Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
I sat on the green futon, wrapped in blankets, with a tea mug resting on the desk beside me and a book open in my lap. The soft patter of rain against the window filled the quiet room. The room was smaller, less tidy, with the futon, the desk, and a dresser as the only furniture shoved against either wall. A spider had spun a web in one corner, and a slight draft seeped in through the window. On one wall hung an old world map, and a few boxes were tucked away in the closet.
It was no more than a freshman's room, and I would take it in a heartbeat over anything Severfalls had to offer. Gray light from the window melded with the warm orange light from the lamp on the desk.
The house was quiet since most of the other inhabitants were at their classes. I could only hear a couple talking downstairs.
The room was free to use for a short time since it had yet to be filled for the semester. Lena’s friend Marcus, the one who had driven us back to Michigan State in the Jeep, had offered the spare room at his residence. His housemates weren’t around often to take notice of me, and if they did, many were international and didn’t know who I was. Out of precaution, I stayed clear of them anyway.
As much as Lena wished for it, and I would have liked to, I couldn’t stay at her place. Not after everything that happened there, not when she was so popular and there were too many people coming and going at her house. And not with the possibility that the cops might come looking around. I didn’t know if Severfalls would call them or not or if they’d send their own security but either way neither me or Lena were willing to take the chance.
Thankfully, Marcus wanted to help. I was surprised that he was willing to risk the trouble it might cause him, being involved in my escape and keeping me at his place. That was until Lena made a remark that they “may or may not be on the cusp of dating officially” as she put it. So, in other words, he was going the extra mile to make their title as a couple happen.
Either way, I was grateful.
The pain in my arm hadn’t disappeared. I was too afraid to go to urgent care in case I was spotted, afraid of being found. I determined on my own that it wasn’t broken since I could move it, but it still hurt like hell to do so.
“Can you get here tonight?” Lena had asked her friend, Rachael, who was going to nursing school. She dropped by thirty minutes later.
“You might wanna still see a doctor,” she commented as she stood by me. “But it looks like a minor sprain. I brought a sling just in case. Ice the arm and try to not move it.”
As a favor to Lena, she promised not to say a word to anyone, but I caught her side-eyeing me several times, and knew she had to have recognized me in some way. She didn’t ask how I got the sprain and I didn’t mention it.
The day after had been a blur. I mostly slept, and when I didn’t, I was icing my arm. Lena was kind enough to have food and spare clothes dropped off before she and Marcus headed to her class.
I should have been thinking about what I needed to do next, where I was gonna go. Instead, I took to wandering the empty house when the others were gone or sitting in my room and staring out the window like I had at Severfalls. Some habits were hard to kill.
I started to have minor headaches and stomach cramps and I assumed it was from the withdrawal of the pill. I took to napping when they sprung up.
The next time I woke, the sun was setting again and I had missed several calls from Jamie.
It took me another hour to finally bring myself to call him back.
“Why didn’t you call me?” I could hear the concern in his voice.
“Sorry. A lot went down, I just needed…time.”
“Eve, I love you, but what the hell were you thinking? Why didn’t you wait to get out the normal way? We could have talked it through with your uncle and got you signed out.”
I didn’t know how to tell him yet about everything I’d experienced. “They weren’t looking to let me out. Uncle Wes wanted me locked up there.”
“Locked up? Eve, that’s not what they were doing.”
“You don’t know,” I whispered. “I couldn’t stay there another moment, okay? Something was seriously fucked there and I just needed to go.”
I knew he thought I was just being crazy but I wasn’t.
“You understand they’ll probably send people after you now?”
“I know,” I said.
“Lena told me you're safe but won’t even tell me where.”
I had a feeling he was hoping I’d tell him, but all I could say again was, “Sorry”.
“I won’t rat on you. I just don’t want you to get deeper in shit than you already are. If they find you now, it’ll only take longer and…I just want you to be okay.”
“I know.”
He was silent for a moment then added. “Liam called me too. He’s still recovering but doing better. He was hoping to talk to you…”
I squeezed the phone and swallowed. “About what exactly?”
“I’m not sure. I told him now wasn’t a good time.”
“Good answer,” I said.
“I’ll let him know you’re not ready.”
“Thank you.”
I knew he wanted to say more, based on the pause, but he decided against it. “I’ll text you later to see how you're doing,” he said instead. “Maybe I’ll see you soon if that’s okay?”
“Yeah. That’s okay.”
That night, after I hung up with Jamie, Lena returned with Marcus and we hung out in his room to watch a movie. In a way, it felt like I was going back to normal for once, even if it was a lie.
When they went to bed, I went upstairs but I didn’t sleep much. Every shadow made me do a double take as I expected to find Emery’s phantom waiting, afraid but also certain he had followed me out of Severfalls.
The rain was starting to slow outside as the wind picked up. I could hear the creak in the window beside me. Morning had come and gone now and anxiety was starting to eat at me. My hand drew up to the necklace, and I took to rubbing it between my fingers again. I told myself I was going to try and figure things out, to get my life back in order, but I found it hard to know where to start. My laptop was still confiscated. I was still dealing with side effects, and it was all too tempting to just lie down and spend the whole day in bed.
So lost. So alone. Poor little rabbit.
Before I could give in to the temptation of another nap, Lena called for me.
I closed my book, readjusted the sling over my arm as I got up from the futon and padded over to the stairs.
“There you are, I wasn't sure if you were sleeping.” Lena smiled as I stood on the landing. I noticed her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. There was a tension in her as she wrung her hands in a way that meant something was amiss and she was nervous to tell me.
“What’s up?”
“You and Jamie talked yesterday, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, studying her closely. “Why?”
“You didn’t tell him where you were, right?”
My jaw clenched. “No.”
She nodded, the tension in her easing if only a little. “Yeah, so, guess I’ll just tell you then. The cops came to my house this morning.”
Before I could respond, Marcus, who I assumed wheeled her inside, came out of the kitchen. “We got take-out if you’re interested,” he said.
“We’ll be right there, thanks, Marci,” Lena responded.
“I need to grab some more things from the car, I’ll be right back.” As he left, I looked back at Lena.
I wrapped my good arm across my chest, gripping the sling. “What did you say to them?” I asked quietly.
“I told them you weren’t there with me.” She shrugged. “Wasn’t a lie at least. But…kinda had to lie when they asked if I knew where you were.”
I frowned. “You know I don’t want you getting in trouble.”
Lena reached out for me, and I came down to take her hand. “If a friend needs my help, and is being harmed in some way, you best fucking believe I’m going to do what I gotta do. I can see how scared you are, Eve. I believe you when you say there was something off about that place. If that place wasn’t helping anyway, then we need to find something else.”
Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them away. “Thank you, Lena.”
Smiling, she let go of my hand.
I followed her over to the dining table and we helped ourselves to the thai Marcus had picked up. He returned with some boxes and placed them in his room before joining us.
Marcus talked our ear off about the next season of football and how his coach had promised him more field time this winter. Lena assured him she’d be there for his games and even suggested throwing a party for his first game of the season. That had him grinning from ear to ear.
I couldn’t help but smirk, noticing the way he clearly had a boyish crush on her. Though he was a year younger, he didn’t look it. Built like a true athlete, he boasted about earning more plays on the team and having the third-fastest field run.
He was about as tall as Emery had been actually, though not as big. Emery had been a damn giant.
Thinking of him and seeing the way Marcus looked at Lena suddenly made my heart sink to my stomach and my throat tighten. Emery had looked at me like that not long ago…
No, I wasn’t going to break down. Not now. I took a sip of water and forced the feelings down.
“Speaking of parties,” Lena said, picking at her pad thai. “There’s this thing I got invited to down in Detroit. Real word of mouth, private sort of thing. I’m allowed to take a plus one, but Marcus already has plans that night.” She eyed me curiously. “I thought, maybe, if you’re interested…”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “You can just say rave, Lena.”
“It’s not! I swear it’s not. It’s more laidback.”
I looked at my plate. “Don’t think it’s a good idea. If I get seen...”
“That’s just it though, it’s more of a goth thing. It’ll be dark and some people might be wearing masks or heavy makeup or costumes.”
“It's way past Halloween.”
“Well, it's not that sort of party.”
I arched a brow at her. “What kind of party exactly?”
“Dang, Lena, don’t beat around the subject, just tell her it’s a sex party,” Marcus huffed.
I stared at Lena who gave me a sheepish look. “No, nooo, not a sex party. Like an erotic thing, yeah, but no sex, well, not unless…I mean, no, not for us.”
I tried not to laugh. “A BDSM thing? Seriously?”
“It’s like a celebration of eroticism. But some might want to hide identities because, you know, kinky stuff and all, so masks and shit.”
“It’s basically at an old goth club,” Marcus explained. “It’s a special night that’s fetish themed. The club and the old building it’s at got new owners and completely renovated so this is kind of their little opening too. I’m not a fan of that sort of thing but Lena”—he nudged her with his elbow—“likes the freaky stuff.”
“I just think it sounds fun. And I got lucky on the invite,” she said, not sounding so convincing. “And so what if I like the darker stuff.” She turned back to me, giving me a more serious look. “No pressure though, Eve. I definitely don’t want you getting caught either. I just thought you might like to get out, take your mind off…everything.”
I knew she meant well. Lena being the extroverted queen that she was figured being around people would help when lately I’d wanted the opposite.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” I said.
“No sweat, hon.”
Her phone went off and she looked to see the number. Her expression shifted to worry. “I’ll be right back,” she said and wheeled herself out of the kitchen, down the hall to a vacant room.
“She means well,” Marcus said. “You know it’s hard for her to say no to a good time. She’s always the work-hard-play-hard kinda girl. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her chill alone in a room for more than an hour until she’s calling someone. And then there’s social media.” He shakes his head. “Love her, but I don’t think she’d survive without her phone.” He blushed when he realized what he said. He spooned a heaping portion of chicken and rice, clearing his throat. “Don’t mention I said that,” he mumbled.
I laughed softly. “Not a soul.”
“I think she’s just chasing her high school years,” he continued. He took a large bite of his rice, practically swallowing it down after barely chewing before he said, “She was a homecoming queen two years in a row. Hard to believe she’s so into all the morbid stuff.”
“It is kind of funny, isn’t it?”
He studied me carefully. “You are too.”
“What?”
“Into the darker stuff. Criminal psychology, right? I mean, until everything happened...”
I glanced away, knowing what he meant.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Lena talks, you know…and, well, the news.”
I tried not to stiffen but failed. “Yeah, it’s everywhere, huh?”
“But I don’t judge,” he assured. “My little bro was in a ward. And you went through crazier shit than he did. You know…it's hard.”
I nodded.
Lena returned, furiously wheeling back into the kitchen, her face now a little red. “Well, you want bad news or good news first? Scratch that; it's mostly bad news.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Liam.”
I shifted in my seat. “What about him?”
“He’s a real stubborn asshole, that’s what.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “He wants to see you.”
Anger burned my chest. “I told Jamie no.”
“I know,” Lena said. “But he swears he won’t tell anyone where you are.”
I glared at her. “He knows?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I think he’s bluffing. He just assumes you’re with me.”
My body went cold, my muscles tensing, another headache beginning to throb in my skull. “If he does, is he going to turn me in?” I would bolt right now if I had to. I didn’t know where I’d go but I’d get as far away as I could.
Lena’s eyes shifted from Marcus and then back to me. “He isn’t looking to turn you in, though he says he can’t stop the police if they find you either.”
I rubbed at my temple. “I told them everything I know. What more do they want?”
“Apparently, this isn’t work related. He just wants to see how you are, make sure you’re okay.”
I was far from okay.
“And,” Lena continued, “he wants to give you your laptop back.”
I stiffened. “They told me they needed it for their investigation.”
“Guess they got whatever information they wanted from the hard drive.”
The interview I’d been forced to have with the FBI hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped. I tried to tell them everything I knew—about my father’s company, the experiments, the kids—all of it. But they gave no indication that any of it mattered. Either they already knew, or they were taking my story with a grain of salt.
I had hoped the evidence on my laptop would make a difference, but I never heard back. And as for the external drive from my apartment? I had no idea if they even took it.
I honestly didn’t think they would give my laptop back. I thought it was lost for good. But now…if I could get it back, I could start revising my paper, I could do what I’d promised for Emery. Tell his story.
I just had to meet the person who had taken him from me.
I couldn’t hate him, even if I wanted to. Liam had done everything to save me. I wasn’t stupid enough to think otherwise. He hadn’t known what was between me and Emery. He had sworn to get me back and he had kept his promise, no matter that it had damaged me.
Still, I couldn’t stop the hurt or the anger. I didn’t know if I could even look him in the eye—stand there while he told me how sorry he was. The thought of seeing that mix of guilt and longing on his face made my stomach churn. I didn’t know if I ever wanted to talk to him again. But, like with the FBI, I’d force myself to do what I had to. To get the justice Emery and the other victims deserved.
I needed my laptop if I were to do that. If the FBI or the cops weren’t going to help me, then I’d do it myself.
I wrapped my good arm over the sling, still annoyed at what I was about to do. “I’ll see him,” I said, trying not to choke back the words. “But not here. Somewhere open. And if he doesn’t come alone, or I see one glance of another cop car, I’m out. I’m not going back to Severfalls. If he betrays me, I never want to hear from him again.”
“You got it, girlfriend,” Lena said as she opened her phone.
“Let Jamie know, too. He might want to be there.”
“Got it. There’s a park nearby. How about we meet there?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
Liam better not betray me. Otherwise, he and his team can chase my ass through the forest, and I’d learned a thing or two about hiding.
The rain had turned to a fine mist as Marcus parked the car, the clouds looking angry still with the threat of more rain. I hoped that meant we’d have to make this quick.
Not far down the lot, I saw Jamie waiting in his car. He got out, throwing the hood of his green jacket over his head.
I sat in the back seat, scanning the area. There were few cars. No suspicious vans or large vehicles with tinted glass from what I could see, so that was a start. Lena assured me the park was open with forest surrounding it.
She looked around, leaning forward to see. “Looks pretty clear,” she said as Jamie neared the car door.
“Anything?” she asked him, sliding the window down.
“Nope.” His eyes flitted over to me. “I told Liam if he betrays you, he betrays all of us. Meaning he won’t be hearing from me again either.”
“Hell yeah, same here,” Lena assured.
“Thank you,” I said, grateful. Unease twisted in my gut, and I tried not to let my mind race with all the shitty what-ifs. I was anxious, wondering if Liam’s people didn’t show up, somehow, the Severfalls security would. Thankfully, Lena offered me a Xanax on the way over.
Too bad it was nothing like the Lulladex. I shuddered at my craving for that drug.
A black SUV drove by. “He’s here,” Jamie mumbled. “Stay in the car. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”
We waited as he left, my hand gripping the handle of the door in case a group of feds were coming for me.
Several minutes went by before he returned.
“It’s safe,” he said. “Just him. He’ll be waiting by the playground.” He paused when he saw my face, then said, “If you don’t want to go…”
“No. I’m good.” I opened the door and stepped out. Lena gave me a nod of reassurance as I closed the door behind me.
“We’ll be right here, waiting,” she said. “If we see anything, I’ll call.”
I nodded and then followed Jamie down the path.
We passed through a small wooded area that led to a playground situated in front of a field. At another end, close to the second lot, was a basketball court. As we walked into the playground toward the field, I scanned the tree line, expecting any moment to see men in blue funneling out.
No one did, but I kept my guard up. We got to the edge of the playground where Liam waited for me on a bench.
Our eyes locked. I forced one foot in front of the other as Jamie walked beside me.
When we closed the distance, he rose. Jamie was the first to speak. He greeted Liam while I stood there in silence.
“I’ll be here,” Jamie said. He put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it, before he walked away.
I took in Liam’s dark raincoat and jeans, wondering if he had his gun hidden and strapped to his belt. The same one he’d used to shoot Emery. He had dark circles under his eyes, mirroring my own. His arm was wrapped like mine, resting in a sling. Perhaps his shoulder was still healing from the knife wound too.
“Hey,” he said after a long pause.
“Hey,” I repeated, my voice almost cracking.
“Would you like to sit?” He gestured toward the bench. A laptop bag rested on one side, taking up some space.
I stared at it, feeling an urge to pounce, before glancing at him. “No thanks.”
“I heard about Severfalls. That you ran away.”
I shifted on my feet. “Yeah. I didn’t like it there.”
He nodded as if that was an acceptable answer. And I wondered now what he knew that I didn’t. “They took you away before I knew where. I wished I could have talked to you before then, but…you know…being stabbed and all.”
My eyes flitted to his arm. “Was it really bad?”
“Needed surgery and some physical therapy but, all in all, doctors say I’ll make a full recovery, should be able to use my arm sooner than expected.”
It was my turn to nod. “Great.”
He looked at mine with concern. “What happened to yours?”
“A security guard pulled it too hard while I was escaping.”
His eyes darkened. “I’m sorry. I thought they would take you somewhere safe.”
“Me too. Guess my uncle trusted the wrong people.”
“He couldn’t sign you out? Did you talk to him?”
“I talked to my aunt. And no, he wouldn’t.” My throat tightened at the memory of Aunt May’s words and the realization they had brought. I didn’t expect to talk to them for a long time if ever again.
“Wouldn’t?”
“Uncle Wes felt it was what was best for me.”
His jaw clenched. “I promise I won’t turn you in. But I can’t help you if they do find you. Was it so bad that you had to run away?”
“Yes. It was.”
“I’ll try to look into it.”
“Like you and your team will look into what was on my laptop?” I glanced at it again.
“You know it’s up to the higher-ups. You did tell them everything, right?”
“Everything I knew.”
“Things take time.”
It didn’t matter. Either way I planned on doing my part whether they did theirs or not.
“Was everything ripped from my laptop?” I asked.
“It wasn’t ripped. We copied and transferred everything important.”
“Are you going to get in trouble for returning it to me?”
He smirked, spiking my annoyance. “No. It took some convincing but it’s yours with all the information left inside. They wanted to wipe it and I said I would but…I let it be knowing how much your work means to you. And because…”
I closed my eyes. Please don’t say it.
“Because I care about you, Eve. I’m sorry for what happened. I wanted to make up for lying to you. I can’t take it back, but I thought…fuck, I don’t know,” he muttered. “I thought maybe this would help. That I’m on your side. Always wanted to be.” I opened my eyes as he leaned in, his face inches from mine. “That monster is gone. I don’t know what he did to you. But I don’t regret what I did. In time, I hope you understand.”
This felt so surreal. He had no clue. Or he was acting like he didn’t. He didn’t want to believe I’d fallen in love with that monster. I bet he forced himself to forget how much I had pleaded for him to go back for Emery and he wouldn’t.
And what could I say? I couldn’t convince him otherwise.
I licked my lips. “Thank you,” I said, “for giving my laptop back.”
He studied me intently, but I didn’t flinch. After a moment, he handed me the bag. Grabbing it, I slipped the strap over my good shoulder.
“Something else you might like to know…” He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a photo, and handed it to me.
I had to choke down the little whimper that rose in my throat.
“So…you found his body then?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. But we’ve talked to the coast guard and the divers. They are certain his body had to be carried pretty far down the river by now with how strong the current had been. So far, we suspect past the island park. But maybe not much farther than that. We aren’t sure. Technically, I’m not supposed to tell you but…thought you might want to know.”
Emery’s mask was dirty and cracked on one side, morphed by the water. It was clear the photo was taken in their evidence room. The mask was placed inside a bag laid out on a metal table.
“Where did you find it?” I didn’t really care. I just wanted him to speak, to distract me from thoughts brewing like a storm in my head, thoughts that might send me over into a dark place I wouldn’t be able to climb out of.
Emery’s corpse under the river. His skull face smiling at me in the dark. The shadow dripping water everywhere. And blood. So much blood.
“Some locals found it on a beach along the north point of the island park. Probably just floated down.”
Floated. His body floated. Then sunk deep into the dark…
My hand shook as I gave him back the photo. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“They're still searching for the body. But it could be several more weeks. Who knows. I can let you know if we do.”
Numbly, I nodded. I wanted to curl up on my little futon now and shut out the world.
I went to say goodbye to him when a chill ran down my spine.
Some instinct made me look around. I scanned the tree line again but didn’t see any movement.
“What’s wrong?” Liam asked.
Eyes on me. It felt like someone was watching me.
“You swear you don’t have one of your guys hiding?”
I turned back when he didn’t respond and saw the hurt flicker in his eyes. “Trust me, Eve, it’s just me.”
I wanted to believe him, but I still couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched.
“I have to go. Thanks again. Maybe we’ll talk soon.”
He looked disappointed, but my paranoia was growing, and I wanted to leave. Thankfully, he didn’t pressure me to stay.
“If you ever need anything, Eve, please don’t hesitate to call. I hope…I hope I’ll see you soon.”
Before I could step away, he closed the distance between us, pulling me into a hug.
I didn’t pull away, but I didn’t relax either, nor did I put my arm around him. I let him hug me, and it felt like a goodbye. And that was fine.
His lips brushed against my hair, and that was when I pulled away from his embrace, turning my head aside. “See you around, Liam. If you learn anything else, let me know. And if your Fed buddies decide to look into everything I uncovered, let me know that too.”
I left him there, turning my back on him as I started for the lot.
Jamie rose from where he’d been sitting to join me, waving goodbye to Liam.
“That went well, right?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“At least he was honest,” Jamie said, not noticing my sudden paranoia. “No feds lurking in the bushes or anything.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
Yet, as we got to Lena’s car, no one stopped us. I hopped in, said goodbye to Jamie who said he’d come to hang with us in a day or two, and shut the door. No cars blocked us as we left nor followed us out of the park as we raced toward Marcus’ house.
Still that feeling didn’t leave me until we got several miles away, and I couldn’t help wondering how close I was to being dragged back to Severfalls or how close I was to a mental break.