Page 69 of Moros
“We can visit them tomorrow,” I said from the door. “That will give him two days out of the hospital.”
“Mm.” She barely answered. “Dinner is almost ready.”
“I’m not hungry.” I told her and turned to leave.
“I’m sorry.”
Though I paused my retreat, I didn’t face her, nor did I speak. Instead, I continued back to the office, closed the door and sat with my laptop. Thankfully the architect had sent me some of the designs he’d created.
I liked the second one best even though it was a thousand square footage smaller than the last version of Musk. The capacity would be less, but I didn’t see much of a difference in the money I would make in the place.
I emailed the designer back, telling him I’d give him an answer in a few days, then closed down the laptop to rub my eyes.
When I woke up from a nap, it was dark outside. I left the house through a side door to wander the property—old habit when I was on duty.
By the time I returned, it was well after ten and it was pitch black outside. I stood in the backyard, staring out in the direction of the water, watching the way the golden moon shimmered off the waves. The air was permeating by the smell of the ocean and each lungful of breath left me feeling lighter and lighter until it was as if I’d float away.
I wouldn’t mind floating away.
I returned to the house to find Ryanne in the kitchen sipping from a mug.
“Are you coming to bed?” She asked without looking at me.
I said nothing.
It was on purpose—I needed her to look at me and ask me that question again. When she was forced to lift her head, her eyes shimmered with an emotion I wasn’t familiar with.
“No.” I replied. “No, I’m good with where I’m at right now. You take the bed.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop—stop saying that.” I held up a hand to give her pause. “I was a moment of weakness for you. I get it. There’s no need to be sorry or make things weird because this kind of thing happens all the time. We’re both adults here. You should get some sleep. We have a long drive ahead of us.”
“Khadri—”
“Ryanne.” I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked by her. “I’m giving you an out—take it.”
I didn’t give her a chance to speak—I left and closed myself off in the den again.
But this time, I didn’t sleep.
I remained awake all night and was dressed and ready to go before the sun was fully up. While I waited, I made the coffee and breakfast, then carried a small cooler filled with ice and bottles of water to the SUV.
Ryanne made an appearance as I was sitting down to eat.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Morning.”
I rose to make her a plate, but she declined and did it herself. Texting back and forth with Boss about the designs, he too preferred design number two. And since there was no need to keep wasting time with the decision off to the designer.
Tex called and though I didn’t want to focus on anything in that moment, I answered the call on speaker.
“Okay—so, here’s what I got on Morgana and Theodore.” Tex went down to business as he had to go out with Wolf. “Theodore is a retired schoolteacher. Taught Biology for thirty-five years. Retired two years ago. Morgana personal chef for twenty years until her business crashed. She began working as school counsellor.”
“That’s a change in careers.” Ryanne pointed out.
“Yeah—she went to school for the training but loved cooking more.” Tex explained. “There’s an interview with her for the local paper when she switched to counseling. I’ll send it to Moros’ phone so you can read it. They’re not rich people but they’ve done well for themselves.”