ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (111 page)

              The group whispered and Dan stepped forward. 

              Liam held the door open for him as they entered the cold room.  An attendant was waiting.  Mya’s body was covered with a pale green sheet.  Liam looked at the young man and waited for him to indicate that he was ready. 

              “I’m ready.” 

              Liam motioned for the attendant to proceed.  He moved the sheet away from Mya’s face. 

              Liam watched the young man carefully.  He only indicated a slight widening of his eyes, and his throat worked as if to force vomit back into his throat.  His eyes lingered on the crude stitches over his sister’s mouth.

              Liam nodded to the attendant so the girl’s face could be covered again.  Liam waited a several moments before gently handing Dan the clipboard and indicating where he needed to sign.  A fat tear splashed onto the paper, but Liam pretended to not notice. 

              It was never easy if many family members came together for something like this.  It was always better if only one was there.  That way they could contain the grief before going home to experience it all over again.  They could be spared the public display. 

              Liam watched as the young man stood before his parents and nodded once.  The woman howled and bent her body over her knees, arms outstretched to grab the boy around the waist.  He staggered for a moment before gathering his mother upward and helping her towards the door. 

              Liam had seen that before too.  A family will come in with that sliver of hope that whoever is laid on the stainless steel table won’t be their loved one.  It was the final irrevocable devastation when they realize that it is.

              The case bothered Liam, not just because both victims had been young women at the very start of life; it bothered him more that they were VCU students.  Audrey was a VCU student.  He may not have been sure he wanted to stay married to her, but he certainly didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. 

              “Do you think it’s serial?” 

              Liam walked slowly into the parking lot of the police headquarters.  The evening air crisp but not cold.  Twilight was almost finished, and Liam’s mind was sluggish from the day’s events. 

              “Yeah I do.” 

              Hank sighed.  “The weird ones are always the hardest.”  He gave Liam a sidelong look.  “I was thinking about that first girl…the way she had the concrete in her ears…”

              Liam stopped and stared at him.  “Hear no evil, speak no evil, and see no evil.”

              Hank nodded sagely.  “And it doesn’t matter what order you say it in.”

              Liam grimaced.  “There’s going to be another.” 

              Audrey toyed with the idea of actually cooking Liam dinner, but decided that it would be presumptuous of her, since they hadn’t eaten a meal together in over three weeks.  She was feeling elated over dropping the unnecessary course.  Her thesis focused on the necessity of a two parent home and the indispensable impact a mother has had through out time on the American household.  Her thoughts and ideas were not welcomed at such a liberal college; and her guidance counselor had even insinuated that her rhetoric was hate speech against gays, lesbians, and single parents.  Audrey had hotly debated that it wasn’t.

              She stared into the freezer and decided on a compromise for herself.  She would cook a frozen pizza and make tossed salad, but wouldn’t set the table.  That way Liam could eat if he wanted, where ever he wanted.  No pressure. 

              Less than an hour later, headlights from the cruiser shone through the back door momentarily.  Audrey had butterflies in her stomach.  Should she run to the bedroom and wait to see if he went to his?  Should she stay and offer him a greeting?  She had decided to eat at the kitchen table, not expecting him right away. 

              Audrey was halfway to standing, with her fingertips on the edge of her plate, as Liam walked through the door.  He looked momentarily surprised to see her eating in the kitchen. 

              “Hey.”  He said quietly. 

              “Hi.”  Audrey kept her head tilted towards her plate, but watched Liam with upturned eyes.  He went to the stove and took a slice of pizza, turning to rest a hip against the cabinet. 

              Audrey dropped her eyes back to her plate, pushing her half eaten salad around with her fork.  She didn’t know what he expected from her.

              “Have you heard about the two girls missing from VCU?” 

              Audrey nodded, daring to look at him as she spoke.  “Yeah.  Debbie Bray and Mya Chui.  I had a class last semester with Debbie.” 

              Liam coughed once and took another bite of the pizza.  “Mya was found this morning.” 

              Audrey closed her eyes.  “I assume she wasn’t alive?”

              “No.”  Liam finished the pizza and wiped his hands on a paper towel.  “Look…I want you to make sure you’re being careful while on campus.” 

              “I always am.”

              Liam slammed his hand on the counter.  “Dammit, Audrey!  For once could you just say ok?” 

              Audrey took her plate to the sink, careful to not accidentally brush him as she walked past.  She scrapped the scraps into the garbage disposal and flicked the switch, enjoying the loud distraction.  When she had finished she looked at Liam as she passed him again. 

              “Ok.”  Was all she said.  The next sound heard was the slamming of her bedroom door.

              Liam laid awake for many hours that night just staring at the ceiling.  He wondered why he had chosen this life.  He could have lived with a pack like his own kind.  His father had, after his mother died.  Lance Lamb was a werewolf, but Sarah Lamb had been a human.  It was a doomed love considering the length of time a werewolf can live, yet they couldn’t live without each other, and had carved out a life of partial rural existence, while giving Liam and his brother John as normal a life as possible.  The gene had skipped John, and he had been grateful.  He never begrudged Liam the fact that he was born with it though.  Pity a bullet in Iraq had ended his already too short life.

              Liam rolled onto his side, thinking about Audrey.  When he had met her in high school, she was the breath of fresh air he needed for his parched desert of a life.  He had been going through a time of restlessness, yearning to live with a real pack, yet feeling the pull of ties to the human world.  He wanted so much back then, but he went into self-destruct mode, because life felt like it was always right out of reach.  Until Audrey. 

              She had walked into his 11th grade Chemistry class, bright faced, and dressed in faded blue jeans and an orange pullover sweater, the stiff white collar of a button down shirt visible along the neck line of the sweater.  Her small feet were clad with some kind of black flats that are now extremely popular.  She looked so prim and proper.  A couple of snotty girls stared her up and down and whispered furiously among themselves and the two football players, they wanted to impress, at their work station. 

              One of the boys cleared his throat, and made an inappropriate comment as Mr. Franklin introduced her to the class.  The startled expression on Audrey’s face followed by the flush of her cheeks was all Liam needed to propel him across the room and slam the boy’s face into the edge of the Bunsen burner.  The boy would need three stitches across his nose. 

              Liam glanced at the girl as his teacher had him by collar ready to march him to the principal’s office.  She had her books clutched to her chest, her auburn hair pulled back by two clips on either side of her head, and then she smiled.  She was the most beautiful thing Liam had ever seen. 

              Liam had been kicked out of school for two weeks, but in the meantime he had his best friend, Tony, find out as much as he could about the girl.  As it turned out, her family had moved to Fredericksburg because her father was a Marine stationed at Quantico.  Tony found out that she was an only child, she was shy, she was really smart, and her favorite lunch items were apples and milk (unless it was Friday, then it was the rectangular piece of cheese pizza.), and he found out that she wanted to be a college professor someday.  How did he find that out?  Because the pimpled backstabber was trying to move in on what Liam already considered his own.  It didn’t matter though.  Once Tony told her that his best friend was coming back, Audrey had demanded that Tony take her to his locker. 

              “I wanted to thank you.”  She had said. 

              Liam tried to appear non-chalet, but his hands shook, and the words stuck in his throat.  He nodded instead. 

              Tony understood his chances were gone, and play punched Liam in the arm, telling him he would catch him later. 

              Audrey had frowned slightly.  “Why did you do it?”

              “Do what?”

              “Attack that guy like that?”

              Liam had shrugged.  “You were new…it wasn’t right.” 

              Her laugh was like little rain drops on the surface of water.  “Do you always do what’s right?”

              He turned and stared her directly in the eye, unable to stop himself from moving right up to her. 

              “No, I don’t.” 

              “Good.”  She whispered, large hazel eyes staring up at him. 

              A first kiss is memorable.  A first kiss when you fall in love is unforgettable.  The physical pull between them was so strong, as his lips touched hers, that they were now the center of the universe, and all else simply orbited around them.

              Liam sighed and shut his eyes hoping to crush the memories.  Where had it gone wrong?  When had the love died? 

              Audrey sat before her computer, the cursor blinking on the blank page in an accusatory manner.   The notes beside her, two notebooks full, with a separate three pages of loose leaf paper noting all of the references she would have to cite, seemed to glare at her.  She imagined all of these things mumbling against her.  Just write!  You’ve wasted enough time! Are you really starting over, AGAIN?  Who cares what you think anyway?

              Audrey threw her hands up in frustration.  Words were her friends.  They had been her lovers, her angels, her demons.  Why was it so hard now to even write the first sentence?  The first sentence of her third attempt at the same thesis.

              She hadn’t come out of the bedroom until she heard Liam leave the house.  She just didn’t want to see him, confident they would argue about something.  Of late, it seemed just her presence caused him to find something to yell about.    

              She checked her watch.  She only had forty five minutes before she had to be at the diner for the lunch rush.  Fridays were her day to work lunch.  She hated lunch.  The tips were always scarce and the cook on Fridays was Chester.  Chester was the assistant manager who should have retired years ago.  Chester thought he was still in jungles of Vietnam leading a battalion, and everyone (including Audrey) were the Viet Cong. 

              With a frustrated sigh she shut her laptop and grabbed her keys.  She was already in uniform, and would be lucky if she made it through Friday traffic to Broad Street on time.

              The diner was loud and full when she arrived.  With a breathless nod of the head, she breezed past Chester.  He had just plated a breakfast special and slid it a little too hard towards the waitress. 

              “Lamb!”  He roared.  That was another of his charming qualities, he always referred to people by their last names. 

              Audrey stuffed a ticket book in her apron pocket and braced herself for the impact. 

              “Yes, Chester?”

              “You’re late!”  His buzz cut shimmered with sweat.  Audrey was always concerned his sweat would drip into people’s food.  Chester sweated all shift, every shift. 

              “Technically, I’m right on time.” 

              He marched his slightly hunched frame to the time clock.  He was still a substantial man, although his large muscles now had a bit of fat covering them. 

              He took her timecard from its slot and grunted.  Turning it to show her.  A meaty finger pointed to the time in column. 

              “11:01!  Oh…ONE!” 

              Audrey smiled as sweetly as she could.  “Yes, but it was 11:00 when I walked through the door.” 

              He grunted again and went back to the grill. 

              “Be late one more time, and I’ll fire your pretty little ass!” 

              Audrey rolled her eyes.  It was the same tune, just a different day.” 

              By two o’clock her feet were hurting and she had broken a sweat herself.  To add insult to injury, she had only made twenty in tips, after waiting on ten tables and two bar customers. 

              Damn lunch specials!  She thought as yet another table of business looking types in suits and ties ordered the $4.99 ham and cheese platter with fries and drink.  How was she supposed to make money like this?  15%?  Right.