Keepers of the Cave (6 page)

CJ smiled at her. “And another word to add to the list.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ester Hogan ran her fingers over the deep purple robe, still amazed at its softness after all these years. It had been her mother’s, handed down to her thirty-some odd years ago when she took over the flock. It was predestined, she knew, and she had been prepared, but oh, how she had loved it the day her sickly mother gave her the robe. It was with pride that she admitted she was probably the most prepared
mother
of them all, even more than her beloved grandmother. She closed her eyes, making a mental note to go visit her grandmother later.

She slipped the robe on, leaving the hood off. For now. The elders would be gathering in the chambers soon, but she would have time to dress fully. The summer heat was already upon them and she allowed herself that little indulgence. The meeting would be longer than they all anticipated, she knew. Fiona, the good sheep that she was, had alerted her to the strangers. Two new women were due at the school. That was why she had ordered the lockdown. She hadn’t had time to place her inquiries. This new director was proving hard to break.

She smiled slightly, her gaze going to her fingers—her nails—and she brushed them softly against the robe. Perhaps Director Avery needed some persuasion. And that too could be fun, she thought. It would give Belden something to do. After all, he had broken the guard, the one they called Richard, in record time.

The ancient grandfather clock chimed the hour, and she dutifully lifted the hood over her head, making her way to the stairway that would take her underground to the tunnels. She used to be afraid of the tunnels when she was young, but now she could find her way blindfolded through the maze and on to the cave and the chambers beyond.

They awaited her—the elders. Then she stopped, smiling broadly. She’d come to love all this ritualistic rhetoric that her great-grandmother had started. She knew the history behind it, of course, but most of the flock did not. To them, this was all they’d ever known.

And all they would ever know.

***

Paige glanced away from the squash she was slicing, still wondering how she’d gotten saddled with fixing their dinner. CJ was on the phone, mostly listening, nodding occasionally. It was Howley, she knew that much, but most of their conversation was one-sided. When CJ put her phone down, Paige waited expectantly.

“Nothing new, really. They’re doing some background checks. Or trying to. The café and grocery store, as well as the gas station, are all legally owned by the Hogan estate. Financially, those appear to be the only assets they have, other than the adjoining acreage. And they’re trying to get records on the medical school guy, Don Hogan. Other than that, nothing.” CJ came closer, inspecting the pile of vegetables Paige had chopped. “So are you just making this up or what?”

“Unless you want to volunteer to cook, I would suggest you keep your comments to yourself,” she said. “And no, I’m not making this up. It’s a dish I cook frequently.”

“Vegetables. What else?”

“Brown rice. And I’ll make a sauce to put on it.”

“I meant, you know, protein.”

“Navy beans, kidney beans. A mixture.”

CJ’s eyebrows shot up. “Beans? I went shopping with you. I saw us buy chicken breasts, fish, a couple of steaks. So beans?”

“We’re having burgers tomorrow. I thought we’d do a vegetarian meal tonight. It will go wonderfully with that chardonnay.”

CJ sighed. “I’m going to miss takeout. That’s how I survived, you know.”

“No doubt. Lucky you, I love to cook.”

“Yeah, lucky me,” CJ murmured as she plopped down on the sofa. “I get vegetables and rice. And no TV.”

“So ask Howley for approval to purchase one,” she suggested.

“Yeah. We should.”

Paige put onions and peppers into the hot olive oil while she finished slicing the squash. Their first night together was not going well. There was a visible tension between them, and she knew it stemmed from the fact that soon, they would be retiring into the bedroom together, to share a queen bed that was getting smaller by the minute. So now seemed as good a time as any to bring up...
that night
.

“Why haven’t we ever talked about it?” she asked. Thankfully, CJ didn’t pretend to not know what she was talking about. CJ couldn’t, however, hold her gaze.

“Because that’s what we do. We don’t talk about things. We do our job, we see what we see and we deal in our own way. That night, we just happened to deal with it together.”

Paige was amazed by her honest answer. It was better than any she could have given. But she did feel she owed CJ an explanation.

“I know you. I’ve worked with you for several years now. You have this persona that you project to everyone—always a different lover. You go out searching, after we’ve had a particularly bad case. You go to the bar, find some stranger, someone you don’t know, someone you won’t have to know after it’s over with. You go home with her and then you leave and forget all about her.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” CJ said. “I’m not the one who left. You did.”

“Yes, because I knew you wouldn’t want to talk about it, to deal with it. That’s not your style. What would we have done if I’d stayed? I wasn’t like the others where you could make your escape before I woke up and never see me again.”

“No. But you made
your
escape,” CJ reminded her.

“Yes. I did that so you—
we
—wouldn’t have to face it. I left because that’s what you wanted. I left because...well, because I knew it would be awkward. And I knew we wouldn’t have any rationalization as to why we did what we did. And I didn’t want us to be uncomfortable at work.” She gave a quiet laugh. “Which, of course, was impossible. We spent the first few weeks acting weird with each other, so much so that Ice and Billy started to notice. It got back to normal, but...”

“But? What would we have talked about? We had sex. It was one of those things. It was a bad case and...”

“And what? I was there? I was available?”

CJ shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.” She paused. “Well, yeah, maybe it is what I meant. You were there. You were someone who could relate. You weren’t a nameless stranger who didn’t know me, didn’t know the job.” CJ met her eyes, finally holding her gaze. “Why did you come to the bar that night?”

Paige turned away. She knew if she brought up that night, CJ would ask this question. Despite being prepared for it, she still had no answer. She supposed that night, surely, she had a reason. And if she were to guess, she would say it was because of CJ. Because of the kids. Because she knew how personal CJ took those things. And for some reason, that night, she didn’t want CJ to find solace in some stranger’s arms...and a stranger’s bed.

“You’re right. I knew no one else could possibly understand what you’d gone through that day. No one would understand what you needed,” she said quietly, surprising herself with the honest answer. She looked back at CJ. “And I think maybe I needed someone who understood me as well.”

CJ was quite possibly stunned by her words because for once, she had no comeback. Their eyes held for the longest moment, then CJ nodded, finally glancing away. Paige went back to her dinner preparation, wondering if that was to be the extent of their conversation on the matter. If so, it was actually more than she’d thought they’d ever say.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CJ scrolled through Avery’s notes for at least the fifth time, rereading every line, still finding the whole thing bizarre. It was like a bad TV movie. Maybe Paige was right when she said
Stepford Wives
. From all accounts, the residents in town acted more like robots than anything else.

She glanced up when she heard the water turn off. Getting used to sharing a bathroom was going to take a while. Trying not to imagine Paige naked, drying off as she finished her shower, was going to be damn near impossible. She remembered every exquisite curve of Paige Riley’s body.

She shoved away from the table and stood by a window, looking out into the woods across the road. She wouldn’t really call it a street. The cabins, while all relatively close together, were staggered and offset, allowing a little privacy. She tilted her head, hearing the bathroom door open, then the bedroom door, knowing Paige was dressing. She ran her hand through her hair, thinking back to last night. She’d been surprised at Paige’s confession. She had often wondered how Paige had ended up at the bar that night. It was just your average lesbian bar—loud music, dim lights and lots of alcohol and laughter. Not a place Paige Riley frequented, she knew. The circumstances which brought her there...well, CJ wasn’t really sure how she felt about that. Should she be grateful Paige cared enough to do that? Or was it as Paige had indicated? That they both needed each other that night.

Regardless, it seemed to ease a little of the tension between them. Dinner had been good, the conversation light, and it was nice to share a bottle of wine knowing there were no expectations at the end of the evening. They had actually made light of the fact that they were sharing a bed, and Paige drew an imaginary line down the middle which CJ promised not to cross. And she hadn’t. She slept soundly, and that surprised her. She wasn’t used to sleeping with someone, but she found Paige’s presence reassuring, if nothing else.

All of which was great and wonderful...if only her mind wouldn’t continually flash back to that night. It was a night she remembered in great detail, which was unusual for her. Normally, the lingering effects of the tequila would erase most of her dalliances from her mind. On that particular night, they’d left the bar long before she’d succumbed to the tequila. She was quite lucid in her seduction of Paige Riley. Or was it Paige’s seduction of her? It didn’t matter. She could remember every detail with delicious clarity.

“Hey.”

She turned, finding Paige looking as beautiful as ever—pressed khaki shorts, a soft-looking, low-cut blouse that showed off far too much cleavage, with leather belt and matching sandals. CJ raised an eyebrow as she spied the red nail polish on her toes. That was something she never considered and she found it extremely sexy. She glanced at her own outfit. Her shorts were khaki as well, although worn and wrinkled. Her T-shirt hung loose, her shoes were sports sandals.

“I feel underdressed,” she said.

“You look fine. It’s a barbeque.”

“Then why are you so dressed up?”

Paige glanced at herself. “This is hardly dressed up.”

“Oh. I see. That’s your casual. That would be
my
dressed up.”

Paige smiled and it was actually a sweet smile, CJ noted.

“Yes, well, you are you and that’s what you feel comfortable in. And this is what I feel comfortable in.”

CJ let the conversation end with that. If they’d been with the guys, she would have made a crude mention of the low-cut blouse, of the enticing cleavage. But she refrained. They were getting along well and why spoil that with a crass comment.

“I’ve packed us some beer and water bottles. Not sure what kind of party this is,” she said. “Or would you rather have wine?”

Paige shook her head. “I’ll have a beer. Or the water. It’s fine.”

“And I didn’t touch the meat patties you made up. They’re still in the fridge. What was all that stuff mixed in there anyway?”

“Just some green onions and peppers and herbs. Nothing fancy.”

“It looked...interesting,” she conceded.

Paige laughed. “Is that your way of saying you’d rather have just a plain old burger?”

“I’ll give anything a try. Once,” she added.

***

Paige was startled when CJ took her hand, then she relaxed, trying to ease into her role as loving girlfriend. They heard laughter in the back, so they skipped the front door and headed around the side. Suzette waved them over.

“I’m so glad you came,” she said.

“Hi, I’m Robbie,” a short blond woman said, holding out her hand. “Let me take that for you.”

Paige handed over the plate with their burgers. “Thanks. I’m Paige. This is CJ.”

“Nice to meet you both. It’s always exciting to get new members in our community.”

“I see you found a grocery store,” Becca said. “I trust it wasn’t in Hoganville.”

CJ laughed. “No, you were right about that. We stopped by. It looked deserted. Are you sure people live there?”

“Oh, it’s a weird little place. I’m Julia. Everyone calls me Jules.”

“Hi, Jules. Thanks for having us over,” Paige said.

“We take turns and do this every weekend. Entertainment is scarce around here.”

“We go dancing every other Saturday night,” Suzette said. “Do you dance?”

Before Paige could say no, they definitely did
not
dance, CJ slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

“We love to dance,” she said. “In fact, that’s how we met.”

Paige smiled through gritted teeth. “Oh, honey, don’t tell that story,” she said, hoping CJ wasn’t going to ad lib on their backstory, which had them meeting on a blind date. Their backstory never even
mentioned
dancing. Paige smiled at Suzette. “I had a little too much to drink,” she explained.

“You fell for my charm anyway, though, didn’t you?” CJ teased.

“I think I’m going to love this story,” Suzette said with a laugh. “The nearest gay bar is nearly two hours away, but we still make the trip. Come on, grab a lawn chair and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

***

CJ was having a fabulous time, and she had to remind herself that they were working. She would pay for it later, when they were alone, but right now, with her hand resting comfortably on Paige’s bare thigh, life was good.

“I will
get
you for this,” Paige murmured. “There is no need to overplay it.”

“Now, now. We’re supposed to be in love. Isn’t this what you do?”

“I wouldn’t know. But if you move your hand any higher, I’ll chop it off.”

CJ barely controlled her laughter, instead, she leaned closer and grazed Paige’s cheek with her lips. “Just wait until we go dancing. Now
that
will be fun.”