We’d just finished eating breakfast when Ada leaned over to Remington and asked, “You have yourself any siblings?”
“No, ma’am. My folks decided not to have any more kids after me.” Remington giggled as she said, “I think I was a bit of a handful when I was younger.”
“I doubts dat.” Ada shook her head. “I bet you were a precious ding; just likes you are now.”
“Thank you for saying that, Ms. Ada, but I never really made it easy on my folks. Seems like I was always getting into something. I don’t know how they put up with me.” Remington’s eyes drifted to the ground as she said, “But I guess that’s what you do when you love someone.”
“Dat’s exactly right.” Ada glanced over to me. “Dat boy might not be mine, but I loves him all da same. Yes, I shore do. Love dat boy just like I loves my own chil’ren.”
“He’s really lucky to have you, Ms. Ada.”
“No, child. I’m lucky to have him.” She reached over and ran her hand up and down my bicep. “He won’t agree wit’ me, but he’s a good boy. Fine as day come. Now, don’t gets me wrong. He’s always been a handful.”
A big smile crossed Remington’s face as she looked over at me and said, “I bet he was.”
“Hey, I was a good kid,” I argued. “Never got into trouble.”
“Now, we both know dats not true.” Ada chuckled as she leaned over to Remington and asked, “Did I’s ever tell you about da day Noah here jumped off da roof?”
“No, ma’am.” Remington glanced over at me with a smile plastered across her beautiful face. “You haven’t told me that one yet.”
“Ooo-wee. Never heard such hollerin’ in my whole life. I thought the child was gonna die for sure. I come rushin’ outside and found him laid out on da ground, and he was carryin’ on somethin awful.” She shook her head with a chuckle. “Till dis day, never could get ’em to tells me the truths ’bout why’s he was up dare on dat roof. I’m a guessing it was just a bunch of foolishness.”
“I did tell you the truth,” I complained. “Well, partly.”
“Okay, then. Spill it.” Sounding intrigued, Remington asked, “Why’d you jump off the roof?”
“That’s just it, I didn’t jump. I’d heard a cat crying and thought it was hurt or something.” I shrugged as I took another sip of my coffee. “When I got up on the roof, it hissed at me, and I fell off.”
“Oh?” She giggled, then with a childlike voice, she mocked, “So, the wittle kitty scared you?”
“I was like eight, Remington, so yeah. The damn thing scared me.”
“Bless your heart.” Remington pursed her lips playfully. “I’m sorry that the mean, wittle kitty scared you.”
“You’re a smartass. You know that, right?”
“Watch your mouth, child,” Ada scolded. “No sense bein’ ornery about it. She was just teasin’. Didn’t mean no harm.”
“Um-hmm.” I grabbed the dishes, and as I started walking over to the sink, I told them, “I’m gonna go check the grounds.”
“You just checked dem before breakfast.”
“Yeah, and I’m gonna check them again.”
Before Ada could argue any further, I went out to the front porch and closed the door. I hadn’t even made it to the steps before the door opened and Remington called out to me. “Noah?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you mind if I joined you?” she asked with hesitation in her voice. “I’m feeling a little couped up in there, and I thought some fresh air would help.”
I’d been trying to keep my distance, especially now that she was back on her feet and looking so fucking beautiful, but she wasn’t making it easy. I was tempted to tell her that it was something I needed to do alone, but instead, I shrugged and said, “Suit yourself.”
“Great.”
With a big smile, she scurried over to me and eagerly followed as I headed down the steps. Hoping she would just keep quiet, I didn’t say anything as I started towards the back gate. In fact, I did my best not to even acknowledge her presence, but that didn’t stop her from skipping over to me with a goofy look on her face. “It feels incredible out here.”
“It’s ninety-seven degrees out here and humid as hell.”
“It might be a little warm, but the sun is shining bright and the wind’s blowing.”
“There’s no wind blowing, Remington. Hell, there isn’t even a damn breeze.”
“Well, I happen to think it feels great.” She was beaming like a kid at Christmas, clearly unfazed by the fact we were just walking through a storage lot. She lifted her hands in the air with a quick twirl. “It seems like a lifetime since I’ve been for a walk outside.”
I didn’t respond. I just kept moving, watching as she took in the fresh morning air. At that moment, she seemed so alive, so happy and carefree, making it hard to believe that just a week or so ago she was barely conscious. It was definitely easier to be around her when she wasn’t drawing me in with that incredible smile or tempting me those fucking short-shorts and tank top. Fuck. The woman was a perfect mix of sex and sin, and it was all I could do to keep my hands off her, which pissed me the hell off. I wasn’t a man who was drawn to any woman, and I wasn’t about to start changing now—I couldn’t. I’d made a promise, and I had every intention of keeping it. I was peering through the fence at the parking lots across the street, searching for anything that might be deemed suspicious when Remington came bounding over to me. “So, what are you looking for anyway?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, come on. You have to be looking for something.” She glanced around as she said, “I could help you.”
“Leave it, Remington.”
“So grumpy,” she complained, then continued walking ahead of me.
Without waiting on me to join her, she turned the corner and started down the second row of storage units. I didn’t like not being able to see her, but I knew she was safe. The entire lot was surrounded by a ten-foot fence topped with barbed-wire and a security system that prevented anyone from coming or going without me knowing about it, so I was in no big rush to follow. When I finally turned the corner, I found Remington standing in the middle of the drive, and she was stiff as a board. I continued towards her, and my stomach twisted into a knot when I saw the expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I recognize him.” Her voice trembled as she continued, “I might be wrong. I really might, but I think he was there that night.”
“Who?” I looked across the street at the old Shell gas station parking lot, and dread washed over me when I saw a man with a skull tattoo on his throat. There was no doubt he was a Punisher, but he was in a heated argument with a woman holding a kid and seemed totally unaware that either of us were standing there watching him—or so I hoped. I wasn’t taking any chances, so I grabbed Remington’s hand and pulled her over to one of the unit’s doors. When I was certain that we were out of his line of view, I asked, “You sure you’ve seen him before?”