Chapter 23
Jace
Some of the pain in my chest eased as soon as I felt Caleb wrap his arms around me from behind.
The funeral had ended nearly an hour earlier, but I’d stayed behind to watch the men work to put my sister’s casket in the ground.
I’d insisted that Caleb go with the others to the lodge for the wake, saying I’d be along shortly.
But it had ended up being harder to leave than I’d thought.
So it didn’t surprise me in the least that Caleb had returned for me.
It had been Caleb’s idea to ask the owners of the lodge my family had once owned to allow us to hold the wake there. They’d been very accommodating and Caleb had been the one to work with them to make all the arrangements.
The trip to Germany had gone off without a hitch.
I’d still been sitting with a representative from the police department working out the arrangements for my sister’s body when there’d been a flurry of excitement around us.
The baffled-looking police captain had come striding into the room the representative and I had been in.
He’d studied me for a long time, like he couldn’t believe I was there, then he’d announced that Ivan Petrov had been shot in the head by an unknown assailant while in the parking garage of his office building.
All four of Petrov’s bodyguards had been taken out as well.
While he’d spoken to me in English, he’d conversed with the representative in German. I’d been able to follow along enough to understand what he was asking.
How long had I been with her and had I left at any time or made any phone calls? When the man had asked to see my phone, I’d readily handed it over.
Although suspicious, he’d left us alone after that.
I’d played dumb, of course, by asking all the right questions about who Ivan Petrov was.
But the officer had said he’d have to get back to me once the investigation had been concluded.
He’d called me the following day as I’d been watching my sister’s casket being loaded onto Ronan’s plane.
I’d only half-listened as he’d explained that Ivan Petrov was the primary suspect in my sister’s murder.
I’d faked my surprise and subsequent confusion about the man’s death and then had thanked the officer for all he and his department had done to find my sister.
I hadn’t meant a single word of any of it.
It was while at the airport waiting for the plane to go through its final preparations before takeoff that a black SUV had rolled onto the tarmac and Ronan and another man had gotten out of the front seats.
I hadn’t recognized the man, though I’d had a good idea of who he was, and I’d gone to shake his hand.
It’d been the least I could do to thank him for getting justice for my sister.
While I’d been thanking him, Ronan had opened the back door.
If it hadn’t been for the eerie silver eyes, I wouldn’t have recognized the young man covered in bruises.
Silver had clearly been right that Petrov wouldn’t kill him for his betrayal, but I had no doubt he’d suffered every second of every day after having been returned to the man.
Once we’d gotten Silver settled on the plane and he’d fallen asleep, Ronan had told me that the young man had refused Ronan’s offer to examine him.
The plan had been to get Silver on U.S. soil and take him to a hospital, but when we’d told him as much after landing, he’d lost it and tried to get off the plane while it was still taxiing.
It was only after I’d promised him on Willa’s life that we wouldn’t take him to the hospital that he’d settled somewhat.
I’d tried to talk to Silver a few times about what he’d endured after being returned to Petrov, but he’d barely spoken to me.
It was only when I’d shown him pictures of Willa on my phone that he’d shown any kind of emotion.
I’d explained that the plan was to stop in Vermont for the funeral and then continue on to Seattle in a couple of days, but Silver hadn’t acknowledged the information in any kind of meaningful way.
We’d gotten him a room at the lodge, but hadn’t seen much of him. He had shown up for the funeral, but he’d remained on the outskirts of the small crowd. My hope was that he’d gotten a ride back to the lodge with someone, because I’d been too preoccupied to make sure.
“Did you see Silver at the lodge?” I asked Caleb.
“Yes,” he said softly. He came around to stand at my side. “But he went to his room right away. I tried to talk to him, but he asked me to leave him alone. Do you think he’ll be all right?”
I shook my head because I just didn’t know. The young man had clearly been traumatized and I had no clue how to help him.
“It was a beautiful service, Jace. She was well-loved.”
I nodded. Many of Maggie’s friends had attended the funeral and said really nice things about her.
I stared at the row of five headstones.
“I need to make sure she’s always a part of Willa’s life,” I said. “Will you help me do that?” I asked.
Caleb nodded. “She’ll always be with us, Jace. We’ll make sure of it. And when Willa’s ready, we’ll bring her back here and show her where she comes from. The lodge, the gift shop, the dreaded bunny hill…”
I smiled and tightened my arm around him.
“Let’s go back to the lodge,” Caleb suggested.
I nodded and dropped my hand to search out his. He linked our fingers and led me to the waiting car. I was glad to see he had two of Ronan’s men with him.
Once back at the lodge, we ran into Dalton, who was making his way through the lobby, his bag in hand. He was moving slowly, which meant he was probably in a good deal of pain.
“Are you heading out?” I asked.
He nodded. “It’s a long drive.”
I wanted to tell him he shouldn’t have come, since I knew how hard traveling was on his body, but my argument would have fallen on deaf ears. “I could find someone to take you home,” I offered, though I knew what his answer would be.
He shook his head.
Yep, it was exactly the answer I’d expected.
Dalton was a man of few words.
“Thank you for coming. Will you let me know when you make it home?” I asked.
Dalton nodded. I didn’t try to embrace him, because he wasn’t a big fan of physical contact. I shook his hand.
“You two take care,” he said, then pushed past us.
“He hates me,” Caleb murmured.
“He hates just about everyone,” I said. I knew Caleb thought Dalton had feelings for me, but I wasn’t so sure.
I’d known Dalton long enough to suspect what the issue was.
Just like he’d been my only friend, I’d been his only link to the outside world.
He’d known just from the way I’d talked about Caleb two years earlier what it would mean when the day came that Caleb came back into my life.
And he’d been absolutely right.
I’d been able to spend a few minutes with Dalton the night before and had told him that I was making the move to Seattle a permanent thing. He’d already suspected as much, but when I’d asked him to consider moving himself, he’d almost instantly shot me down.
“He doesn’t do change well,” I said to Caleb. “It took him a long time to get to where he is and he won’t give that up for anyone – not even if it means he’s going to spend the rest of his life alone.”
Caleb sighed. “We’ll keep working on him,” he said, his voice ringing with determination. I looked at him and he smiled. “He’s your family, Jace. That makes him my family, and he should be with his family. ”
I brushed my mouth over his. “You’re an amazing man, Caleb Cortano.”
“Let’s go collect some more stories about your sister to share with Willa,” he suggested.
I sighed and followed him to the room where the wake was being held.
The hour that followed was bittersweet. I got to hear a lot about my sister that I hadn’t known, but the ache in my chest that came along with knowing she wasn’t going to walk through the door at any moment and announce it had all been a mistake was profound.
By the time the wake ended and Caleb and I were back in the room, I was completely worn out.
But just as Caleb and I were getting ready to lie down, Ronan came to our room to tell us that Silver was nowhere to be found.
Ronan had gone to check on him and when there hadn’t been a response, he’d grown worried that the young man had passed out because of his injuries.
He’d gotten the manager to open the door for him, but there’d been no sign of Silver, and the few belongings we’d gotten for him, including some toiletries and a couple of changes of clothes, were still in the room.
“Let’s search the lodge,” Ronan suggested. “I’ll have my guys head toward town to see if he went there for some reason.”
My phone rang before Ronan even finished. Seeing that it was Dalton, I answered. “Hey, you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Dalton said. “Listen, about that kid you guys had with you… the one with the weird eyes?”
“Have you seen him?” I asked as I snapped my fingers at Ronan to keep him from leaving the room. I put the phone on speaker.
“Yeah, he’s with me.”
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“I picked him up when I saw him walking along the highway leading to the interstate.”
“Thank God,” I muttered as I sat down on the bed. “Where are you? We’ll come to you.”
“Um, yeah, well…”
“What?” I asked at Dalton’s hedging.
“He only agreed to get in my car if I promised not to take him back to the lodge. I tried to find out why, but he won’t talk to me. Just told me to take him to the nearest bus station. I asked him if he even had money for a bus ticket.”
“What did he say?” I asked. I knew Silver likely didn’t have any money.
“Said it wasn’t a problem. Said he’d be able to earn some.”
I swallowed hard because I knew exactly how the young man was planning to earn it.
“Don’t take him there, Dalton. We’ll come get him. We’ll talk to him.”