He heaves an exhausted breath and stares out the window. “I can’t believe you blew your cover and gave up your chance at a new start in life.” He looks at me and shakes his head in disappointment.
I shrug, unsure what he wants me to say. I already knew the new start I was promised is gone. I don’t regret my choice, though, not after seeing Evan and Doc go after Emery like that. I wasn’t about to stand by anymore and watch them slowly kill her anymore.
“I wish you’d tell me where Emery is,” I sign. “It’s been three days and all anyone will ever say is that she’s okay, but she’s been in and out of consciousness.”
“She’s okay.” He twists in his seat and stretches out his legs across the floor. “More than okay, actually, which is part of the reason I came to see you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, she finally woke up and is coherent.”
I get to my feet and rub my dreary eyes, suddenly feeling very awake. “Can I see her?”
He thrums his fingers on the table, contemplating, then retrieves his phone from his pocket and checks his messages. When he puts his phone away, he reclines back in the chair. “She told us where it is.”
I gape at him. “She told you where the warehouse is? Just like that?”
“You seem shocked,” Stale remarks, pushing to his feet, “yet you’ve been assuring me that she’d cooperate.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think she’d do it that easy. Not when she’s terrified of her father.”
“Well, she didn’t do it without some stipulations, one being protection.”
So, just like that, Emery gave up the location. She’s braver than I thought. I should have given her more credit. All that time we spent together, she seemed timid and sweet, unlike her father who is more terrifying than the devil himself. But she’s had bravery hidden beneath the fear he worked to instill in her.
“There were more requests than just being protected,” Stale adds. “One is she wants to see you before she goes.”
“Goes?” I ask with my brow cocked. “Where?”
“That information is confidential.”
“And what about me?” I sign. “Where am I going?”
“That’s really up to you.” He rubs his hand over the top of his head, staring out the window again. “We can offer you witness protection, which I think would be wise considering, but I can’t make you do it.”
“Just like Brooks?” I question with speculation, still not convinced Brooks was ever safe.
He scowls at me. “I’ve told you time and time again that Brooks is safe, Ryler. Just like you and I are standing here. I told you I’d protect you just like I told him the same. We pulled him out before Donny got to him, so stop speculating otherwise.”
“Why would you give me the offer for witness protection?” I wonder. “I fucked up, which means I lose my chance at starting over.”
His mouth curves to a frown. “We’re not that cruel. We’re not going to just let you out there to fend for yourself after you’ve given us eight months of your life. Besides, you didn’t fuck up completely. You brought us Emery who told us the location of Ralingford.”
“That’s the town where the warehouse is?”
“It is. Emery even gave up the latitude and longitude so we could track it by satellite, otherwise, we’d be going into the search blind.”
Emery, you’re more amazing than you’ll ever realize.
Completely and utterly brave.
I want to see you again.
Hold you in my arms.
But how long will it last before you slip from my fingers
and blow into the wind like dust?
“And if I choose witness protection, then I’d never see anyone I know again, right?” I ask. “That would be the deal.”
“That’s how these things have to work; otherwise, there would be no point.” When I don’t respond right away, he adds, “Ryler, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but with you and Emery being gone for over four days now, my bet is Doc already has men looking for you. You know as well as I do that if they start looking into you, they’re going to eventually find stuff. Just like you know that even if we arrest them there’s always a chance someone will still come looking for you.”
Well, when he puts it that way, it’s really not a choice. Yes, it’ll suck leaving my stuff behind, leaving without saying goodbye to Violet and Luke, but it’s what I have to do. The worst is knowing that I won’t see Emery ever again. We never really got a chance. My encounter with the beautiful girl I briefly connected to was more fleeting than a storm.
“When would I have to leave?” I ask Detective Stale. “I’m guessing soon.”
“We’d get you out of here as soon as you’re finished saying goodbye to Emery,” he says, checking the time on his phone. “Which I’m hoping you’ll make quick for her sake. A team is about to raid Ralingford, and I want her on a plane before that happens.”
I rake my hands through my hair and then sniff my shirt, which smells like barbeque chips and soda. I need a shower and to put clean clothes on, but there’s not a whole lot I can do since I have nothing else with me except another shirt that I wore the first two days in this room.
“Where is she?” I ask, slipping on my boots.
He heads for the door, signaling for me to follow him. “I can only give you about a half an hour, then we have to get you and her out of here.” He unfastens the lock, opens the door, and sticks his head out into the hallway. He glances left and right before stepping out.
I follow after him as he hurries down the hallway. We rush past door after door until finally stopping in front of the last one.
Stale slips his hand into his pocket and digs out a keycard. “Thirty minutes,” he warns as he feeds the lock the card. “Then I’m coming in.”
I can tell by the look on his face that he thinks Emery and I are going to spend our time fucking each other. While I don’t mind the idea, I doubt that’s going to happen. Things need to be said. A lot of important things, including an apology on my part for lying to her.
When Stale steps back, I push the door open and enter the room. The curtains are drawn shut and the corner lamp is on. The air smells like takeout and the bed is unmade, but Emery is nowhere to be seen.
Confused, I start across the room. As I pass by the bathroom, Emery strolls out and crashes into me.
“Oh, my God,” she squeaks, pressing her hand to her heart. “You scared the heck out of me.”
Her wet hair runs loosely down her shoulders, her skin is damp, and she smells like shampoo. She has on a pair of shorts and a faded black tank top. Not a single drop of makeup is on her face, and all I can think is absolutely perfect.
“Hey,” I sign, giving her a nervous smile. Now that she knows who I am, it feels like we’re meeting for the first time. And like the very first time we met, I feel a bit anxious.
“Hey,” she replies, biting her nails.
I can’t help smiling. She’s still the same Emery.
I remove her hand from her lips and lace our fingers together. We need to talk, I mouth.
She nods in agreement. “Yes, we do.”
Holding onto her hand, I guide her to the bed and pull her down with me as I sit down on the mattress. I stare at her for a while, wasting at least five of our thirty minutes together, memorizing her lips, her eyes, the curves of her body, the scent of her.
“I’m sorry,” I finally sign, after I finish staring at her.
Her head angles to the side. “For what?”
“For lying to you.” I tuck a strand of her wet hair behind her ear. “I should have told you who I am the moment Doc told me who you are.”
She burrows her cheek deeper into my hand. “Ryler, you don’t need to be sorry. You’re the good one here.”
“I’m anything but good. Trust me.”
“I do trust you.” She reaches for me, her fingers noticeably trembling, and sweeps her fingers through my hair. “I trust
you more than anyone, which might seem crazy because we barely know each other, but I really do. I realize that now. You’re the only person in my entire life that has made me feel some sort of safety. I just wish I could have trusted you from the beginning. Things would have been so much easier.”
“You couldn’t trust me all the time because I was lying to you most of the time.”
“But you lied for a good reason.”
“I should have told you who I am sooner,” my hands move desperately between us, “instead of waiting until things got as bad as they did.”