Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
STERLING
W e left Callum Leary behind us and made our way around the lake. I sat beside Forrest, eyes on the trees flashing by, my hands folded in my lap, mind reeling from the events of the past twenty-four hours. I didn’t know what was up and what was down anymore.
I’d solved another clue and cracked the Jefferson cipher. I’d been feeling pretty full of myself when that mint tin had landed in my hands. Then I opened it and hit a brick wall. I’d seen alphanumeric codes before, but those had come with a key. Without a key, I didn’t know where to start. I could write a program to decrypt a simple code. At least, I thought I could. I knew where to start, but it was really just a stab in the dark.
When I told Forrest we were in over our heads, I hadn’t just meant the Learys. They were a problem all their own, but only one among many. I was lost when it came to this new cipher. And beyond that?—
I glanced to my left to see Forrest, his eyes locked on the road ahead, a shadow of stubble on his cheeks, his curls mussed, and a tiny quirk to the side of his mouth, curving his full lower lip.
Fuck me. What had I been thinking? Talk about being in over our heads. Was I a glutton for punishment? Was I trying to make myself miserable? It was the only explanation for doing something so fucking self-destructive. This time, I couldn’t blame Forrest. The night before, he’d stayed on his side of the bed just as he’d promised.
He’d said, “ I have plenty of ideas, but I won’t act on them ,” and I hadn’t been able to stop wondering—exactly what kind of ideas? His words were a tease in my brain. What was he imagining doing to me? I knew what I’d had in my head, starting with pulling down that white sheet and seeing more than his bare, muscled shoulders.
Body and soul, no one had ever made me feel like Forrest. And it had been a year without him. Lying in bed beside him, I’d felt every one of those long, lonely days. He was right there, close enough to touch. I’d tried to sleep, tried to ignore him. Nothing worked. And then my body made the decision for me. It hadn’t even occurred to me that he would turn me down, which on reflection, made me feel like kind of an asshole. I’d just assumed he wanted it, too. Why? Because all men wanted sex? Because he loved me? I was so wrapped up in all the ways he’d hurt me, I hadn’t stopped to think about the ways I could hurt him.
At the time, I’d just wanted to touch, to feel, to go back and bring a slice of memory to life. I’d promised him I wouldn’t blame him later. My chest ached. He hadn’t asked for sex. That was all me. All Forrest needed was the promise that I wouldn’t hold it against him if he gave me what I wanted. I didn’t know what I thought about that.
The sex was even better than before. Was that even possible? Maybe I was just sex starved. Forrest had always been deliciously bossy in bed.
Pinch your nipples.
The memory of the roughly growled order sent a shiver down my spine.
Forrest glanced over. “Are you cold? Should I turn down the AC?”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, turning my head to look out the window so he couldn’t see the flush on my cheeks. It felt like my face was flaming red.
I’d lied to him. I told him it didn’t mean anything; the truth was I didn’t want it to mean anything. But if it didn’t mean anything, I wouldn’t be sitting here obsessing over it, would I?
In so many ways, I’d gotten my life together. I wasn’t using alcohol to escape from life anymore. I had a job I liked. I was studying for a new career. I’d been keeping that part a secret, but still, I was making forward, positive progress in every aspect of my life. I was closer to my siblings than ever. I actually kept my room clean. And yet, I couldn’t seem to get the slightest handle on my love life.
Forrest flicked on his blinker and looked over his shoulder as he steered the car into a small gas station opposite the on-ramp to the interstate. I checked the dashboard. Half a tank. More than enough to get home.
“Why are we stopping?” I asked.
“The only thing you took from Callum Leary was his business card?” he stated, his raised eyebrow making it a question.
I wasn’t following, but I nodded. “That’s it. Just the business card. Why?”
He put the car in park next to the gas pump, unclipped his seat belt, and shifted to look at me. “Then how did they track us to the lake house? I know they’re not tracking your phone. I’m pretty sure Hawk is the only one who can do that.”
“What if they were tracking you?” I asked, turning the questions over in my head, a little surprised I hadn’t thought of it first.
Forrest shook his head. “I doubt it. My phone probably isn’t as locked down as yours, but it’s company-issued, and my understanding is that those go through the same security process as the family’s.”
That threw me for a second, but then it made sense. Forrest worked closely with my older brothers, Royal and Tenn. A lot of their personal information, like schedules and contact numbers, would end up on Forrest’s phone, as well as company information they’d want to keep secure.
“So, if it’s not our phones…” I glanced around for Callum’s dark sedan. It wasn’t in sight, but now that Forrest had asked, I felt them watching us. I shivered again, this one far less pleasant.
“That’s why we’re getting gas,” Forrest said. He got out, did the thing at the pump with his credit card, and started pumping the gas. Once it was set, he left it to fill the tank and walked around the car.
He circled the car once. On the second lap, he leaned over and disappeared from view. I’d been so distracted by second thoughts over my late-night seduction and looking for the Learys, it took me that long to realize what Forrest was doing. I unsnapped my seat belt and jumped out, going to my knees behind the front right tire, looking up into the undercarriage.
I had no idea what the undercarriage of a car was supposed to look like, which wasn’t going to help me spot something that shouldn’t be there. Regardless, I squinted up into the dark confusion of metal, rough asphalt biting into my knees as I crawled slowly backward. The gas pump clicked, indicating that the tank was full. We ignored it.
After a few minutes, I heard a satisfied “Got it,” followed by the ding of metal on metal. I jumped to my feet and rounded the back of the car. “What does it look like?” I asked, holding out my hand.
Forrest showed me a small black box twice the size of a garage remote.
“Clever,” I said. “What are we going to do with it?”
Forrest looked down at the device in his hand. “As I see it,” he began, “we have four options. Option number one, we destroy it. Which would get them off our tail temporarily, but also let them know we found it and we don’t want to be followed.”
I nodded. That one was mostly downside, as far as I could tell.
“Option number two, we throw it out here,” he said, gesturing to the trash cans beside the gas pumps.
“It would buy us some time,” I said. “But eventually, they’d figure out that we weren’t still at the gas station. What’s option three?” I asked.
“We drive somewhere else and leave it there.”
I mulled that over. “We could leave it at a hotel,” I considered aloud. “Or in the next town, in a residential neighborhood. Or, I don’t know, someplace we’d conceivably stop for longer than a few hours. Or…” I looked around the gas station, spotting an SUV with a packed bike rack, a plumber’s van, and a state trooper. “We could put it on one of these cars. It might be fun for the Learys to chase down a state trooper.”
Forrest grinned. “Only if we could catch it on camera. And I don’t think we want to piss them off. I might not like it, but you’re safer as long as Callum likes you.”
“True,” I said, “but he doesn’t like me. He wants to use me. Not the same thing.” I glanced again at the other vehicles getting gas and ditched that idea. I didn’t want to bring trouble to anyone who hadn’t asked for it.
“I’m voting for option four,” Forrest said. “We put it back and drive home.”
I grinned back, the benefits of option four immediately clear. “That’s where they’re expecting us to go, right? And if they think we’re exactly where we’re expected to be…”
“They won’t know we found the tracker,” Forrest finished.
“Then maybe they’ll stop watching us as closely,” I said. “At the very least,” I added, “we could let Hawk and Griffen figure out what to do with it.”
“I’ll put it back.” Forrest knelt, and I heard metal connect to metal with a satisfying magnetic click.
We hit the gas station shop for drinks and got back in the car. The rest of the ride home to Sawyers Bend was silent until we turned before town, heading toward Forrest’s house.
“Aren’t we going to go talk to Hawk and Griffen?” I asked.
“You left your car at my place. I thought you’d want it.”
His simple, thoughtful words hit like a slap. I’d forgotten I left my car at Forrest’s. Being with him like this had felt so natural, so right, despite the awkward silence between us. I’d forgotten we weren’t together. I’d left my car at his house because I didn’t want him to pick me up.
For the millionth time, I wondered if whatever was at the end of Alan Buckley’s scavenger hunt was worth putting myself through this emotional torture. My body wanted what it wanted, but my heart was terrified. I could survive without the money. Did I need to prove my father wrong that much?
We pulled to a stop behind my car. I got out with a sigh, fumbling in my purse for my keys.
“I’ll follow you to Heartstone,” Forrest said, interrupting my thoughts and reminding me that this was about a lot more than Forrest and me and our failed relationship. Callum Leary was no joke. I needed my big brother, and I needed Hawk.
We were playing a dangerous game. It was time to get my head out of my ass and Forrest out of my heart. It wouldn’t matter what was at the end of this scavenger hunt if I wasn’t alive to enjoy it.