Pinewood Corner Kitchen Chapter 14
She got back to headquarters without incident. When she arrived, James was waiting in the living room. “You’re okay,” he said, giving her a tight hug.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “Bradley warned me before I got in the car.”
“What?” Bradley asked from the comms computer.
“You told me to wait a second before I got in, right before the window shattered. Remember?”
“No, I didn’t,” he said. “But the energy spike in their kitchen, then the one near the exterior sensor both line up with when your window broke.”
“So it was them,” James said. “Alright, you aren’t going back there alone.”
That was fine by her. He looked like he might be expecting Gabriella to argue, or to get snippy. But instead she nodded. “Fine,” she said. “But I definitely think this means we’re not looking for an attacker. They’re doing it to themselves and hopefully they’re aware of it now.”
James called a team meeting to discuss the case once Madelyn came back from her case and Graham arrived at noon. After Gabriella had given her story, everyone sat there solemnly for a moment.
“We’re just glad you’re okay, Gabs,” James said. “Do you know what you want to do?”
“Not yet,” she admitted. “I’m nervous about them coming after us, though.”
“That’s a very fair point,” James said slowly. “We don’t know what they’re capable of. What do you think of staying here for the next couple nights? To stay behind the wards we have up here?”
Apparently her thoughts on the topic were clear on her face, because James laughed. “I know,” he said. “Do you have anything important planned outside of work?”
“Other than laundry?” she asked, defeated. “No.”
“Alright. You stay here, please. Just until we sort this out.”
It was far from the first time they’d had to do this. James and Bradley had both ended up staying overnight to stay away from Polly Grace’s grasp when she’d been hired to go after Gabriella and James’s niece, Penny. Gabriella had done it herself, though most of those nights had been spent at James’s apartment, while dealing with the demon at the O’Toole House back in March.
Plus the other time she didn’t like to think about anymore.
“Fine,” she said.
“I can stop by your apartment and pick up anything you need,” James offered.
She had a couple backup outfits here already, and nearly everything at home was dirty because she hadn’t had a chance to do laundry. “I’m good,” she said. “But thanks.”
Gabriella groaned, shaking her head. “It has to be them,” she said. “I call them out and bruise their egos and then thirty seconds later, my car window and one of theirs shatter? I guess it’s at least proof.”
“Graham,” James said. “What are your thoughts, safety-wise?”
Graham was sitting on the couch beside Madelyn, looking quietly furious. “What do you mean?”
“You weren’t there today, so you weren’t their target. But do you think they’d try to go after you? Gabs, do you think they would?”
“He didn’t make any accusations,” Gabriella said. “Plus, they like him more.”
She hadn’t meant for it to come across as snarky and thankfully, the others didn’t seem to take it that way.
“We have the camera up still,” James said, looking at something by the ceiling as he thought. “You don’t have to stay here, but maybe keep a careful eye out. And of course, stay here if you prefer that.”
“Yeah, okay.”
As the meeting seemed to come to a close, James looked over at Graham again. He’d been silent for most of it. “You good, bud?”
Graham sighed. “Yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s fine.”
“No, what’s wrong?” James asked.
“I wanted one thing,” Graham said. “One thing that had nothing to do with magic or monsters or anything paranormal. And this seemed like it. And when it turned out they had magic and were cheating with magic, it sucked and it pissed me off. But at least they weren’t using it to hurt anyone. But apparently they are. Gabriella, I’m glad you’re okay. And I’m so sorry that they did this to you.”
“It’s alright,” she said, resisting the urge to tell him it wasn’t his fault. Graham knew that, of course.
“It’s the fucking Foundation,” Graham said. “You know, that’s the web Casey Romano mentioned. When he said that I was tangled in the web, he could see it, and I needed to get out. He’s right. And I’ve been thinking about that constantly.”
“Do you want to leave?” James asked.
He didn’t seem like he intended to put Graham on the spot, but it might have happened anyway.
“I don’t…” Graham shook his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s just the Foundation. I wanted one thing in my life, one single fucking thing, that wasn’t touched by the Foundation. But I can’t have that. Every single thing is just…invaded by it. It’s my job, and yeah, I chose that. I wanted that. But I didn’t sign up for it to take over every single little part of my life. It’s everything, in and out of work. It follows me home and I can’t even go grocery shopping without something popping up at the store. There’s not a single fucking thing-”
He stopped short and Gabriella could see why. Madelyn was looking at him. “Like your girlfriend?” she offered up quietly.
Graham’s eyes went wide. “Madelyn,” he said. “That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s fine,” she said, waving him off. “James, is there anything else?”
James was staring at the folder in front of him. “James?” Madelyn prompted, her voice shaking a little.
“No,” he said. “It’s fine.”
He did not look good. Neither did Madelyn, who started for the back hallway. Graham looked like he had no idea what to do. “James,” he started.
James waved him off, not looking up from the table. “It’s fine,” he echoed Madelyn.
“I’m sorry,” Graham said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know,” James said, still not looking at anyone. “Go talk to Madelyn.”
Graham nodded slowly, then walked down the hall.
“James?” Gabriella asked, moving closer.
“Don’t worry about me,” James said, finally tearing his gaze away from the world’s most interesting folder. “You’ve all spent too much time worrying about me.”
“He was angry, he just misspoke,” Gabriella said.
“I said it’s fine!” James snapped suddenly. “God dammit, just leave me the fuck alone, all of you!”
She stepped back, startled. “Sorry,” he said immediately, burying his face in his hands. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
Bradley had moved to the chair closest to James’s at the computer bank as Gabriella stood here awkwardly. Down the hall, she could hear the murmur of voices in the back bedroom.
“I’m sorry,” James said again, finally dropping his hands.
“It’s fine,” she said. “How many times have I done that to you?”
“No, I mean for everything.”
“McManus-” Bradley started.
“I tore things apart here,” James said. “And then yeah, I brought all this shit into Graham’s life. And then couldn’t handle what happened, lost my fucking mind, and it was his problem for a month.” He laughed, the sound brittle. “Longer.”
James went to stand up and Bradley reached over almost automatically to push him back down by his shoulder.
“Give it a minute,” he said. “Give everything a minute.”
Gabriella thought James was going to get up again, but he just nodded.
