
“I’m not great at it,” she said, leaning her head back tiredly. “But they’re functional when I’m done.”
“That’s pretty cool. Do you make designs and shit?” The conversation was surface, a throwaway exchange of words, but Jesus, I wanted to know everything about her. The thought made my stomach twist with excitement and sink at the same time.
“Yeah,” she said. “Nothing fancy, though. You should see some of the handmade quilts my gram’s mom and sisters used to make. They’re incredible. My mom gave Cam one when he was a kid, and I think she and my Aunt Callie inherited some more when my gram died.”
At the reference to her gram’s death, we both went quiet. Neither of us would forget that day. We were never the same afterward. Both of us had our own demons to work through, but that hadn’t stopped us from clinging to each other like lifelines. It had made for a messy as fuck relationship, but a solid one, all the same.
“I liked your gram,” I said finally, breaching the silence.
“Everyone liked my gram,” she said with a quiet chuckle. “She was a goddamn saint.”
“Fair point,” I said in concession. “She used to make the best cucumber salad.” I groaned. “To this day, it’s still my favorite food.”
“Cucumber salad? Really?” Cecilia smiled. “That’s so simple to make.”
“You know how to make it?” I asked, my mouth watering.
“It’s not hard,” she replied. “It’s just cucumbers, red onion, vinegar and dill.”
“Maybe it was the ratio,” I said defensively. “Because I’ve had it since, and no one makes it as good as your gram did.”
“It was all that love she put in it,” she joked.
“Hmm,” I squinted my eyes. “That’s what love tastes like?”
“Depends on who you ask,” she replied dryly.
She laughed when I raised my eyebrows.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” she admonished. “I meant that cucumber salad isn’t everyone’s favorite food.”