025: Intrigue

Dexter

After spending an entire day in the hospital, Ellen can finally come home.

We haven’t had a chance to talk about her accident, mostly because her family has been around for too long, and that took our privacy away. At the same time, she looks like she’s happy that there are so many people around her.

But despite her happiness, I know that this isn’t going to end well. When we get home, she’ll abandon these happy emotions and go back to sulking. That is, if I decide not to ask her what happened. We both know that what happened was no accident. She did that to herself on purpose. Why is that, though?

I have my suspicions but I’ll keep them to myself for now.

I’m the one who drives her home. In the car ride, we’re silent. Not a single word is exchanged between us. Maybe she’s waiting for me to say something. I’m beyond words. I park the car and then pull the brake. Then, we sit in silence.

From the corner of my eye, I see her glance at me. I turn my face to the window, where I have a full view of our home. This house I took for myself—a spoil from all the hard work I put into capturing the Fletcher’s. It nearly killed me, so everyone thought it would be cool if I kept their home.

“Are you going to come inside?” Ellen asks me.

“No, I have to go to work.”

There’s a pause and she then sighs. “But I just got back from the hospital, Dex. Surely you can spend some time with me.”

“Is that why you did that?”

“Did what?”

I look at her. She’s staring at me with wide eyes. For a moment, I think of dropping it. It wouldn’t cost me to come inside and spend some time with her. I don’t have much to do. But it’s the thought that she’s lying to me that stops me from taking the passive route.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“No, I don’t.”

“How’d you hurt yourself, Ellen?”

She gasps. “I already told you how it happened. You…you think I did this to myself, is that it? You think that I would be cold-blooded enough to do this? What for?”

“For attention, perhaps,” I say coldly.

Tears fill her eyes and then she gets out of the car and slams the door. I place my hands on the steering wheel and watch her disappear through the front door. I then rest my forehead against the steering wheel.

Things seem to be getting worse and worse.

After I’ve calmed down enough, I drive away. The further away I get from the house and as a result, I feel very peaceful. It makes me feel like shit, of course, but I’ve gotten used to that feeling.

I’ve felt like shit my whole life. What’s new?

I reach the office. Jenna is there, and she gives me one look and says, “You look like you’ve been run over by a car.”

I sit down across from her and ask, “Is there something for me to do around here?”

“Well, things have been peaceful where Lycans are concerned,” she answers. “It’s the rogues we’re looking into now. They’re proving to be problematic as hell. Why? In need of a distraction?”

I miss the times when I was useful. It feels like ages ago when I used to barge into the lives of Lycans and bring them down.

“The Taylor case has been concluded,” she informs me. “We’ll have an arrest warrant ready in a few days. After that, we put Victor Taylor in jail and that’s that. End of story. But I hear there’s something Mr. King asked you to do.”

I nod. “I’m not sure if that’s going to go anywhere.”

“Well, you know best,” she tells me. She flips through the pages of her file and then looks at me abruptly before closing the file. “I thought you were going to tell me about Ellen. She got injured, didn’t she? I heard this morning.”

I stiffen a little but say, “She’s fine. I just drove her home.”

Jenna keeps looking at me. “You know, I think things are going to end badly if you don’t do something about it now.”

I frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do!” she exclaims. “You’ve never loved that woman, not once. You don’t have to fool me either.”

“This is my personal life you’re talking about,” I remind her coldly.

Jenna puts her hand up. “You’re right, I’m crossing a line. I know that and I’m sorry. But as your friend, I think it’s my duty to tell you that you should just leave her before things get too messy. Mr. King is not someone to be trifled with. He won’t be happy knowing that you’re putting her through this.”

I stand up. Jenna’s eyes follow me as I make my way to the door. I’m so annoyed with everyone and everything in my life right now. I can’t even go to work without Ellen following me.

I get in my car, sit in it for a while, deep in thought, and then press the key into the ignition. I drive around for hours. I even contemplate leaving the city. Without meaning to, I think about Jenna’s advice. Should I leave Ellen?

I can’t say that I’ve never thought about it. From the very beginning of our relationship, I realized that we were complete opposites. There’s nothing she’s ever said that made any sense to me. We’ve always been on opposite ends of the spectrum. If she says something is black, I’ll say it’s white.

But to reject her and move on with my life feels…a little extreme. I’ve always believed that we should only mate with one person, and stick to that person forever. Maybe the truth is that I’ve never believed in love. I don’t think it’s real. I know a lot about lust, but love?

It doesn’t exist.

I find myself gravitating toward the strip club. It’s the one place that makes me feel useful. If I find out that Ambrose Logan has something going on, I’ll bring him down, and that will remind me of a time when I was unstoppable.

But is that the only reason why I’m here?

As I get out of the car and slam the door shut, I stare at the entrance for the longest time. Now that I’m here, it’s easy for me to think about Red, and the thought of her does something to me that I can’t quite explain.

I suddenly vividly recall how jealous I felt when that old fuck said he was going to her room. I close my eyes as a wave of rage crashes into me. No, I’m exaggerating. This isn’t real. This is just something I’ve convinced myself to feel because there’s no reason why I should feel any attraction toward her. She’s just a stripper I’m using. Nothing more, nothing less.

I take a step forward and see movement from the corner of my eye. It’s gone in a flash, but I know what I saw. It’s been years and years of having to be alert.

I saw the shadow or whatever it was I saw round the corner. I go in that direction. I move slowly so as to not arouse suspicion. I hear some ruffling sounds and am unable to identify them. But there’s someone in this alleyway, alright.

I peer over the wall. I do this quickly and silently. What I see shocks me. I frown and watch the kid for a bit. He’s…is he trying to pick the lock of that door? His brows are furrowed in concentration as he moves the Bobby pin between his fingers. I hear a click, and a slow smile spreads across his face. He then rushes into the room.

It’s the boy I met the other day.

He can pick locks? A kid his age?

I follow him, determined to find out what’s going on.

Where the hell is he going?