Rason & Eliza - Cee Bowerman Page 0,46
you. I’m going to keep that information to myself because I have an idea that she got your location last night from someone up here at the station after I requested they patrol near your friend’s apartment.”
“When I figure something out, I’ll call you.”
Detective Lake said goodbye and hung up. I heard Daughtry come up behind me and he put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
“Bad news, huh?”
“She’s getting out on bail. Probably within the hour.”
“We can bounce you around between our houses. You can come up here to work with whoever you stay with and then go home with someone else. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m wearing Harley’s clothes, man. You know how bad it sucks to not even have your own fucking underwear?”
Daughtry chuckled. “I can’t say that I do.”
“I’ve got nothing. No clothes, no car, no house. My parents are gone, and I can’t drag my brother and sister into this. I’ve got Eliza and you guys, and I don’t want to put any of you or your families in danger.”
“Sonny’s got some shit going on with his cousin and he needs help,” Lout said as he walked up to us. “Cousin has a crazy too. Well, a couple of them actually. Sonny needs someone to stay inside her house under the radar so her batshit stalker can’t get in there and hide while she’s out. She lives here in town not far from Sonny. We sneak you inside and you sit there while your shit comes to a head. It helps you and it helps Sonny’s family at the same time.”
“And you’re sure it’s cool for me to just stay at her house?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go grab you some clothes and shit and then come back here while Sonny gets this all planned out,” Daughtry suggested. “I’ll drive you. And I’ve got a lot to live for, so if we see that bitch I’m not taking any chances. I’m just going to shoot her.”
12.
“Is it bad that right now I kind of miss being an only child?”
Eliza
ELIZA
“They hid you on the floorboard of her car?” I laughed. “How did you stuff yourself down there?”
“She actually drives an SUV, so I just laid down in the back.”
“And you’ve got clothes now? And something to do? Do you have anything to read?”
“I got a couple of pairs of jeans and some t-shirts. I’m just happy to have my own underwear. How sad is that?”
“Send me your sizes. I’ll have Hank take me shopping and he can find a way to get them to you.”
“You don’t mind doing that?”
“Honey,” I said with a sigh. “I can’t do anything to help you stay safe. I can’t even see you. I want to do this.”
“Detective Lake said it might be over within a month.”
“We can make it a month. We can talk all the time, okay?”
“Two weeks ago we were talking about what we’d do in a month,” he said, clearly downtrodden. “Now we’ve got another month.”
I bit my lip. When he and I had pollinated the flowers, we’d decided to talk about our feelings for each other in a month when the fruit started to grow. So much had happened since then that it seemed like ages ago.
“The plant,” I said frantically. “What about the vines? Were they injured in the explosion? How will you take care of them now?”
“I’ll try again sometime. Maybe for Tet next year. Hopefully mom can eat some while they’re over visiting her family.”
“Oh, Rason.” I couldn’t think of what to say to bring his spirits up. He sounded so sad and hopeless that it just broke my heart. “It’s all going to be over soon. We’ll get through this. Do you think that maybe you could stay at my house? We can just consider it a staycation. No one will even know we’re in there. We can . . .”
“No, Eliza,” he interrupted. “I’ll stay here. Sonny’s cousin needs someone in the house and I need to hide. As fucked up as it is for both reasons, it works out.”
“But what if you’re in danger?” I asked, reluctant to jump on board with this plan that didn’t seem to really be all that safe. “If they’re worried about someone who might break into her house when she’s gone, then that’s got to be a dangerous person.”
“I don’t know all the details, but that’s highly likely. Sonny gave me a gun, and his cousin Reba’s boyfriend will be here at night along with Jace. Have you met