Blood and Sympathy Page 10

  After a few minutes of practice, she let me take it out on the street. There wasn't a lot of traffic, so it was easy to drive right down the middle. I didn't have to worry about sideswiping a car that way. "Maybe I'll go do some fishing in the morning."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Claire Copeland

  Saturday night before I went to sleep, Olivia knocked on my door. "Can I come in?" she asked.

  "Yeah." I braced myself for another ass chewing, but when she came in, she looked almost sympathetic.

  "Do you need anything before I got to bed?" she asked, sitting down beside me.

  I blinked and hung my head. "I'm sorry about your car, Liv. It wasn't my fault."

  "Did Alistair really run you off the road?"

  "Yes." That she took the time to hear me out made me feel a little better. Dad always sided with Olivia, and if she told him she believed me, well, he might reconsider the punishment he'd handed down. "There wasn't anything I could do."

  "You could have tried to outrun him."

  I shook my head. "Have you ever been on the road on the way to the Mills' house? There was no way in hell I would have been able to lose him."

  "I suppose you're right." She patted my leg and stood to go. "Hopefully, the car's not a total loss."

  "Looks like you'll be running in the morning without me."

  She folded her arms in front of her chest and huffed. "Tell me you didn't screw up your ankle on purpose just so you wouldn't have to train with me."

  "Right. Because crutches are so much fun to walk on." I rolled my eyes at her and she laughed. "How are we getting to church in the morning?"

  "When Dad talked to Jeb Sayer about you taking that job at the bait shop, he arranged for him to swing by and give us a lift."

  Oh shit. Braden. I felt the color drain from my face. "Okay."

  With all the shit that had happened during the past twenty-four hours, I'd forgotten about Braden and what he must think. I'd have to find a way to let him know why I wasn't there when he got released. Maybe with the golf ball-sized knot on my forehead and the crutches, he'd see that I hadn't done it on purpose.

  ***

  By the time Olivia left for her run, I was wide awake. Stress will do that to a person. I stared up at the ceiling and listened to her and Dad's muffled voices downstairs. I assumed he was going to take her to the trail.

  I got up and eased to the bathroom to take a shower. The swelling had gone down some in my ankle, but I couldn't say it felt any better. After my shower, I got dressed. I had to sit on my butt and slide down the steps with my crutches in tow. I was surprised to see Dad still home. He glanced up from the papers spread out in front of him on the table.

  "How did Olivia get to the lake?" I asked, hobbling to the counter.

  "I took her."

  "Oh. Are you going to go pick her up before you leave for church?" I untied the bread wrapper and put a couple of slices in the toaster.

  "She said she'd just run back. Something about it being her long run for the week," he said. I turned my back on him and concentrated on my breakfast, as if it were the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen. "I trust you'll be ready for church when Jeb gets here to pick you up?"

  "Yep."

  "Excuse me?"

  I took a deep breath. "Yes, sir." Give me a friggin' break, will you? The air in the room was so thick with tension I thought I'd suffocate. Finally, he left without a goodbye as I was buttering my toast, and my whole body shrank with relief. God, he could be such an insufferable prick.

  After I ate, I waited for Olivia to get back. She'd miss her ride if she didn't hurry. I heard Jeb's truck pull up the driveway and glanced up at the clock. Even he was late, and Olivia still wasn't home. I tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear and wrestled with the front door.

  "Oh hey, let me help you with that." Though I'd only heard him speak a few words, I'd recognize that soft drawl anywhere. Braden's voice reminded me of hot chocolate. The kind with those tiny marshmallows melted on top.

  My heart skipped a beat when he wrapped his arm around my waist and let me lean against him. I admit, I probably leaned a little closer than I would have had it been anyone else. But damn if he didn't smell fucking fantastic.

  Jeb sat beneath the wheel of the pickup truck grinning like a fool.

  "Jeb Sayer, are you laughing at me?"

  "No, Miss Claire," he said, shaking his head. I wasn't convinced. My eyes drifted between Braden and Jeb and back again.

  A yelp escaped my lips when Braden swooped me off my feet and deposited me on the seat next to Jeb. He threw my crutches into the bed of the truck and slid in beside me. Waves of heat radiated between Braden's thigh and mine, causing me to overheat.

  "Is your sister coming?" Jeb asked.

  "She went for a run this morning and isn't back yet," I said, fanning myself.

  Jeb shook his head. "We can't wait. We're going to be late as it is."

  "It's okay." I had butterflies in the pit of my stomach, and I wasn't sure if it was from having Braden so close, or from wondering if something was up with Olivia.

  Braden leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Somebody broke into the marina last night."

  My eyes widened. "Oh sh--crap, did they steal anything?"

  "They made off with the cash box. And of all the damn things they could've taken, they stole that boat anchor your daddy had personalized for me." Jeb heaved a heavy sigh.

  "That sucks, Jeb. Who would do such a thing?"

  "Oh, don't worry none." He smiled and nodded at my foot. "Your daddy said you had a little mishap with Olivia's car. How you feeling?"

  "I'll be better as soon as it stops throbbing with every beat of my heart." Especially given the fact that my heart was beating triple time right then. Braden stared out the window, oblivious to how he affected my libido. I nudged him with my elbow. He turned the hottest pair of blue eyes in my direction, and I sucked in a quick breath before dropping my gaze to my lap. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you yesterday. I really did want to come. I hope you know I'd never tell you I was going to do something and then not do it without a good reason."

  "It's no big deal." He shrugged. "I forgive you."

  I don't know if I ever swooned before, but I was pretty sure that's what I did when he pinned me to the seat with those soulful eyes. Damn if I didn't want to crawl into his lap right then and there and steal a kiss.

  When church was over for the morning, I began to worry in earnest. Olivia would never, and I mean never, miss church. So, unless hell had frozen over and the devil started wearing long johns, something had happened to her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Braden Sayer

  Uncle Jeb had knocked on the trailer door last night to give me an alarm clock, reminding me there would be no excuse to be late for work. He also drove home the fact that he expected me to toe the line, and that included going to church with him every Sunday. I could handle that. When he dropped the bomb about picking up Olivia and Claire Copeland to ride along, my insides twisted into ropes of anxiety.

  After my shower, I stood in front of the scratched-up medicine cabinet mirror at the loser staring back at me that needed a shave. Uncle Jeb had stocked up on shaving cream, razors, deodorant--all the essentials needed for hygiene--and I was glad he had. Since I was seeing Claire for the first time in weeks, I sure didn't want her thinking I looked like a bum.

  Uncle Jeb bought me five pairs of socks and five pairs of underwear. He told me that would be enough for the first week, and after that, I could take my paycheck into town and get some more when I did laundry. It shamed me that the only thing I had to wear to Church was blue jeans. They were stiff and scratchy when I tugged them on, but they were clean and didn't have holes in them. I decided to walk up to Uncle Jeb's house and see if he had a shirt I could borrow. I didn't think wearing a t-shirt with the marina logo on it would be the right thing to do.

  The sheriff's car was sitting in front of the main house whe
n I walked up and the skin prickled at the back of my neck. It made me feel itchy, and I rubbed my hands over my arms. Uncle Jeb looked up and spotted me approaching. He waved me over.

  "Sheriff Thirtyacre, this is my nephew Braden." The sheriff bobbed his head once in my direction. "Braden, the sheriff here says Brogan walked away from the work site yesterday afternoon. He wants us to keep an eye out. If we see him or suspect he might be in the area, we're to give the department a call."

  I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. "You think he'll come here?"

  "We just don't know. We know he has a girlfriend, but other than that, there isn't much to go on. Nobody saw him walk off," the sheriff said.

  "And if that ain't enough good news for one day," Uncle Jeb interjected with a humorless snort, "some sneaky bastard broke into the marina last night."

  "You think maybe Brogan did it?" My eyes went wide. Something had been telling me Brogan would stir up shit just as soon as he got out of WTJDC. I had hoped to get a bit more solid footing beneath me before he started in with his revenge.

  The sheriff exchanged a glance with Uncle Jeb and said, "He seems to have it in for you, Braden. Just watch your back, son, and let us know if you see or hear anything. We have no reason to believe he's dangerous at this time."

  Not dangerous? Who the fuck were they kidding? Brogan was capable of anything. Of that, I was absolutely confident.

  "Anyway," Uncle Jeb said, painting on a smile, "you plan on going to church looking like that?"

  I glanced down at my bare chest and remembered the reason for my visit in the first place. "No, sir I was wondering if you might have an extra shirt I could wear. Don't seem fitting for me to wear a company t-shirt."

  He snorted. "All right then, go on inside and find ya something."

  Sheriff Thirtyacre got in his squad car, and I hurried into the house. My skin crawled at the thought of Brogan coming here and trying to fuck with my life again. I found a dress shirt in Uncle Jeb's nearly empty closet, and though it didn't fit the best, it still beat the alternative.

  Uncle Jeb was waiting in his pickup when I came outside, buttoning the shirt as I walked. He gave me a sideways look. "Don't worry about Brogan. They'll find him and haul him back to juvie before he gets too far."

  "I hope you're right," I said, wishing I held his optimism.

  It looked bad. I hadn't even been home a full twenty-four hours and the marina gets broken into. What the fuck? I hoped Uncle Jeb didn't think I had anything to do with it. The fact that they stole the boat anchor I'd made such a big deal about made me feel guilty as hell. Even though I didn't know anything about the break-in, why I had such a guilty conscience, I didn't know.

  Claire was trying to maneuver herself out the door and down the steps of their house when we pulled up the driveway. I hopped out of the pickup before it had even stopped.

  "Oh hey, let me help you with that," I said to her. The fuck if she wasn't even more beautiful than ever.

  To be honest, it was both the longest and the shortest ride to church ever. I was hyper-aware of her body heat mingling with mine. She smelled just like fresh baked cherry pie and I felt my dick stiffen uncomfortably.

  I couldn't tell you what we talked about either, except, for her explanation about why she hadn't showed up at WTJDC for my release. And me mumbling something about forgiving her.

  I'm sure she thought I was the biggest fucking hick east of the Mississippi.

  After church, she seemed worried about her sister. I couldn't shake the God awful feeling I had that something bad had happened, and that somehow, Brogan was involved. I hoped, for everyone's sake, it was just my overactive imagination, and that I was way off-base.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Brogan Sayer

  I slept restlessly until sometime before dawn. I needed to get out of the house and burn off some excess energy. I snagged Aja's car keys off the hook on the kitchen wall and slipped out. She was sleeping like a baby and I didn't think she'd even notice I was gone.

  Weston was on the other side of the lake from Hensteeth. If I remembered correctly, I just had to follow the gravel road around the lake and that would take me directly to the marina. There were two main ways in. One was the private entrance by Uncle Jeb's house, and the other was a public access road.

  I drove real slow and parked in the lot near the boat ramps. When me and Braden was little, we played hide and seek in the woods. We'd spend all day long running back and forth between Uncle Jeb's and where the boats put in during the summertime.

  The sun hadn't come up yet and it was still pretty dark in the parking lot. When I started walking toward Uncle Jeb's, it was easy to see where I was going because they'd installed lights along the path. It didn't take too long for me to make my way to the marina, and even less time to crack open the side door to the shop. I didn't know what the fuck I was looking for, but figured maybe there'd be some money stashed somewhere.

  Uncle Jeb hadn't bothered locking the office door. Jack-fuckin'-pot. Aja had a worthless piece of shit flashlight on her keychain that didn't help much, but I didn't want to risk turning on any lights. I damn near fell on my ass tripping over a big old hunk of lead and I shined the light down to see what it was. A boat anchor. I don't know why, but I wanted it. The cash box wasn't hard to find. It didn't have a lot of money in it--only around fifty bucks or so.

  I tucked the bills in my front pocket and scooped up the anchor on the way out. I could have shut everything back up but figured fuck it, let 'em know they got robbed. I didn't give a rat's ass.

  About halfway back to the car, I heard someone coming down the path and ducked off in the trees to wait for them to pass. I could see her, but she didn't see me. When she got closer, a big grin snaked across my face. It was the preacher's daughter. It was my lucky day. I got even with that sorry ass uncle of mine for disowning me, and now I was about to get back at my pussy brother by fucking his woman.

  Just thinking about it made my dick twitch. What better way to kill two birds with one stone? Piss off Braden by fucking Claire, and get me a little pussy to boot.

  I waited until she was right on top of me and jumped out behind her. Foolish bitch couldn't hear me because she was listening to music. I caught her by the back of her shirt and clamped my hand over her mouth. She froze for a split-second before she began fighting me like a rabid raccoon. She was one feisty bitch and got me good alongside the face with her fucking claws.

  "Stupid cunt!" I hissed. She'd drawn blood. I slammed her head face first into the trunk of a tree and smiled when she slumped to the ground. She didn't hardly weigh nothing, so I drug her off the trail and into a nearby cave, out of sight.

  She came to and began to struggle for all she was worth while I was trying to get her shorts off. I smacked her hard upside the head, and that settled her down. With one hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming her fool head off, I was able to get her panties down around her knees with my other.

  "I like it when you fight, Claire. Tell me, did you fight my brother like this?"

  She froze and her eyes widened and she shook her head.

  "I'm going to take my hand off your mouth. If you make a sound, I'll bash in your fucking skull. Got it?"

  She nodded. I didn't trust her, but since I planned on killing her anyway, it didn't matter if she screamed. As soon as I took my hand away, she opened her mouth and started wailing. I grabbed hold of that boat anchor and silenced her permanently.

  The lake was only a few yards off the path, so I dragged her body over to the edge. I had to hurry; the sun was starting to come up. I ran back to where I parked the car and grabbed a tow rope from the trunk. I hurried to the corpse and hooked the rope to the boat anchor and wrapped the other end around her.

  Not far up the shore was somebody's old flat-bottomed fishing boat. I wrestled her body into the boat and paddled out a ways before dumping it over the edge into the water. I wouldn't have to worry about the corpse floating to the top, not with t
hat anchor weighing it down.

  My eyes darted around the water's edge, looking for anyone who might have seen what I'd done. I rowed back to shore, climbed from the boat, and headed back to where the car was parked.

  Aja was still sleeping when I got back to the house. I took a quick shower and crawled in bed beside her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Claire Copeland

  Dad and I hurried home after church, hopeful that Olivia would be waiting for us, but she wasn't. The unspoken concern between us hung heavy in the air. I had to get out of the house before he drove me crazy. A cigarette would hopefully help calm my nerves. I chain-smoked three before hobbling back inside.

  "Did you have a fight with your sister?"

  My eyebrows drew together. "What? You're blaming me because Olivia missed church?"

  He tugged at the collar of his dress shirt. "Nobody's blaming you, Claire. It was a simple question."

  Heat pumped through my veins and I folded my arms in front of me. "Why don't you say what you're really thinking? That Olivia couldn't possibly do anything wrong. That this is something I would do, but never your perfect daughter."

  His face darkened, and a vein popped in his forehead. I'd struck pretty close to home with my remarks and he was pissed. He slammed his fist down on the table, sending the salt and pepper shakers crashing to the floor. I flinched in surprise; my dad usually did a good job of keeping his temper under wraps.

  "You don't know how valid those remarks are. Yes, this is exactly something I've come to expect from you. Do I blame you for what's going on? Think about it, Claire. If you hadn't been drinking and crashed Olivia's car, you would have been with her this morning. It would have been like every other Sunday where my daughters crept silently into the back row at church, late as usual."

  My fingers curled around the crutches, and if I didn't still need them to get anywhere, I would have thrown them across the room. I bit back the bitter words I wanted to tell him and swallowed hard. Maybe someday I'd have the guts to tell him what I thought of him and his self-righteous ways. For now, my sentiment of fuck you, you son of a bitch silently raged inside my head.