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“Val, come on,” Edie coaxed. “Nobody is after our blood. Sveti just has to take her test. She’s worked so hard for this. Life goes on. You can’t ground everybody. It’s just not practical.”
“I do not give a shit about practical. Why do you not call your man? See what opinion he has about this fucking trip to Seattle, hmm?”
Edie sighed. “That would be silly. He’s always paranoid. It’s just a McCloud thing. We have Miles with us. He’s armed. He’s tough.”
All eyes swung to Miles. He stood up, making an effort to look tougher.
“Why not just wait until the guys get back?” Aaro asked.
“Then I will miss my exam,” Sveti said. “I cannot take it again until next year. Please, Val. It is important to me.”
“Ah,shit,” Val muttered. “I cannot even accompany you, not until the rest of the men get back! This is not fair, to put me in this position!” He glared at Liv and Edie. “You know very well that Sean and Kev would throw screaming fits if they knew you were taking off without them.”
“They can lecture us later,” Edie said briskly. “Come on, let’s go.”
The women slunk out the door. Miles trailed behind, throwing an apologetic, what-can-ya-do-with-‘em glance over his shoulder.
Val made an explosive sound of disgust, spun and stalked away, muttering to himself. Tam hurried to follow him, leaving Lily to stare out, watching the garage door grind shut after the car left, blocking out the rare gleam of real outside air. Rainy and gray though it was today.
Clang.Shut in. In the darkness. As usual. Lily sighed. It was self-indulgent and ungrateful, to feel pissy because she was left behind. The little girl who didn’t get to go on the school trip, waaahh.
She was grateful for the first three genuinely safe nights in she couldn’t even remember how long. She was starting to feel better. But that translated directly into the desire to move, fight back. She wondered when, if ever, she was going to get her life back. Such as it was. It was flawed, sure, but she wanted a chance to make it bloom. Why couldn’t she? Restless anger prickled at her, like thorns.
This was not the fault of the people around her, of course. They weren’t her jailers. In fact, they were the only reason she was still breathing.Be grateful.She took to pacing again.
Fortunately, the house was huge and rambling, with lots nooks, towers and overhangs, beautiful details and incredible overlooks, even a walkway like a floating bridge over a sea of green to a different zone in the house. A leisurely stroll through the whole place, stopping to admire each vantage point, genuinely did kill some time.
She ached, to have Bruno back. To hear his laughing voice, feel his kiss, his hard, tight embrace, his muscles shaking with emotion.
Not that she’d have him for long. Their brief conversation the night before, when he’d called her from the motel, had settled that issue. Nothing had changed for her, in spite of his having found the next piece of the puzzle. He’d just hare off to the East Coast, to dig in his estranged grandmother’s attic for some ancient jewelry box, while she stayed here, safely folded flat, and hidden in a locked drawer. It was enough to drive an independent woman insane. She’d always had to fight for everything in life. Passivity was counterintuitive, for her.
At least progress had been made, even if she couldn’t take credit for it. She’d cling to that. And trust Bruno. It was good practice.
It was getting dark, by her third pass through the house. She stopped in the living room, puzzled, when she heard the sound. A voice, raised to a shout. Muffled, just barely audible. A woman’s voice. Tam.
Lily ran through room after room, flinging open any door she saw that was closed. “Tam? Tam! Where are you!”
“The bathroom off Val’s study.” Tam’s faint voice filtered through the walls, to her right.
Lily blundered in that direction until she found a paneled, book-lined room. She flung open an interior door. Tam lay on the floor on her side, huddled around her swollen belly. Hugging it, as if someone wanted to take it from her. She looked up. Her lips were bluish.
“Call Val, quick,” she said. “I’m spotting. Or actually, this is just plain old bleeding, I think, not spotting. Forgot to bring my cell in here with me. Such a goddamn fucking idiot. I’m afraid to get up. Hurry.”
“Oh, God.” Lily gasped. “Can I…should I—”
“Just…call…Val!” Tam’s voice was soft, but Lily leaped to action, raced through the house, howling for Val. She ran into him outside the house gym. “Tam’s bleeding,” she gasped out. “Studio bathroom. Hospital. Quick.”
“O cazzo.” Val spun around. “Aaro!” he bellowed.
Aaro poked his head around the curve in the corridor. “Yeah?”
“We are all going to the hospital, for the baby,” Val said. “Now!”
“Ah…can’t I just stay with them here, while you and Tam—”
“No!” Val was backing down the corridor at a half run. “I cannot leave Lily and Rachel and Zia with one man only to guard! There is no one around here, for miles, and you would be trapped if they came at you with a full crew, like at the cabin! You would be fucked!”
Aaro raced after, with Lily on his heels. “The two of us together would be fucked, too,” Aaro pointed out, through pounding of their feet.
