Ch. 20: squeeze the living from this day
Walt eyed the knob of Vic's camper. It was obvious that someone tampered with it. He could hear Vic inside, walking around. The activity caused the RV to move slightly with vibration. Walt took the steps up into the RV. Vic stood in the kitchen area, her eyes moving over the confined space.
"Anything missing?"
She looked up when he spoke and shook her head.
"Not that I can tell. Someone was in here, though."
He didn't like the way that sounded. At all.
"How can you tell?"
There was a process. He focused on that. Vic pulled on her usual latex gloves and motioned him to follow her to her drawers in the tiny bedroom. He noticed that two of the drawers were halfway open. Vic pulled one all the way out.
"These two drawers shouldn't have been open. It looks like someone…went through them."
"Any idea why?"
She shrugged.
"No. Nothing but clothes. It's not like I have anything of value in here."
Walt looked back towards the door.
"So…someone breaks the knob, comes in, rifles through, but doesn't take anything. So…either they didn't find anything to take or…"
He didn't want to give a voice to the next possibility. It was his least favorite. It was easier just to believe this was random. A crime of opportunity. She was looking at him.
"Or…someone's trying to freak me out?"
He nodded slowly.
"Maybe someone is trying to scare you."
She sighed.
"I'm not scared, but I'm pissed."
He couldn't blame her there. It wasn't a good feeling to know that your home had been violated.
"Find any prints?"
Vic gave him a look of dismay.
"Not yet. Looks like they wore gloves. Fucking TV shows practically tell everyone how to commit crimes these days."
That would be a dead end if it were true. Vic shook her head in irritation and pulled off her gloves. Dropping them in the trash, she left the RV. Walt followed her. Outside, she surveyed the exterior.
"Nothing else looks tampered with. I dropped my rent off to Joe Mega and just rode by to make sure everything was okay. I…"
She gestured.
"…saw the door and parked."
"Did you report this to Joe?"
"Yes. He said he hasn't seen anything out of the ordinary and he's certain that it wasn't like this yesterday. So…it must have been last night or early this morning."
"You talk to your neighbors?"
"Yeah, the close ones. No one saw anything. Shocking."
Of course. It was always difficult to tell if that were the truth, or if people just didn't want to get involved.
Walt rolled through the procedure in his mind.
"You haven't had any issues with anyone?"
She gave him a look.
"I haven't even been here."
Vic seemed to latch onto that idea.
"Maybe that's the problem."
"What?"
"I haven't been here for almost two weeks. If someone was looking, that wouldn't be hard to figure out. Maybe this is just what it looks like. A random break-in."
"How do you figure this looks random?"
"What else could it be? Walt, it's not them."
She wasn't specific. He didn't need her to be.
"You don't know that."
Vic inhaled, her chest expanding. Slowly, she released the breath. Walt knew that she was trying to remain outside of this. He could see her working at it. That wasn't so easy when it was your own home.
"It's been weeks. A few months at this point. Walt, Chance was the brains of that outfit and he's dead. The rest of them scattered like rats. You checked the place yourself. They've cleared out and no one can find them. I just…don't believe this has anything to do with that."
He couldn't quite tell if she was entirely convinced of that.
"We still can't can dismiss it."
"I guess not. But, we can't exactly question them either since we don't know where they are."
She had a point.
He heard her boots move over the cement pad.
"Look…I probably shouldn't have even called you. It's just…"
"You did the right thing by calling me. This is twice now."
"I know. But…property crime and theft aren't all that unusual in a place like this. It easy to go down some rabbit hole into the what-ifs, but if this were any other routine crime, we wouldn't think much about it. I've…done all I can do here. I'll have a locksmith come out to replace the knob. Again. You should go back to work."
He looked around the trailer park. Cars were moving by with their drivers looking out and trying to see what was going on. This wasn't a quiet or a private place. In all honesty, anyone could have done this. It could have been kids looking for quick cash. It could have been someone who simply saw a chance and took it.
It was just that so much had happened over the past few months. It was hard for him to take anything for granted anymore. He wasn't entirely comfortable simply leaving this.
"Okay. I'll uh…do that. If something comes up, let me know."
She nodded and pulled her phone out. Walt left her and started up the Bronco. He was just out of sight of Vic's RV when he saw a familiar face walking with another man.
Travis.
Walt pulled over, put his vehicle in park, and slipped out.
"Travis."
The younger man turned and eyed him.
"What?"
There wasn't much in Travis that was welcoming.
"Can we talk?"
Travis let out an audible sigh and waved to the other man.
"I'll see you in a bit."
The man nodded and hurried off. Travis stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"What do you want?"
Walt closed the distance between them.
"You still living here?"
"I'm staying with a friend."
"Near Vic?"
"Over there."
He gestured to a trailer. Close enough.
"What does it matter? It's not like she's ever here. Except that morning I saw you leave."
It sounded like a challenge of sorts. Walt didn't take the bait. He wasn't getting into a personal conversation with Travis.
"Her RV was broken into."
"And…what? You assume it was me?"
"I didn't say that. Have you seen anyone unusual around?"
Travis shook his head.
"No."
"You sure?"
Travis frowned.
"I don't sit around watching her place, Walt. That would make me a stalker. She made her feelings clear. I might not like it, but I respect it."
Walt considered Travis. He didn't seem to be lying. He wasn't very good at it either.
"Right. If you see anything…"
He left the comment unfinished. Travis looked towards Vic's RV and back to Walt.
"Me and her could've had a family, you know. This could've all turned out differently."
Walt didn't have any desire to argue that point, or not.
"Just let me know if you see anyone."
xxx
"Did you get your lock replaced?"
Cady greeted her with a question. Vic looked up.
"Hmm?"
Cady amended her question with an explanation.
"Dad told me you were late because someone broke into your place."
"Oh…right. Yeah, it's taken care of."
"Did they take anything?"
Vic shook her head.
"No."
"That's good."
Vic forced a smile even though her mind was miles away.
"Yeah."
She looked around the office. She hadn't seen the Bronco when she parked.
"Where is Walt?"
Cady shrugged.
"I don't know. He came out a while ago and said he needed to take care of something. It wasn't long after he came in from your place. He was acting…weird. You know how he is."
Vic bit her lip and looked towards his office, an idea taking root in her mind. Cady was watching her with a sense of confusion over her sudden silence.
"Vic?"
Vic came back to the moment.
"I…have something to take care of. I'll be back in a while."
Cady looked at her in clear confusion.
"Do you…want me to come?"
"No."
Not offering up any further explanation, she retreated back out the door.
It was entirely possible that she was wrong. It was more than possible this idea might backfire on her. There was just something about him that morning when he left her place. He seemed distracted. He was thinking too hard about this in her mind.
Vic aimed her truck out of town and towards the county. The roads were familiar. Too familiar. It was odd how something could be seared so strongly in one's mind that it was never able to be forgotten even when that was the staunchest desire.
Her hands tightened on the wheel as she grew closer and a chill worked its way through her system. She hadn't been back here since the night that she was shot and it was impossible to keep the imagery at bay now that she was almost there.
That nightmarish experience started to reel through her mind despite her best intentions.
Her head thumped against the seat as Walt slipped her into the Bronco passenger seat and left her injured leg hanging out. Everything around her was hazy. Even Walt seemed like he was far away at moments as her conscious dipped in and out, never really deserting her.
"Vic."
She wasn't sure he ever said her name that way. He reached up and touched the side of her head in an attempt to get her to look at him. To focus on something.
"Mmmm."
That was all she could manage just then. Words eluded her. Her mind was swimming in a sea of confusion and pain even as Walt worked in front of her. She grasped for reality as her eyes settled on him.
His hand left her face and moved to her leg. It hurt every single time he touched it, but he wasn't overly concerned with being gentle. He was trying to stop the bleeding. There was so much blood. It occurred to her that she was going to get blood on the seat, but she didn't give the worry a voice.
Walt wrapped something around her leg, his eyes finding hers. His face was creased with worry and something else she struggled to place.
Fear?
"This is gonna hurt, but I've got to tighten it."
She tried to nod, but her head only fell forward as he pulled the wrapping as tight as he could. He startled her with the sudden burst of pain that shot through her.
"I'm sorry, Vic. But, I've got to stop the bleeding."
Her head was still heavily leaned forward.
A tourniquet.
That was the word she was looking for. He was already done and easing her legs into the Bronco with as much speed as possible. She couldn't remember ever seeing Walt panic. He seemed close now.
He pressed the door closed and Vic tried to hoist her way more firmly onto the seat. Before she could complete the move, Walt's door was open and he was in the seat beside her, starting the engine.
"C'mere."
He slid her to him and she all but slumped into him even as he pulled out, the tires throwing up dirt and rocks as he hit the gas. She could see the lights running on the vehicle. His arm was around her and he was warm. It was a sharp contrast to how cold she felt.
She was tired. So damn tired. She just wanted to close her eyes and not think anymore.
"Vic?"
He was driving with one hand and holding her with the other. She wanted to answer, but her mind didn't seem to be connected to her mouth anymore. She was just so tired.
Vic allowed herself to fall into what felt like oblivion, but was really Walt's lap. She felt his free hand on her leg, her shoulder, her head as he tried to rouse a reaction out of her.
"Vic!"
"What are you doing here?"
She blinked herself into the present. Walt didn't look at all pleased to see her standing there by her truck.
"What are you doing here?"
She tossed the question back at him. He didn't seem to have an answer. Typical.
"Vic, you shouldn't be here."
She looked around.
"Why?"
Without waiting for an answer, she started to walk. She disagreed with him. She should be here. She needed to be here. Now that she was staring it all down, it felt like something that she had to do.
"Vic, what are you doing?"
She gestured.
"Going inside."
"There's no one here."
She didn't respond. All Walt could do was follow her.
Inside, it felt different than the last time she was in this house. It was messy and vacant. The occupants obviously left in a hurry. Even with the emptiness, she could still conjure up her time here with Sean and a host of people who would have liked nothing more than to see her dead.
Vic looked around, scanning the space.
It was like so much else in her life after her experiences here. Empty. Chance Gilbert was dead. His family and followers were gone. Sean was gone. Living in Australia and clearly building a new life for himself. She wondered if he ever had nightmares about this place. This house was nothing more than a skeleton, a remnant of once was. Now, it was merely a sad shell of a place that was hollow.
The word struck her.
Hollow.
That was how she spent so much of her time feeling in the wake of her run-ins with Gilbert.
She wanted to reclaim her life and push that feeling all the way out. She was successful at that more and more lately. She could feel Walt behind her, standing close.
"What do you expect to find here?"
She turned to him.
"You. Cady told me you left the office. I came looking for you."
"How did you know to look here?"
"Considering this morning, it was a hunch. I…haven't been back since I got shot."
"I know."
"Have you?"
Walt glanced around and his eyes landed on something. Vic followed his line of sight and saw what he was looking at.
A discarded baseball bay lay on the floor.
"Yes."
He answered, but she really didn't hear him. She walked over and picked up the bat. Holding it up, she considered it for a long, quiet moment. She could hear Walt breathing, but he didn't say anything.
As the silence stretched out, he came over to stand beside her.
"You're right. There's no one here."
With that, she let the bat fall with a clatter and turned away from it. Walt trailed her back outside into the sun. Vic looked around the yard, trying to keep the memories at bay.
"Did you think someone would be around?"
She wasn't looking at him when she asked the question.
"No."
"Why come?"
"Had to be sure."
Vic dropped her gaze to the ground and kicked at some dirt.
"You know…"
She felt Walt shift his weight when she started talking.
"…that first time I was here…I remember everything. The second time…not so much."
"You lost a lot of blood."
"Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier."
"Vic…"
She shook her head, effectively quieting him.
"Walt, don't treat me like I'll break. If was going to…it would've been the night I put a gun to my head."
She looked at him when she said it and he flinched. She didn't apologize, though. They spent too much of their time avoiding topics because it made them uncomfortable. They needed to stop doing that. Hiding from something didn't make it go away. It seemed like the opposite was true.
"I chose…to live."
Walt didn't say anything. It didn't seem like there was much to say. He reached out and placed his hand on her back. She pushed slightly into the contact before she swallowed and looked at her truck.
"Let's get out of here."
xxx
"We need to talk about it."
Walt sat on his couch with Vic. She was sitting sideways so that she was facing him with her legs pulled up cross legged. Her voice held a note of insistence.
Walt let his head fall back against the couch.
"I don't see where there's anything to talk about."
Vic sighed to let him know that he was getting on her nerves. Nothing new there.
"You know…you and I both have this bad habit of not wanting to talk about what the problem really is. In case you haven't been paying attention, that is part of what ruined my marriage. I would rather that not happen again."
"This is different."
"No, it's not. Sean and I always avoided our problems. But…these issues always find a way to the surface. There's nothing wrong with admitting that I hurt your feelings this morning."
He nearly smiled when she phrased it like that. It sounded almost juvenile. Of course, it wasn't.
"My feelings weren't hurt."
"Liar."
She wasn't giving in on this.
"Okay."
"Okay what?"
"It hurt."
She continued to look at him in a way that told him she wanted more.
"I wasn't mad at you, though. Just…disappointed."
"Well…you're entitled to your feelings. And…I am entitled to mine. Right now, I'm not ready for that."
Walt ran his hand over the leg of his jeans.
"Fair enough."
She gave him a rueful smile.
"Not much in life is fair."
He smiled a little.
"True. Can I…ask why you're not ready?"
"You can. But…I don't really know. It just doesn't feel…right in this moment."
"Even though your place keeps getting broken into?"
"Even then. Walt that's a…a big step. Being here all the time and actually living here aren't the same thing. Right now…I have somewhere to go. We go all in like this and…that goes away. I feel like…I need that space to exist. There needs to be some separation. If I were to move the RV here, that would go away. I would still be on your land at your house. It doesn't have anything to do with you…or us. It's about me. I need to get my head in a healthier space."
"I can help you with that."
"You already have. But…I'm the only one who can really do this."
He knew she was right. He was the same way after Martha died. A wreck. No matter how hard anyone tried to pull him out of it, he was the only one with that sort of control over the situation. In reality, there was no saving someone from themselves. All you could really do was give them a helping hand.
The night Vic referenced earlier in the day was proof of that. The night she stood with a gun to her head, her life teetering on the edge. She held all the power just like she held the gun. She might have chosen not to kill herself based on her worry for him, but it was ultimately Vic who saved herself. He couldn't take credit for that. For her to lower the gun and eject the bullet, there needed to be a desire to live inside of her no matter what reasoning was behind it.
"I know."
She seemed relieved that he was hearing her. He knew he could've reacted better this morning. She was right. It did hurt his feelings that she turned down his offer to move in. It just seemed like the practical thing to do. The problem was that human nature wasn't always practical. Emotions were not practical.
She moved her hand to his leg and her touch warmed him. He shifted his hand and placed it over hers, his fingers slipping between hers.
"You're going home tonight?"
It wasn't anything she said to him that clued Walt in. It was the fact that she was still wearing her work clothes. Normally, when she didn't plan to make the drive home, she changed into something more comfortable. This evening when she came in, all she did was toe off her boots and take a seat on the couch.
He would be alone tonight.
They both would.
"Yeah. Apparently, my place is starting to look like an easy target. Guess I should make an appearance."
There was no way for him to fully stifle the worry that stoked in his gut. Were he being fully honest, he wouldn't even if he could. He could see what she was trying to do and he knew that it was something she needed. She needed to reassert herself and feel capable. It was so unlike Vic to be so reliant on others. Even him.
"I talked to Travis on my way out this morning."
She looked surprised.
"Travis?"
"Yep. Saw him outside. Figured I'd have a conversation with him."
She frowned.
"He didn't do this."
"I didn't think he did. He's been paying your place a lot of attention, though. He might have seen something."
"Did he?"
"Says he didn't."
"That all you talked about?"
"Yes."
It was true. Except for Travis' one comment about seeing him leave her RV after he spent the night, the conversation stayed on the break-in at her RV. She looked at him closely before accepting that.
Slowly, she stood up and stretched.
"I should go."
Walt rose with a nod and followed her to the door where she slipped her boots back on and pulled on her jacket against the oncoming chill of fall. When she straightened up, Walt took the front of her jacket and tugged her towards him.
"Be careful."
"I will."
He dipped his head and kissed her long and slow. When he pulled back, she smiled up at him in a way that made him want to push her towards his bedroom. Walt resisted the urge and released her.
"Goodnight."
Vic's eyes stayed on his.
"Night."
She reached up and traced her palm along his jawline, the skin rough under her palm.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay."
With that, she let her hand fall, tucked both hands into her pockets and left. Walt watched as she crossed his yard, slipped into her truck, and pulled out. Once her tail lights were swallowed up into the darkness, he went back inside and glanced around his cabin.
It was quiet and still now. Too much so to suit him which was almost funny. It only occurred to him in moments like this one when he was alone in the silence how much life she brought into his existence.
Flipping off the lights, he went to bed.
xxx
Vic circled her RV looking for anything unusual or out of place. Both she and Walt had already looked around that morning when they were here after she found the busted knob. There hadn't been anything there and nothing was here now. Not that she really expected to find anything. Whoever broke either did it at night or early enough in the morning that they were able to go about it undetected.
Once she arrived back at her door, she looked at the new knob. It looked well installed and sturdy. Vic pulled the door open, stepped up into the RV, and closed the door behind her. She turned the lock and it latched with a satisfactory click.
Shedding her jacket, she tossed it aside with little thought. Unbuttoning her shirt, she slipped it off and wadded it up, tossing it away into a small pile of dirty clothes. Next to go were her boots. She left them laying over by the couch, and one fell over as she pushed it off her foot. Neatness was never a strong suit. It was yet another thing that drove her mother insane back when she was a kid.
Flopping on the couch, she checked her phone to find it quiet. That was an adequate word. Quiet. Everything around her was soundless except for a few distant noises from other sections of the trailer park. It was a stark difference from Walt's cabin where the only sounds were those of nature.
When she first started staying there after she was shot, the silence seemed deafening and claustrophobic. It wasn't until she sat on Walt's porch a few times that she started to pick up on the sounds that existed. The wind, insects, birds that owned the night.
The more she existed in it, she more that she was able to hear it. After that, the quiet wasn't so quiet anymore. There was some comfort to be found in sounds that were as old as time. In some ways, it reminded her of Walt.
Vic lay her phone beside her and allowed her eyes to drift closed.
She took in a deep breath and released it.
Her nerves felt frayed. She spent most of her time feeling that way lately and she genuinely hated it. Vic kept her eyes closed and thought for a minute that she might fall asleep. She was tired, but not particularly sleepy.
She felt like she might be on the verge when she heard a knock on the door. Vic toyed with the idea of not getting up to answer it. The lights were low and whoever it was might assume she was asleep. But, she knew who it was. There were only two people that ever seemed to show up here. She hadn't all that long left Walt's. He wouldn't just show up. He would call her.
That left one.
Vic pushed up off the couch and unlocked the door to see Travis standing there looking up at her.
"It's late."
That was her greeting.
He nodded.
"I know. Just saw your truck."
"What's up?"
"Everything okay?"
Vic eyed him.
"Yes."
He shrugged.
"Walt told me about the break-in this morning."
"He told me. Said you didn't see anything."
"I didn't."
He paused and held up his hands.
"It wasn't me, Vic."
"Didn't think it was."
"I thought Walt might."
He looked around the darkness that surrounded him.
"You know…if you need anything…"
He didn't finish the comment and Vic didn't really want him to.
"I'm armed."
"Still can't accept help."
"I can accept help when I need it. You need to wrap your mind around the fact that just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I need a man to save me."
"That's not what I think."
"Sure, Travis."
She started to step back and close the door, but stopped. He looked at her questioningly.
"Something else."
Vic stepped down from the RV not caring that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Travis took a step back.
"Travis, I appreciate everything that you did for me when I was pregnant. I never really told you and that was wrong of me. You were a friend when I needed one. But, you also inserted yourself into parts of my life that you didn't have any business in. Telling Walt about the baby, that I needed someone to take care of me. That wasn't your place. Showing up here every time the opportunity arises also isn't your place. Whether you want to hear it or not, I can take care of myself. I don't need you to save me. Or Walt. The sooner you accept that, the better of we'll both be."
He looked at her with wide eyes for a moment. She half expected him to argue the same way that he normally did. But, something in his expression seemed different. He bowed his head and looked at the ground, toeing the cement slab that held her RV.
"Sure."
He mumbled the word before he lifted his eyes back to meet hers.
She saw something in him she hadn't seen before during all of their confrontations and she couldn't come up with a name for it. He took a step back and looked like he might say something more before he started to turn, pausing only once.
"I'll see you around."
Travis walked away without looking back and there was a sense of finality to the move. Vic watched him disappear into the shadows before going back into her RV and locking the door back. She thought about going to bed, but opted to stretch out on the couch instead.
Vic gave her phone a look to find it still quiet with no missed calls and no texts. Setting it up on the back of her couch, she pulled a blanket across her and settled in despite the scratchy material that pressed into the bare skin of her shoulders and arms.
She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds that came in from outside as well as the sounds from inside that were a little closer. A drip coming from the sink faucet at a spread out, yet steady rhythm. The low hum of the small refrigerator.
Her body started to relax for the first time all day. She forced herself to take long, deep breaths. She was tired. She wanted to be sleepy. After a while, she started to feel a sense of drowsiness come over her. It was a welcome feeling. She readjusted her head against the flat, slightly too firm surface and felt herself finally letting go of the day.
xxx
"Morning."
He heard Vic come into the office and greet Ruby with more vigor than normal. He heard the crinkle of a paper bag and pushed up from his desk. Appearing in his doorway, he could see Vic standing at her desk with a large paper bag. She looked up and in his direction.
"Hey."
She withdrew her hand from the bag and came up with a wrapped object. Vic extended it to him.
"Breakfast?"
Walt eyed her. Vic's head tilted slightly.
"It's just a sausage biscuit, Walt. Won't bite you."
He reached out and took it from her slowly.
"Thanks."
She turned her attention back to the bag and passed Ferg another wrapped biscuit. He took it with a smile.
"Thanks, Vic."
She nodded in acceptance of his thanks and pushed the bag away after she pulled out a biscuit for herself. Her eyes landed on Walt.
"Something wrong?"
He shook his head.
"You're in an awfully good mood this morning."
She nodded and started to unwrap her own breakfast.
"It's called a decent night of sleep."
"Quiet?"
"Yeah. No problems."
He started back into his office and he could hear her tread behind him as she followed him. Vic used her foot to push the door partially closed before she dropped on the couch in his office. She took a bite of her breakfast as he took a seat at his desk.
Walt leaned back in his chair and watched her.
"What's gotten into you?"
She shrugged.
"I told you. I got some decent sleep. You know that's not so easy these days."
"I've heard."
Walt studied her closely before he took a bite of his biscuit and set it down on the spread out paper. Vic was chewing and watching him just as intensely. It felt like some kind of an odd standoff, only with breakfast.
She took another bite and started chewing again. Once she swallowed, she arched a brow.
"You okay?"
Walt nodded.
"Fine. Just wondering what's going on with you."
She frowned at him.
"I'm not allowed to be in a good mood?"
"Course you are. You just don't normally come in here so…chipper."
It was the only word that he could think of to describe her upbeat mood.
"Chipper?"
She smiled at him.
"I don't think anyone has ever called me that before."
Walt shrugged.
"First time for everything."
"Guess so. You want me to be in a bad mood? All sullen and shit."
Walt shook his head.
"Nope."
"Then stop staring at me like you think I might blow."
Walt shifted in his seat and took another bite, trying to give himself something else to focus on.
"Travis came to see me last night."
The comment both surprised him and didn't.
"Really?"
Vic finished off her biscuit, wadded up the paper, and tossed it in the trash with a dull thump as the paper made contact with the metal can.
"Yeah, really."
"What did he want?"
"Said he was worried. Told me you stopped him yesterday and talked to him. He seemed to think you might think he was the one who broke in."
"It crossed my mind. Briefly."
Vic nodded slowly.
"You know it wasn't."
"Yep."
"That all he wanted."
"Far as I know."
She paused and he could see something heavier come over her.
"I told him…that I appreciated everything he did for me when I was pregnant. I never really did that, you know. Not really. Not…genuinely. I should have called him when you told me to. When I got out of the hospital. It was wrong of me. Selfish."
She went quiet, but he didn't say anything. He got the impression that she wasn't finished.
She wasn't.
"I also told him that I don't need for him to save me. I don't need anyone to take care of me. That's what he was always saying. You need someone to look after you, Vic. You need someone to take care of you and the baby."
She paused again and cleared her throat.
"I don't."
"I know."
"I can take care of myself."
"I know."
"He didn't say anything else. He just left after that. But…it felt…"
She seemed to be searching for something.
"…it felt…I don't want to say better. But…I felt something. You know?"
He did and he didn't.
There was no real way for him to know everything that went on in her head, nor everything that she thought or felt. He didn't pretend otherwise. It would only anger her, frustrate her. It was a presumption that he didn't have any right to make any more than Travis Murphy did.
"Maybe that's why you slept well last night."
She halfway smiled at him.
"Could be."
A beat of silence passed between them before Walt spoke up again.
"Maybe he'll leave you alone now."
"I think he will. I think…I think that he got it."
"Got what?"
"I don't know exactly."
Walt considered her and his next words.
"He loves you."
She dipped her chin a bit.
"As much as he's capable I suppose. But…"
Her forehead furrowed with thought.
"…that's not my problem. It's not my fault."
Walt didn't have any idea exactly what happened the night before after she left his cabin. He could see the effect on her thought. It seemed unexpected and unpredictable. But, that was a solid description of Vic a good bit of the time.
"No, it's not."
She stood up and stretched her arms up over her head.
"Mind I leave a little early today?"
"No. That why you brought breakfast? To soften me up?"
She smiled at him.
"Well…I was trying to be nice. You keep the smartass comments up and it won't happen again. Thought I would pick up a camera and hook it up at the door."
"Trying to catch your wannabe thief?"
She shrugged.
"I'm still not convinced that we're not dealing with kids. But…maybe if they see a camera, they'll realize that the place is being watched. I want to get it hooked up before dark. There's also a couple of other things I need to take care of at the RV. Some…minor repairs."
Walt rose from his seat and came around the desk so that he was standing closer to her.
"Do you need any help with that?"
"I can do it myself."
One side of her mouth pulled up.
"I'm sure you can."
Walt reconsidered his offer.
"What about company?"
Her head cocked to one side.
"Company, huh?"
"Yep. I won't offer any help at all."
She gave him a look.
"I don't believe that. But…company is always good."
She took one step towards him, narrowing the gap between them. Reaching up, she traced the outline of one shirt snap. The contact was minimal but effective. After a moment, she dropped her hand and it returned to her side.
"Thought I'd leave around three."
"That's fine. I don't have much to do around here these days. So…probably won't be far behind you. What about dinner?"
"What about it?"
"I could pick some up and bring it by."
Vic nodded.
"Sounds like a plan. So…"
She stepped away from him.
"…thank you."
Walt smiled at her.
"You're welcome."