Watching Trin by Freya Barker
Chapter 20
Trin
When Vic comes back, I’ll ask her if the name rings a bell, but something tells me Bodhi is right.
He just finished explaining how he met the girl at a party and ended up driving her home when she got drunk. He remembered dropping her off at the corner down our street. When I mentioned the long red hair it had triggered his memory.
I watch Bodhi run a hand through his already unruly hair, when the front door slams open and Tuck walks in. As usual his backpack lands in the middle of the floor, along with the shoes he kicks off, even as he makes a beeline for the fridge, I’m sure. He doesn’t even notice us in the study.
“Mom! There’s nothing to eat!” he yells through the house, making Bodhi chuckle.
I growl in frustration.
“How about you try hello first next time?” I suggest as I walk into the kitchen, Bodhi behind me.
Tuck has a scowl on his face when he lifts his head from the fridge, but the moment he catches sight of Bodhi he lights up.
“Cool! Did you come to work on the bike with me? I’ve scrubbed the hardware like you said. You should see it; it’s getting all shiny.”
I should probably be upset I’m being ignored, but the sudden animation—in my otherwise grumpy son—reminds me that good kid I remember is still in there somewhere. It’s a phase. I hope.
“Actually, your mom and I were just—”
“Go,” I interrupt, catching the return of the frown on Tuck’s face. “Go tinker, but right after dinner you’re sitting your butt down and doing your homework. No TV or electronics until you’re done.”
The mutinous look comes anyway, but my son is not stupid, so he nods his agreement.
“I’ll be right out, kid,” Bodhi tells him.
As soon as Tuck darts out the door, I turn around and am swept up in strong arms.
“Unless you want me in here,” he rumbles, his nose rubbing along mine.
“What I want has little bearing in this household, in case you haven’t noticed. I’ll just have to find a way to occupy myself without you.”
“Maybe I can make up for it later?”
I hum deep in my throat at the veiled promise, which in return has Bodhi suck in a sharp breath.
“Tempting, but someone has to supervise Tuck and his homework, and Vic is going to visit Pops tonight.”
He lowers his mouth to mine, kissing me sweetly.
“Then we’ll just have to keep it PG—for the most part.”
His eyes sparkle as he brushes another kiss on my lips. Then he follows Tuck outside.
I turn on my heel and head back to the study, looking over the notes I made earlier. I have a few more names now; Cherry Danvers, JD Hawkins, and of course Jordan, for whom I don’t have a last name yet. It’s possible he and Cherry were siblings, so I put ‘Danvers’ behind his name with a question mark. I also jotted down ‘date of regional high school football finals’ to get a timeline.
Then I open my laptop, putting the girl’s name into the Durango High School search bar first. The search comes back with two hits in the 2000-2001 yearbook. The first one is a picture of the Durango High cheerleading squad. I spot her right away, her long russet hair in a high ponytail, the ends carefully curled. She’s very pretty. Her name is listed among those of the rest of the squad. I vaguely recognize a few but I’d been out of school a few years by then, and Vic didn’t really associate with any of those girls. She’d been more interested in track and field, and made most of her friends there.
Interesting, Cherry was cheering for one team and JD played for another. I can recall it used to be quite the rivalry between the two high school football teams. It’s entirely possible those two met at one of the games between Durango and Mountain High.
The second hit the search popped up was in the individual class photos confirming Cherry was a senior. Oddly enough, when I look at the individual graduation photos there’s no image of her. Her name is not even listed among the graduates. It looks like Cherry indeed never made it to the end of the year.
Next, I try her name in a general search and I go through three pages of listings, but other than the same references in the school yearbook, I can’t find any other links to the red-haired girl.
I have more luck with JD Hawkins and discover after high school he went to the University of Texas in Austin, and only as recently as last summer returned to Durango as the new athletic director at Fort Lewis College. I find his email and phone extension in the staff directory and note it down. I’ll give him a call tomorrow.
To access elementary school student records I’d have to submit an official request to the school district and I don’t even know for sure if Danvers is actually Jordan’s last name. Nothing turns up on a search of the newspaper archives either.
I’m not sure how much time has passed when I hear Vic call me. I hadn’t even heard her come home. Working on a story can get like that for me, especially when I’m still trying to fit all the pieces together. The actual writing is perhaps fifteen percent of my time, the other eighty-five percent is research, pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, interviewing sources. Although I love the writing, research and chasing down leads is my favorite part of the job.
Reluctantly, I close my laptop and make my way to the kitchen. Through the window I see Vic out on the deck, manning the grill, and I head outside.
“What needs doing?” I ask my sister.
“These are almost done.” She points at the steaks and tinfoil wrapped baking potatoes on the grill. “The salad needs to be tossed and the table set.”
I’m about to step inside when I hear her yell out to the guys working on the bike to get cleaned up. Tucker is the first coming through the door at full speed, almost knocking me over in the process.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” I call after him as he thunders up the stairs.
An arm snakes around my waist from behind and a strong, warm body presses against my back. I get a whiff of engine oil, clean sweat, and warm spice as Bodhi brushes my hair aside and kisses the sensitive spot at the junction of my neck.
“I’m hungry,” he mumbles against my skin.
“You sound like Tuck.” I cover his hand on my belly with mine.
“Not talking about food, Beautiful.”
Both the compliment and the promise wrap me in a warm glow and I lean my weight against his chest.
“Oh dear God, are you two at it again?”
Bodhi chuckles in my hair before letting me go, and I watch as he heads down the hallway to the bathroom. Then I turn to Vic.
“What are you? Twelve?” I ask her, planting my hands on my hips.
“Oh, relax.” Vic smiles at me, unimpressed, as she slides the plate of steak on the table. “I’m teasing. I’ve never seen you wrapped up in a guy before. It’s good,” she quickly adds before I have a chance to get defensive. “I like him for you. He’s a good man, he’s not hard on the eyes, and he’s totally into you.”
After Mom died this wasn’t a touchy-feely household. Not many compliments, hugs, or other forms of physical affection, which is probably why Vic startles when I step into her space and wrap my arms around her. Her body tenses up but just for a moment, then she hugs me back—briefly—and steps out of my reach with a smirk.
“You’re a bit of a cougar, though.”
* * *
Bodhi
“Roadkill?”
Tucker’s interest is piqued when Vic uses my nickname as she talks about a call we had last night. Elk versus Subaru. We had to wait for wildlife control to help us sedate and extract the injured animal from the windshield before we could get the driver out.
“That’s what they began calling Bodhi at the fire station when he started driving the engine,” Trin repeats what I fed her a few days ago.
Except it’s not the whole story.
“Is that what he told you?” Vic asks disbelievingly, before wagging her index finger at me. “Ha! I guess you forgot to mention you almost wrecked the rig a few times trying to avoid wildlife.” She turns to Tucker with a shit-eating grin. “He wasn’t so lucky one day and hit a raccoon. Pulled the rig over and tried to revive the thing but got bit on the face for his efforts. That’s what earned him the nickname.”
A hand automatically comes up to my face, where the small scar that ungrateful vermin left behind is still visible. It required a visit to the hospital followed by a series of post-exposure rabies vaccines over the next few weeks. So much for my misguided attempt at heroism, especially since the damn raccoon died anyway.
The guys made sure I’d never forget when they gave me that name. Someone must’ve filled Vic in and I bet you any money it was Sumo.
My eyes dart to Tucker who starts laughing, a sound I haven’t heard before from him. Glancing over at Trin, I catch her watching her son with a tender expression on her face. She probably hasn’t heard it in a while either. In the grand scheme of things, I guess my embarrassment is a small price to pay.
“Okay, kiddo. Time for your homework.”
Tucker rolls his eyes at his mother but gets up anyway, taking his plate to the kitchen sink.
“When are you coming next?” he suddenly asks me as he’s about to head upstairs.
“Unfortunately my next days off are Monday and Tuesday of next week, but,” I quickly follow up, “maybe after my next shift, Friday afternoon when you come home from school?”
One side of his mouth pulls up as he nods.
“Cool.”
Then he darts upstairs.
“Not even the story of your nickname dented that hero worship my nephew has going on,” Vic volunteers. “All we get is the rolling eyes and the grunts.”
I shrug and get up to collect the rest of the dishes.
“I don’t think it’s hero worship,” I tell her honestly. “I think it’s because he looks at me and sees someone who’s not that different from him. Someone he can identify with.” I turn on the faucet, start rinsing the plates, and stack them in the dishwasher. “Someone who understands, even though most people have thankfully evolved, there will always be idiots—especially kids that age—who treat us like crap because we don’t look the same.”
“I get that,” Vic reacts.
“All due respect,” I start carefully, “you might get the mechanics of that but I’m not sure it’s even possible for you to understand how it feels.”
Vic opens her mouth—I assume to disagree—when Trin puts her hand on her sister’s arm.
“Trust me, I had the same defensive reaction when Bodhi pointed this out to me. Took me a while to wrap my head around it, but he’s right. Whatever Tuck is experiencing is not something we’ve ever had to deal with. Bodhi has or at least has come close.”
She glances at me and I shoot her a wink as I dry my hands on the towel.
“I should probably head home,” I announce.
Just because I should doesn’t mean I want to. However, if we’re heading for another busy shift tomorrow I’d like to get a decent night in, and before that I want to get a little packing done at the apartment.
“I’ll walk you out,” Trin offers, getting up.
“Thanks for dinner and see you tomorrow, Vic.”
“Later, Roadkill.”
I lead the way outside and turn to face Trin, who shuts the door behind her.
“Thank you.”
I put my hands on her hips and pull her closer.
“For what?” I want to know.
“For…doing what you do with Tuck. For taking the time to explain things to us. For putting up with my preoccupation with this article.” She tilts her head to the side and hits me with a full-wattage smile. “For being a good guy and bringing me flowers, when I’ve barely paid you any attention.”
“You don’t have to thank me for any of those things. It’s my pleasure.” I slide a hand down the globe of her ass. “But that doesn’t mean I’d say no to a little attention, maybe Sunday night? Just the two of us?”
She winds her arms around my neck and lifts her face for a kiss. I’m happy to oblige but the kiss quickly turns heated with my hand kneading her soft flesh and her moans drowning in my mouth.
“I’d best get going before I strip you down and fuck you where you stand,” I grumble against her mouth.
Her nostrils flare as her crystal blues open.
“Tease…”
When I get to my apartment, I have a quick word with the manager to let him know I’m closing on a place in a few weeks and am packing up what is left. There isn’t that much. With any small stuff packed into boxes, it won’t take much to haul this stuff to the house once I have the keys. Closing is the last week of this month, giving me enough time to vacate this place and the trailer. That’s two weeks from now.
My phone rings when I’m on my way home. The call is from an unidentified number, but I answer anyway.
“Yeah.”
“Bodhi? I’m so sorry to bother you. It’s Jeannie Anderson.”
“Hey, Jeannie, how are your parents?”
“Mom is home, feeling a bit better and Dad is hanging in for now.”
Her father was in pretty grave condition when I pulled him out and I didn’t think he’d make it to the hospital. I’m surprised to hear he’s still clinging on.
“Glad to hear that.”
I’m not sure what this phone call is about so I wait for her to get to the point. I don’t have to wait long.
“I saw Anika the other day and she suggested I give you a call. I could use your help. It’s the restaurant, the insurance company can’t do anything until they have a fire investigation report.”
“That’s right. That’s pretty standard procedure.”
“No, I understand that, but I haven’t heard anything, other than being told I can’t go into the restaurant until the investigation is finalized.”
“That’s not really my department.”
“I know, but I was wondering if you could maybe find out? I really need to get some documents from the office.”
“I can ask, but I can’t promise you anything.”
“Of course. I appreciate it. You can just call me back on this number.”
“I will.”
Something about that call still nags at me when I get home but it’s not until my head hits the pillow I realize why. How the hell did she get my number? She didn’t get it from me, I’m not in the habit of giving out my number unless there’s a good reason. Unless…
Maybe I need to have a talk with my sister.