Chapter 12 #2
“Chief.” It’s as though every man in the room is in tune with my voice because there’s no way they heard it over the amount of testosterone flying in the air.
“End of story, Clover.” Chief shakes his head, then pinches the bridge of his nose before continuing. “I love you like my own, and I—I need to be there for you. Please don’t fight me on this.”
I turn to Valen, who appears frustrated, but nods.
“Absolutely not.” Grant’s voice is hard.
“Grant.” Valen softens his tone. “Think about it. If this message is baiting us, if someone is watching to see when Clover leaves town—we need the illusion that she’s still here.
You stay. Sterling and Chase stay. Keep up appearances.
Bring her favorite snacks. Turn her lights on and off.
Make it look as though nothing has changed.
She hasn’t left her house much since her friend’s accident anyway, so no one will know for sure if she’s here or not. ”
“If they wanted to hurt me, they’ve had plenty of opportunities,” I say. All heads turn my way. “What? It’s true. They aren’t looking to hurt me—at least not yet. If they were, I’d already be dead.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Valen visibly pales. “She’s right. These messages are leading us to something.”
Grant opens his mouth, closes it, then mutters, “I hate when you’re logical.”
“You’ve already rented that old house for the entire month anyway,” Valen continues. “Maintain a visible presence in town so people think Clover is holed up in her house. It’ll take us thirty-six hours, tops. We’ll be back before anyone realizes we left.”
A day and a half? Oh, God. He expects us to fly. I—I can’t.
“What if it’s a trap?” Sterling asks.
“Then Roman’s there and fully equipped to handle it,” Valen says simply. “And we’ll abort the second half of the mission. But I don’t think it is. There’s something out there that someone needs us to find. Someone who knows it exists but not where it is.”
As much as I hate this, I believe he’s right. And truthfully, I’m just so tired of living in fear, so I find my voice, small and fragile as it may be. “I-I’ll go.”
The air is thick with disapproval as everyone turns to stare at me.
“I’ve been hiding here since college.” My voice trembles, but I raise my chin high.
“Counting my way through every day, terrified of shadows and ghosts. And someone, someone who knows what happened, is telling us there’s still evidence.
Proof.” I turn to Valen. “Answers you might need to remember. I’m tired of being scared, so if there’s a chance, even a small one, that we can finally put this behind us—”
“We have to take it,” Valen says. He stares at me with so much pride it’s almost palpable.
Grant is studying our entire exchange and slowly nods. “Okay, but we’re going to be smart about this. We’re not taking any chances with either of you. Roman leaves tonight. Our plane is already at the airport. Manchester is maybe a two-hour flight. You can rent a car—”
“No. Please.” My voice wavers. “Can we drive? I—I need to drive.”
Grants looks at me, then to Valen. “It’s at least fourteen hours—”
“We’ll drive.” Valen doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t even question me. “We can split the drive between two days. If Roman leaves tonight with Rip, there’s no reason for us to hurry. We—we might need time to adjust, emotionally, to all of this.”
A lifetime of stories passes between us as our gazes connect. An understanding. He doesn’t have to remember me to understand me.
Grant stares with a brotherly affection forming in his expression as he smiles at Valen. Then he nods. “Okay, you leave before sunrise in the RV, and if anyone asks, we’ll say we sent it home. By the time you arrive in New Hampshire, Roman will have confirmed the property’s truly secure.”
“And if it’s not?” Chase presses.
“Then we call in reinforcements,” Valen says. “Clover and Chief will stay in the tank while Roman and I handle it. But if it’s clear—if any evidence is there—we get it and get home. There’s no reason to linger in that shithole.”
Roman’s already typing on his laptop. “I’ll leave in two hours. The property’s outside a small rural town. I’ll get eyes on it as soon as possible. We have some guys stationed in the Northeast Kingdom up there. They can get to it in an hour.”
“What about Savvy?” Chief asks, looking directly at me. “She’s still in the hospital.”
My chest tightens. “I—”
“You should tell her,” Grant says solemnly. “Talk to your friends and allow them to support you.”
“She almost died,” I say. “And while I don’t want to bring this to her doorstep, I do need to end this madness. Savvy— She’s always protected me, even when I couldn’t protect myself.”
“Then we’ll go talk with her, explain why you have to go,” Valen says as I stand on unsteady legs. “We’ll do this together.”
My fingers take up their dance at my side.
I can’t get used to this. Him. Me. Us. Together.
Everything ends eventually—it’s the only universal truth I know.
I take a deep breath.
“Okay,” I say.
“I’ll let Grey know you’re on your way,” Roman says as I grab a weighted sweater off the arm of my chair and wrap it around myself.
“Thanks,” Valen says, but my mind is already creating happily ever afters in case our story turns out to be a nightmare.
The hospital smells the same, but this time there’s a pungent floral scent too. Proof of how loved my friend is.
Valen waits in the hallway while I slip into Savvy’s room. She’s awake, propped up on pillows, looking so much better than she did a week ago but still so fragile it makes my heart hurt.
“Hey,” she says, her smile fading when she sees my face. “What’s wrong?”
I pull a chair close to her bed, take her hand in mine, and tell her everything—mostly.
The packages. The journal pages. The red writing. The property. The tree. The decision.
Valen.
When I’m done, she’s quiet for a long moment.
“And you want to go? On a road trip, with a man you barely know, to a place that could potentially be dangerous?” she finally asks.
“It won’t be dangerous,” I quickly counter, knowing it’s a lie. “Roman’s going ahead to ensure it’s safe. And…I do. I want to go. He’s not a stranger, Sav. Not to me.”
A small smile lights up her face. “It’s just…so unlike you. I had to check. I’m sure as fuck not going to hold you back, but I also can’t say I really trust him.”
“Chief and Wrecks are coming too.” This is what it must feel like to beg parents who care to go to a sleepover.
Her burst of laughter has her clutching her side as the pain of her injuries sets in.
“Still, I think we should have a schedule for you to check in with us. And one check-in per day has to be a FaceTime call. Oh, and we definitely need a password, something you can use if he’s holding you hostage for his sexual depravity. ”
“Savvy,” I gasp.
“I’m joking.” She squeezes my hand. “Mostly. If anything’s wrong, tell us you hate celery and we’ll know to send in the cavalry. How are you guys getting there with Wrecks?”
“Celery?”
She waves me off. “I’m on a lot of pain meds. That’s what I could think of. It works.”
“O-kay. We’re driving. It’ll take us a while.” My voice cracks. “Sav, I haven’t left Happiness since I got here.”
“I know.” She’s watching me carefully, ready to jump in with a solution at a moment’s notice, but I appreciate that she allows me to get this out.
“And you’re still—”
“Stop.” Her voice is fierce now. “Clover, listen to me. You’ve been living half a life for as long as I’ve known you. Surviving is not living, my friend. And now, someone is handing you a key to finally let go of your past. Now is the time to take chances.”
“What about you, though?” I ask.
“We’ll be here when you come home. Grey’s here for me. Madi and Elle and this town are here. We’re not going anywhere. But you—you need to go face this. Get your answers. Excavate your past so you can finally put it to rest.”
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
“Good. Brave people are always scared. They just do it anyway.” She pulls me into a careful hug.
“Besides, you’ve got a scary-looking man out there scowling at me.
What does he think I’m going to do? Hold you hostage?
” She smirks. “And you’ve got Chief, who—according to town legend—has already fought not one but two bears for you. ”
I chuckle and then reach for a tissue.
“Ghosts can’t hurt you, Clover. Unresolved memories do though. Get your closure. I don’t know anyone who deserves that more than you.”
“What if something happens to you while I’m gone?”
“It won’t, but if it does, we’ll call you.”
“I love you,” I tell her.
“I love you too. Now go.” She gently pushes me toward the door. “Go tackle your past so you can have your future because that man in the hallway? The one pacing a hole in the floor? Don’t let fear steal that from you. You deserve that kind of love.”
I don’t trust myself to speak, so I flash her a watery smile, then reach into my pocket and pull out the one thing I cherish more than anything else and place it in her hand.
“For healing…or luck,” I say.
She turns over the small wooden carving, no bigger than a quarter, worn smooth by years of touching.
It’s a tiny bumble bee that Valen made for me when we were children.
“Clover.” Savvy bites her bottom lip. She knows how much this means to me—even if she didn’t always understand why.
“I just… It got me through a lot, and if I’m not here with you, I want you to know I’m still thinking of you.”
“But this…”
I smile. “It’s on loan while I spread my wings.”
She nods, closing her fingers around my touchstone, and I exit her room.
Valen stops pacing the instant the door shuts behind me. “Well?”
“She told me to go kick ass.”
His expression blinds me with his relief. “That’s my girl.” He pauses, his face paling and his eyebrow twitching as he backtracks. “Both of you? Ah, you’re both, um, my girls?”
His discomfort somehow makes it easier to breathe.
Tomorrow, we head back to the place where everything started.
And ended.
And maybe—just maybe—where we’ll finally finish it.
Together.