Killing Lucas Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Dominique Eastwick
been only enough to keep from sounding rude. Otherwise, he’d remained silent and hostile, though she wasn’t sure anyone else could see it. It was such a marked difference between this stranger and the man she had once known and loved.
She longed to talk to him to find out what was going on in that head of his. Too many years had passed since they had broken up, since Kiloran had done the only thing she knew would push him away. She had done it for his own good, done it to save him, but in the end what did it matter? This wasn’t the man she had known; this was an angry shell of a man and she helped to create him. No good deed goes unpunished kept playing through her head, but truthfully she had been selfish. She hadn’t been honest with him. She’d been scared and acted in such a way that he would run and never look back.
All in the name of keeping him alive .
But looking down at the man below, playing but showed no joy in it, Kiloran wondered if he was he really living or just trying to get through life? The Lucas she remembered had laughed at the little things. He had helped people and asked for nothing in return. But at dinner the night before, he’d clearly fought to stay pleasant. She assumed it had more to do with Haven and Tony’s daughter than anything else. Knowing he would otherwise have been rude and hateful made her ask the little girl to stay when her parents would have let her leave the table. She answered every starry-eyed question and promised to get autographs of Jocé’s favorite stars.
Without the tension between them, the evening would have been one out of a ’50s television show. A meal with family and friends around the dinner table. Only they didn’t leave as a loving couple, but hostile strangers. Lucas had spoken not one word on the ride home. Once he’d punched in the address into the GPS, he’d driven them back to her rental house at the other end of the state in silence.
Kiloran turned from the window and put a few items into her bag for the day. She was needed on the set early this morning. Tony had somehow convinced Lucas to accompany her, that the best thing for this was to make everyone believe tragedy had thrown them back together. That was Tony’s spin anyway. When the condo had blown sky high, they’d realized just how short life was, blah, blah, blah —Tony’s exact words.
“Are you almost ready?”
She screamed, dropping the shoes in her hands as she jumped. “I thought you were outside!”
“Obviously. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Lucas came into the room and picked up the shoes handing them to her. “I’ll take your bag.”
“You really don’t have to go with me, you know. No one would think anything about you not coming to the set all day. It’ll likely be boring as hell.”
“I have my laptop, and I have paperwork to catch up on. And Tony’s right; if we want to draw this asshole out, I need to be visible. And I would like to get this over with as soon as possible.” Throwing her bag over his shoulder, he walked out of the room.
Translation: He would like to get away from her as soon as possible. What had she thought would happen? Kiloran grabbed her script off the nightstand before following him down to his car. She could hear the puppy crying through the door of the bathroom Where Lucas had left him and threw caution to the wind.
When she got into the car, Lucas looked at her, dumbfounded. “Why did you bring the dog?”
“You said yourself the puppy needs a new crate. We can go get one on my lunch break. In the meanwhile, he can stay in my trailer with you all day. Keep you out of trouble.”
“Oh, because I’m known for getting in trouble?” And for the first time he smiled at her.
Don’t make a big deal of it, it’s just a smile. But in truth it was more than that. It was a starting point. It was something. And that led to a feeling she hadn’t had in years. Hope.
Damn it. She still, even after everything, had a way of
She longed to talk to him to find out what was going on in that head of his. Too many years had passed since they had broken up, since Kiloran had done the only thing she knew would push him away. She had done it for his own good, done it to save him, but in the end what did it matter? This wasn’t the man she had known; this was an angry shell of a man and she helped to create him. No good deed goes unpunished kept playing through her head, but truthfully she had been selfish. She hadn’t been honest with him. She’d been scared and acted in such a way that he would run and never look back.
All in the name of keeping him alive .
But looking down at the man below, playing but showed no joy in it, Kiloran wondered if he was he really living or just trying to get through life? The Lucas she remembered had laughed at the little things. He had helped people and asked for nothing in return. But at dinner the night before, he’d clearly fought to stay pleasant. She assumed it had more to do with Haven and Tony’s daughter than anything else. Knowing he would otherwise have been rude and hateful made her ask the little girl to stay when her parents would have let her leave the table. She answered every starry-eyed question and promised to get autographs of Jocé’s favorite stars.
Without the tension between them, the evening would have been one out of a ’50s television show. A meal with family and friends around the dinner table. Only they didn’t leave as a loving couple, but hostile strangers. Lucas had spoken not one word on the ride home. Once he’d punched in the address into the GPS, he’d driven them back to her rental house at the other end of the state in silence.
Kiloran turned from the window and put a few items into her bag for the day. She was needed on the set early this morning. Tony had somehow convinced Lucas to accompany her, that the best thing for this was to make everyone believe tragedy had thrown them back together. That was Tony’s spin anyway. When the condo had blown sky high, they’d realized just how short life was, blah, blah, blah —Tony’s exact words.
“Are you almost ready?”
She screamed, dropping the shoes in her hands as she jumped. “I thought you were outside!”
“Obviously. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Lucas came into the room and picked up the shoes handing them to her. “I’ll take your bag.”
“You really don’t have to go with me, you know. No one would think anything about you not coming to the set all day. It’ll likely be boring as hell.”
“I have my laptop, and I have paperwork to catch up on. And Tony’s right; if we want to draw this asshole out, I need to be visible. And I would like to get this over with as soon as possible.” Throwing her bag over his shoulder, he walked out of the room.
Translation: He would like to get away from her as soon as possible. What had she thought would happen? Kiloran grabbed her script off the nightstand before following him down to his car. She could hear the puppy crying through the door of the bathroom Where Lucas had left him and threw caution to the wind.
When she got into the car, Lucas looked at her, dumbfounded. “Why did you bring the dog?”
“You said yourself the puppy needs a new crate. We can go get one on my lunch break. In the meanwhile, he can stay in my trailer with you all day. Keep you out of trouble.”
“Oh, because I’m known for getting in trouble?” And for the first time he smiled at her.
Don’t make a big deal of it, it’s just a smile. But in truth it was more than that. It was a starting point. It was something. And that led to a feeling she hadn’t had in years. Hope.
Damn it. She still, even after everything, had a way of