Only Witness, The (28 page)

              “I know. And I'm sorry I slammed my door down on you. I was just... this is all a lot to take in.”

              “I know, and you're doing great, really great. You going to be okay in the back seat?” Deacon reached out and pulled her towards him.

              “I should be fine, I can lay down a little if Susan doesn't mind.” Vera stretched up and kissed him. “Maybe I'll even get a little nap in.”

              “You probably should rest. Are you sure that this isn't too much for you?”

              “No, it's fine. I'm fine. Let's just get there. I think we're all getting cabin fever stuck in the truck.”

              “What else do you expect? It's a cage, can't be content in a cage.” Deacon leaned in and kissed her. “Come on, we should find somewhere to stop and eat. Maybe everyone will feel better once they're full.” He doubted that was the case but it was worth a try.

              “Yeah, let's try that.”

<#<#>#>#>#

              Deacon had doubted how great a house purchased on the Internet was going to be. He expected that there would be some kind of smoke and mirrors, they'd arrive and find it was actually a scale model and not a real house or something like that, but instead he'd been blown away. The house came with ten acres of land surrounding it, the second truck that Lina had promised was in the driveway, and the closest neighbor was nearly six miles away, it would be perfect for changing. As good as home, maybe even better because this was new territory, a chance to explore. “This is really fucking great, Vera,” he grinned widely when he saw she was smiling as well.

              Houdini and Susan were also smiling. Some of the tension from the long ride was starting to blow away with the fresh air, and for that he was glad. In only a few days everything had changed. He had an identification in his pocket with his face and another name. James Church. He didn't think he'd ever feel like a James Church.

              It was going to be an adjustment for all of them. Deacon couldn't help but wonder if they'd survive the sheer stress of it. He felt like he was crawling out of his skin and then knew what would make him feel better. He needed to run, to change and to run. A look at Susan told him that she felt the same way. She didn't open her mouth either.

              “Why don't the two of you check out the woods?” Vera suggested. “Houdini can carry the stuff in and I'll check out the inside, get us settled the best I can with what we have.”

              “You sure?” Deacon asked with the hope that she was and would say yes. If she wasn't, he would stay with her.

              “Positive, now get out of here, we've got work to do.”

              “You up for it?” Deacon looked over at Susan who nodded. “We'll just be a few hours, I'll run into town and grab something for dinner.”

              “I think the humans can handle a run into town. We're going to need a lot of stuff, basic stuff to be comfortable.”

              “Get what we need,” Deacon told her. “Use some of the money from my bag.”

              “Nope,” Vera replied. “I've got money. Now go before we change our minds.”

              Deacon didn't need to be told twice. “Keep an eye on her,” he told Houdini. “You ready, Susan?”

              “I'll race you,” she said, already starting to run towards the tree line.

              It was one of the best changes Deacon ever had, once he felt his paws hit the ground he didn't have another thought for maybe hours after. All that mattered was the run, the thrill of chasing new scents. He found a small stream, and evidence of several abandoned houses that had been taken back from nature. One day he'd bring Vera out here and show them to her.

              They would make this place their home. These were the woods where he'd teach their kids how to camp and survive, just as his father had taught him. The idea of a family with her was a new one, suddenly in the front of his mind and backed by a feeling of urgency he couldn't explain.

              When day faded to dusk, he threw his head back and howled to signal Susan it was time to return. He couldn't force her to come with him, but the sooner that she dealt with Houdini the better it was going to be for all of them. Deacon could only hope that his two friends would figure out a way to make it work, because if they didn't it could end up killing them all.

<#<#>#>#>#

              “Somehow I thought that we'd be having this conversation as a group,” Deacon looked across the bedroom to where Vera was brushing her hair. He had the ointment out, ready to treat her wound. It would be a ritual for them now, morning, night and every time in between. The more ointment they got into her, the better.

              “Would you rather be having this conversation as a group?” Vera met his eyes in the mirror. She'd been quiet since they’d returned from the run; she and Houdini had obviously been busy, because the fridge and cabinets were fully stocked, there were sheets on the bed and towels in the bathroom.

              “Not really,” he admitted. “I don't even know where to start. Why don't you tell me what you're most curious about, and we'll start from there?” Long talks had never been his strong suit, he preferred to think of himself as the strong and silent type, but that wasn't going to cut it, not here and not now. Vera deserved answers, and he'd give them to her with the hope that there was nothing she couldn't handle. He didn't know what he would do if there was. It wasn't like either of them could back out now.

              “Everything,” Vera placed the brush down on the dresser and turned to face him. She was fresh out of the shower, wet hair and glistening skin. “Just give it to me straight, Deke. I already told you that I'm in it for the long haul. Just no more lies.”

              “When did I lie to you?” He sat up straighter on the bed, his brows furrowed together.

              “About Graham,” Vera replied.

              “What about Graham?” He quickly searched his mind for anything to do with Graham and came up blank. The man wasn't a friend. He was essentially a boil on the ass of Center City, piss drunk more often than he was sober and often angry.

              “I saw what happened that night, Deke. I was watching from my window, the only witness to what you did.”

              “What I did? What the hell are you talking about, Vera? The last time that I saw him was at The Bar, just like I told Chief Will.”

              “I know what I saw,” she kept her voice even but he could tell that it took her effort. He could feel the way that her emotions were bouncing around.

              “I don't know what you think you saw, who you saw, but it wasn't me.” Deacon pushed with his mind against her, trying to get some clue as to what she was thinking or feeling. “Vera?”

              “I saw you,” Vera sighed. “I heard a bike, heard someone in the lot, so I looked out and I saw everything. I saw you.”

              “You didn't see me,” he shook his head. The story that he'd given Chief Will had been only half bullshit. He'd been at the warehouse but not watching a movie with the guys, they'd actually been dealing with a shipment of stolen cell phones to be sold to a guy Master knew in England. It had made them a nice profit with very little effort.

              “Deke, please. All I'm asking is for the truth, I'm sorry if that's too much but don't fucking lie to me. I watched you pull the trigger.” She never took her eyes off of him as she spoke, her expression serious.

              He realized that she believed every word she said, believed he'd killed Graham Caldwell before her eyes. She didn't believe what he was saying, even though it was the truth. He couldn't get a read on her with their shared empathy, and he was trying. The ease with which she could block him out pissed him off more than the accusation. “You saw my face? This face?” Deacon was off of the bed, anger buzzing so loudly through his body that he wondered if she could hear it.

              “You had on a black leather jacket, dark jeans and the gun was chrome plated, glinted in the security light at the edge of the lot. He was begging. He was pathetic and you pulled the trigger. Silenced shot, but it felt like I heard it.”

              “It wasn't me. Don't you trust me?”

              “I should trust you more than my own eyes? I watched Deke!”

              “So you keep saying, I'm saying that it wasn't me. Can't you feel it?”

              “When you came the next day, I thought it was because of what I saw. I thought that you were there to kill me. I almost ran.”

              “I wasn't there to kill you. Jesus Christ, Vera.”

              “I said I thought that, not I think it now. Even then, after a while I knew that you wouldn't hurt me, no matter what you were capable of.”

              “There's blood on my hands, Vera, but not Graham Caldwell's blood.” Deacon hissed the words as he threw up a block of his own. If she opened to the empathy again he didn't want her to feel his rage. Even while she stood before him, doubting him, he'd rather cut off his own hand than scare her.

              “You know what? I don't give a fuck what you did, but I do that you're lying to me despite what I saw with my own eyes. I'm not continuing this conversation. I think it's probably best that I just go and sleep in the downstairs bedroom.”

              “Houdini's room? I don't fucking think so.”

              “Please, Houdini isn't going to sleep down there. It's the size of a shitty walk-in closet. I think he'd have to stoop down to stand inside.” Vera crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm smaller, I'll fit fine.”

              “No, you're not sleeping downstairs. No way. No way in hell.”

              “I'm not going to stand here and fight with you all night, Deke. I know what I saw.”

              “Alright, take me through it. Step by step. Tell me about that night.” Deacon clenched his hands into fists to keep the urge to grab her and shake her at bay.

              “It was a normal night. I closed up the shop, had dinner and some wine. I was reading on my tablet so I had all of the lights off.” Vera exhaled. “It was a romance novel, trashy and full of sex. I was enjoying it, it was distracting me from my mood.”

              “What was your mood?”

              “I was pissed,” Vera replied. “I'd gone to Rose's for lunch, saw you outside of your office with one of those girls, and it pissed me off. Guess I had a little bit of a crush on you, though crush sounds so teenage girl.”

              “Wait,” Deacon interrupted, “you had a crush on me? Why didn't you ever tell me that?”

              “It never really came up in conversation,” Vera replied.

              “So, it's safe to say that I was on your mind that night?” Deacon wanted to push her about not telling him but held back. There were bigger issues at hand than her telling him how she felt about him before they were together. It was just a sharp reminder to him how little they actually knew about one another despite the fact that they were mated and married.

              “Yeah, it's safe to say.” Vera managed a smile. “When I heard the bike, I had this fleeting thought that it was you coming to see me. Then the bike was idling outside for a few minutes and I had to look.”

              “Did you turn on the light?”

              “No, I was all stealth mode. I heard Graham, complaining that this wasn't the deal or what he signed up for. Something along those lines. He was frantic, frightened. That's when I recognized you.”

              “How did you recognize me?”

              “The way that you moved, your height and build. I could see your hair, well what wasn't covered by the hat.”

              “What kind of hat?”

              “A baseball hat.”

              “A baseball hat? Baby, can I ask you something?”

              “Go ahead, ask.”

              “When is the last time that you saw me in a baseball hat? Have you ever?”

              “I...” she paused. Deacon knew that it was the right question to ask as her face turned even more serious. Finally she spoke, her voice unsteady. “I can't remember ever having seen you in a baseball cap.”

              “You still haven't. It wasn't me. Tell me what happened next.”

              “Graham kept arguing. Things went downhill. And then you…he pulled out a gun and... well, that was the end of Graham arguing. An SUV pulled up a few minutes later and then the body was gone and I went to bed. I didn't sleep much, though.”

              “I bet you didn't,” Deacon moved closer to her. “And the next day when I came to the shop, you were scared of me.” It bothered him more than he'd ever admit to her, especially when remembering how he'd approached her. He'd been pissed to find the shop closed after he'd gotten only a few hours of sleep and taken time out of doing his work to get Adelaide her present. The note he left had been terse at best, and when they'd finally spoken he knew that he'd been an ass.

              “At first, not for long, though. I'm sorry. I thought it was... I...” She was shaking as she spoke, her whole body trembling. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Are we okay?”

              “We're okay.” He heard the need for assurance in her voice, saw it in her eyes. Inside she had to be a bundle of nerves but even now that she was starting to see the truth she was still closed off to him.

              “There's a lot that we don't know about each other, Deke,” Vera pointed out. “Everything happened so fast between us, there wasn't time for anything but what was going on. And then we were on the run, getting married and leaving with just one bag. It's a lot that's happened and a lot that's happening. If the treatment doesn't work...”

              “Vera, it's going to work.”

              “You can't know that! You don't know that! No one knows what's going to happen, no one! We've got to face the facts, it can go either way. I need to know that if it goes badly, you'll be okay.”

              “No, I won't be. I can not lose you. I will not. I'll put that ointment on your skin every hour on the hour if I have to. You're right, this all happened fast. Our empathy helped with that, let us trust one another without really knowing one another. We can fix that, it's just going to take us a little time.”