“Noah, he’s been alone for days. He needs some love.”
I walk Murph into the kitchen and put him down before retrieving the box of biscuits from the cupboard. The shake of food sends Murph into a frenzy, and he twists in and out around my ankles, nearly tripping me up in the process. “Okay, okay.” I shake out some food and get him eating, filling up the feeder in the next breath.
After satisfying myself that Murph’s okay, I go and look for Noah. I peer into the lounge, but he’s not there, so go and look in the office.
“What the …” There’s paper and mess strewn over the floor. My tidy desk is now in disarray, and Noah is standing in the middle of it all. “Did you do this?” I shout at him, furious that he’d leave my place in such a mess.
“No. No one knows when I've been somewhere.”
“Well, I did, because you messed with my computer,” I correct, unable to contain my anger at who would violate my space like this.
He points to the monitor and computer smashed on the floor. “Not like whoever this was.”
I pull my laptop from my bag, slump down in my chair and fire it up, wanting to log in and check my system for any notifications or unauthorised access. There’s nothing. Which means whoever did this didn’t bother trying to get into the system at all.
“Lewis,” I state, knowing it must have been him. He’d know my system and that he’d fail at hacking in. He’s looking for something. Although, I don't know what he’d need, or think I had? He has his mother’s journals, and Ivy has the information from the author. And if he did this, wouldn’t he leave his DNA or other traces behind?
“What about Lewis?” Noah asks.
“It must be him. Who else would do this?” I can feel my heart start to race in my chest, so I close my laptop and lean back in my chair. A purring Murph jumps up, and I watch as Noah takes a step back and away. “Is it safe here, Noah?” I ask, my voice clipped as real concern starts to take over.
He doesn’t respond but walks out of the room.
“Noah?” I stand and take Murph with me, following him through the apartment.
He turns back to me as I approach him, having made it to the bedroom. “Fuck, get that thing out of my face.” His scowl is vicious as he looks at Murph happily purring in my arms.
He pushes back past me into the hall.
“My cat isn’t the problem here. Lewis is.”
“All cats are a fucking problem. If you've fed the beast, let's go.”
“Wait. I need to get some clean clothes. I’ve been living out of a backpack for days.” Plus, I don’t want to say goodbye so quickly.
“You’re the one who ran. Deal with it. I thought you wanted to track this guy down?”
I look up at him and give him my own scowl. “I do. I’ll be quick.” I drop Murph down, but he sticks to me like the shadow he is. “What do you think Lewis came here for?” I call.
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
His ambivalence riles me, but I push it aside. With Noah clear of my bedroom, I strip out of the clothes I’m wearing and change into clean ones, grateful for the freshness of them. I pull out a few other items from my wardrobe and drawers and run my hands over the choice of underwear. I can’t help but be a little more choosy than I need to be, and I hate that he’s in my head already, but so what if I may have liked what we did?
No. There’s nothing romantic about Noah and me. He wants something I can give him – although why he wants it from me is a mystery. Still, I grab the black underwear, more lace and silk rather than my boring plain-Jane pairs, and stuff them in the bag without thinking anymore.
“If you don’t hurry the fuck up, we’ll never get out to Hescott.”
I finish with my clothes and give Murph, who’s now curled up in the middle of my bed like he’s the new owner, a little stroke. He meows and stretches in response, seemingly happy to be left now he’s had some love.
“I’ll be back, I promise,” I whisper as a piece of my heart breaks. Again, I push that lost feeling aside and set about my next goal. Because if I don’t achieve it – if I don’t catch Lewis – then I’ll never get my life back.
~
“You need to let Landon know that Lewis might be coming for them,” I tell Noah.
“I don’t need to do shit. You do, though.” He doesn’t look at me but keeps his eyes on the road we're driving along.
“I told you, I’m not ready for that. Aren’t you meant to be looking out for them?”
