Lost Bird Read online

  Sachi watched him disappear through the doorway leading to the stairs after he kissed Mandaline. “You’re one lucky witch, lady,” she muttered.

  “Don’t I know it.” Mandaline poked her in the back, between the shoulder blades. “And so, too, shall you be.”

  “Don’t count my lovers before they’re laid.”

  Mandaline grinned. “There’s the Queen of Snark I know and love so much.”

  * * * *

  John tried to hide his disappointment after getting off the phone with his aunt. Yes, with the weather he’d suspected a cancellation, but had hoped he still might get a chance to spend time with Sachi anyway.

  I could call her and ask her out to dinner.

  Once again his mind rattled off all the reasons why that was a bad idea, including the fact that he didn’t want to exclude Oscar.

  He called Oscar. “Bad news.”

  “What?”

  “The rain cancelled tonight.”

  Oscar was silent for a moment. “Oh.”

  He felt his friend’s disappointment mirroring his own. “Yeah. Aunt Tammy just got off the phone with Sachi.”

  “Oh?”

  He didn’t understand the new tone in his friend’s voice and decided to let it go. Oscar was probably still at work and couldn’t freely talk. They hadn’t been openly discussing Aunt Tammy’s claims around others for fear of her becoming the victim of a scammer. “We can still go over there for dinner tonight, if you want. She offered.”

  He let out a sigh. “Sure. Why not? No reason for us not to.”

  “Okay.”

  * * * *

  Oscar bit back the bitter disappointment welling up inside him.

  Maybe I need to call Sachi and tell her she can call me to talk about stuff with the case, if she wants to.

  “I’ll see you at the apartment then,” he said before ending the call with John. He set his cell phone on his desk and stared at the project on his monitor.

  He didn’t understand what was wrong with him. He’d spent the entire day thinking about Sachi and not focused on his damn work. Which was why he was still working on this stupid project right now. He didn’t have to have it finished until Friday, but he wanted it done and off his plate.

  Unfortunately, thoughts of Sachi had sapped his usually unflappable focus.

  He sat back and closed his eyes. A man can fantasize, right? As long as he didn’t make the trip from Fantasyland into Uber-Creepyville, all was cool.

  He didn’t have to tell anyone else about the dreams he’d been having about Sachi, right?

  Or that she’d been on his mind that morning when he rubbed one out in the shower before work.

  Or that there was something about her that had gotten its hooks into him and wouldn’t let go. Something he couldn’t explain or define.

  Feeling a way he hadn’t felt in…ever. About anyone.

  * * * *

  On his way home, John stopped by his parents’ house. After his divorce they’d offered to let him move in with them. While he’d appreciated the offer, it felt even more wrong than the option of moving in with Aunt Tammy had felt at the time. Although, in Aunt Tammy’s case, she probably genuinely needed someone else under her roof, if current developments were any indication.

  His dad was in the kitchen, cooking. “Hey, son. You staying for dinner? Your mom stopped at the grocery store on her way home from work.”

  “We’re going over to Aunt Tammy’s. I’m on my way home to get Oscar, but thanks for the offer.”

  His face clouded. “How is she?”

  Aunt Tammy was a touchy subject around his mom, which was why John was glad she’d gotten delayed on her way home from work. She still taught English at a high school in Spring Hill. “She’s okay. Lonely, I think. She has me and Oscar over at least once a week.”

  His dad nodded as he stirred a pot full of what looked like a cheesy sauce of some sort. “That’s nice.”

  “Don’t worry, I haven’t told Mom.”

  His mom felt his father’s aunt should sell her property and move into an assisted living facility. She’d dealt with being a caretaker to her own mother, who’d had Alzheimer’s, and refused to do it again for another elderly relative, considering the stress she’d been under after her husband’s heart attack. She had limited herself to taking care of her husband, and that was it.

  “You know she loves Aunt Tammy,” his dad said, “but you can see her point of view.”

  “I can see it, but I don’t agree with it. Aunt Tammy is still capable of living alone. Her tax prep was better than mine.”

  “I know that, and you know that. But I can’t blame her, either. It was hard enough on her getting me through my cardiac rehab. She still panics if I so much as cough. I don’t want her stressed out any more than need be.”

  Every time John mentioned his aunt around his mom, his mom went off on a more than energetic tirade of how the woman belonged somewhere that could take care of her, and how she didn’t want to be responsible for having to deal with the fallout should the elderly woman fall or otherwise become incapacitated before that time.

  It did no good to tell his mom that his aunt had already revealed her will and her wishes, and that he himself had volunteered to help her out if and when that day arrived.

  It would only make his mom rail even harder against it, not wanting him saddled with caring for his elderly grandaunt.

  John leaned against the counter. “No one’s going to stress her out except herself,” John said. “She does a dang good job of that.”

  “She was talking about wanting to look at condos again.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I did put my foot down, believe it or not.” He smiled. “I’m not a complete wuss when it comes to your mother. I’m not nearly ready to give up my home or my privacy just yet. I can still afford a lawn guy to come in and take care of the yard. She’s just a worrywart.”

  True, but he saw his mom’s side of that argument. His father had coded twice on the ambulance ride to the hospital after his heart attack. Fortunately, it’d happened at the shop, in the office, with plenty of people to see it happen and jump into action to get him help.

  Had it happened five minutes later, when he would have been behind the wheel of a work truck and on his way to a job, it could have been fatal. Not only for him, but for anyone he might have accidentally injured.

  “So nothing interesting happening, huh?” his dad asked.

  John thought about the postponed investigation, and the way his thoughts kept turning to Sachi Wolowitz. “Nope. Not really.”

  “I heard Karen was seen out and about.”

  John groaned. “I know. Oscar already heard.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  “Better than he was.” He glanced out the window, where he saw his mom’s car pull into the driveway. “Hanging in there. Just like me.”

  “You boys are young. You’ll find the right women and be fine. It just takes time.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  He managed to get out of there after helping his mom unload her groceries. As he headed back to their dinky duplex apartment, John once again thought about accepting Aunt Tammy’s offer of living at her house. It would mean catching a ration of shit from his mom about it.

  Then again, he was thirty-two.

  Maybe it’s time to make a few decisions on my own instead of simply reacting to the punches life throws at me.

  Oscar had just returned home when John arrived. John grabbed a quick shower before they made the turnaround to go to his aunt’s house. When he emerged from the bathroom, he walked out to the living room.

  “We only have a couple of months left on the lease before we’re due for renewal,” John said.

  “Yeah?”

  “What we were talking about the other night. You mean it?”

  “Moving in with her?”

  John nodded.

  “Well, sure. I love Aunt Tammy.”

  “You would
n’t have a problem living there with her if we have to start caring for her more?” John asked.

  “No. Why would I? I told you, I’m in. If she wants me there, I’m happy to be there. You thinking about it again?”

  “Yeah. I stopped by my mom and dad’s on the way home.”

  “Ah. Well, there’s the problem. Your mom will be up our asses about it nonstop if we do.”

  “I know.” He leaned against the wall. “We’ll see if Aunt Tammy brings it up again tonight. If she does, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”

  “Sure. And we are.”

  When they let themselves in the front door at Tammy’s house, the delicious aroma of beef stew hit them.

  “Oh, man,” Oscar said as he lead the way to the kitchen, where they found her at the stove. “That smells great!” He kissed her on the cheek before stepping out of the way so John could kiss her other cheek.

  “Glad you think so. Haven’t made stew in a while.” She turned from the stove and stared at them. “You’re going to think I’m nuts, but Herbert told me you two are thinking about finally taking me up on my offer.”

  The men shared a guilty look. “What?” John asked when he found his voice first.

  She wore a smile. “No, I’m not crazy. Let me prove it. You boys discussed signing a lease with me and everything.”

  Oscar fumbled the plastic cup he’d been pulling down from the cabinet next to the sink. Despite his best efforts, it tumbled out of his hands and into the stainless steel sink, where it bounced around until he finally got his fingers wrapped around it.

  The look of shock on Oscar’s face had to mirror the one John knew he now wore. “How did you—”

  “I told you. Herbert told me.” She smiled. “I dreamed it last night. He comes to me in my dreams and we sit and talk. So yes, if that’s the only way I can convince you two boys to give up that horrible little apartment you’re living in and move in with me, fine, we’ll do a lease and you can pay me rent.” She turned back to the stove.

  Wide-eyed, Oscar shrugged and shook his head, his meaning clear. I didn’t say anything to her.

  “Will you boys please set the table?” she called over her shoulder, effectively ending the conversation.

  “Yes, ma’am,” they parroted back with a final glance at each other.

  * * * *

  The rest of dinner went relatively normally. Oscar thought they were going to get out of there without any additional weirdness.

  Until just after dessert.

  That was when Aunt Tammy lobbed another oddball at them.

  “Sachi seems like a very nice woman. Very sweet.”

  Oscar glanced to John for guidance. Seeing none, he stumbled forward. “She seems like it.”

  She stood and picked up her now empty dessert plate. “That nice young man, Brad? He said she’s single. I think you boys should consider asking her out.” With that, she turned and walked into the kitchen.

  John sat there, his fork frozen midbite, and stared at Oscar.

  Oscar stared back. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Oscar gave up trying to figure out a response to her comment and shoved another bite of red velvet cake into his piehole.

  John did the same.

  On the ride home that night, they didn’t talk about it. It wasn’t until Oscar pulled in and parked that John finally spoke.

  “That was weird, right?”

  “Um, yeah, kind of.”

  “You know, if it turns out she really is losing it…”

  Oscar couldn’t blame him for not wanting to finish that statement. “Dude, I’m there with you, regardless. I’m not walking away from her just because she’s not a blood relative.”

  “Okay. Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  But as they said good night and closed themselves behind their respective bedroom doors, Oscar couldn’t help how his thoughts returned to Sachi. He’d researched her story and knew far more about her than she’d probably be comfortable with. The tabloids had done a fine job scouring her past and putting it all out there in a scandalously condensed version for the world to one-click on, but he’d wanted to know the full truth.

  He knew it was crazy to label what he thought he might be feeling for her as love, since, technically, he barely knew her.

  But he also knew he hadn’t felt this way about Karen, even in the best of times.

  Troubled and knowing no answers would be forthcoming, he climbed into bed and tried to go to sleep.

  Chapter Seven

  Early Thursday afternoon, Sachi felt she owed Ellis an apology as he walked around to the trunk of his car and opened it.

  Inside lay two of her 12-gauge over-under shotguns, her favorite Browning and a Stoeger she let him use for his lessons.

  “I could kiss you, chief. Seriously. I mean flat-out on the lips and everything. Maybe even slip in a little tongue. Even if you are Mandaline’s guy.”

  He opened the zippered cases, removed the guns from the trunk, and broke them both open before he carried them over to the shelter where he set them in the gun rack. “A deal’s a deal, though. Right?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. If it hurts too bad, I’ll stop. I promise.”

  Sachi didn’t know if Ellis had told Mandaline what he was up to. When he’d called Sachi earlier in the day and confirmed that she would be at the skeet field that afternoon, she’d hoped and prayed he’d had an idea up his sleeve.

  She dumped a box of shells into the pouch she used for shooting while Ellis pulled on his new skeet vest. After they both put in their earplugs and donned their shooting glasses, Ellis grabbed the controller and followed Sachi over to station one, where she removed a shell from her pouch.

  “You remember what to do?” she asked.

  “High, low, doubles,” he said, smiling. He carried the Stoeger broke open and balanced on his shoulder.

  He was turning into one of her better adult students, although he had yet to hit twenty in a round.

  After taking a deep breath, she slid the shell into the lower barrel and snapped the gun closed. Then she mounted it to her shoulder, wincing a little as she locked her right elbow into position.

  “You want to see one first?” he asked.

  “Nope.” She let her mind settle. “Ha.”

  Above them, the machine cycled in the high house and launched a clay. She nailed it over the center bunker, where it exploded into a cloud of dust.

  “You winced a little.”

  She lowered the gun and broke it open, her hand cupped over the shell so the ejectors didn’t send it flying out of the barrel. “A little.” She looked up at him with all seriousness. “It’s not as bad as it was last week, but I’ll admit I don’t know if I’m good for a whole round or not.”

  He nodded and didn’t question her further. She deposited the spent hull in the front section of her shooting pouch and grabbed a live one, sliding it into the lower barrel.

  This time, she lined up her shot and her hold point for the low house. “Ha.”

  That one she nailed a little closer to her than she liked to hit them, but still got it.

  She broke the shotgun open and put two fresh shells in. “This will be the test,” she said, snapping the action closed again and mounting the gun.

  She felt the low, dull ache in her healing shoulder, but it still wasn’t as bad as it had felt last week. “Ha.”

  From each house, an orange clay arced out of the windows and across the field toward each other. She picked off the high house first, nailing low house late, but she got it.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “It hurts, but I want to try another station.” She looked at him after she’d unloaded the spent hulls. “You’re all right, chief. I take back anything nasty I might have said or ever will say about you.”

  He laughed. “Sweetie, it was pitiful. Like watching a wounded animal trying to gnaw off its leg in a trap.”

  She batted her eyes at him. “Aw, you lawyers have such a sweet way with the wo
rdage crap. Seduce me some more.”

  “So says the mistress of bitchcraft.”

  She grinned. “That’s princess of bitchcraft, thank you very much.”

  They switched places, Ellis handing over the controller to her. By the time they reached station four, Sachi had missed two shots and knew she was finished. She set her gun in the rack under the shelter and spent the rest of the round pulling for Ellis.

  When they finished and walked back to the shelter, she sat on the bench, feeling so frustrated she worried she might break down and cry in front of him. “I just…It wasn’t bad enough the fucker tried to kill me, he had to take away my only joy in life, too?”

  “Sachi, he didn’t take it away from you. You just need a little more time to heal, that’s all. Give it time and be thankful it wasn’t worse.”

  She returned her unused shells to the box in her shooting bag before she and Ellis dumped the spent hulls into a cloth grocery bag. She’d take them home and reload. “The only good thing that came out of all of this is that the fucker’s dead,” she said.

  “And your dad is moving here.”

  She snorted. “You and your freaking logic.”

  He smiled. “Just remember our deal. I won’t tell your dad we did this, but you have to take it easy.”

  Ellis was one of the only people she’d let talk to her like that. Partially because he’d saved her and Mandaline’s lives, and mostly because she really liked and trusted him.

  And he was one of the few people whose counsel she’d actually listen and give weight to. “I promise, chief.”

  “You have students today?”

  “Yeah.” She glanced at the time on her phone. “They should start arriving here shortly.”

  “Would you mind if I hang around?”

  “No, but why?”

  He shrugged. “I like watching you teach. I learn from you.”

  She grinned. “Most of them shoot far better than you.”

  “So I learn humility from them.”

  It felt damn good to be able to laugh. “Sure, you’re welcome to stay and hang out.” She wasn’t an idiot. He was hanging around to make sure she got out of there and got home safely. No doubt Mandaline would be calling or texting her if Sachi didn’t call or text her first later.