AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He reached his truck and hit the button on the fob to unlock the doors, climbing in behind the wheel and waiting for Demmy to get in beside him. The air conditioner took a couple of minutes to work, and he savored the agony of the hot air blowing on his already heated skin. He deserved to suffer in this heat for what he’d done. If he’d just reacted differently to Phil Wolek attacking Demmy, they wouldn’t be in this mess. He could have, should have, found another way to get Phil Wolek off and save Demmy from being bitten. They’d still have a business to run, and it would still bring in what little money it did to allow them to pay their bills and pay Jugs.
Jugs.
Christ, he hadn’t even thought of what this meant for Jugs and Agatha.
He gripped the steering wheel hard enough for his sweaty palms to squeak against the plastic.
Before he knew it, he was pulling into the driveway of their home, and Demmy was practically running up the walk to the door in his eagerness to be away from him. Cody got out and followed him into the house, heading for the bedroom, stripping off his sweaty shirt as he went. He tossed it into a corner, kicked his shoes off in the same general area, and shucked his pants and dress socks to add them to the pile. Dressing in cargo shorts and a faded t-shirt, he pulled on a pair of low rise white socks and stuffed his feet into a pair of worn sneakers. He was up and striding to the door when Demmy stepped out of the dining room doorway.
“Do you want to talk?” Demmy asked.
“Not right now,” Cody said. “I need some space.”
And with that, he left the house, trying not to slam the door behind him but fearing he may have pulled it shut too hard.
He wasn’t angry at Demmy. Well, not completely. Demmy had kept pushing him to get involved in the cases that had led them to this point, but Cody and his own rash actions had put the final nail in their coffin, so to speak.
And even if he wasn’t angry at Demmy, he knew he needed to be away from him at that moment. Not forever, never that long, but long enough for him to cool down and try to understand what all of this meant for them both. For all three, actually, when he considered Jugs was now out of a job as well.
Cody swung into his truck and backed out of the driveway, driving off down the road with no destination in mind, just the need to be gone, to be away, pushing him forward.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
After Cody left the house—more like fled the house—Demetrius changed into shorts and a Critter Catchers polo shirt. He knocked at the door to the guest room and peeked inside to see if Clarabell was around, but it was empty. The bed had been made, but her overnight bag was still there, so she would be coming back at some point. For now, Demetrius had the house to himself.
He made a cup of coffee then sat at the dining room table. The coffee cooled as it sat forgotten next to his hand, and he stared at the wall across from him. His thoughts jumped between the events of the morning and all the things that needed to be done. The office had to be closed, the lease broken. They were barely able to afford the rent now, so there was no way they could pay it for a year with no Critter Catchers income available. That meant they’d have to store or sell or donate all of the furniture, electronics, and appliances they’d acquired over the years. All of the paper files Demetrius had organized and maintained so meticulously. All of the data from the banking software. And what would this mean for their taxes?
It all felt completely overwhelming, and a cold and aching feeling of despair spread through him, filling him up. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he put his face in his hands. He hated to do it, hated to let the emotions swallow him up like this, but if he didn’t let them out at least a little at a time, he’d end up taking it out on everyone around him or doing something rash.
Like Cody had done, an inner voice whispered in the back of his mind.
Now that he’d started crying, however, it seemed he’d tapped into something he hadn’t realized had been building. The tears came harder, pouring down his face as sobs pushed up from someplace deep down, shaking his shoulders.
After several minutes, the intensity of his emotions settled. He felt cold and empty, his face crusted with tears and his nose running. He got up and grabbed the box of tissues from the living room, then returned to the dining room table. The sudden rush of emotion had left behind a slight headache, and he squinted as he blew his nose.
There were too many next steps that needed to happen, and Demetrius was unable to focus on just one. He should start a list and get his thoughts organized. But to do that effectively, he should work with Cody, who was hopefully coming back at some point, but Demetrius had no idea when or how his temper would be when he did. He wasn’t afraid of Cody. No, he’d never been, nor ever would be, scared of him. There were just a lot of things that needed to happen soon, and for now Cody was too angry, and most likely feeling guilty, about the outcome of the civil suit to be able to help him with decisions.
Since he couldn’t really focus on their business, Demetrius made a decision about what he himself wanted to do next. And that was have a drink or ten and try to forget any of this had happened, at least for the rest of the day.
He got up and checked the refrigerator. There was one beer, and Demetrius blew out a breath. That wouldn’t even come close to tamping down the gut-churning grief coupled with anger that roiled inside him. He put a hand on his neck and shoulder, rubbing through his t-shirt the scar from Nicolae’s vicious bite years ago. Demetrius had offered himself up in an effort to save others. And he supposed in some way he had done that, though the trauma of it lingered for him and Cody both. Not to mention the torment Amelia still experienced from her year of changing every full moon and not remembering what had happened the next day.
And despite all of that, here he stood, barely holding on financially, and no idea where his husband had driven off to.
“Fucking failure is what you are,” Demetrius said to himself. “You don’t deserve to run a business in this town.”
He closed the refrigerator, grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone from the bedroom, then picked a Critter Catchers ballcap off the top of the dresser and put it on. After locking the door behind him, Demetrius got into his truck and headed through town. While he was glad to see a few more people inside Margie’s than there had been lately, the feeling didn’t have a chance against the anger, fear, and guilt thrashing inside him. He followed Main Street until it turned into Route 118, purposely not looking over when he passed the strip mall where their office was located. For now.
The Hollow Leg wasn’t much farther down the road, and Demetrius turned in, gravel popping beneath his tires. It was midafternoon, past the lunch rush and before the end of the work day, so only a few other vehicles were in the lot. He was glad and also a little disappointed to not see Cody’s truck among them. He’d been hoping they could commiserate on the events of the day.
Feeling more lonely than he had realized, Demetrius fought back another swell of desperate grief and got out of his truck. He crossed the gravel lot, the stones scraping and crunching beneath his boots. The air-conditioning made him shiver as it cooled the sweat on his skin, and he paused just inside the door to let his eyes adjust.
“Hi Demetrius. Cody and Jugs with you?”
He shook his head and managed a smile for Kiera, the bartender. “Just me. Been a tough day.”
Kiera waved to a stool at the end of the bar. “Have a seat, my friend. I have just the thing.”
Once he’d perched himself on the stool, Kiera placed a large glass of ice water before him, along with a smaller glass that, upon sniffing it, he was pleased to discover was a gin and tonic. Kiera obviously knew his preference, even though he rarely drank alcohol when they stopped in.
