Heart in Wire: A by a Thread Companion Novel (27 page)

The receptionist raised her eyebrows at him. “You Patrick?”

“How’d you guess?” he teased.

“Ummm, Marly’s description of you was spot on.” The receptionist got out of her seat. “Follow me, hun. My name’s Sherry, by the way.”

He wondered who Marly was. “Nice to meet you, Sherry.”

Sherry was in her mid-to-late forties and was wearing matching pants and top, the ones that El always said reminded her of Garanimals for adults. Sherry stopped at a small office halfway down the hall and turned the light on, showing him two chairs and a desk with a computer. “Here it is.”

“Thank you.” He nodded as he stepped past her into his office. A real office, with a window. He walked over to the window and saw the parking lot below—not an amazing view, but it was a
window
. He looked at all the white walls and smiled to himself. He never thought he’d be so happy for a window and a door.

“If you need anything you just come ask me, okay? I think the boss is running a little late, but he’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

He nodded. He was supposed to meet with the head of the office, “the boss,” Jim, in a few minutes. There was a pad on his desk with his username and password. It was the same system as DC, so it was bizarre they’d listed it on the pad. He logged in and checked his work email. His phone buzzed a text from Billy.

I missed your loud ass getting ready today. I overslept and was late to work

Fuck you very much

Patrick laughed and texted him back.

I didn’t miss you at all. Jesse had a masseuse come in and wake me with a massage and a blow job

Billy’s reply was immediate.

Fuck ask him if he wants another roommate

Patrick was smiling when a tall, blond, brick house of a woman stopped at his door and looked in. Her face glowed and she was wearing a tight blue dress that allowed him to imagine what she looked like underneath it. She had really high heels that were the same color as her long legs; he pictured her wearing just those.

“Hi. Patrick, right?” She took confident steps in and held out her hand. Her lips were like pillows he wanted to sink into.

He stood up and shook her hand. “And you are?”

“Oh, I’m Marly. I’ll be in the office, but also in the field if I’m needed.”

Patrick was having a hard time controlling himself. “You’re an agent?”

She laughed, a light tinkling, ladylike sound he wasn’t used to in an ATF office. There aren’t many females that want to be agents and those that are wouldn’t be described as ladylike…they’re usually tough broads who blended in with their male counterparts, definitely not this fine specimen of a woman. “No, I’m an attorney with the ATF.”

Another fucking lawyer. Do all the hot chicks go to law school now?

“Oh, okay. Why would you go in the field?” he inquired.

“Sometimes some legal issues come up and I assist with those. I work closely with DC too.” Her phone buzzed and she looked down, checking it.

He sat down and pretended not to be fascinated by her presence. Her hands were slender with long fingers, her nails painted grey. Her hair was wavy and golden, tousled like she’d just gotten out of bed. Her breasts were perfect and strained against the fabric of her dress. She had a very faint stain on the chest of her dress that he couldn’t stop looking at.

“I’m sorry about your friend Jack, I heard you recruited him,” she said, shaking him out of his reverie.

Knife to the fucking gut
. “Thanks,” he muttered and grabbed his pad, standing up. “I have a meeting with Jim, so...”

“Oh, me too.” Marly matched his pace with her long legs as they walked to the conference room.

Weeks later, Patrick was lying on his bed at Jesse’s house with his earbuds in and his eyes closed, trying to clear his head of all things El. Music helped fill his brain so he didn’t think about her. She’d finally stopped calling after four weeks of calling him every fucking day. Not answering her calls or replying to her texts had been almost impossible, but he was still livid with her. He just couldn’t talk to her; he didn’t think he could form a sentence. It’d been a month and a half and he was still circling the drain. He felt a tap on his foot and he opened his eyes, pulling his earbuds out at the same time.

“Hey, man,” he greeted Jesse.

Jesse was holding a ticket and his grin spread across his entire face. “So, I got you something. Hopefully get you out of the funk you’ve been in.”

Patrick sat up. “What’s that?”

“Tickets to the Pro Bowl.”

Patrick blinked at Jesse.

“In Hawaii,” Jesse finished.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, you want to go?”

“That’s the dumbest fucking question I’ve ever heard.” Patrick fought the urge to hug the gigantic man. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“How about...when do we leave?”

“When do we leave?”

“Two days.” Jesse turned on his heels. “Pack your fucking Speedo, my man, we’re going to Hawaii.”

Patrick watched Jesse’s back until he turned out of the hall into another room, then he stared into the hallway. He had no idea how he’d lucked out and ended up friends with an NFL Pro Bowler, let alone get to go with him to the Pro Bowl game.
El.
El had hooked up with Jesse right after she’d graduated from law school and the two had become fast friends. Patrick had always been extremely jealous of their hook up and then their friendship. He’d wanted to keep El to himself, but then he’d been reminded she wasn’t his, ever.

Guess where I am

Patrick waited to see if Billy responded.

Up jesse’s ass

Patrick laughed and looked around, trying to figure out how to rub this in his nose.

Your mom is giving me a lap dance on a private jet

He waited three minutes before his phone dinged.

Suck a dick dude. You lucky fucking asshole

I’ll kick your ass if you talk about my mom again

Why are you on a private jet

Are there strippers

Patrick laughed at each message that came in, each one funnier than the last.

I’m going to the Pro Bowl with my new bestie Jesse

Patrick almost giggled as he hit send. The response was immediate.

I cannot stand you

We are no longer friends

Tell jesse I’m less maintenance than you

Fuck some slappers

He couldn’t contain his laughter. Patrick was happier since he left DC, but he missed Billy. Whatever. He was on his way to Hawaii. He settled into his plush leather seat and plugged in his earbuds.

Patrick and Jesse were an hour into the flight to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Patrick had already finished the few things he wanted to get done for work and was now just scrolling through his iTunes account to see what TV series he needed to catch up on. He selected
Breaking Bad
and was about to put his earbuds in when Jesse moved to the chair next to his.

“So, I’m thinking we’re more alike than we know,” Jesse said, flipping through
ESPN the Magazine
.

“I’m pretty sure we’re not.
You
are a famous NFL star. I’m not,” Patrick rebuffed him. He liked Jesse, they’d gotten to know each other while planning to kill Jamie, but nothing too personal.

“We’re both from about the same area. Savannah and the low country of South Carolina are very similar,” Jesse said, not looking up from his magazine.

Patrick nodded. “That’s true.”

“We both hate to love Stella.”

“Yes,” Patrick agreed.

“We both killed someone,” Jesse muttered softly.

Patrick stared at him. “What?”

“I don’t want to get into it really, but I know that you’re struggling, Patrick. If you need to talk to someone about it, I promise you I’ll understand.”

Patrick was stunned silent. He’d been shoving down and away all emotions, thoughts, and feelings about Jamie. He didn’t know if he could even allow himself to think about killing his friend.

“Patrick, I’m not asking you to talk about anything,” Jesse assured him. “I’m just telling you, if you need to talk…I’ll understand.”

Patrick picked a thread from his jeans. “He was my friend,” he started. The silence hung in the air, heavy with regret. “He…I caught for him.”

“You played ball together?” Jesse asked nonchalantly.

“Yeah, I caught for him all during Little League and for travel ball.”

“So what happened?”

That was a loaded question.

“I recruited him to be an ATF agent.”

“Aw shit,” Jesse muttered.

“Then he decided to go undercover and things kind of took on a life of their own. I was told I couldn’t tell El that he was alive, so I didn’t.”

Jesse rattled the ice cubes in his glass nervously. “And then?”

“Then she had a complete fucking breakdown. She got that tattoo, she drank herself into a stupor every day. She regularly passed out naked in her bathroom.”

“Then what?”

“Then she got through it. She started eating again, working and living.”

“How’d she do that?”

Patrick shrugged. “She decided to go to law school, which really helped get her mind off Jamie. She met Millie, who made her smile, and then she met George.”

Jesse made a noise Patrick couldn’t decipher.

“During this entire process, I talked to her parents. Every fucking day that first year I talked to them. They wanted to come get her. Every day I felt like I was lobbying Congress, promising all sorts of things, like she’s getting better, she laughed, whatever. I don’t know why they agreed to let her stay. She didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone who knew her with Jamie. I just really felt like she needed to stay where she was; she didn’t even want to listen to voice messages. I didn’t think she could handle going home, where she was Jamie’s girlfriend. Her parents just wanted to honor her wishes to see if she could get through it on her own. DC was a brand new city with no memories of him and that’s what I think helped a bit. Frank still came to DC without her knowing, to check in on her every couple months.” He ran his hands over his face several times; he didn’t like to think about that year. “I have no idea if it was right or not, but I promised to call them every day and I did. Over that year, Frank and I became so close. He’s like my dad.”

“Where is your dad?”

“He left when I was a teenager.”

“Mine too,” Jesse said.

“I still talk to Frank at least once a week, even though El and I don’t talk. Always have,” Patrick said softly.

“Well, that’s good. Right?”

“Yeah. I was missing that sort of person in my life.” Patrick smiled at the thought of his conversations with Frank during that first year, getting El through it. He didn’t think Frank knew how much he really helped get Patrick through it.

“So does El know how close you two are?”

“No, she never cared.” His statement left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was true. There were so many things about him she hadn’t cared about.

“What do you mean?”

“El is very self-involved. She doesn’t realize or care about what’s going on with other people. Surely you’ve noticed that.”