Retribution (11 page)

“You have fun. If you want, bring her back here, and I’ll make something nice for dinner.”

I shook my head. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I want to spend the day just with her. If I bring her back here, she’ll hunt for Coop. I think she has a crush on him.”

Ellie chuckled. “What female between the ages of ten and forty doesn’t?”

I chose to stay silent, only giving her a small smile. Talking to Ellie about my slight attraction to Cooper sounded about as fun as getting punched in the face. She didn’t need to know how twisted my mind was.

“I’ll see you later, Ellie!” I called over my shoulder as I walked to the door leading to the garage.

I climbed into my car and backed out of the garage. I didn’t look back at the house of horrors I was living in. I pulled out onto the main road. The drive to pick up Shelly gave me time to think. I wished it hadn’t. My mind spun in a million different directions as I tried to look past all the bad things that could happen. If Robert found out that I was using him to help Cooper, I had no doubt that the beatdown I’d receive from him would be brutal, even compared to what he had done already. That made me realize one thing for sure. Robert could not find out.

My thoughts drifted to Cooper. Sadly, I wasn’t even thinking about our plan. Instead, I was just thinking about him. That was dangerous. Images of him standing shirtless in front of me flashed before my eyes. I was obviously attracted to him. I’d lied to myself for so long, and I was tired of pushing those thoughts away. I could at least admit them to myself even if I would never dare say them out loud to him or anyone else. In my defense, Cooper was only a few years older than me. It was natural for me to find him attractive. It was the simple fact that he was my stepson that turned my stomach, and that made the way I felt about him oh-so very wrong.

I shook my head to clear it as I pulled up to Shelly’s house.

It didn’t matter how I felt about Cooper. Once this was all over, I would leave him, Robert, and the rest of Morgantown behind. I planned to divorce Robert and take what money I’d made at the firm with me so that I could start over again. I had no idea what I would do or where I would go, but I wanted to be far away from this place. Morgantown had brought me nothing but hardship, and I knew it would only get worse before it got better. I wanted out. It hurt to think about leaving Shelly, Cooper, and Ellie behind, but I knew it would be for the best. I could never escape my past if I tried to cling to those around me.

The front door of the house swung open, and Shelly came barreling down the steps to my car. Seeing the smiling face of my favorite foster sibling put a smile on
my
face despite all the tension and fear I felt. That was just how Shelly was. She made everyone around her happy. Most kids would give up not long after they hit the system but not her. She wasn’t jaded or angry. I prayed that she never would be.

“Claire!” she cried as she scrambled into the passenger seat. She threw her tiny arms around me. “I missed you so much!”

I tightly hugged her back. “I missed you, too.”

“I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten all about me,” she said as she pulled away.

I watched as she fastened her seat belt. “I could never forget about you. This week was a long one, and I was busy. I started a new job.”

“Oh, where?” she asked.

I pulled away from the curb. “At the law firm that my husband owns. It’s boring, but it gets me out of the house. I mainly file paperwork and run errands.”

“That’s cool. I bet you’re glad to work with Robert. You get to see him more now.”

My smile was forced. “Yeah, it’s great.”

“So, where are we going today? Can we go back to your house? Is Cooper there? I want to see him again.”

Her voice was hopeful, and I couldn’t help but grin at her. She absolutely loved Cooper.

“You really like Cooper, don’t you?”

“Yeah, he’s nice to me. Plus, he’s cute,” she said.

“He’s too old for you to think he’s cute.”

“Psh.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m almost eleven, Claire, not five. I know a cute boy when I see one.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“So, are we going back to your house to see him today?”

“No, I don’t think he’s even home,” I fibbed. “I thought we could spend the day together—just you and me. We can grab some lunch and go to the park. Maybe rent a couple of bikes and ride for a little while.”

“That sounds fun. But next time, you should bring Cooper.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I pulled into the drive-through at a fast-food restaurant.

“I’m serious. You always smile more when he’s around. It’s like he makes you perpetually happy.”

“Perpetually? Your vocabulary is growing, I see,” I teased.

“I’m growing up, Claire.”

“That you are,” I said, suddenly sad to realize that was the truth.

Shelly was on that precipice between child and preteen, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to let her grow up. I pushed that thought aside. I couldn’t control time, and even though I wanted her to forever remain an innocent child, I knew that was impossible.

Shelly stayed silent as I ordered our food and then paid. I found that strange since I could barely get a word in usually. Once they handed the food out to me, I continued through Morgantown, heading for the park.

“You okay?” I asked when Shelly still hadn’t spoken.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“You sure? You’re usually more chatty than this.”

I sighed when she didn’t say anything. The next ten minutes crept by as the car was suffocated by our silence. When I pulled into a parking spot and shut off the car, Shelly grabbed the food and climbed out. I followed her over to the picnic tables and sat down across from her. She dug into the bag and pulled out her food before tossing the bag to me.

“Shelly, what’s wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything.”

She finally looked at me. “You can tell me anything, too.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Okay…”

“I can see your face, Claire.”

My stomach dropped. I thought I’d covered my fading bruise with enough makeup to hide it from her but apparently not.

“Shelly, I…”

“Don’t,” she said, cutting me off. “You’re the strongest person I know, Claire. Why would you let someone do that to you? I was in a foster home before I came to Rick and Tammy’s. I saw the bruises that the man had left on his wife’s face. Yours are the same.”

“I don’t know what to say, Shell.” I hated how choked up my voice sounded.

“Tell me that you ran away from whoever did that to you.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“But it is. You just have to walk away. You always told me to stand up for myself. Why aren’t
you
standing up for yourself?”

Being chastised by a ten-year-old made me hate myself even more for falling for Robert’s tricks. Even though she was young, Shelly was wise beyond her years. It seemed that she was far wiser than I was at the moment.

“You wouldn’t understand,” I said quietly.

She shook her head. “I’m not a kid anymore.”

I looked away, suddenly more ashamed than I ever had been before. “When the time comes, I will leave. I promise you that.”

“You should leave now!”

“I can’t! I’m helping Cooper with something, but once it’s finished, I
will
leave.”

“You promise?” she asked.

“I promise.”

My answer seemed to satisfy her. “Good. Does Cooper know this happened to you?”

“He does. It’s being handled.”

“I knew he was a good guy. You should have married him instead. He wouldn’t have hurt you like this.”

“When did you get so smart?” I teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

“When I ended up in foster care and met this girl who taught me how awesome I am.”

I laughed. “This girl sounds smart. I think I like her.”

She stuck her tongue out before attacking her chicken nuggets. “Enough talk. I want to eat in peace.”

I rolled my eyes as I unwrapped my cheeseburger.
Leave it to Shelly to put me in my place.

Tuesday morning, I found myself clutching a vase filled with flowers as I walked into work. I felt ridiculous. I went straight to Gina and gave her the biggest smile I could manage. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the flowers.

“Morning, Gina. Is Robert in?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No, he’s not. He’ll be in court for most of the morning.”

“Shoot,” I said. “I wanted to surprise him with these. Is it okay if I go ahead and put them in his office?”

She smiled. “That’s fine. Let me grab the key for you.”

“You’re awesome. Thank you!” I said.

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a key. I made a note of where she kept it in case I’d ever need to get back into his office.

“No problem. Just bring the key back when you leave.”

I took the key from her when she held it up. “I will. I think I might hang out in his office for a bit. Maybe he’ll come back before I have to get to work.”

She nodded before turning her attention back to the keyboard. I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked down the hall to Robert’s office. That had been easier than I’d expected.

I kept my head down as I unlocked Robert’s office and let myself in. As soon as I was inside, I closed the door behind me and locked it. I didn’t want someone to accidentally catch me while I was pretending to be Nancy Drew.

I looked around his office after placing the flowers on his desk. It looked like it always did—a leather couch sat in the corner and art hung on every wall. His desk was a dark mahogany color. Two plush chairs were set in front of it. Against the far wall was a row of filing cabinets.

“Might as well start there,” I mumbled as I walked over to them.

I pulled the first filing cabinet’s top drawer open. I started looking through several file folders, hoping that something would catch my eye, but I had no such luck. All of them were related to cases that Robert was working on. Nothing personal was in any of them. I frowned as I shut the top drawer and pulled open the second one. After a few minutes of riffling through it, I groaned. They were also case files. I checked the two other drawers, but there was nothing of significance in them either.

I moved on to the second cabinet and tugged on the top drawer. It didn’t budge. It was obviously locked. There was no way that I could open it without a key. I tried all the drawers on the rest of the cabinets, but none of them would open. I looked around the room, hoping that the key would magically appear before me. I had no idea where Robert might keep it. For all I knew, he carried it with him.

Defeated, I moved toward his desk. It was the only other place I could look. I sat down in Robert’s chair and started looking through the papers scattered across his desk. I noticed a few utility bills with our address on them, but those were the only personal documents I could find. I pulled open the center drawer of his desk. It was filled with stationery and pens.

Just as I started to slam it shut, I noticed something shiny in the back. I pushed a few pens aside and saw the silver loop of a key ring. One key was attached to it. Excitement filled me as I grabbed it and stood quickly. Maybe this was the key that opened the filing cabinets.

I walked over to them and shoved the key inside. It fit, but it wouldn’t unlock any of them. I glared at the key as if my predicament was its fault. Cooper was an idiot for thinking that I’d be able to find anything in Robert’s office. I wasn’t exactly the stealthiest person in the world, and my detective skills were pretty much nonexistent.

As I started walking back to Robert’s desk, I noticed the key ring had a piece of laminated plastic attached to it as well. I studied it closely.
Morgantown Storage
was typed across the top. Below that, I saw the number
23
. I raised an eyebrow. As far as I remembered, Robert had never mentioned a storage unit before.

Before I could change my mind, I shoved the key in my pocket. If my luck continued to stay the way it was, I wouldn’t find anything useful in Robert’s office. Maybe the storage unit would be better. I could at least check it out. I was sure it would be easier to snoop there anyway.

I continued my search of Robert’s desk, but the drawers only held case documents. There was absolutely nothing useful at all. I winced when I thought about telling Cooper that I had come up with nothing more than a key to a storage unit that could be empty for all I knew.

Defeated, I unlocked the door and stepped back out into the hallway. I stopped by Gina’s desk to return her key before heading down to the basement to start filing.

Around noon, my phone beeped with a text from Robert. My stomach instantly tightened as guilt over searching his office descended upon me.

I saw the flowers. Thank you.

I typed out a quick response.

I thought they would be a nice surprise.

He answered me back only seconds later.

They were. I stopped by the office for only a few minutes. I have a meeting in twenty, or I’d take you out to lunch. I’ll see you this evening. Ellie is making dinner for us.

Great. I can’t wait.