We continued driving in silence. I wanted to pick up Mason and hold him, but I also knew I should let him sleep. He needed it, especially with the ear infection. The antibiotics seemed to be working already, and he was taking the medicine pretty easily, but I didn’t want to mess with that.
I looked out the window, my stomach a knot of worry. But I was determined to stick this through, to help Emory, to save my parents.
I wasn’t backing down, not from this, not ever.
26
Emory
I watched from a distance, my arms crossed, as Tara talked with a young, pretty girl. I assumed it was Lindy, though obviously I couldn’t be sure since I’d never actually met her before.
Travis was out scouting around us, making sure nobody was following, but I wasn’t worried about that. I had a powerful gut feeling about this, the first true gut feeling I’d gotten since everything had started. I finally felt like I understood what Omar was doing and where this was all going.
Tara hated dropping Mason off with Lindy, but it was the safest thing for him. Nobody knew Lindy; nobody knew she was even slightly a part of this. But if we kept Mason with us, he would be dragged into the heart of everything, potentially right into the center of a nuclear meltdown.
Tara passed Mason off to Lindy and gave her his bags and things. Lindy looked worried and maybe a little confused, but she clearly had agreed to watch Mason. I didn’t know what Tara was telling her, but I assumed it was some convincing lie.
Maybe she was saying she and I were going on some trip together. Lindy probably thought she was crazy and that Tara was going on some weeklong fuck fest with me, which was definitely better than the truth: that we were going to hunt down some terrorists and stop an attack.
Tara finally finished, kissed Mason goodbye, and tore herself away. I could see the hurt plain as day on her face, but I knew she understood why this was the right call. Mason would be safer this way, and we wouldn’t have to worry about him as we finished this. It was only going to be for a few days at most, and Lindy apparently was good with Mason.
I was impressed all over again by Tara’s strength. She was keeping herself going against all odds. I’d thought for sure she would stay behind with Mason, but she was clearly determined to see this through.
I knew I shouldn’t have let her come with us, but I also knew that I was way too close to this. I was giving in to that, admitting to myself that I wanted her to come along. I wasn’t sure how she could help or if it would even be safe for her to stay with me, but I couldn’t fucking help myself.
The thought of doing this without her felt empty. She was the reason for it all, and I wanted her nearby. Fuck if that wasn’t a very, very stupid reason for dragging a civilian along on a serious mission, but there it fucking was.
“You okay?” I asked her as she got closer.
“Fine,” she said, and climbed into the car. “Let’s go.”
I got in and looked at her. “You can change your mind,” I said. “You’ll be safe here. You can take care of Mason until this is all over.”
“Just drive,” she said.
I grinned to myself and pulled out into traffic.
We drove in silence, and I could tell she was unhappy. That was fine with me though. I didn’t need her to be happy all the damn time. It wasn’t my job to make her joyous over all my fucking decisions. I was in charge of this operation, and if she didn’t like that, she could go stay with Lindy and Mason.
Fifteen minutes later and we pulled into the parking lot of this run-down old motel called Knight’s Inn. Travis was already there, leaning up against his car, dangling a key off his finger. I parked next to him and we got out.
“Already grabbed a room, cap,” he said. “Two actually. One for us, and one for the girl.”
“Fine,” I said, taking the keys from him. “Good work.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to check out the house, but we need rest first. Think you can run a quick scouting mission?”
“Roger that,” he said.
“Wait,” Tara interrupted. “Wait. We aren’t going to my house right now?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We can’t just run up there. Travis hasn’t been able to contact Coop, which means something might be wrong. We have to be careful. Too much is at stake.”
I could tell that didn’t sit well with her, but I didn’t have time to argue the point. I just nodded at Travis and walked off, carrying the bags.
Tara hurried to catch up. “I know this is your thing,” she said, “but I don’t like it. I think we should get there as soon as possible.”