Chapter 21
She knew he would follow her. He'd watch her meet Chris at the pub, maybe hiding in a dark corner, or maybe watching from the top of an adjacent building, but he'd be watching. The thought was shaken from her head as she sped up her steps, blinking the rain from her eyelashes. She rounded the corner and paused for a moment, glancing over her shoulder before entering the bar. He was sitting in a booth, swirling his drink around the bottom of his glass. The door creaked as it opened, and their eyes met. She had to force herself to smile as she sat across from him, waving at the bartender to ask for whatever Chris was drinking.
"So did it go okay?" he asked finally, searching her eyes for the answer.
"It went," she said with a shrug.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, dismissively, as though there would never have been a reason for the question. "Soaked, but fine." His eyes sparkled as she brushed a dark, wet curl out of her face. Funny, she thought, I remember him being more attractive than this. The conversation pressed on – mostly about how Chris had gotten out alive and how he'd tracked her down.
"So, uh, what have you been up to?" he asked slowly. She grinned.
"Now, if I
told you that…"
"Yeah, you'd have to kill me,"
he finished with an equal grin. She shrugged as though it were the most logical
thing in the world.
"Just sat at the port, mostly," she said, smiling at the bartender as he brought her another drink. "Putzed around the ship, read and reread a couple of books, nothing earth shattering."
"He had you locked up in there this whole time?"
"Not exactly, no," she said slowly. "He just thought it would be safer if we didn't venture out much." There's that fucking 'we' again. Damn it. "He's right," she granted with a small shrug. "I just bore easily."
Riddick sighed and knocked again, louder this time. Finally, he heard the locks shifting and stepped away from the door. Tim opened up in the middle of a monstrous yawn, which dissipated with his surprise at seeing Riddick standing there.
"What happened?" he asked quickly, his stomach falling.
"She left." Tim's brows furled. Riddick looked exhausted. Tim stepped away from the door and gestured for Riddick to enter. With a heavy sigh, he flopped on the beaten couch, watching Tim lower himself onto the coffee table.
"What do you mean she left?" he pressed.
"She's meeting someone at the pub."
"Who?" Riddick cleared his throat.
"Guy that helped us out."
"Helped you out as in did you a favor or helped you out as in helped you get out of slam?"
"Well," Riddick said, cocking his head. "Both, come to think of it."
"A guard," Tim deduced. Riddick sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Shit." He sighed as well, shaking his head. "Okay. I'll head over there and see if I can talk some sense into her."
"You don't have to –"
"I know, Riddick," Tim interjected. "She's making a big fucking mistake, and I don't plan on letting her find out the hard way."
"Mistake in leaving me or mistake in hooking up with him?"
"Well, both, come to think of it," Tim answered, grinning at his mimicry of Riddick's answer a few moments previously. Riddick smiled as well, but it was fleeting.
"I don't know if they were just meeting there and leaving or staying there for a while," Riddick admitted.
"I'll find her," Tim said quickly, pulling a coat over his head. "You stay here and take a nap or something."
"Like hell—"
"You look like shit," Tim insisted. Riddick grinned and agreed, watching Tim leave, the smile falling the moment the door closed. He felt like throwing an all out temper tantrum, complete with flying objects and screamed obscenities, but he contained himself.
She was in the middle of a sentence when she sensed the change. Chris' eyes shifted over her shoulder when someone walked in, but quickly returned, meaning he didn't know who it was. But she did. She stared at a cheap painting hanging on the wall as he walked by, her peripheral vision catching him sitting down at the bar, never glancing her way.
"Someone you know?" Chris' voice brought her back to the present, and she blushed slightly at being caught in her observations.
"Old friend," she said quickly. "Not a big deal."
"You sure?" She nodded, glancing at Tim again before returning to the conversation. None of what Chris said was registering, but she acted like she comprehended every word. After taking a swig of her drink, the look on his face told her she'd fucked up. "Go talk to him," he said quietly. Her eyebrow rose. "You haven't paid attention to a single thing I've said since he walked in here," he said with a smirk, giving the hand he held a light squeeze. "Go talk to him." She smiled and stood, feeling his eyes on her as she left the table.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Tim glanced at her, eyebrow quirked as he threw back a shot. He looked at the empty glass and back at her.
"Drinking?" He sounded unsure, but it was so like the smartass Tim she knew and she had to smile. "I assume that's what you're doing here." She glanced over his shoulder at Chris and returned her gaze to Tim with a small nod.
"Yeah, I'm drinking too." Tim looked over at Chris and back to her.
"I see," he said quietly. "That explains a lot." Her eyebrows rose.
"Does it?"
"Yeah, it does," he answered. She sighed.
"You're gonna have to tell me more, Timothy, and you know it." He shrugged, nursing another shot. "What does it explain?"
"Why Riddick's sacked out on my couch right now." Her eyes fell away, focusing instead on a stain on the counter. "Just about busted my damn door down, all crying and shit."
"Don't fucking lie to me," she spat, narrowing her eyes. He held his hands up, but didn't recant. She sighed, leaning her elbow on the countertop to rest her head against a fist. "Is he really at your place?" Tim nodded. "Fuck."
"I thought you said you were drinking." She glared at him, but he only smiled. If there was one person that could get away with anything, it was Tim. "Okay, so he wasn't crying, but he was worried, and rightly so from what I hear."
"And what do you hear?"
"He's a fucking monkey."
"And you're a fucking port monkey," she spat.
"True, but we've got history," Tim continued. "What makes you think he's not lying to you about all this?"
"About all what?"
"Well," Tim sighed, "I'm guessing he told you he quit."
"Yeah, so?"
"What are the chances a staffer would quit his job to chase after a resident, even one as pretty and charming as you?"
"Got proof?" she asked quickly.
"Do I need it?"
"Look, Tim, it's just as likely as Riddick actually being upset about me leaving in the first place, other than being pissed off that he couldn't corral me and I hurt his pride."
"He's on my couch, Kody," Tim said quietly. "He came to my apartment, upset that you left him. Not that you hurt his pride, that you left him." She swallowed, glancing back over at Chris.
"I can't go back now, Tim," she said quietly. "What if he gets pissed off and sends out an alert?"
"Then you run."
"And you?" Tim's eyebrow rose. "You were seen with me. By him. If he's willing to get even, he'll turn you in for aiding and abetting." She shook her head.
"Don't worry about me," Tim whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll be fine. As long as Riddick doesn't spend more than a few hours at my apartment, I think I'll be okay." She smiled slightly. "Why'd you do it in the first place?"
"Extra weight."
"What?"
"You know how they trained us to drop anything extra if we had to?" Tim nodded. Ranger training. Perfectly sensical – if you don't need it, drop it. "I felt like extra weight." Tim sighed. "So instead of making him drop me, I dropped myself for him, I guess."
"I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be totally honest with me," Tim said slowly.
"Here we go," she said with a small laugh.
"Do you love him?" She thought for a moment.
"Who?"
"Riddick?"
"No."
"Could you love him?" Another thinking break.
"Maybe.
"And this other guy?" Tim pressed. She sighed.
"You win."
"It's not about winning, Kody."
"I know. You're right though," she said quietly, glancing back over at Chris. "So what do I do about him?"
"Feel him out for a while. Test him. Find out if he's likely to turn you in if you tell him you're going back. And then play it however you have to," Tim advised. She nodded. "I'll sit here for a while, just in case."
"Thanks, Tim."
"Anytime." He didn't watch her return to the table, not wanting to draw attention or send a signal of any kind.
"Sorry about that," she said with a smile to Chris. He shrugged.
"Friend's a friend," he said slowly.
"Can I ask you a question?" she asked. He nodded. "You remember what I told you when you said you wanted to see me again." He got the hint.
"You're going back?" Alarm bells went off, as a slight note of hope was evident in his voice.
"Just tell me what I told you," she said without expression.
"Lose the job, track you down, and we'd talk, no promises," he recounted. She nodded.
"No promises," she repeated. "I can't do this right now, Chris," she said, trying to sound apologetic. He nodded slowly. "I'm just going to fly solo for a while, get my wits about me again, and then maybe, but I can't be with anyone right now."
"Well, no promises, then," he said with a small, weak smile.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he said quickly. "Why apologize for knowing what's good for you? No one else would know better." She smiled.
"Take care of yourself," she said quietly. "I mean it." He nodded, a hand finding one of her knees under the table to give her a light squeeze.
"You too." She covered his hand with hers for a moment and slid out of the booth, leaving the bar. On instinct, she walked around for a while, just in case he tried to follow her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw Chris pay the bartender and walk his way, trying to keep the smile off his face. Chris took the stool next to Tim and sighed, watching Tim glance over at him.
"Have you known her for a long time?"
"I guess," Tim said with a shrug. "I met her a long time ago, knew her really well for a while, but I hardly see her now." He met Chris' eyes, hoping he looked as honest as he needed to. "Strained past, really. Chance meetings are okay, but never more than a short conversation." Chris nodded.
"I hope you work it out with her eventually," Chris said quietly, sliding out of the stool and heading out of the bar. Tim waited a few beats before paying his tab and following, watching Chris head straight to a small, dumpy hotel. He lingered for a few moments, just in case, before heading back to his apartment.
She was sitting in a dark corner when Tim walked down the hall, jumping as she left the shadow. Neither said a word as Tim unlocked the door, swinging it open to reveal a distressed, exhausted Riddick staring at them. His eyes closed after falling on hers, and he leaned his head back against the wall. She managed a small smile at Tim, who took the cue and retired to his room, returning to the sleep that had been interrupted. He felt her sit next to him, further than normal, and his eyes opened to focus on her.
"I'm fine," she said, before he could ask.
"I'm not," he retorted quietly. Her eyes fell.
"Why'd you send Tim?"
"I didn't," Riddick answered. "He was right, though. No telling what would have happened if I'd shown up." She nodded.
"I told him that I was going to fly solo for a while, so don't worry about him turning anyone in to get even," she said slowly.
"Are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Going off by yourself for a while?" Riddick's voice was tight.
"I'm not sure." His brows furled at her words. "Would you really take one for me?" Her eyes rose to meet his, searching for the truth.
"I'd like to think so," he answered. "But you know how it is. You could say one thing and mean it completely, but when push comes to shove, no one really knows what they'd do." She nodded. "But yeah, I think I would." She smiled for a moment. He reached out, settling an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his chest, his eyes closing as her arms closed around him as well. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Me too."