When You Were Mine (Stone Lake 2)

“I’ll make the coffee, Moonbeam. You go get dressed,” he says gently.

“Gavin—”

“I don’t have time for coffee. I’m actually here to see Gavin.”

“Gavin?”

“Me?” Gavin and I echo, both clearly surprised. “Has something happened with Oakes? Did he finally show up back home?”

“Not yet, no. This isn’t about that,” he says, and something about the look on Ben’s face makes me really uneasy. I’ve known Ben for a while and whenever he looks like that, it’s because something bad is going on.

“Maybe you should come in, Ben,” I tell him stepping back, Gavin following suit.

Ben walks in, but he looks like he would rather be anywhere else. I can’t say as I blame him. I would like to be anywhere else right now. We stand around, looking awkwardly at one another for a bit and then you can hear a phone ringing from the bedroom. Gavin looks in that direction then back at me.

“I better get that,” he says. “Are you okay, Moonbeam?” he whispers softly, for me only.

“Yeah, I’m fine, go get your phone,” I tell him, and he squeezes my arm and kisses the top of my head.

“I’ll be back,” he says, mostly to Ben, shooting him a warning look. I watch him walk down the hallway as I try to think of what to say to Ben.

“I…you have to know I didn’t plan this, Ben.”

“It’s not important, Luna,” he says, avoiding my eyes.

“It is, you deserved better than this. I didn’t plan on it. Gavin… we have this connection, I tried to deny it, I swear. It’s just that, Gavin—”

“Luna, all I want is for you to be happy. If Lodge is what you want, then it’s better I find out now than if we had gone deeper into our relationship.”

“Ben, you don’t have to be so nice to me. I know I’ve hurt you—”

“Everything is not about you, Luna. I’m here because of work. I need to tell your boyfriend something and it’s going to be hard for him. The best thing you can do is get dressed so you can go with us. Lodge is going to need you.”

“What do you have to tell Gavin?”

“Yeah, Kingston, what do you need to tell me?” Gavin asks, coming back into the room, holding his phone.

Ben sighs, clearly not happy. Whatever it is, must be bad. I can tell from the way Ben is holding himself and how he’s looking at Gavin.

I go to stand beside Gavin, definitely worried now.

“Lodge, I…”

“Spit it out Kingston.”

“It’s your father, Roy.”

Gavin’s body goes solid, jolting with Ben’s announcement. I do my best to stifle the small cry that involuntarily escapes, but I fail. My hands snake around Gavin’s bicep as I hold onto him.

“What’s happened?”

“He was attacked last night.”

“How bad is it?” Gavin’s voice comes out strained.

“He didn’t make it,” Ben tells him, and I cry out, my knees threatening to buckle. Gavin holds onto me tightly, and I feel a tremor move through him, but other than that, he doesn’t move. I study Ben’s face and Gavin must too, because his next question chills me to the bone.

“Do you know who did it?”

Ben looks resigned, and at first, I think he’s not going to answer. Then, he does, and I wish he hadn’t.

“We’re waiting for the preliminary report and test results, but…”

“Kingston,” Gavin says, and I know before Ben says a word. I’m pretty sure Gavin knows too.

“Roy’s tongue and eyes were missing, just like Elaine’s and Skylar’s. There was no urn this time, but I’d lay odds that whoever did it is the same one that killed Elaine and probably Skylar too.”

“Fuck,” Gavin snarls, anger and pain laced in his voice so thick it hurts to hear. “I want to see the crime scene.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Lodge.”

“I don’t give a damn what you think. I want to see it,” Gavin insists. Ben nods his head in agreement, clearly reluctant.

“I’ll get dressed,” I whisper.

“Luna, you don’t need—”

“I’ll get dressed,” I tell Gavin again. He looks at me for a minute, and I know he wants to argue with me. He doesn’t however, he nods his head in agreement. I give him a tight smile and jog down the hall.

Gavin

It’s a fucking bloodbath.

There’s no other word for it and it’s all been staged perfectly for me. There’s blood everywhere.

Every-fucking-where.

My stomach turns as I see the amount of blood on the floor and the walls. Roy was killed in the living room. The blood is so thick by his chair that I could fucking swim in it. Ben wouldn’t let Luna come in here and for once we’re on the same page. There’s no way I want her to see this shit. She cared for my father, and this would gut her. Hell, it pretty much is me, and I don’t know how I feel about Roy… or how I felt about him… Jesus.