Page 19 of Learn For Me
Humming under her breath, Archie’s fingers danced over the keys. “No. She hasn’t shut us down for a third time, and I’m almost through the last block she’s put in place. In about thirty seconds, she loses any chance of keeping me from retrieving the codes, which tells me she’s not at her desk anymore.”
“Less talking and it could be twenty seconds.”
“Nope, I’ve tested that theory. My hands perform magic at the same speed regardless of how fast my mouth is moving. Be patient, Mr. Grumps. You got her into this shit, I’ll get her out. Hope you’re ready to do some groveling.”
Zeke growled. “What was I supposed to do? Drag her kicking and screaming into a relationship I don’t particularly want, like a caveman?Consent, Anarchy.”
The little blonde’s lip curled as her brown eyes flicked briefly over the edge of the laptop. “Jesus, it’s like Jasper all over again, right?” She glanced at Atticus and got a nod of agreement. “She’s inlovewith you, you numbskull.”
His heart squeezed. “I’m too old for her.”
She made a derisive sound in her throat. “Men and this fucking age thing. Welikeolder men, Zeke. It’s like wine, y’know, or cheese. Older, more mature, better taste. The oats have been sowed, yada yada, and by this point in your life, you should know where the clit is and how to use it to its full potential.”
Atticus smirked. Obviously, he had no issues navigating his wife’s anatomy to maximum effect.
“I have no issues with a woman’s clit, Anarchy,” he said in exasperation, “or her G-spot for that matter. Maybe we could have given it a shot a few years ago, but she just upped and—”
“Say left and I’ll slap you. She went to take care of her sick mom.”
“Without a word.”
“There’s the note,” Atticus pointed out.
“A note no one has seen or remembers.”
“Did you check your wallet?” Anarchy mumbled. Her fingers attacked the keys viciously. “Come on, you sneaky bastard. I’ve almost got you.”
Both Zeke and Atticus shifted to face her, looming over the chair where she sat with foreboding expressions. He felt the tension in the hallway twist, deflecting away from the lockdown situation for a brief moment, and landing squarely on this new bite of information.
Slowly, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and opened it. He flipped through the card section and billfold. No note, just like he knew there wasn’t. He’d used the damn thing countless times since Olivia vanished, on a fucking daily basis. “Nada, Archie.”
“Just…hold…on…one…” She jabbed a button savagely, cheering, then looked up, frowning at him as her eyes refocused on the unpixellated world, then snatched his wallet from his grasp. “I swear to God, men can’t see what’s in front of their face. Where’s the peanut butter, Archie? On the third shelf of the cupboard, J. Where, I can’t see it?”
As she muttered to herself, apparently reliving some random conversation with her husband, her deft fingers were violating the sanctity of his wallet, sliding over the leather with purpose. After only a few moments, she wiggled a folded sheet of paper from a section he didn’t know existed.
“Right in front of your face,” she told him with a flat expression.
“How’d you know it was in there?” he demanded.
“Walked in on the nurse who put it there. Thought she was trying to rob you, but it didn’t really make sense. She was putting somethingin,not taking stuff out. She told me she’d found the paper on the floor, and that she’d leave it in your wallet, so you’d find it when you woke.”
His mouth opened but nothing came out. Stunned, he stared at the paper with a mixture of shock and horror, studying the last two years with a fresh perspective. “Did she read it?”
“I don’t think so. She didn’t have the gooey expression we tend to get when we read someone’s declaration of love.” Brown eyes rolling, she yanked the treasure out of his reach when he tried to take it. “Priorities, Zeke. The locks should disengage any moment n—”
On cue, the red light flashed three times and switched to green as the security system disengaged with a soft buzz.
Priorities, indeed. The moment he literally got the green light, the letter and its potential blipped from existence. He beat Atticus to the door, shoving it open and striding inside with his heart in his mouth.
The computer on the desk was in screensaver mode, images flashing over the monitor in a random pattern. Nothing personal, just swirling patterns changing color on rotation. Music bleated tinnily from an unknown source, but all he heard were the soft whimpers of a woman in pain.
“Couch,” Atticus murmured.
Turning his head, Zeke spotted the purple bundle huddled in a pitiful ball at the end of the only piece of comfortable furniture in the room. The red curls of her hair were in disarray, as though she’d tugged at it, running her fingers through the silky locks in frustration.
Walking over slowly, ready for her to launch at him and claw his eyes out, he met her eyes and understood she wouldn’t be going anywhere he didn’t take her. Open, blank, dull.
He knelt on one knee, cupping her cheek. Cold, pale skin. She blinked slowly, like it was too much exertion to maintain normal speed. Her lips were cracked, dehydrated; unsurprisingly, given how red and puffy her eyes were.