Rebels and Roses (Winslow Heights #2)

Chapter 10

10

T here was a banging sound in Cooper’s head that wouldn’t go away. Persistent as fuck. By the time he was awake enough to register where it was coming from, there was yelling to go along with it.

Someone was pounding on his door. Fiona was that someone. She was currently yelling his name and probably waking up people two blocks away. She’d always had a set of lungs on her.

Throwing off the covers, he tugged on a pair of blue jeans and pulled a t-shirt over his head as she stomped to the door, yelling back that he was coming and to quiet down. Not his proudest moment, but he wasn’t a happy camper.

When he’d dropped Fiona off at the Winslow Heights Inn last night, he’d told her that she needed to get on a plane today and go back home. Tom, too. They didn’t have any reason to be here, and it was time to go.

She’d been crawling all over him, but he’d let her know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t looking for any sort of reconciliation or even a one-night stand. He’d also told her that her drunken antics might be funny and cute at twenty-two, but now at thirty-two it simply looked pathetic.

She’d come at him then, enraged that he’d called her out. She’d tried to scratch his eyes out like a cat, but he’d managed to push her away without much damage. The night clerk at the desk had eyed him up and down, resting on the deep scratch on his cheek that had been dripping blood. Cooper had ignored the questions in the man’s eyes, simply pulling out his credit card and paid for one night at the inn for Fiona.

One fucking night.

“Shut the fuck up,” Cooper barked when he opened the door. “It’s not even eight in the morning, and people are asleep. What in the hell are you doing here?”

Fiona brushed past him, tossing her handbag down on the couch.

“Tom is gone. He’s not answering his phone. Or my phone. Either of them.”

“He’s probably sleeping it off. He was just as drunk as you,” Cooper replied, walking over to the closed bedroom door of the guest room.

“Did you hear him come home?”

“No, and this is not his home. His home is in Denver. And yours is in Miami. Just in case you forgot.”

“Damn, you haven’t changed a bit. You always were grouchy in the morning.”

He hadn’t been. He was a morning person, and Fiona knew that. She’d been the one who liked sleeping until noon.

He opened the guestroom door to find that the bed was a mess, but Tom wasn’t there. His suitcase was still sitting in the corner, half unpacked.

“Is he here?” Fiona demanded, trying to push her way into the room. “Where is he?”

“If I had to guess, he spent the night with that girl he was with at dinner.”

“But he’s not answering my calls or texts.”

“Maybe he’s busy. Maybe he’s asleep. It’s early still.”

“He should have come back here.”

Cooper was exhausted. He hadn’t slept well last night, and this was the cherry on the goddamn shit sundae. Fiona was itching for a fight. He could see it in her eyes, but she was going to have to argue with herself. He was too fucking tired.

“Tell Tom that. He’s not here. He’ll contact you eventually. He’s a grown man. Now, can I drive you to the airport?”

“I’m not leaving without my brother. How crazy do you think I am?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“I want coffee. How about you make me some?”

He opened his mouth to remind her there was a coffee shop in the bookstore a few blocks down, but then closed it immediately. He didn’t want Jane and Fiona in the same room if at all possible. Last night had been bad enough.

In his tiny kitchen, he slammed the cabinet doors a bit but made a pot of coffee despite his general sour mood. He needed to stop acting like this. Fiona was getting off on it, and as long as he acted like her presence was bothering him, she’d stick around.

Just to fuck with him. She was finding his discomfort entertaining as hell.

He poured two cups and handed her one.

“Why are you so mad at me, baby? You’re like a bear with a sore paw.”

Sinking down onto his couch cushion, he propped his bare feet on the coffee table.

“How about you answer a question first? Why are you here? And don’t tell me it’s because you came to get your phone. That’s bullshit, and we both know it. Tell the truth. You still know what that is, right? The truth?”

Fiona’s gaze settled on him as she sipped at her steaming coffee. For a moment, he thought she was going to tell him to fuck himself, but then she sighed and plopped into a chair.

“Fine, I didn’t come here for my phone.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“I came to see you. I’ve missed you, baby. Haven’t you missed me?”

“No.”

“C’mon,” she cajoled, a smug smile on her face. She thought this was hilarious. “Just a little? We had some fun, you and me. Don’t you miss those days? Grand adventure and fun around every corner. You and I had it all. We could again.”

“We did have fun,” he conceded. “We did have some adventures. But that was a long time ago. We’re different people now.”

“I’m not.”

Sadly, she spoke the truth.

“Well, I am.”

“I don’t think you’ve changed as much as you think you have,” she replied. “I think, deep down, you’re still the same. This little town will start to suffocate you eventually. You’re the type that needs to breathe free and be on the move. You could never stay here. I understand you. I’ve always given you the freedom that you’ve needed. No one else can give you that.”

He leaned forward, capturing her gaze so she wouldn’t look away. He wasn’t sure what was going on here, but he wasn’t planning to entertain Fiona’s flights of fancy. They’d been apart for years, and suddenly she was pushing for some magical reconciliation. It didn’t make a lick of sense.

“You and I are not a good idea. We weren’t a good idea then, and we’re not a good idea now. That much hasn’t changed. Go home, Fiona. We both know that you’re not serious about this anyway. You’re just playing games and getting a kick out of it. Have you been bored lately? I’m guessing you grabbed at this chance to get out of town and poke the bear.”

“Are you the bear in this scenario?”

“Does it matter? Seriously, Fi. You don’t want me back. You just want me to want you. That’s it. If I tell you that I’ll never get over you, will you go back to Miami? Hell, you probably have a boyfriend back there. I wonder where he thinks you are right now?”

“Saving my baby brother,” Fiona said, rising from her chair and walking over to the windows that overlooked the sidewalk and street below. “I am going to be honest with you, baby. Tom has issues. Problems. I thought that his coming here might be the chance I needed to get him help. I thought that you might be able to talk him into going into rehab. He has a cocaine problem. A serious one. I’ve been worried about him for the last few years, but he insists that everything is fine.”

“And the paranoia?”

Fiona’s expression had turned incredibly sad, her eyes glittering with tears.

“I assume it’s a side effect if his addiction. He’s been spiraling out of control these last few months. Insisting that he’s clean in one moment, and that someone is watching and following him the next. Blowing massive amounts of money from his trust fund on cocaine and women. Partying every night and blowing off his job during the day. I can’t get through to him. He always respected you. I thought that between the two of us, we could talk him into checking himself into rehab. He desperately needs this.”

Cooper scraped his fingers through his hair and inwardly groaned. Fiona might make him crazy, but he wasn’t such a bastard that he wanted to see her in distress. She wasn’t one to show much sad or negative emotions, so this was a big deal for her. Had he been such a jerk that she didn’t think he’d help her if she truly needed it?

“Why didn’t you just say something to me when you arrived? Why all this bullshit? And for fuck’s sake, what was that last night? You were both drunk as hell. Did you think it was a good idea to party with your addict brother? Christ, what were you thinking?”

This was a stark reminder of all the crap that Cooper had been through with this family when he and Fiona were married. Not one of the Kemps acted like they had any common sense. They sort of meandered through life expecting others to fix things behind them.

Here I am, Mr. Fix-it.

“I didn’t want you to know what a mess Tom was in. I don’t want anyone to know. When I got here, I suggested dinner because I needed to keep an eye on him. Then when I talked to Tom in private, he said he’d go to rehab this morning as long as he could have one last night of having fun. I thought it would be okay. He’d party, and then I’d pick him up and take him to rehab.”

“Let me get this straight,” Cooper replied, his frustration growing. “You told your drug-addicted brother that you’d let him party one last time. Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say that’s fine. But then you got stinking drunk, too? What’s the explanation for that? Shouldn’t one of you be in control?”

“You were there,” Fiona said, her brows pinched together in a frown. “Nothing bad was going to happen. You wouldn’t allow that.”

He wouldn’t have, but that wasn’t the point.

“I didn’t agree to be the designated adult last night,” Cooper said, exasperation in his tone. “This might come as a shock to you, but we’re not married anymore. It’s not my job to take care of you. You need to take care of yourself.”

He had to give Fiona credit, though. She believed someone would be there to always rescue her, and damn, if she wasn’t usually correct.

“You’re just grouchy because you didn’t sleep well last night,” Fiona replied, reaching into her purse and pulling out a phone. “Now you need to help me find Tom. He’s not answering any calls, and I need to get him on a plane to the rehab center in Miami. They have a spot waiting for him. I called them yesterday.”

In a way, this was progress. Fiona was planning to leave town with her brother. Once they were gone, he could go back to living his life in relative peace.

“If I help you find him, you’re going to take him to Miami with you?”

“Yes, I just need your help. I thought he’d be here this morning since he was staying with you, but he’s not. Where could he be?”

If Cooper were a betting man, he’d say that Tom was sleeping it off in the bed of that pretty coed from last night.

“Have you tried looking for his phone? Or your phone?”

“No, I assumed he’d be here.” Fiona retrieved her own cell phone from her pocket. “But I can do that.”

While she was tapping away, Cooper refilled his coffee. There wasn’t enough caffeine in the world to deal with Fiona and Tom, but he was going to give it a try. He already knew he was going to end up taking her wherever Tom was currently sleeping it off.

“Where is this?” Fiona stuck her phone in front of Cooper. “This looks close by.”

It was close by. It was Winslow Park just a few blocks south. Had Tom and his date gone for a romantic stroll in the moonlight, and ended up falling asleep behind home plate of the baseball diamond? It was a well-known make out spot during high school.

“The park. Give me five minutes, and we’ll go get him.”

“He better be there,” Fiona grumbled. “I’m going to kick his ass when we find him.”

So much for Fiona being emotional about Tom’s addiction. She was back to her usual self of wanting to fight with her brother not hug him.

The sooner he found Tom, the sooner he could drive them both to the airport. Then he’d call Jane and spend some time with her. He didn’t want to look too deeply as to why being with her was so important to him. But he might have to do it anyway.

Jane was taking her break in the backroom of the bookstore, munching on a lemon poppy seed muffin and sipping at a tall glass of ice water. She definitely needed to cut down on her coffee intake. Some was fine, but she was pushing it, using the pressure of school as an excuse.

Hoping she’d be alone for a little while, she’d pulled Cooper’s manuscript from her backpack and began reading it. If he was trusting her with this, she didn’t want to keep him waiting. He was already frustrated, although she couldn’t imagine that he’d messed up. Honestly, he was far too excellent of a writer. He had a gift for storytelling.

A chapter in, she was enjoying the story. As in all of his books, the protagonist was in the middle of it all from the first page. His books were chock full of mystery and intrigue, keeping a reader guessing until the end.

She was so into the story that she didn’t hear Lucy open the door to the backroom until she was standing next to where Jane was seated.

“Damn,” Jane laughed, placing a hand on her racing heart. “I didn’t hear you come in. You scared me a little.”

“I didn’t mean to. I called your name, but clearly you were engrossed in what you were reading.”

“I was,” Jane said, hastily tucking the folder back into her backpack. “I need to get back to work.”

“Yes, but…”

There was something in Lucy’s voice that captured Jane’s attention.

“But?” Jane prompted. “Am I being fired?”

Lucy’s eyes widened, and then she grinned and shook her head.

“Not at all. I came back here because we have a visitor in the bookstore. I’ve been trying to call Cooper but he’s not answering. I was thinking he might answer a call or text from you.”

“A visitor? Is it Fiona?”

“No, it’s someone I haven’t met before. She says her name is Erica Malone, and that she’s Tom’s fiancée. She’s looking for him, and he’s not answering either. I told her I’d try Cooper, but as I said, he’s not answering.”

Tom’s fiancée was here? In Winslow Heights?

“How did she even know to come to the bookstore to look for him?”

“I asked her that, too. She said that he’d mentioned the bookstore and the tavern when he’d last contacted her a few days ago. He’d told her during that call that he’d be flying home on the tenth. That was yesterday. He even gave her a flight number so she could pick him up. He didn’t show. She gave him a few hours, and then got the red eye to Chicago, rented a car, and drove down here. Now she’s sitting in my coffeeshop crying into a chai latte. I don’t know what to do except feed her pastries.”

Jane didn’t need even a second to decide. It was all hands on deck.

“I’ll send a text to Cooper, and then I’ll come out there and talk to her. Hopefully, between the two of us we can calm her down.”

Tom Kemp had a great deal to answer for. Lying, cheating, and who-knows-what else.

Just how had Cooper married into this family? And why wasn’t he answering his calls and texts?

Cooper’s phone buzzed again, this time a message from Jane. He wanted to talk to her, but it would be easier once Fiona and Tom were headed back to Miami. He’d explain everything, and then they could pick things up where they’d left off.

Wherever that was. He was starting to think that perhaps his genius idea of not getting emotionally involved and keeping it all casual wasn’t that bright after all. Despite the passion of last night, Jane could be plotting his demise at the moment.

Jane would be smart not to get too deeply involved with him. He had issues because of his family - mostly his dad’s shitty idea of what it meant to be a husband and father. He didn’t have a clue how to be in a real relationship that had expectations.

“This is so…suburban,” Fiona sighed as they trudged toward the park. “Like something out of a movie.”

“You make it sound like a bad thing.”

“I didn’t say it was bad, I just said it was suburban. I can almost see the hordes of minivans, soccer moms, and spoiled kids.”

Cooper wasn’t going to let Fiona poke at him. She was only doing it because she wanted a reaction. It was an annoying habit that she didn’t even realize she was doing. It was automatic - like breathing.

“What does your phone say?” he asked, his gaze searching for any sign of her brother.

“We’re about…maybe…twenty feet ahead give or take. I don’t know how accurate this is.”

They were close to the playground which was located next to a large fountain with giant fish spitting water in an arc before it splashed in the pool surrounding them. He and Zack had jumped in more than once on a hot summer day to cool off. But mostly to be little shits because they’d known they weren’t supposed to be in there.

The park was surprisingly empty, but it was a hot day. A couple was sitting on a picnic blanket near the fountain, and a few kids threw a ball back and forth while their mother scrolled her phone but that was it. No sign of Tom unless he was playing hide-and-seek behind some trees or bushes.

“It’s got to be just ahead,” Fiona said. “When Tom finally shows up, he’s going to hear about this. He tossed a perfectly good phone away. I know he did it to piss me off because he doesn’t want to go to rehab today.”

“Do you think he’s already left town?” Cooper asked. “He does have a rental car. Would he have made a run for it?”

“Nothing would shock me at this point. He’s in deep denial about his problem.”

“Call the phone,” Cooper suggested. “We could crawl around all these trees and bushes, but if the phone is on it might speed this up.”

“Good idea,” Fiona replied, tapping at the screen. “Cross your fingers it still has battery left.”

Within seconds they could hear a ringtone coming from somewhere to their right. They followed the sound as it got louder until they were standing in front of a cluster of bushes that were almost as tall as Fiona.

Cooper pushed through them into a clearing, stopping abruptly when he saw what he hadn’t expected.

Tom. Sprawled out on the ground. Motionless and pale as a ghost.

Kneeling, Cooper placed his fingers on Tom’s neck just where the pulse should be. Nothing. The body was cold even though it was a warm summer day.

Tom Kemp was dead.