Tobias and I quietly lie in each other's arms on the large leather sofa in his office, enjoying this intimate private time. I'm wrapped in his loving embrace as he gently caresses my body and places soft kisses in my hair from time to time while I peacefully drift in and out of consciousness. I swear I could lie here with him like this forever … no stress, no worries.
"We should probably go home and grab a quick bite so we can get to the control room. I told Zeke I would help him out since he's shorthanded," Tobias finally says, breaking the comfortable silence, causing me to groan. I turn my head and rest my chin on the back of my hand, which is lying on his chest and stare into his eyes.
"Do we have to?" I ask, pouting a little. I lean up and put my lips on the spot just below his right ear while I caress his bare chest with my free hand. "Can't we just forget about Dauntless' problems for one afternoon? We could lie here and enjoy each other's company, maybe make love again," I lean back and look in his eyes, "or we could go get Tyler and Tessa and take them to the park." He tightens his arms around me and draws my mouth to his and kisses me softly.
"As nice as those things sound," he breathlessly says after he releases my mouth, "and believe me, love, they really do, I would feel better if we started looking into why Molly was here the morning Sam was murdered and if there was any connection between the two before they came to Dauntless. Once we resolve what's hanging over our heads, our lives will get back to normal."
"Have our lives ever been normal?" I ask with a sigh.
"Not really," he says. "But I look forward to the day it is."
"Me, too," I say with a yawn.
"What happened to my energetic wife?" he chuckles.
"Well, I think we expelled most of it over the past hour or so," I say.
"Come on. Let's get dressed and go home," he says. "I'll fix us lunch while you rest."
"Okay," I say. He manages to get off the couch after giving me a quick kiss then helps me to my feet. "Do you see my panties?" I put my bra back on while my eyes scan the floor but my underwear are nowhere to be found. He bends over and stands back up twirling the small, black lace boy shorts on the end of his finger.
"They were right where I dropped them," he says with a sexy smirk on his face. I reach out to grab them but he pulls them away. "How about I help you put them back on since I'm the one who took them off?"
"Okay," I say with a giggle. He's in a really good mood right now.
"Let's see, in your words, how about I get on my knees on the floor in front of you." He grins as he sinks to his knees in front of me and holds my panties out. I place a steadying hand on his shoulder and step into them then he slowly pulls them up and into place. He puts both hands on my exposed rounded abdomen and kisses my sensitive bellybutton. "I love you, baby girl, almost as much as I love the beautiful woman who is carrying you." I run my hands through his hair and he looks up at me.
"I like listening to you talk to her. She loves you already," I say. "She stops moving around and listens when you talk to her. Now she's kicking like crazy again."
"I can feel her," he says. "I look forward to the day I can take her to the training room and teach her to use the punching bags."
"She's going to be a natural … just like her father," I say. "My kidneys can attest to that." He kisses my belly again then stands up. After we finish getting dressed, I run my hands through my hair in an attempt to straighten it.
"You look beautiful," Tobias says. I look up at him with a smile and smooth down his tousled tresses. "Is that better?"
"Perfect," I say.
"You are the perfect one," he says. He runs his hand down my face and lowers his lips to mine but a knock on the door startles us. It's a good thing we picked up the papers he scattered all over the floor when he swept them off his desk. It would be embarrassing to let anyone see that mess. He gives me a swift kiss before answering the door.
"Hey, guys," Zeke says. "I thought I'd find you in here. Have you had lunch yet?"
"No, we were just getting ready to go home and have a quick bite to eat," Tobias says. "Would you like to join us?"
"Sure," he says. "It beats going all the way to the cafeteria and back." We start out the door when I remember the reason we came his office in the first place.
"Don't forget the files, Four," I say.
"Thanks, Tris," he says. He quickly picks up the folders off the top of the filing cabinet. I'm surprised that there are more than I thought there would be. He flips off the lights and locks the door on the way out then we head up to our apartment. "You two go ahead and sit down. I'll fix some leftovers. I hope spaghetti and meatballs is okay."
"My mom's recipe?" Zeke asks.
"Is there any other?" Tobias says.
"It sounds wonderful," he says then turns his attention to me. "So how are you feeling, Tris?"
"It depends on the day, actually," I say. "Obviously, I wasn't in the best mood yesterday. I'm really sorry for my behavior, Zeke. I'm sure I made you and Will uncomfortable, and I hate myself for that."
"It's alright," he says. "How are you feeling today? You look great."
"I feel wonderful today," I say. Sex does that to me but I'm not telling him that. "Have you found anything more on the tapes?"
"No," he says. "I took Nathan under my wing this morning and made sure he got the correct training."
"How did he do?" I ask.
"He's a fast learner," he says, "and a great addition to the control room team. Hey, Four, when can we schedule a meeting on adding even more team members?"
"How many are you thinking?" Tobias asks as he puts a bowl full of Caesar salad on the island.
"At least four," he says. "I want to restructure the shifts. I'll keep Nathan on days if he proves himself then add two each to the swing and night shifts."
"That sounds reasonable," I say.
"Yeah, it does," Tobias says. "Tris and I will talk it over with Tori, Will, and Harrison when we're deciding what job openings there are this year. Lunch is ready, guys." We gather around the island and chat while we eat the delicious leftovers. "There's something I want to run past you two. I've been thinking long and hard about this idea for a while now, and you're the two people in this world I trust the most. I want your opinion."
"What is it?" I ask, suddenly worried.
"It's nothing to worry about, love," he says. Once again he proves how well he knows me. "I think we should take one of the abandoned buildings next to the compound and refurbish it for older Dauntless members who are nearing factionless age. I can't justify making good members factionless just because they hit a certain age; however, if we don't do something, we'll eventually run out of room in the compound. These members will automatically be relegated to fence duty and their pay will shift to fence duty wages. What do you think? It has to be better than being made factionless."
"You know how I feel about this subject," I say. "I think it's a great idea."
"Do we, as a faction, have the funds available to refurbish an entire building?" Zeke asks, hopefully playing devil's advocate. "Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just make them factionless when they're no longer able to do their jobs effectively?"
"Cheaper and easier? Definitely but I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I made, let's say, your mom factionless because she's a little slower after her assault. And so many choose to jump into the chasm instead of leaving. I've seen the numbers. It's sad. I just can't have that on my conscious. It would drive me crazy," he says, a pained look on his face. He seems to shake it off then continues. "As for the money aspect, I've carefully went over the budget more than once and, yes, we do have ample funds."
"I think it's a great idea, Four," Zeke says. "I've been in all of the surrounding buildings and most of them have space on the ground floor for small retail businesses. You could put in a small clothing store, grocery store, and maybe their own cafeteria and infirmary or clinic."
"You sound excited about this idea," I say.
"I'm not lying when I say this is one of the best ideas I've heard," he says.
"I agree," I say. "I like Zeke's ideas also. You two need to put your head together more often."
"That would just lead to trouble," Zeke says, laughing freely and Tobias rolls his eyes at him. "How is your apartment coming along? Shouldn't you be moved in by now?"
"Gunner is finishing up Tyler's room today and will start on the playroom mural tomorrow," I say. "He had to take quite a bit of time off when he broke a small bone in his right hand but we hope to be completely moved in before The Welcome Ball."
"That long?" he says.
"After all this time, one-and-a-half-weeks doesn't seem that long," Tobias says. "We've already boxed up all the nonessentials and moved them down the hall. When we have a spare minute or two we're going to continue unpacking what we can."
"We've already put away a few kitchen boxes," I say. "It amazes me how much stuff we've accumulated in less than a year. It's kind of scary because we're moving into a bigger place, which means even more room for things we don't really need."
"We just need to remember where we came from," Tobias says.
"Look who's talking, Mr. Gift Giver Extraordinaire," I say.
"You know I'm all about showing you how much I love you," he says.
"I know but I prefer when you show me in other ways," I whisper in his ear so Zeke can't hear.
"Don't think I don't know what you two are talking about," he says, making exaggerated gagging motions. "I already contemplated blinding myself because of you two, now I'm thinking about deafening myself also."
"Zeke," Tobias sternly says.
"Take it easy, Four," he says. "I'm just saying."
"How about we stop talking about my sex life and get to the control room," I say, my hands on my hips. Tobias and Zeke both look taken aback. I must say I don't know where that came from. I feel heat creeping up into my face but I stand my ground, not taking my eyes off my husband and his best friend.
"Yes, ma'am," Zeke says, saluting me. I roll my eyes and turn my back on both of them and then walk out the door. I hear them bickering as they hurry to catch up with me. "Sorry, Tris."
"Sorry, love," Tobias says.
"You guys are idiots," I murmur, "but I love you both."
"We love you, too," they singsong together. Tobias takes my hand and Zeke drapes his arm across my shoulders and we continue on to the control room.
"In all seriousness, thank you for lunch," Zeke says. "Which one of you cooked? It was just like my mom made it."
"That would be me," Tobias says. "Your mom taught me well, didn't she?" I nod.
"That she did," Zeke says. "Shauna and I have both been so busy lately that we barely have time to see each other so we haven't had a chance to have supper with my mom in quite a while so your spaghetti and meatballs is going to have to hold me over until we can get together."
"That's quite a compliment," Tobias says as we walk into the control room. Everyone stops what they are doing and looks at us. "Back to work." It amazes me how he can literally morph into Four in a blink of an eye. They all quickly turn back toward their screens and get back to work as we walk into Zeke's office.
"I'm going to take these," I say, taking the file folders out of Tobias' hands, "and sit over here and go through them. Hopefully, I can find us a connection."
"I'm going to check on Nathan to see how he's doing. I don't want to overwhelm him his first day," Zeke says. "I'll be right back."
"What are you going to do?" I ask Tobias.
"Go over video files," he says. "There are literally hours of video to scan through. This could take weeks."
"I hope not," I say. "Do you have Purple-Hair and Snake-Tattoo out looking for Molly?" It's the one question I neglected to ask earlier. Maybe I don't want to know.
"Not yet," he says. "I don't want to tip her off that we know she's been sneaking into the compound until we have an idea what she's up to."
"It's revenge," I say.
"I agree with you," he says. "But revenge for what? I have been mulling over a couple ideas. We'll talk about them later, okay?"
"Okay," I say. I sit at the small table in the corner of Zeke's dimly lit office after I give Tobias a swift, tender kiss. I open each of the files he retrieved and skim through them.
"Four, do you think I should get Christina's file?" I ask. "She transferred from Candor, too?"
"You think she's hiding something?"
"No," I scoff. "But we're always worried about impropriety. Doesn't it kind of look like favoritism that her file isn't here?"
"Yeah. I guess you're right," he says.
"What are you doing?" I ask when he starts to get up.
"Going to get her file," he says, confusion covering his handsome face.
"No, I'll go get it," I say, getting up from the uncomfortable cold, metal chair. "I need to walk around."
"Tris, why don't you take those files home and look them over there?" Zeke suggests. "I know my office isn't exactly the height of comfort."
"You know what, I'm going to take your advice, Zeke," I say. Tobias scoffs under his breath and shakes his head a little. He was probably expecting an argument and is surprised that I gave in so easily. "This chair is killing my back … or the baby is, one of the two." Tobias gives me his office key and tells me that he'll go get Tyler and Tessa before he comes home so I don't have to go all the way to the Pit. I kiss his cheek, tell him and Zeke goodbye then get Christina's file from his office and head up to the apartment.
I sit at the island after making myself a tall glass of lemon-infused iced tea and spread the folders out in front of me. I sip the refreshing drink as I read through the Candor transfers' files from the last three years. Nothing stands out to me as odd and, unfortunately, I don't see any commonalities yet, well except for the faction they were all born into. I come to Sam's file and pour over every detail. Samantha Jean Lawrence was the only child of Scott and Melanie Thornton Lawrence. She had zero infractions growing up so it's hard to tell who her friends were. The one thing that does surprise me is that she got Candor on her aptitude test. She's the only one so far who didn't get Dauntless.
I stack all the files out of my way, except for Peter, Drew, and Molly's. I honestly don't expect to find anything but know I have to go through them anyway just to be thorough. I open up the one on top, which just happens to be Drew's. I had no idea his actual name is Andrew … Andrew Mitchell Boyd. He's the older of two children born to Dustin and Sally Cooper Boyd. His little sister, Jenny, is years away from choosing. He got into some minor trouble with Molly and Peter at Candor while he was growing up, which doesn't surprise me at all. His aptitude was for Dauntless.
The next folder I flip open is Peter's. I take his smug, smiling picture and flip it over once the shock wears off. I close my eyes and do some deep breathing to calm my hammering heart. I haven't seen his face since that morning in the hospital when Tobias rescued me, and I didn't know it would affect me like it did. I push the file away and pick up my phone.
"Is everything alright?" Tobias asks through the speaker, forgoing a hello.
"Yeah," I say. "I just wanted to hear your voice."
"What's wrong, love?" he asks after I hear him close a door. "You sound … stressed."
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" I say with a sigh. I get up from the island and sit down in the club chair and put my slightly swollen, aching feet up on the ottoman. "I just saw Peter's picture, and it startled me. You know I haven't seen it since … that morning." I'm quiet for a full minute, and he doesn't say anything either, letting me gather my chaotic thoughts. "I didn't know he still scares me, Tobias."
"Do you want me to come home?" he asks. Of course, I want you to come home. But I'm too selfless to say that out loud.
"No, there's too much work left to do today," I say. "Have you found anything new?"
"No. You?"
"Just that Sam got Candor on her aptitude test," I say. "Oh and Drew's name is actually Andrew." I hear him chuckle.
"So nothing probative?" he asks.
"No," I say, giggling a little myself.
"You sound better," he says.
"I feel better," I say. "I just needed to talk to you. I should get back to the files and let you get back to the surveillance videos."
"You're sure you are alright?" he asks.
"Yeah."
"Okay. I'll see you later," he says and just before I hang up he says, "And, Tris, I love you."
"I love you, too." After I hang up, I manage to get myself out of the chair after a couple tries then put my phone away. I quickly grab a small plate of cheese, cracker, and grapes then sit back down at the island. I take a deep, calming breath and open Peter's file again. I graze on the snack while I look things over. Peter Allen Hayes, only son of Porter and Ruth Ann Buck Hayes. He had numerous infractions growing up, most of which were with Drew and Molly but no one else. Hhm. He got Candor on his aptitude test also. That actually surprises me. He would have fit in perfectly with the reckless Dauntless that Max, Eric, and Erudite was trying to build. I momentarily wonder what made him choose Dauntless then get angry with myself for giving him an extra minute of my time. I sigh and push his file away from me.
I pick up the last file and open it to find Molly's smug face staring back at me. I thoroughly read through it but, unfortunately, nothing stands out to me. Molly Elizabeth Atwood was born in Candor to the late Walter Atwood and Lillian Buck Atwood who got remarried to Jed Cooper when Molly was a toddler. She's the youngest of three children. Her brother, Michael, joined Erudite three years ago, and her sister, Margarete, made Candor her official home two years ago. There's no mention of any other friends or acquaintances in her file. She got into trouble a few times as a dependent for breaking curfew. Of course, she was with Peter and Drew.
Wait a minute! I drag Peter and Drew's files back to me and hastily open them up. I flip to the family section and meticulously compare all three files. Ruth's maiden name is Buck as is Molly's mother. Drew's mother's maiden name is Cooper and Molly's mother is now married to one. I think I remember Christina telling me just after we met that Peter and his cohorts were inseparable from birth and now I think I know why, Molly, Drew, and Peter are more than friends … I think they are family.