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I take a long drag from my cigarette. The smoke tickles through my lungs before I blow it out in a haze around my head.
For now, Piper stays. At least as long as she continues to live inside of me just like this smoke does. But as soon as I figure out how she’s doing it, I’ll be able to ensure it never happens again. And as soon asthathappens, she’ll be gone.
Until then…
Tires crunch over gravel. I walk around the side of the house just as a black car pulls to a stop. The windows are tinted and rolled up tight. I curse under my breath and toss my cigarette to the ground.
The moment Rooney steps out of the driver's side, I meet him at the door.
“I told you to roll down your fucking windows,” I bark.
He jolts at my sudden appearance and slams his door closed. “I didn’t want another escape on my hands. I child-locked everything.”
“Fuckingmudak.” I drag a hand over my jawline and shake my head. “Just open the doors. Now.”
Rooney hops to it, moving around the car and pulling open the back door.
Instantly, Piper catapults out of the car.
Benjamin is dozing on her shoulder, but I’m not sure how. Piper is pale and breathing heavily. Based on the tear tracks running down her cheeks, she was crying, too.
Her green eyes meet mine, but they are glassy and unfocused. She’s still in a panic. Her body doesn’t realize she’s safe again.
“Fucking fantastic,” I hiss, turning to Rooney. “You brought me a basket case again. I told you she’s claustrophobic.”
“And I told you I’d get her back to you. Here she is. I don’t see the problem.”
I take three huge steps to stand in front of Rooney. “The problem is you don’t know how to follow directions. It makes me think you can’t do anything right. It makes me think you aren’t trustworthy.”
Rooney lifts his chin in defiance. “You know I’m trustworthy.”
“I don’t know a goddamn thing,” I snap. “Not when you can’t crack a window. Maybe your days of being useful are done.”
His eyes bug out and his mouth flops open and closed.
“You know what I do to people I have no use for, don’t you, James?” I ask. “You’ve cleaned up enough of the aftermath to take a stab at it.”
He swallows and nods. “I know.”
“Then don’t let it happen again.”
Piper is sucking in breath after breath next to me. It’s like she can’t get enough oxygen to fill her lungs. Still, she pats Benjamin’s back, calming him with gasping, erratic shushes.
She’s halfway to dying and she still cares for him. It’s remarkable.
The moment my attention is on Piper, Rooney takes the opportunity to slip away and duck inside the car. He returns with a file in his hands, then thrusts it at me. “Here. The information you asked for,” he explains. “I found everything there was to find and compiled it here. Some of it is in my own handwriting to avoid using the printers.”
The file on Piper’s background. I almost forgot I requested it. So much has happened in the interim.
“Maybe you can still take direction after all.” He starts to grin, but before he gets too far down that road, I add, “Now, show me you can understand what I’m saying by obeying this very simple instruction: get the fuck out of my sight.”
Rooney’s jaw clicks under the strain of his teeth grinding together, but after a second, he slips into his car and drives away.
I turn to Piper.
Her attention is split between watching Rooney leave, taking care of Benjamin, and keeping an eye on me. None of it seems to be on regulating her breathing and taking care of herself. Nothing new in that regard.
“Stop worrying about everyone else and breathe,” I order. “None of it will matter if you hyperventilate and die.”
