Page 9

Chapter

Nine

LUNCHBOX

W e needed to do a supply run for fresh fruits and vegetables. Cold storage was full with meat and fish options. Dry storage was too. Frankly, if we didn’t like fresh foods, we could probably hunker down up here for another ten years.

Okay, maybe five. But if we continued to hunt that would easily supplement what we had. Shaking that off, I finished mixing up the eggs for omelets. I’d diced mushrooms, onions, spinach, and tomatoes. Three different kinds of shredded cheese along with bacon crumbles and ham.

There was more bacon going for the guys. They tended to eat a lot after an op. While this one had gone FUBAR, it had still been an op and no one ate well when we were on the move.

A shuffle of steps against the wood had me glancing toward the stairs. The clicking of Goblin’s claws alerted me to who it was before Alphabet came into view. I whistled once and Goblin bounded toward the door. Disengaging the alarm, I opened the door and left it open for the dog.

I stepped out onto the back deck to study the area and scan it. Wildlife wandered through regularly. Satisfied, I headed back in. Alphabet looked like shit.

“Trouble sleeping?” It would make sense. Of the four of us, he seemed to have the most trouble unwinding after a mission. As easy going as he was, it wasn’t easy for him to decompress.

“I dunno,” Alphabet admitted as he rolled his head from side to side. The cracking of his vertebrae was loud in the quiet of the kitchen. He was at the coffee pot and filling his oversized mug. We all had them. Hence, why I started the morning with two huge pots and a third carafe that I’d set aside for Gracie.

I checked my watch. “You want me to get your omelet going or coffee first?”

“Coffee first.” Then he paused to take a deep drink and I could totally respect the profound moment of relief on his expression as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

While coffee couldn’t fix everything, it sure made life a little fucking easier. We needed to grab easier with both hands every chance we got. Leaving him to his coffee, I got Goblin’s breakfast ready.

By the time he trotted back in, his food and a little treat were in his bowl and he had fresh water. The dog paused next to Alphabet first, always checking on him. When the man murmured something, Goblin thumped his tail against the cabinets and Alphabet’s leg before he trotted to the bowl.

A door closed upstairs, and I wasn’t the only one turning my attention to what—or should I say who was up. A soft hum of feminine laughter drifted down toward us and some of the tension cording my muscles unlocked.

From the moment we hooked back up with Alphabet and Gracie, she’d been off . Pale, eyes hollow, and a kind of violent trembling hovered around her even if she herself wasn’t shaking.

Shock.

Trauma.

Fear.

All three ignited my temper as it had Voodoo’s and, despite all his attempts at coldness, Bones’ as well. He could try to rationalize it all he wanted, Bones had been angry at her condition. That anger had focused on Alphabet. While Alphabet’s?

Yeah, he’d been pissed at Bones. We all were. This clusterfuck was going to keep getting worse if we didn’t address it. Hair braided back away from her face seemed to highlight all the fragility in her fine-boned features.

At the same time, some of the softness in her seemed to have been whittled away. She was—hollow? No, that wasn’t the right word. Voodoo sported fresh bruises, but his gaze was watchful as he moved next to her on their way down the stairs.

He managed to hover without actually invading her space. It was impressive.

“Coffee?” Alphabet offered as she reached the last step.

She paused, flicking a glance from Alphabet to me then back again. What the hell had happened in those hours we were gone? The feisty woman seemed stretched far too thin, almost washed out? Frustration edged over my nerves. Was this the attack? Bones being snappy? The shooting? What?

Blowing out a breath, she seemed to gather her composure before a faint smile softened her lips. “I would like that, thank you.”

“I’ll get it,” Voodoo said, giving her a gentle wave toward the table. “Go sit down so Lunchbox can feed you.”

“Actually…” That single word froze all three of us. “That’s brewed coffee. Do you have anything to do espresso? Or maybe steam some oat milk? Or regular milk if you have it?”

Voodoo swung his gaze from her to me just as Alphabet did.

“We do,” I said. “Let me go grab it. Have a regular cup for now? Might take me a minute.”

I didn’t wait for her response, just headed to the door for the basement and dry storage. In addition to the gym and the safe room, we also had longer term storage down there. The pantry upstairs was big, but when you laid in stock like we did, better to have more space—not less.

It took me a good eight minutes to track down the espresso machine. Doc had given it to us. Mostly as a joke, but the note he’d attached to it when it arrived at our private mail box had been pretty rude. Damn funny, but rude.

Since you’re out and no longer need to pickle your livers. Discover real coffee.

Asshole. I grinned when I pulled the unopened box out from behind three stacked boxes of baked beans. I stared at the oversized cans. Who the hell ordered that many beans?

Problem for another day.

The soft sounds of her speaking drifted toward me as I climbed the stairs from the basement. All three of them were in the kitchen. She’d taken a seat and had a steaming mug in front of her. Instead of drinking, however, she was sitting sideways and petting Goblin.

The dog had his head tucked against her lap, eyes half-closed in bliss. I could respect the hustle. Alphabet eyed the box on my shoulder.

“I forgot he sent us that.” A snort of laughter escaped him. “Such a dick move.”

“Eh,” Voodoo said. “He likes froo-froo coffee. Despite the bullshit he’ll put up with and drink.”

“So do you,” I reminded Voodoo. He loved a good coffeehouse. If we had time and there was one near a job, he’d make a point of checking out their offerings. Probably cause he grew up in the PNW where everyone had coffee in their blood.

I grinned at my own joke, even as I tracked the flickering smile that touched Grace’s lips as she glanced between us. The uncertainty there cut at me. The fiery, feisty nature she’d had on display in New York seemed conspicuous in its absence. The combination of darkness in her crystal blue eyes and the ashen hue in her face was even far more disturbing than the lack of attitude.

This was the same woman who’d picked up the universal remote and thrown it at Bones’ head just as she’d thrown everything she could reach in her own living room at the attackers in her place. That woman had been so vital, alive, and ferocious. Voodoo shoulder-checked me after I set the box down.

It yanked my attention off Gracie and onto him. I raised my brows. “Problem?” I pitched my voice low, trusting he was close enough to hear me.

“Was going to ask you the same thing,” Voodoo said, pinning me with a hard look. “Stop staring at her.”

I frowned, then cut a glance to where Grace had turned her attention back to Goblin. Alphabet leaned forward, arms folded on the table and it looked like he was talking to her. Despite the distraction, she still looked like hell.

“I’m worried about her,” I admitted, then pivoted to tear open the box. We needed to set it up to make her coffee. “I don’t like how she seems at the moment.”

“She’s been this way for a while.” Voodoo shook his head and there was no mistaking the element of caution in his voice. “You haven’t spent as much time with her.”

No shit. I spared him a look and my irritation had to have shown because he raised his hands.

“I get it, the call to take her was Bones and mine. We did it to make sure we cleared any bag and tags from her.”

Aware, I just met his gaze steadily and kept my own mouth shut. I didn’t need the lecture or the defensive explanations. Bones had made some questionable choices of late and we were addressing those. That said, Voodoo had been in charge of getting her here safely and she’d been hurt on his watch.

She’d been hurt on Alphabet’s watch too, a nasty little voice reminded me. I slapped some duct tape over that mouth. Alphabet was already beating himself up. So yes, she’d been hurt on their watches, but they’d all gotten her out of there and kept her in one piece.

That was something, so I fisted my irritation and bottled it.

“I’ll set this up,” Voodoo offered. “And get the coffee going. You do the omelets?”

Equitable exchange. “Thanks.” When I turned this time, I found Grace watching us. She didn’t jerk her gaze away when it collided with mine, but she did lift her chin. “Hungry?” I searched her expression, then added, “I hope? I’ve got stuff for omelets and I can do an egg white omelet if you want.”

Personally, I thought that was a waste of food cause it tasted deadly dull, but it wasn’t about me . She needed more calories and maybe some color in her cheeks. I kept my gaze fixed on her eyes and not on her throat. The livid color of the bruising there just pissed me off all over again.

“What do you have for the omelets?” The question carried a lot of hesitation. Too much, in my opinion.

“He can make anything,” Alphabet answered in a droll tone that carried far more of his humor than had been present earlier. “So make him work for it. Don’t ask him what he has, just tell him what you want.”

Amusement unfolded within me as Alphabet practically made it a dare. Would she do it? Rather than comment, I tilted my head and eyed Grace.

Lips compressed, she regarded me with a renewed directness that had been missing earlier. Goblin was still planted at her side, head on her lap as she kept petting him. The good boy was looking after both of them.

“Go ahead,” I encouraged her. “Challenge me.”

A real smile softened her expression. “Ham, spinach, tart cherries or grapes if you have them, and cheddar cheese?”

“You got it. You want the whole egg or just the egg white?” I thought I’d managed to ask the question without a grimace but her sudden laugh decried that attempt.

“The whole egg is fine. Three eggs might be a lot, so just two?”

“Well if three is too many, one of us can finish it for you.” Voodoo’s offer came with the sound of coffee beans being poured. “Now, what kind of latte would you like, Firecracker?”

“Flat White?” The hope in the query was a kick to the junk. She really didn’t get that it was okay to ask. I turned to face the stove and the prep counter. But of course she didn’t, we’d basically taken her into custody and she went where we did.

Yeah, definitely needed to address that shit.

“You wanted oat milk, right?” I asked over my shoulder.

“We don’t have that,” Voodoo corrected me. “Yet, I will make sure we lay in the supplies for it. In fact…” He abandoned the coffee set up for a moment and grabbed a notepad and pen out of the drawer on the far side of the kitchen. “Make me a list, Firecracker. Anything we don’t have that you need or want. Just write it down.”

He left it in front of her and then went back to making the coffee. The sound of the grind echoed through the kitchen coupled with the scent of fresh coffee. In no time at all, he had the coffee made and I had the omelet ready. We carried them over to the table at the same time.

“The cherry tomatoes aren’t as tart as the grapes or the cherries, but they will add some acid and I added a little brie with the cheddar to give it the sweetness.” I set the plate in front of her as Voodoo delivered her coffee with a flourish.

All three of us stared at her. It was ridiculous how important this felt.

“Thank you,” she said, then set the pen down on the still blank notepad. “I’m sure it’s great.”

I wasn’t.

“Well if you don’t like it,” I told her. “I’ll make something else.” Then a door closed farther down the hall and a silence rippled across the room. All the ease in her expression vanished at the sound of the footsteps preceding Bones’ arrival.

“Good,” he said as he joined us. “You’re all here. Let’s get this over with…”