Free Slumbered to Death by Vanessa Gray Bartal Page A

They run away. You get a foothold, you run away. Not you, no, you have to prove yourself. You have to win. ”
     
    “What’s so wrong with wanting to win?”
     
    “When you win, there’s always a loser.”
     
    “What are we talking about here, Luke? Because all of a sudden it feels like we’re not speaking in hypotheticals anymore. Are you still so angry with me?”
     
    He opened his mouth to tell her that of course he wasn’t angry with her, that their past was ancient history and he had moved on, but the words stuck. With a start, he realized that he was still angry. Though it was buried deep, there was a cesspool of seething rage still bubbling inside him.
     
    “Luke, I was a stupid, mixed up kid, and I’m sorry. Please, can’t you let it go?”
     
    Could he? He didn’t know. Holding on to a piece of his anger felt safe. It kept his heart protected from her. “The ones you care about the most always hurt you the deepest, they say,” he closed the distance and clasped her hand. “Nobody ever meant more to me than you, Sade. I’ll work on it.”
     
    Sadie wanted to push him, to point out that they had been coexisting in peace the last few weeks, to tell him how much she had grown and matured, to list for him all the little ways she had been trying to make amends. But she knew Luke too well; pushing right now wouldn’t help her cause. She squeezed his hand. “I miss my best friend. I miss things being the way they were. There’s distance between us, and I don’t like it.”
     
    Luke didn’t point out that the distance was there for his own self-preservation. Sadie was a constant temptation. If he let go of his grudge, what was to stop him from falling for her again? And, even free of anger, he wasn’t sure he could ever trust her that way again. “I’ll work on it,” he promised again.
     
    He lay down again. They stared at the ceiling, their hands still clasped. “You wear me out, Sadie,” Luke said. No one had ever required as much of him as she did. If she wasn’t taking a toll on him emotionally then she was giving him a beating in the literal sense. His muscles were starting to ache from pinning her down, and he was emotionally drained.
     
    “Really? I feel energized.” She had worked up a good sweat while they were wrestling, and her synapses were firing on all cylinders. She felt ready to take on the world.
     
    Abby entered the room and lay down on Sadie’s other side, groaning as she levered herself down. “What are we staring at?” she said when she was settled and looking up at the ceiling.
     
    “Nothing. We wrestled, and now Luke’s trying to forgive me,” Sadie said.
     
    “Ah. I wish I’d known that before I got down here. I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get back up again. It’s rather peaceful here, isn’t it?” Abby said.
     
    “It’s nice,” Sadie agreed.
     
    Luke smiled. He was the lone voice of sanity and reason among them, but for now there was nowhere else he would rather be. “What’s everyone doing today?”
     
    “I have to check on Gideon,” Sadie said. “And then get started on the case. Mary gave me the files from the missing persons. I’m going to do some family interviews, see what I can find out. And then I need to talk to Ben to see if he knows any of them.”
     
    “You’re not doing that by yourself,” Luke said.
     
    “I’ll go,” Abby said.
     
    He rolled his eyes. Having an eighty year old for protection wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing. He could offer to go, but he needed space, and he had his own work to catch up on. “What’s wrong with Gideon?”
     
    “Abby shot him last night,” Sadie said.
     
    “I should find that more surprising than I do,” Luke said.
     
    “Got him right in the posterior,” Abby said, pride exuding from her tone. “Serves him right, cranky old codger.”
     
    “I think Mary’s in love with him,” Sadie mused.
     
    “Some women just aren’t sensible,” Abby