Sierra called out, “Hey, you’re the last one on … was starting to wonder if you were gonna show. Late night, little brother?”
He nodded. “Hey, Rox,” he said softly. “Where’s Leo?”
“Chloe and Leo flew out already. My parents are meeting them and they’re going home with them for a day or two.” She looked like she was going to cry and looked out the window.
“I wish I could have told him goodbye,” he said softly. And then under his breath, “I got the results back.”
“I know,” she said just as quietly.
He waited for her to say something else, but she didn’t look at him again.
“Roxie, I’m sorry.”
She nodded but kept looking out the window and didn’t say a word.
Dejected, he sat down a couple rows ahead of them and buckled his seat belt. He didn’t think he’d be able to, but he fell asleep not long into the flight and slept most of the way. Before he’d opened his eyes all the way, he stretched an arm out and bumped into someone.
“Oh, excuse me,” he said, looking to the side. “Hey…”
Coco sat facing him, holding a pillow.
“How are ya?” he asked groggily.
“Tired. S-sorry. It was noisy in the back and I … saw you sleeping up here. Thought maybe I could sneak in a nap too,” Coco said. “I’ll go back now,” she said shyly.
“Don’t worry about it. I need to get after this.” He ran a hand through his scruff and grabbed his bag. He smiled at Coco. “Go ahead and stretch out.”
She nodded, put her pillow on his side, and laid down. He got up to shave and brush his teeth before they landed. The flight attendant followed him into the bathroom. It was barely larger than most airplane bathrooms.
“Uh, what are you doing?” he asked.
“Just seeing if you need any assistance,” she said, running her fingers along the back of his neck.
“I’m good, thanks,” he said.
“I’ve heard,” she whispered seductively in his ear.
He took a step away and held up his razor. “Excuse me while I shave.”
“Just let me know if you need me. Now or anytime,” she said.
“I’ll be sure to do that,” he replied, shaking his head no to say otherwise. “Go ahead and shut the door behind you.”
“Do you mind if I just stay here and watch?” she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders and started shaving. “Knock yourself out.”
It was like he had a flashing sign pointed at him, saying, ‘Eat the apple.’
When he came out, the girl was practically on his heels. Ian flashed him a look, and then Beckham realized how suspicious things seemed. He looked at Roxie, and thankfully, she was asleep, leaning peacefully against her window. Coco wasn’t asleep, but watching him from her pillow. When she saw him looking at her, she sat up and moved her pillow, making room for him to take his seat.
“Thanks,” he said.
She didn’t answer, but her cheeks turned pink.
He could have sworn he’d never seen the girl blink.
The weather was perfection in sunny California. Seventy-two degrees and warming up later in the day. Beckham took out his sunglasses and shed his scarf and sweater. Everyone got their luggage and he noticed Roxie taking flip-flops out of her bag. He smiled in spite of himself.
Everyone was excited to be back in California and planned to either stay home or to check into the Beverly Hilton. Sierra, Brooke, and Vanessa were talking about how happy they would be to sleep in their own beds for a couple of nights.
Ian and Sparrow were going to check on the progress of their house and then come over. Beckham had invited them to stay at his place so they could get a break from their bus, and they’d agreed. He gave them the code to get inside, just in case it was late.
He looked around for Roxie. She was standing next to Brad and Shelton. Most of the tension had faded between her and the rest of the group. He guessed they’d heard about the test results too, and imagined they all felt bad about the way they’d treated her. A cab came up and she waved as Brad and Shelton got in and drove away. He moved beside her.
“I should’ve called,” he said.
She shrugged. “It’s okay. I figured you’d…” she trailed off.
“It’s not okay. I’m embarrassed, Rox. I don’t know why I latched onto the idea so hard of him being mine. I’ve just—I’ve never clicked with a kid, or even many adults, the way I have with Leo.”
She nodded. “He’s special, and so are you. It doesn’t surprise me. And I never thought I’d be telling you this, but … watching you with him … I really wish he was yours, Beckham.” She looked at him then and her sincerity nearly knocked him over.
“Thank you,” he said, choked up. “Roxie. I don’t even … thank you,” he said.
“It’s the truth.” She looked over his shoulder. “My cab should be here any minute. See you tomorrow night!” she said lightly.
“Wait. Come home with me, Roxie. Please?” He raised both hands. “We’ll just hang out. The Sterlings are staying too. It’ll be fun. I have several bedrooms you can choose from…”
“Beckham,” she sighed, “I can’t keep doing this manic thing we have going. It’s wearing me down. I know you just got caught up with things, but now that you know Leo’s not yours, you can move on from me too. We have too much baggage. Let’s just leave it at that.”
A cab pulled up. She got in and didn’t look back.
She wrapped her hands with gauze and ignored the familiar pain. She’d been experimenting with acetone and hydrogen peroxide for the last few weeks. Making ammonal wasn’t as difficult as she’d expected—she finally had the mixture of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder down pat. The fun part was testing to see which measurements caused the best results. However, it was becoming more and more difficult to hide the burns from all her experiments.
She tested her limits, careful to not get too close when detonating, but then seeing how long she could endure smoke, the length of time her skin could taste the heat before it became unbearable.
She was ready.
What she was having a hard time getting past was the fact that Leo wasn’t Beckham’s son. And just when she’d made her peace with him having a child and come around to wanting him, too. It just didn’t seem fair.
Maybe this was all for the best. Beckham was vulnerable right now. And soon, she would be the one to give him the child he so desperately wanted. He would never want anyone but her again.
Tonight. It had to be tonight.
She’d waited for the perfect timing, and she knew there would be no better opportunity than this. It was risky, but she felt confident it would work.
Beckham would forget about Roxie when she wasn’t constantly in his face. And getting rid of Roxie would finally pave the way for her.
The difference between a successful murder and a botched one was all about planning and patience. She’d done her time and research.
It was now or never.
It felt strange to be in L.A. without their bus or even their old place. Ian knew it would be nice at Beckham’s house, but he wanted to make sure Journey didn’t keep them up all night like she sometimes did when they were in a new place. So he took Sparrow and Journey to Beckham’s as soon as they left the airport, made sure Journey went down for her nap on time, and then left to run errands.
Tomorrow was their second wedding anniversary and also the Grammys, so he wanted to make tonight special for Sparrow. Sierra would be watching Journey at her mother’s house while he took Sparrow out for dinner to Providence. Sierra had offered to take her to her place overnight, but Sparrow wasn’t quite ready for that yet. They hadn’t really had babysitters, being on the road together, so it would be interesting to see how it went.