Page 8 of Below The Surface
“Who is it?” Darla asks. “You know I worry about my kids.”
I scoff. “I still think it’s weird you call us that.”
“What else am I supposed to call you? I raised you after you got away from that piece of shit.”
“You gave us skills no teenager should ever need to survive,” I say.
Darla sighs. “Sorry for trying to keep you alive.”
“See, this is why we had to leave the nest,” Kendra says. “Trying to make us feel guilty.”
“Awe, but it kept you fed and alive. I just wanted to keep good on my promise. We’re even now, right?”
“Yeah,” Kendra and I say together.
“Kisses.”
I stare at my phone once the call disconnects.
“Holy shit. We know where to find Charles.” I look up at Kendra. “We’re going to take him down.”
“I can’t fucking wait. That man has no business being an influencer of any kind.” She uses quotes around influencer. “I never even heard of Matt Brooks until Influencer Con. I’m just not into the whole RV life. I can’t believe a guy like him is headlining the convention.” She leans in and taps her bottom lip.
My mind has been reeling and I can’t think. “Can you find his current addy?”
“Of course. Should be easy.” She slides her phone from her bra. “Unless he’s smart and doesn’t post where he is when he’s there. If he posts a week later, then it’ll be impossible to figure it out.”
“He’s got a newsletter, which requires a physical address. We should start there. Maybe he’s using a PO Box or other address in the same state he travels the most.”
“Good call.” Kendra furiously types on her phone. “Fuck. There’s no way we could have figured out this is Charles.” She holds up her phone. There’s a huge picture of Matt Brooks aka Charles Orlov smiling back at us.
My stomach sours. Those familiar eyes are hard to forget. Brown. There are the same crinkles in the corners. The hard lines of his thin lips have been filled. The nose is completelydifferent and nothing else feels familiar. “He has a great surgeon,” I say. “We’re so close I can taste it, but how many kids have we failed by not catching him years ago?”
Kendra walks around the kitchen island to pull me into a hug. “We’ll fucking get him, Casey. We’ll avenge Dorian.”
I wrap my arms around her waist and just soak in the peachy scent of her shower gel. Her and her scent are the only thing keeping me grounded in this moment and not the day our lives crumbled. Not the day Dorian couldn’t take it anymore and took his own life. Not the day Darla found us on the streets after we fought off someone trying to assault Kendra. Not the day I killed that man that tried to assault Kendra and how I liked it.
Kendra rubs her arms down my back. “Do we need to have a torture sesh today?”
“No, we don’t have time before we have to be at the aquarium, but thank you for offering.” I pull back, then kiss her on the cheek. “I can wait until Friday. I don’t want people to expect random times. Plus, what if no one showed up?” I fake a pout. “I’d be devastated.”
She cracks a smile and swats at my shoulder. “You’ll always have an audience. You’re just that good.”
I scoff and roll my eyes.
“Just let me know if you change your mind. I can get someone for you to torture in like two hours.” She snaps her fingers.
“You’re the best.” I rub my head on her shoulder like a cat before standing to my full height. We’re evenly matched in the height department, both on the shorter side.
“I know.” She sighs and looks to the ceiling. “I know it’s been like a decade, but I still miss Dorian. He should be here. But everything they did to him, I get it.”
I squeeze my eyes shut to the memory lasered into my brain. I refuse to think about it anymore today. “Let’s make some muffins to honor him.”
“Sounds good to me.” She runs her manicured fingers through my hair and it interrupts all the haze in my brain.
We work together mixing ingredients for apple cinnamon muffins, Dorian’s favorite. It’s only been me and Kendra for so long we’ve learned how to make exactly enough dough for four muffins. We’re silent in our actions until I slide the tray into the oven.
“So, you’re going pretty steady with that Dallas guy. At least your asshole is.” Kendra fights off a smirk.
