Page 208 of Cross the Line
Lex turns his laptop toward him while he and Dad keep talking through the action plan. Dad’s PI came through with something—just not what we expected.
“Make it make sense,” Finley says, staring at the documents on the kitchen island. “My father would never represent Ryker. For obvious reasons.”
She gives Eli a pointed look, not wanting to say what we all know. Her father wouldn’t represent a gay man. Which makes this even more baffling. But also…
“What’s in it for him?” I ask at the same time Eli says, “Yeah, it’s weird, but so is everything Ryker’s doing.”
He lifts the PI’s timeline and scans it like the answer’s right there if we’d just focus. Except we are focused.
“He’s a fucking criminal doing criminal things.” My voice is dry and my mouth even drier, because this prick is a conundrum that keeps on baffling. “It’s not weird… It's a repeated pattern of behavior. Something super common in criminal land.”
Finley gives me a small, tender smile. I know this is as hard for her as it is for Eli. It’s all seedy and twisted.
“Asshole’s also really fucking stupid to get three DUIs in twelve months,” I add, lighter, trying to bleed some pressure out of the room.
“I don’t understand why it would be on my father’s radar. He’s a corporate lawyer…” Finley looks at me with a heavy sigh. “What does Ryker have that my father wants?”
“The photos from that night,” Eli says, dropping the papers on the dining table. “It’s why the images from the article were cropped.”
“What does he have to gain from that article?” My musing trails off while Eli sends a text and then stares at his phone, bleak.
I lean in and see his thread with his mom. The message he just sent sits with aNot Deliverednote beneath it. The last one from her is a long diatribe that ends in a warning to return to the light.
I know that his relationship with his parents is turbulent, but they’re still his parents. Even if they are shitty, I know that deep down Eli has feelings about them. Not all terrible feelings that look like they’re running amok right now.
“Hey,” I call his focus to me, pressing the button to lock his phone before I take it out of his hand and ask, “What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugs with a quick glance at Fin.
Their silent exchange has her slumping in her seat. “They’re fighting,” she whispers, gripping his arm in solidarity.
“One man’s fall is another’s rise,” he sighs, sounding as deflated as she appears. It takes him a moment to gather himself. “Anyway, if my mom’s blocked me, what’s happening back there isn’t my problem.”
“Eli…”
“Fin, we can’t worry about them. Whatever they’re quarreling about has nothing to do with us. Besides, I’m not sure I actually care as opposed to feeling like I’ve brought trouble to their door.”
“Which you haven’t,” I say as emphatically as I can.
No way I’m letting him feel guilty for anything going on in that backward hellhole. Not after everything they’ve put him through.
“I’m sure your grandmother has it all handled, and this is just my father trying to get the upper hand. You know what he’s like…” Fin moves to the kitchen, putting the kettle on—small rituals to tame big feelings.
Eli stacks the papers and slides them back into Lex’s envelope. “Caleb Tomes isn’t silly or reckless. Everything he does has a purpose,” he says quietly to me, gaze softening on Fin while she patters around the kitchen. “He wants her back, and he’s going to do everything he can to weaken her resolve out here.”
“Joke’s on him, right? Because she’s ours, and she’s not going anywhere.” Certainty anchors my words, but an ugly wrench still twists in my gut. “Do you think he’s dangerous?”
Eli groans, thumbs drumming on the dark wood as though he’s trying to sync thoughts to heartbeat. “I think Fin is worth more to him in onephysical piece. Mind games are more his thing. He makes the shadow of a molehill as big as a mountain.”
“So you think he’s stirring up trouble to intimidate her?”
“No, I think he’s stirring up trouble to convince her she doesn’t belong out here. With me or you… with us.” He pauses, finds my hand, and gives it a slow, grounding sweep. “He doesn’t understand that none of it matters, because she’s never belonged in Havenview.”
His certainty is unshakable. He tugs me up and saunters to the kitchen with me in tow. Fin sets out platters of crudités, antipasto, and cheeses.
With Lex’s sudden visit, we didn’t get to go have our picnic. Something we’re going to fix because this bullshit with Ryker isn’t going to ruin our celebration. Today is a big day for her, and she deserves to be showered with our pride.
“You guys must be starving,” she says, placing the glass teacups Bibi sent us as a moving-in-together gift on the kitchen island while I grab the matching teapot of saffron tea and fill all four cups.
