Chapter Three
Walter arrived back at the garage a little after eleven the next morning.
He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He'd spent sixteen of the
last eighteen hours driving to Tahoe and back, and the last eight reliving
the disaster he'd almost made of his life. All he wanted to do was collapse
and sleep for at least the next twenty-four hours.
A plan he was going to have to put on hold, he noted as he pulled up to Scorpion's
headquarters. Cabe's and Paige's vehicles were parked outside. Happy's truck
was glaringly absent. Yet it was eerily quiet when he walked inside. A quick
look around told him why. Toby was sleeping on the couch, an empty bottle
of tequila on the floor next to him. Sylvester and Ralph were in one of the
tents not far from where the shrink was resting. Cabe, Tim, and Paige were
nowhere in sight.
"Hey, Walter."
The sound of Ralph's voice startled him, even though the boy had whispered
his words as he poked his head out of the tent.
"Hey, Ralph," he replied. "What's going on?"
"We had a sleepover," the youngster explained. "To keep Toby company. Cabe
said it was so he didn't go off the deep end."
"Probably a good idea."
"I don't know what time everyone else went to sleep but I stayed up until
two." Ralph smiled proudly at him. "Mom made hot chocolate with marshmallows
and it made me sleepy."
"Uh, yeah." Walter rubbed the back of his head nervously at the mention of
the boy's mother. "So where is everyone else then?"
"Cabe's in the trailer. He said he was too old to sleep on the floor. Mom's
upstairs."
Upstairs. In his living quarters? Was Tim up there with her? Pain tore through
him and he felt dizzy. Were they in his bed? Doing all the things he dreamt
of doing with her there? He had to take deep breaths as he suppressed the
urge to vomit.
"Where. . .uh. . .where's T-Tim?" he managed to choke out.
"Tim's not here." Walter glanced over at the boy who was looking worriedly
at him. "He and Mom got into a fight and he took a taxi back to his place."
Ralph wrinkled his nose. "I don't care for him. He tries too hard to be friends
with me."
Walter relaxed, his breathing returning to normal. "Some people are like
that," he said. "They don't realize that we find it annoying." He smiled
at the young genius. "So, do you need something to eat or. . ."
"No, I'm good. I'll wait until everyone else gets up. Cabe said we'd all
go to Kovelski's."
"Sounds like a plan." He indicated his duffel bag. "Well, I should go put
this away."
"Okay." Ralph wiggled back inside the tent.
Walter sighed as he headed to the stairs. For a moment, he wished he was
eleven again, when life hadn't been quite so complicated.
The sight of Paige lying on his bed halted him in his tracks as he entered
his bedroom. She was still wearing the clothes from the day before, her blouse
and slacks crumpled, her hair mussed and frazzled. Her feet were bare and
he could see her bright pink toenails. Lust shot through him like a rocket.
She was curled up on her right side, hugging his pillow. Black streaks stained
her cheeks where her mascara had run. Had she been crying over Tim? The thought
made his stomach churn once again.
As quietly as he could, he set down his bag then turned to exit the room.
"Walter?" He stopped, clenching his fists when he heard her voice. "What
are you doing here?"
Keeping his back to her, he replied, "It's my bedroom."
"That's not what I meant," she said, sounding exasperated. "You're supposed
to be in Tahoe with. . ."
He slowly spun around to look her. She gasped. "Oh, my God, what happened
to your face?"
"What?" Puzzled, he hurried into his bathroom to look into the mirror. A
hand shaped bruise graced his left cheek. No wonder the gas station clerk
had stared at him strangely when he filled up his car before heading back
to LA. He came back out into the other room. "Uh, Linda slapped me."
"What did you do to her?" Paige was now sitting up on his bed, still holding
the pillow with one hand while running the other through her tousled hair.
"I, uh, called her. . .um, someone's else's name."
"And she slapped you hard enough to leave a bruise?"
"While I was kissing her."
He saw her face pale as she clutched the pillow tighter. "You. . .k-kissed
her?"
"Yes."
"Walter," she said in a low voice, "whose name did you call her?"
He closed his eyes as he jammed his hands in his pockets as he confessed,
"Yours."
Silence filled the room for several minutes. Opening his eyes, he watched
her slide off the bed and move toward him. "Why?"
"Because I was thinking about you."
"You were thinking about me while kissing another woman?" She frowned at
him. "I think I would have slapped you too."
"She, uh, had certain expectations and. . .I. . .uh. . .couldn't. . ." He
took a deep breath. "She said sex was expected on the third date and since
you and. . . You and Tim went out three times. . . I thought. . ."
"She's wrong. And you're wrong. Tim hasn't even kissed me."
"He hasn't?" Damn, he cringed as his voice cracked. He cleared his throat.
"So, you've never. . ."
"Not with Tim," she said, smiling shyly at him.
His whole body sagged with relief. She hadn't had sex with the former Navy
SEAL. There was still a chance. . .
"Hey, Paige!" Cabe's voice rang out from downstairs. Walter froze, glancing
at Paige, who was staring at him with wide eyes.
"We're heading out to Kovelski's," the Homeland agent shouted. "We'll be
gone about an hour. . ." Someone else said something Walter couldn't quite
catch. ". . .about two hours. Do you want anything?"
She looked at Walter and smiled shyly. "No, I have everything I need," she
replied, giving him even more hope.
"Copy that."
They listened as footsteps crossed the concrete floor below and the door
leading to the outside creaked open.
"Hey, Walter?" It was Toby who called out this time. "About damn time you
came to your senses, buddy."
The door slammed shut.