Page 71 of Small Town Beast 2: Saverin's Duet

“We have that in common I guess.”

“Where are we?” Mumbled Tanya.

“We’re almost there, darlin’. Lorrie, do you have the keys?”

“Right here.” Lorrie unlocked the room with the great skeleton key. The scent of cedar and a fainter odor of lemon oil washed over the three. The room was the master bedroom of the house: a thick door, made of solid oak, opening to a space that was nearly half the size of Absalom’s trailer. Lorrie’s jaw dropped at the furniture and a lavish oil painting of Florin above the bed, set into a hardwood frame.

The paneling on the walls was a deep green, darkening the room significantly. Lorrie swept her cellphone flashlight over it all, impressed by the lush carpet and armchair, the giant TV and more oil paintings of scenes from Florin. It was a beautiful, cozy-looking room. Under the cedar and lemon oil was another scent, like a woman’s hair product, but very faint. She had never seen a space so fine. “Amazing,” she breathed.

Absalom had indeed planned to retire here tonight. There was a covered dish next to the bed with a pitcher of water.Saverin laid Tanya out in the enormous bed. “Lock the door after me, Lorraine. Tell Tanya I’ll be up directly.”

“You’re headed back down? I know she’d feel better if you were here when she woke up.”

“I need to help Absalom get a handle on some things. Ah…don’t leave this room.” Saverin then did something strange. He knelt down next to the bed and fiddled with something there. A drawer hissed open. Lorrie caught the flash of gunmetal; Saverin put the weapon in his pocket.

“I don’t know about any others,” he told Lorrie, shaking his finger at her. “Roman’s probably got dozens all over this house. This is just one he showed me, alright? Before you go yapping to Absalom.”

“Ha. Be careful with that,” said Lorrie nervously. She knew Absalom would have never let Saverin in here with her if there was a secret gun under the bed only Saverin knew about.

“Roman’s a sly fox,” Saverin said, hunting in the drawer for bullets, which he found. He was polite enough not to load the gun inside the room

“So is Abi.”

“Yeah, well I knew Roman better than most of his brothers. He’s always got a plan B, C, D, E, and F. I reckon the only reason your man took this house was because Roman let him.”

“Never underestimate Absalom.”

“We’ll see.”

“What do you need that gun for?”

“Lock the door, Lorrie.”

Lorrie locked it behind him. She sighed deeply as his footsteps faded down the hall, muffled by the heavy thickness of the door.

Behind her, deep inside the room, a light turned on.

Lorrie spun in a flash,but the stranger was there, standing next to the bed and bearing down with his gun. Her jaw dropped. There was nowhere to run. He had her.

“Easy,” the man said. Very much older than she remembered, with threads of gray in his curly hair. But he’d had it all shaved close to the scalp when she knew him. Lorrie, like most women, had always been terrified of Roman McCall. He was a giant, a freak of nature who rarely spoke, and whose displeasure brought ugly consequences. Of all at the Harvest he’d been one of the hardest workers, and a right hand to his father, Duke, despite his mixed blood. He never bought her candy but had always greeted her with politeness. So much time had passed since then.

“Sit,” he said.

She sat on the edge of the bed. Hard.

“Don’t bother screaming,” he said. “No sound passes through this door whatsoever.”

“W-w-what do you want?”

Roman smiled. “The girl sitting in my bedroom asks me what I want? Take it easy. I don’t want a damned thing from you, Sweet Lorraine.”

“Well, why are you creeping up on us like this?”

“Again, you’re inmybedroom.”

“You know what I mean!” she shrilled, looking down at Tanya, who was somehow fast asleep.

“I was expecting Absalom,” Roman admitted.

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