Page 24 of Mistaken Identity
Danial came out next, grabbed his food, read my mood, and headed right back into the cockpit.
I liked Danial. He was always very considerate and read the room quite well.
Nothing like Kory.
The moment the door closed, I backed into the corner of the galley and dropped my head to my chest. I took several long, deep breaths before bringing my head up and catching Audric’s gaze across the space.
He could barely see me, but he saw enough.
Though, it wasn’t like I was trying to hide anything from him.
He probably knew better than most about my issues, even if he didn’t know what caused them.
I looked away, dropping his gaze, and went back to work.
It was on hour five that he came up to go to the bathroom.
I was sitting on the galley seat, eyes on my book, when he dropped into the seat beside me.
My body didn’t always do the freakout thing when he sat down like it would’ve with anyone else, and I was sure that was because he was one of the longest standing people I knew.
Only five people could do that with me, and three of them were dead now.
My dad and Audric were the only ones left.
“Can I help you?” I asked stiffly.
“Is it him?” he asked.
I turned to give him my full attention. “Is who him, what?”
That was complete jibberish, but it seemed like he understood because he started to explain.
“The man that Laney slept with.” He rocked my entire world right off its axis. “Is it Cakes?”
I froze, unsure what to say or do, and my breath started to come in fast pants.
“I know that she slept with someone from the club,” he said. “And I know whoever it was has no fuckin’ clue.”
Guilt and anger started to rise up out of my throat before I could stop it.
“Fuck.” I let my face fall into my hands. “I didn’t know what to say or do. I didn’t know how to go about even bringing this up. When I found out, with my mom…I just…I couldn’t handle it. I should’ve said something but…”
“Wasn’t really your place to,” he admitted. “I know that you think that you should’ve, but in the end, this was Laney. All of this was Laney, and it never should’ve been anyone else but her explaining.”
What went unsaid was “now she never could.”
Seven
I feel like if cicadas are allowed to sit in a tree and scream, I should be allowed to, too.
—Creole to Audric
AUDRIC
I was drinking a beer, watching Webber’s wife dance excitedly with her newest best friend, the flight attendant from hell, when Webber himself came up and took a seat next to me.
“Going a little hard tonight, aren’t you?” he asked.
