Sacrifice (Elemental 5)

“Shaken up,” said Adam. “They said their phones would be confiscated for the first three days.” He smiled, and it was a little sad. “So Nick slipped me his. He said to give it to you.” He pulled it out of his pocket and held it out.

A phone! Michael felt like he’d been handed a missing limb. But then he realized what Adam had said.

Three days.

“It won’t be three days,” he said. Now he understood why Hunter and Adam had come here: this separation was too new, too raw. The county had torn his family apart without warning, and here their friends were trying to glue the remaining scraps back together.

“How long do you think it’ll be?” said Hunter.

“At least another day. I can’t get in front of a judge on Sunday.” He used to love Sundays because it was the one day a week he didn’t schedule landscaping jobs—but he’d give up Sundays for the rest of his life if he could accelerate time right now. “David said he’ll try to get me a hearing tomorrow.”

“They’ll be okay,” said Adam.

“Did they tell you where they were going?”

“No,” said Hunter. “The social worker lady said it’s to prevent a ‘conflict of interest,’ whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

She’d said the same thing to Michael. “It means they’ve had issues with people breaking out—with outside help. Or people breaking in to cause harm.”

“Breaking out?” said Adam. “It’s not prison.”

Michael looked at him. “It’s not home either.” He frowned and admitted a truth he didn’t want to share. “I’m glad they’re locked down. It’ll keep them safer than being with me.”

Hunter and Adam exchanged glances. “What does that mean?” said Adam.

Michael glanced at the hallway, which wasn’t busy, but still had a fair amount of traffic. “Close the door.”

Adam did.

Michael kept his voice low anyway. “It means Friday night was a setup. Whoever started the fires in our neighborhood set that bomb as a trap.”

“For you?” said Hunter. “So you think whoever wanted to meet about that landscaping job was—”

“There was no job, Hunter.” Michael hesitated. “When you guys were sleeping at Adam’s, whoever started the fires in our neighborhood asked me to meet him.” Now he realized the insidious threat behind those text messages. Bring your brothers. Bring the police. Bring anyone that makes you feel comfortable.

It was supposed to be reassuring.

Now, in retrospect, it was terrifying.

What if he’d listened? What if he’d called the police and they’d stormed that bar? How many more people would have been killed?

Hunter folded his arms across his chest. “So you lied.”

“I didn’t lie! I did it to protect you. All of you.”

“Do your brothers know?”

“No.”

Hunter’s expression had turned into a glare. “Everything we’ve been through, and you lied. We could have come with you. We could have helped. Do you have any idea what they’re saying on the news? Do you have any idea?”

o;Shh. It’s okay. They’re okay.” She stroked a hand down his face.

“I promised them, Hannah.” His voice was rough and harsh and the pain in his words almost hurt her ears. “I promised I wouldn’t let anyone take them away. And now—”

“You didn’t fail them, Michael.”

“I did.” He put his face in his hands again. “I did.”