Blank Slate

Chapter 150 - Ezra James

A/N: I have not been splitting this story into different books instead, publishing it on this site as one long story. But at this point, it is nearing 350,000 words. If I was going to split them into books I think the last chapter would be the end of the third book with this chapter standing as some sort of epilogue. 

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I drank the last of the hippy organic coffee that Oliver had snuck off to get this morning. To me, it tasted the exact same as my normal drip coffee, but this whole town was into their locally sourced and booshy labels, so one large cup of coffee ended up costing ten dollars.

Worth every penny at this moment.

It had been an excruciatingly long night and my mind was going about a million miles a minute trying to figure out what was going on with the rest of the team right now. I knew that Payton had shafted me with babysitting duty because she didn't trust me with this. And while that stung like a motherfucker, I couldn't really blame her. I wouldn't trust me at this point either. Quite frankly, it was a miracle that the woman hadn't done everything in her power to get me kicked off this team. Or fired.

"What do you think they are going to do with Payton's father?" Oliver asked and I admitted to myself that I was surprised that he was here with me instead of his brother. What had Oliver done to piss Payton off? When exactly had Paxton earned Payton's trust?

"You know Payton better than I do. What do you think they are going to do?" I asked because I didn't have a clue. I didn't like the fact that I didn't have a clue and it was pissing me off. God, I needed sleep.

"I don't think she is going to kill him," Oliver said and I silently agreed with him. Payton wasn't going to kill her father because that would be too merciful. But she did have them drive away with him to some unknown location. "Payton thinks that she is a bad person, but I think it is all in her head. Everything she does is for other people. I don't think she has it in her to kill her own father."

Now, here we differed in opinion. I may not think that Payton was actively plotting against us anymore, but I did know not to underestimate her like that. I was positive that Payton had it in her to do a whole lot more than just kill the man responsible for the abuse she suffered as a child. 

Payton was downright scary.

When I didn't say anything in response because I didn't want to go down that particular rabbit hole again, Oliver continued to fill the silence. He didn't sit still or silent very well. "I also think that Payton is making a mistake by not introducing herself to Cali. I think it would be good for her to have some sort of normal family."

I looked over at the teenage clone of Payton who was sitting against a tree in a park sketching and had to once again disagree. Normal family was overrated. "I don't think that Cali would be a good addition to Payton's life," I found myself saying.

"What? Why?" Oliver asked me in a bewildered tone.

"Cali is a viper. Beautiful and poisonous. She would take everything that Payton was willing or able to give her and then demand more without giving anything in return. She is selfish and she is a bully. I saw how Payton looked at her yesterday. She already loves the girl. Cali would take advantage of that love and it would end up hurting Payton in the long run," I said with conviction.

"How do you know that Cali wouldn't love Payton back?" Oliver asked as he too looked over at Cali. I wanted to say that I didn't think Cali was able to love Payton back. Not really. I had known women like her. Like Elizabeth Barton. And they were so self-centered that there wasn't any room for anyone else in their heart. But I didn't say anything because I had thought Payton was incapable of love too, just for a different reason.