Chapter 25 #2
“We’re not alone out here.”
That made Cole go silent. “Cops, Feds, or the family?”
“Not sure. I’m going with the family. Could just be hikers, though.”
“Sure it’s not the Feds?”
I was exceptionally fucked if it was the Feds. I wasn’t ready to deal with that piece of the puzzle yet. Proactively relocating Amelia had broken the cardinal rule of “don’t commit crimes while committing crimes.”
“Can’t rule it out, but I don’t think they’d be looking for me here,” I said. “Not yet.”
“What do you need?”
“Can you get me an intel package?”
Cole chuckled. “We’re not in the sandbox anymore. Unless you want to go to your local library and risk getting made, I can’t get you shit.”
“What about a dead drop?”
Cole hissed through his teeth. “I can make it happen, but it’ll take a couple days. You’re not exactly easy to get to.”
“I need an exit package.”
“You’re sure cashing in a lot of favors.”
“I’ll pay you back someday.”
Cole huffed like it was all a big inconvenience to him. It was. “Where do you need to get to?”
I thought it over for a minute. The plan had been swirling since we left New Jersey. Now it was time to put it in motion. “Vegas. Both of us. Something discreet. No planes. Minimal security and surveillance.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“What’s on the TV?” I asked.
“You’ve been at the top of the news cycle since you faked her abduction.”
“What about on the ground?”
“Night and day roadblocks. Every police force on the East Coast is looking for you. Looking for her and for the pain in my ass that I’ve got stashed.
Constant media coverage. Media doesn’t do that for just anyone.
Especially not for some math professor. The girl you got is an orphan.
No family to keep boosting the story. No one’s putting up a reward for her.
You’ve been gone more than forty-eight hours. Cops should’ve been called off by now.”
“But they’re still out.”
“Someone’s keeping the story hot,” he said. “The money’s gotta be flowing from somewhere. I think it’s coming from the same place the cops got the surveillance footage of you taking her.”
“Valentine.”
“I’d put money on it,” Cole said. “Him releasing that footage was a warning shot. He knows you ran off with her.”
“And he’s sending a message that he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty to get me. He can pay off every police department in the country to do it for him.”
Cole let out a deep hum as he thought it over. “But if you’re right and your visitors weren’t hikers, that means he’s got guys out your way on foot . . .”
“There’s a mole,” I said. I’d had the hunch for a while, but this was the first time I could put the pieces together. “He shouldn’t have a fucking clue that I’ve got ties to this area. How else would he know to come out here?”
“You been in touch with anyone?”
“No one but you,” I said. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get her out of here without incriminating her in anything.
” Amelia had to look like my victim, not my accomplice.
It was the only way she’d make it out. The problem was, I needed her help if we were going to bring down the house for good.
“Good fucking luck. You planning on going dark permanently?”
I could. Frankly, I’d be completely fine living the rest of my days off the grid. I quite liked the thought of that. But what kind of life was that for her?
“I don’t want that for her.”
Cole didn’t argue because he understood. “I’ll see what I can get you. Lay low. Holler if you’re on the move.”
“Copy that,” I said, then ended the call and stared at the broken bed.
I waited. I paced. But no one ever came circling back to check out the cabin again. I let hours pass before I dared to unbar the cabin door and do a perimeter check.
Amelia hadn’t spoken to me since I knocked on the trapdoor to the cellar to see if she was still there or if she had taken the go-bag and bolted down the tunnel like she was supposed to.
But she didn’t. Amelia hadn’t run, even though I told her to. Even though it was her golden opportunity to get away from me.
When she climbed out of the cellar, she was silent. She never asked if the danger was gone.
She didn’t ask what the plan was.
She didn’t make a peep.
She simply dressed, sat on the couch, pulled out the playing cards, and started one of her card-counting drills.
I was good at understanding situations. I wasn’t good at understanding people. Not the way I wanted to understand her.
She wasn’t just a data set of predictable habits that a profiler could classify and neatly label in a file.
Dr. Amelia Hawthorne was an enigma.
I tried to pick her apart while I gathered the tools stored in the cellar to fix the bed to the best of my ability, but I couldn’t.
The repair took hours. I pieced the bedframe together where it had cracked after ages of sitting vacant. I replaced and reinforced the wood beams. I swept up the sawdust from drilling in new supports.
Never once did she move. She was a statue, calm and stoic as she dealt hand after hand. It didn’t matter if they were good or bad. Her expression never changed. Still, I knew her mind raced. There was no stopping that.
Then, I saw the shift. The subtle change in her pattern of breathing. The slight flare of her nostrils. The way the corners of her mouth tightened.
She jolted, startled when I laid my hand on the cards she had dealt. “Get your shoes on.”
Her brows furrowed. “Why?”
I moved the bedside table and lifted the cellar door. “I want to show you something.”
Reluctantly, Amelia slid on her shoes and followed me down. The chill in the cellar was distinct. I closed the overhead door and barred it, just for good measure. We’d come back home through the tunnel. If anyone was watching, it would look like we never left.
The tunnel door was covered with cobwebs but opened easily. I grabbed a flashlight and took her hand.
Amelia paused. “I thought the creepy tunnel was a last resort.”
I cracked a smile and flicked on the flashlight as bugs scurried away from the beam. “Come on, little fox. Be curious.”
“Curiosity got me into this mess.” Her eyes flicked to the door. “Shouldn’t we be staying out of sight?”
“The point of life isn’t to avoid dying. You’re supposed to live.” I stroked my beard. “But because we’re not trying to die today, we’ll be discreet.”
We took the walk slowly, watching our steps as we traversed the sporadic bits of gravel before it turned completely to dirt.
“Where’s your head at?” I said softly as I ducked beneath a support beam that was a little too low for my height.
“I’m fine,” she said coolly. “What happened . . . It was a reality check.” She swallowed. “I got too comfortable.”
She was right and I hated that.
I had gotten too comfortable as well.
But was that so wrong? To feel comfortable enough with someone to let my guard down?
“Whoever it was, they left,” I said as we continued to trudge down the tunnel.
“You’re a good storyteller. They believed you.” Gone was the simmering heat between us. Amelia was downright frosty.
“You’re right. It was a reality check, and I’m working on the implications of that. It’s my job.” I squeezed her hand. “But right now, I want to know what’s going through your head.”
Silence.
Nothing but footsteps.
“Talk to me, little fox. I thought we had a good thing going.”
More silence.
We had almost made it to the end of the tunnel when Amelia slid her fingers between mine. “I’m so mad at Joel.” She swallowed. “But I miss him. I miss him so much it hurts. We shared everything. We’ve always been inseparable. It just. . .” Her voice cracked. “It feels like I lost part of myself.”
“I’m sorry you have to be apart right now.”
She shook her head. “It’s not the distance that hurts anymore.
It’s the betrayal.” Amelia stopped and stared at the top of the tunnel, blinking away tears.
“He lied to me. He used me. He was willing to sell me out to save himself.” She laughed in disbelief.
“And, like always, I was ready to sacrifice myself for him.” Her voice softened.
“And I hate that I still would. I’ve always taken responsibility for him. But he won’t ever take it for himself.”
Light leaked overhead as the old ladder came into view. Amelia held the flashlight while I removed the bar that locked it from the inside. Dirt rained down on us as I shoved the trapdoor open and prayed that unsuspecting campers weren’t sitting on the other side.
No people. Just birdsong.
Daylight washed into the tunnel as we climbed out. Amelia watched as I closed the trapdoor. The moss that covered it sealed seamlessly. No one would ever suspect what was beneath.
I took her hand again as we carefully crossed the rocky shore and sat at the edge of the river.
To my surprise, Amelia rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m fully aware that I put myself in this position. I could’ve left Joel to the consequences of his actions. I know I went back to the casino each time you tried to get me to leave. I’m not denying the choices I made.”
“But he’s your brother.”
“I would do anything for him,” she admitted. “Do you have siblings?”
“I have Cole,” I said. “We’re not blood, but our brotherhood was forged in it.”
“So you get it. You’re like me and Joel.”
I shook my head. “No. Cole would do anything for me.” I picked up a smooth stone and pitched it into the river.
“But the difference is that I would do anything for him too. Relationships should always be mutually beneficial, but it’s rare that it’s beneficial to everyone involved at the same time.
” I shifted, moving so she was sitting between my knees and I could put my arms around her.
I kissed the side of her neck, then rested my forehead on her shoulder.
“And just for the record, I’d do anything for you. ”