Page 49 of Imbalanced Minds
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cory
Coming into work this morning was quite the feat, considering I had to leave Iris and go home first for a fresh change of clothes.
I’m relieved and surprised that Iris asked me to move in. What will be difficult, however, is how to get her to move into my place. I know how much she loves that apartment but it’s pointless for her to be paying rent while I own.
If all of this bullshit hadn’t gone down then this would have been a whole lot different, and on more positive terms. At least for me.
“Hey man, how’d last night go?” Justin asks as he enters my office.
“A whole lot better than either of us expected,” I chuckle, “bro, you have no idea.”
I get a puzzled look from Jay, followed by impatience. “Dude, just spit it out.”
“That’s not what she said,” I say, grinning just to rile him up. Laughing, I decide to tell him, “She asked me to move in.”
“What the fuck. How’d you do that? It took me ages to convince Natalie. I even had to give up some space in my gym for a bookcase!” He throws his hands up in annoyance.
Not being able to contain myself, I double over laughing. “Mate, you thought I was whipped. Your gym is in one of your spare rooms for fuck’s sake, what’s she going to do with a bookcase in there?”
“Apparently because I go to the gym in town, I don’t need all the space in there for equipment or some shit and she wants to have ‘her space’ for when she gets sick of me. Why would she get sick of me? Look at all this,” he waves his hands up and down his body, “I’m not getting sick of material.”
He plants both his hands on my desk as I raise mine in mock surrender.
“Yeah, mate, you’re totally whipped. Now, back to Iris. How am I going to get her to move into my house without making a big fuss? She loves that little apartment.”
“I’m not sure, but your place is way better than any apartment. To be honest, it’s better than mine. Maybe I should live with you and…” he trails off and I let him. He’s just lost the whole point in this conversation and I can’t be fucked listening to it.
“JUSTIN,” I bark to gain his attention. The poor bugger jumps out of his skin.
“Focus. How do I get Iris to move into my place?” I ask, unsure if this doofus will have the answer.
“Simple,” he states. “Take her there and then she’ll fall in love with it.”
It’s like I’m being set up to fail, but this is his sister, and I should give him credit. Although I have brought her home once before, it was dark, and she never really got to take much in when she left. He has a point. “Alright, I’ll bring her over after work. The sooner we get this show rolling the better.”
“You’re making the right choice Cor, even without all this background bullshit. You have my blessing mate. Even if it doesn’t count for shit.”
I look at my best mate, a bit shocked but a whole lot stoked. “Thanks, Jay, that means a lot.”
“Right, are we going to get down to business or what?” Jay asks, all business-like.
“Damn straight we are. Let’s find this bastard.”
Lots of coffee and sprawled files later and we seem to have a connection; thanks to the envelope Gunner left on my desk.
“How the hell did this guy slip from the system?” I ask Jay, fury radiating off me in waves. I head over to the bag in the corner of my office and start punching it, picturing the mongrel’s face. If I find him, a broken nose will be the least of his worries next time.
“Cory,” Justin yells at me, “oi, bro, calm the fuck down!”
Not wanting to stop but knowing I need to get my anger in check, I throw a few more combos at the punching bag and shake my arms out, hoping it’ll release, at least, a little more tension.
“Something bigger is at work here, I just can’t point my finger on what. All I know is he is out there; we have the one sighting of him at the girls’ new spot, which—I can’t believe I’m saying this, but—it was the right move getting the girls out of there. I’m just pissed he got away. We also have footage of him outside Iris’ favourite café, near her apartment. He’s fucking everywhere she is. The cops are doing fuck all and this guy knows it. He’s damn smart.”
“Or damn stupid with a death wish,” I mumble under my breath.
“Cory, you and I both know we need to get our heads on straight. You know damn well it’s a miracle we have this information in front of us now.” Justin says.
“I know, I know. Listen, let’s focus on getting Iris to my place and making sure all of our security equipment is up to date for the girls’ sake. You stop by more of these places and see if they’ve spotted Tyrell. I’ll see what kind of plan I can come up with for extra help. In the meantime, I at least know Iris is safe at work. He’d be insane if he thought he could show up on the farm. That leaves Natalie.” I state, knowing Justin will already have her covered.
“I’m sending Nat to her parents for a holiday. In the nicest way possible, she needs a break from Iris’ crazy life. Don’t worry about her, alright, just focus on Iris. I don’t like this one bit. As far as she’s concerned, her ex can’t touch her anymore.”
Fuck, what a mess. I have no idea how I’ll be able to keep all of this tucked away, but I have no choice. It’s her life at risk and she’s already on the cliff’s edge.