Chapter 27
Liz isn’t sure how long they drive, the only indication that time passes is the darkness that surrounds them.
Still in shock from everything that happened, neither one can bring themselves to talk first. Liz lets her thoughts drift to Mikey, hoping and praying he was able to make it out safely.
She looks to Riley, at the death grip he has on the steering wheel, still speeding down the highway, realizing she needs to be the one to break the silence.
“What the fuck is going on, Ry?” she asks, voice trembling.
“I don’t know, princess,” he says looking over at her, his eyes softening when they meet hers.
“I’m taking you home, then I’m going to find out.”
“Home? I don’t have a home, Riley,” she says, hurt that he plans on getting rid of her after everything that happened just a few hours prior.
“Just try to rest. I’ll tell you everything I know when we get there,” he says, watching her purse her lips.
Something she only does when really thinking about something, he’s come to learn.
She scoots over and lowers her body across the seat, putting her head as close to Riley as she can without laying on his leg.
She pulls her feet up onto the seat next to the door.
Her hand finds its way onto Riley’s lap, needing some sort of physical contact to keep her anxiety from running wild.
Riley drapes his arm over her side, sliding his thumb back and forth, needing to hold her the same way she needs to hold him.
Liz opens her eyes, not realizing she had even fallen asleep and slowly sits back up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looks at the radio, rock music playing softly. She notices the clock, 1:37 a.m. They have been driving for over eight hours without a break.
“Where are we going?” Liz asks, looking out into the dark.
“I told you, we’re going home—”
“And I told you, I don’t have a home!” Liz shouts.
Too much has happened in such a short time for her to keep her emotions in check.
“That’s not good enough for me, Riley. I need to know where you are taking me,” she states, calmer this time, needing him to understand how much she needs the truth from him.
“Blue Mountain Montana, I have a house there. We should be there in an hour,” he tells her, trying to understand how scary this may be to her.
He has spent almost twenty years in the military, this is just another day to him, but it’s not to her.
She has spent the last nine months in some sort of captivity with people telling her what to do and where to go, not telling her what’s going on.
She sits, quietly watching the trees grow thicker, nearly impossible to see anything past them in the dark.
She doesn’t notice when Riley turns off into the woods, a hidden road tucked into the tree line.
She peers out the window, eyes straining to make out anything along the nearly black trail.
Turning her attention to the road in front of them, she watches as they approach what looks like some type of cabin built under a tower so tall she can’t see the top.
Off to the side of the tower there is a barn.
Liz starts to wonder if maybe it’s a ranger station or a fire watch tower.
Riley pulls up to the side and parks the truck before jumping out. Liz watches as he grabs the bags and rushes around the front to open the door for her, ushering her out before the headlights turn off and they are left in pitch black.
She takes his hand and stumbles out of the truck.
Her breathing quickens, heart pounding in her ears as she tightens her grip on Riley’s hand.
There is no way in hell she is going to lose him out here.
Riley tugs her hand, pulling her against his side so he can wrap his arm around her as he leads them to the beat-up little house.
She thinks to herself there is no way this can be his home.
Riley pushes open the creaky wooden door and walks inside, pulling Liz along with him.
He hits something on the wall and the small room illuminates with a flickering yellow glow.
Liz steps in and looks around the small room, in disbelief that anyone could actually live there.
The space looks like something from a horror movie.
An old brown couch sits against one wall, torn and covered in stains, under it sits a dirty rug.
Like Riley's apartment on the base, a small kitchenette lines the far corner, oak cabinets hang on to their rusty hinges for dear life.
A battered table and three mismatched chairs sit halfway between the couch and kitchen.
A door, too big for the room they stand in, catches her attention, but she just assumes it leads to a bedroom.
The whole room smells musty, like a slow leak has been keeping everything moist for far too long.
Cobwebs adorn each corner along with a thick coat of dust covering every surface, still, it's better than what she has had before. She drops Riley’s hand so she can turn to look at the rest of the room and turns herself right into a taxidermied deer mounted on the wall next to her, causing her to jump back with a shriek, slamming into Riley.
“You good?” he asks, trying to keep her from falling over. Once she’s on her feet again, she rushes to the other side of him, needing to get the deer out of her line of sight.
“Yeah, taxidermy just really freaks me out,” she says, a shiver running down her spine.
Riley doesn’t say anything, he simply picks up her hand and gives it a small squeeze.
He walks over to the too big door, Liz trailing right behind him, and pulls out a key.
Riley unlocks it and gives the door a pull and it groans open.
Where there should be a room, there is only what looks like the door to an elevator.
Liz looks up at him, brows knit in confusion.
Riley pushes a hidden button and the elevator door slides open and he steps in without a word.
He watches Liz, needing to know if she trusts him enough to follow him.
Liz looks around again, having no idea what is waiting for her wherever the elevator goes.
She looks at Riley, amber eyes sparking with each flicker of the lights, and she steps in beside him.
They stand in silence as the elevator closes.
Once Riley pushes his thumb against a small square pad the elevator starts going down.
Finally, it stops, and the doors slide open.
Riley steps out, Liz right behind him, trying to comprehend what she’s looking at.
Liz takes another step, looking around the large open space.
The walls and floor are all the same deep gray shade of concrete, but somehow the lighting makes it more cozy than ominous.
A small step down leads to the living area with a plush couch, big enough to fit Riley's entire team nestled inside.
What looks like a fireplace built into the wall with recessed shelves next to it, filled with books and small decorations.
A TV the size of a car is mounted over it.
On the other side of the space is a kitchen with a large island topped with a stunning marble top, chairs lined against one side of it.
Directly in front of them, across the room, is a hallway and another hall to the right of where they came in pass a dining table so big you will have to walk to the other side just to pass the salt.
“What is this place?” Liz asks, slowly spinning to take in as many details as she can. Despite being made from stone, the space is cozy and warm, leaving Liz feeling more at ease here than she has been in years.
“This is home. I had it built after Sara died. I needed someplace safe for myself and the people I care about,” he says, walking across the room.
“If this is your home, why stay at the base?”
“Because that’s where you were, princess,” he says, striding to the hall, Liz following closely behind.
He points to the first door on the right, telling her that’s the laundry room as they walk past. He stops at the next door, further down the hall, to reveal a bedroom. He walks in, and Liz continues to follow, not saying a word. He tosses one of the bags on the bed and turns to her.
“I hope this is okay. You have your own bathroom through that door,” he says, nodding his head toward the door on the left wall. “You’re free to wander or hang out, do whatever you want.”
Free. She can’t stop the tears that spring to her eyes.
Riley had started giving her more freedom at the base, but she was still being watched, still wasn’t free.
Every step she took outside of her room felt wrong, like she shouldn’t be doing it.
She was still a prisoner. Here, she’s just a friend who needs somewhere safe to sleep.
“What are all the other rooms? Anything cool?” Liz asks, sniffling as she wipes away her tears.
“Next room down is Mikey’s. My room is right there.” He points to the black door directly across the hall. “The others are just spare rooms in case someone needs a safehouse.”
“That’s… actually really nice,” Liz says, looking around. The room is at least double the size of the room she had at the base, the plush bed doubled in size too. That’s when she notices the bag Riley threw, it was the pillowcase she filled from the night she planned to escape.
“I’ll give you some time to unpack… maybe wash up,” he says, lifting her hand, stained red with the blood of Dmitri’s soldier. “I know this is a lot, just… come find me when you’re ready and I’ll show you the rest of the house.”