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She held no real power behind her but she was still an investigator; still knew the ins and outs of asking questions and seeking answers when they wanted to stay hidden. That much couldn’t be taken away with credentials and a gun.
“I’m going back to Sylen, Mimi. I want to find out what happened to him as much as you do.”
She remained quiet, twisting her fork, and staring at the wall. Vera knew she wasn’t seeing what was in front of her. There was practically steam pumping out of her ears. The tension had been palpable before she came out of her bedroom twenty minutes ago.
They’d silently navigated making breakfast. Vera made the eggs while Ximena pulled out day-old ingredients to throw together. They were careful not to bump shoulders. A difficult thing to do in a kitchen the size of her closet. They had planned to create an open concept once Vera’s work schedule slowed down and she took some time off. That plan had been pushed back three times.
Vera tried to ease the stifling strain in the small space.
“I never lied to you about why I couldn’t come back home.”
“You just didn’t tell me the truth.” Ximena didn’t miss a beat. A serpent ready to strike. “Which is the same thing,” she added dryly.
She wanted to defend herself. To deny the accusations. But they were true and the smallest, kindest thing she could give her was not adding another lie on top of her shit pile.
“I want you to work with Teddi.”
The request was the last thing she expected. Allowing Teddi to go to the body identification to support Ximena was one thing. Taking her to an investigation, qualified or not, was something else entirely. She sputtered, scrambling. “I’m not, no, I’m not working with Teddi. I can do this on my own. I’m good at my job, Mimi.”
Her sister chose that moment to look at her. A cold there she’d never seen before and never pointed at her.
“No estoy jugando. Vas a trabajar con ella and find out what happened to Alex. Necesito llamar mamá y papá y decirles.” She wasn’t playing, working with Teddi wasn’t an option when she was the one making phone calls that would tear their family into shreds. “I know you guys have a past but this is bigger than a break-up, bigger than whatever is left between the two of you.”
The way she said it was so flippant it made Vera deflate. Ximena had watched her try to survive the devastation of their ending. The rug had been ripped out from under her feet and she had a front-row seat. She'd tried to be there for her even after Vera returned to college more determined than ever to leave Fort Collins and everyone behind for good. Ximena stayed silent but steady as she pulled herself back together. She knew what being around Teddi meant, what precarious control it threatened.
She felt the maw of a trap gape open, waiting to swallow her whole. “Did you already tell her?”
“Yes. She said to meet her at the OIA office. I’ll text you the address.” They decided together. They conspired behind her back.
“Fine.” The trap snapped shut around her. It was a free fall into dread.
She would have gone without being told, let alone asked. She would have returned to Sylen alone, done her job as Alex’s family, and worked with what she had. She wasn’t an idiot, she could use a computer too. Not hacker-level, but she always got the job done. A podunk town with a territorial Sheriff wasn’t going to get in her way.
Moving just to break away from the weight of the conversation, she put her plate in the sink and then gripped the edge of the counter. “I didn’t stay in D.C. because I didn’t want to come back, you know.” The words tumbled out too fast to stop. As if they could alter the last few minutes and make her sister change her mind. “I didn’t leave you to deal with Alex’s disappearance on purpose. There was a reason I couldn’t be here.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ximena’s brow pitched high in challenge. “What was it?” The words wouldn’t even form into a sentence. The reality was a swarm of thoughts overtaking her mind. Too many mistakes. Too many slip-ups. Too far over the line that she'd lost sight of it altogether until that final day undercover. Vera looked away, losing the game of chicken. “That’s what I thought.”
The swarm buzzed louder, filling her ears like white noise. She had to get out of there before she did something she couldn’t come back from. If Ximena wanted to play buddy-buddy with Teddi, that was her business, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to pretend to do the same.
Heading towards her bedroom, she stopped when Ximena’s voice cut like a blade. Every word landed like a perfectly aimed strike.
“You think you have to do everything alone. You think the rest of us aren’t capable of being here for you and you’re wrong. I’ve always been here. Teddi has always been here. It’s you that isn’t.”
The blade lodged deep in her spine, the twist a sharp and vicious thing that made her want to bend forward and moan.
Vera kept walking.
Chapter 9
Teddi
Teddi’s sigh bounced off the walls of her dark bedroom, the desperate edge of it echoing like a song. Her fingers moved faster, her lips parting as she tried to find air.
The image of Vera’s head between her legs played out in her mind, her black hair tickling her thighs. “God, I’ve missed this,” she would say, her faint accent curling around the words. With her deft thumb, she would pull back Teddi’s hood revealing her clit, only to use her tongue to dance around it teasingly. Whimpering, Teddi would beg for more, for her to let her come.
Vera would laugh, the stuttering puffs of air hitting the sensitive nerves. “Make that sound again,” Vera would demand as she rubbed her mouth side to side over Teddi’s pussy, moving lazily as if she had all day. It wasn’t a kiss but an ownership, a knowing of each and every inch to do with as she willed.
On cue, a raspy moan would escape as Vera curved a finger inside and upward, coaxing her body to obey.
