Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
VALEN
“So,” Clover says after an hour of nonstop police procedure trivia from Chief. “We’re still like six hours from New Hampshire, right?”
“About that.”
“And we’re just…driving? No plan?”
I peek in the rearview to find Chief, finally asleep in his recliner. The man does not know when to stop talking.
“Roman secured the property and is doing a second pass now, so we can get there when we get there. No one knows where you are, so for now, you can try to relax.”
“Okay.” She fidgets. “I’m supposed to check in with the girls. Is it okay if I FaceTime them?”
“You don’t have to ask my permission, Clover. Unless we’re in an active threat situation, you are a grown woman who can make her own choices.” And sexy. So, fucking sexy, but yes, her own person.
“They’re going to interrogate you though.” Ah, that’s what she’s worried about.
My cheek muscles are getting a workout from smiling at her so damn much. “Looking forward to it.”
She’s skeptical but pulls out her phone.
The call connects, and suddenly, two women appear on a split screen—one in a hospital bed, and one in what looks like a coffee shop.
“Clover,” they both scream.
“Hi, guys.” Joy radiates from Clover like sunshine.
“Oh my God, you’re in the tank,” Savvy says. “Grey told me all about that thing. At least we know you’re safe in it. Clover! You did it. You’re on a road trip.”
“I told you I was.”
“We sort of didn’t think you’d do it,” Madi adds. “No offense, but you once had a panic attack because your mailbox was temporarily moved two houses down.”
“That was one time,” Clover mutters as her shoulders curl in.
Friends or not, I hate them for causing Clover to shrink when she’s just finding her courage.
“Where’s Valen?” Savvy leans closer, and Clover angles the phone so I’m fully in frame.
“Hello,” I say, dividing attention between them and the road. I lift a brow when they both gape at me.
“He’s got the brooding billionaire bit down,” Savvy murmurs.
“And muscles.” Madi giggles. “He’s hot. Did you tell Savvy he was hot, Clove?”
“I mentioned it,” Clover whispers, and my entire head snaps her way.
She thinks I’m hot. It’s possible I tighten my grip on the steering wheel just a tiny bit to flex my biceps.
“Can we not do this when he’s right here?” Clover hisses.
Chief howls with laughter while wiping sleep from his eyes.
“Eight out of ten,” Savvy declares.
“Solid nine. The sexy glare gives him an edge.” Madi chuckles.
“Valen, are you taking care of our girl?” Savvy narrows her eyes.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Clove, blink twice if you need a rescue,” Madi whispers.
Clover doesn’t blink. “I’m fine. I’m great. Wait—what are you guys doing?”
I glance at Clover’s phone, but both women appear to be holding theirs an inch from their faces.
“You sang karaoke?” Madi bounces and bobbles her phone.
Clover tugs her sweater tight, cheeks flaming. “Maybe.”
“And you kissed him!” I can’t tell if Savvy’s impressed or annoyed.
Clover whirls around. “Chief! You ratted me out?”
“Shared with friends.” He chuckles, holding up his own phone.
“Charles Clifton, there’s a code, and you broke it.” She spins back, a sassy little spitfire. I like it a lot.
“Hey, now. First-naming me isn’t called for.” He winks at me in the rearview mirror.
“Your face is red, Clove. The photo of you two on stage is freaking hot.” I can hear the humor in Madi’s voice.
“I hate all of you.”
“You love us.” Savvy’s tone is smug. “You’re literally living a romance novel.”
I try not to laugh but fail.
“He’s laughing. Bumps him to a nine-point-five.” Madi’s a ballbuster.
“I’m right here,” I say.
“We know.” Savvy’s tone sounds like a good old Southern ‘bless your heart.’ “Clover’s a handful.”
“I’m aware. It’s a good thing I have big hands.”
Clover groans.
“She reads in the bathtub until the water’s ice-cold,” Madi offers. “And cries at dog food commercials.”
“That’s…oddly specific.”
“Traitors,” Clover mumbles.
Madi’s tone quiets. “When we say she’s a lot, we mean she’s the best of everything, Valen. Love, loyalty, kindness, forgiveness. She’s a lot of everything good, and we’ll gut anyone who hurts her. Capisce?”
“Madi, you’re not in the freaking mafia.”
I glance at a blushing, mortified Clover who has somehow made herself even smaller.
“I wouldn’t have Clover any other way,” I say, hoping she hears the truth because the more I see of Miss Clover Danforth, the more I want to know.
“He’s a good egg,” Chief calls from the back.
“Okay,” Savvy says finally. “He can stay.”
“Approved.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Madi offering a high five to her screen.
Ridiculous.
They spend the next twenty minutes catching up while I drive. But I watch Clover. The way she lights up. The way she laughs. The way she completely relaxes into herself the longer they talk.
She’s not alone. She has people who love her. Who know and understand her. Who’d fight for her.
When this is over, when the threat’s gone and my job’s done—she won’t need me to stay because she has a whole life in Happiness.
Her entire life has taught her that people don’t stay, they don’t stick around. How will I even go about proving that I’m different when I can’t even remember loving her the first time?
And do I want to?
We just kissed, for fuck’s sake. Once. So why am I even entertaining wild ideas like…like staying?
But Jesus. Not pursuing something with her would break me in ways I’m not sure could be fixed.
I know it to be true, just like the sky is blue and grass is green—Clover Danforth was meant to be in my life in any capacity I can have her.
“Valen?” Clover’s voice breaks through my wild thoughts.
I blink and scratch the itchiness where my heart is. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“Madi asked if you’re taking care of yourself too.”
I focus on the screen for half a second, fully aware that I’m being interviewed by her best friends.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“That’s what Clover always says too.” Savvy unnerves me. “And it’s not usually true.”
Fair point. It still doesn’t mean I like how easily Savvy reads me.
“I’m good,” I amend. “Promise.”
She studies me while I scan from the phone to the road and back again. Finally, she nods. “Okay. But call us tomorrow, Clover. Same time.”
“I will.”
“And text us tonight,” Madi says.
“I will.” Clover’s tone is amused. She’s relaxed, even with the interrogation.
“And if anything happens—”
“I’ll call.” She giggles. “I promise. I love you guys.”
“Love you too.” Their voices sing the words in harmony.
Clover ends the call and leans back into her seat with a lightness about her that was missing earlier. “They’re a lot.”
“They love you,” I say.
“They do.” I feel her gaze on me. “What were you thinking about? When I was talking with them.”
“Nothing.” It falls from my lips too quickly, denial coating every syllable.
“Liar,” she breathes, but before she can press me further, my phone rings with Roman’s name flashing on the console.
Pressing the green accept button, I say, “Roman.”
“Hey. Got a minute?”
I glance at Clover beside me, then at Chief lounging in his recliner. “Yeah, you’re on speaker. Clover and Chief are with me.” Wrecks barks, and I roll my eyes.
“Good, I wanted to update everyone anyway. The property is secure. Our intel was correct. We don’t see any signs of activity here in weeks. I’ll have the entire perimeter mapped out before you arrive.”
“Good.”
“But I’ve also been looking into the letters Clover received. The ones supposedly from you.”
Clover sits up straighter. “What about them?”
“They were postmarked from the same small town in Vermont that Clover’s been writing to all these years.”
“Peachvale,” Clover whispers.
“Yeah. It has a population of about seven hundred. Sterling ran a cross-reference with the town census. There’s a woman listed as a resident named Miriam Thorne.
And get this, Mom had Miriam Thorne listed as someone in Terra’s inner circle, and the census shows that Miriam purchased a home there two years before Mom disbanded ROS.
The house burned to the ground about a year ago and has not been rebuilt. ”
My hands tighten on the wheel. “Someone in Peachvale sent them?”
Clover’s hand flies to her mouth. “Miriam. No, it’s not the same Miriam.
It can’t be. Terra’s sister was kind to me.
She snuck me food when Terra deprived me.
” Her voice wavers. “She was Terra’s right hand.
She knew everything that happened in that place.
” She shakes her head. “But there’s no way Miriam’s behind this. ”
“Well…” Roman takes a deep breath. “Someone did send them from Peachvale. I’m in the process of tracking down specifics, but—”
“We’ll go there,” I interrupt.
“What?” I can practically hear Roman’s gears moving.
“We’ll go to Peachvale before the compound.”
“Valen, I don’t think—” Clover’s shrinking again. Her voice. Her body. She’s making herself small, and I fucking hate it.
“The house isn’t even standing anymore, V,” Roman says. “I’m staring at Google Maps. It’s just ash.”
“Whoever sent those letters knows something, Valen,” Chief says cautiously.
I nod. “He’s right. Whoever sent them knows about the compound. About Clover. About what happened fourteen years ago. Even if the house isn’t standing, the post office they were mailed from is.” Taking my foot off the accelerator, I glance at Clover. “We need to at least check it out.”
“It could be dangerous,” Roman warns. “I don’t have enough manpower up here yet to scout both the post office and the compound.”
“Everything about this is dangerous,” I reply. “The post office is a public space. We’ll be as safe there as we are anywhere else.”
Roman’s silent for a long moment while I try to get a read on Clover’s reactions. The only sound she’s making is her fingers tapping on the car door.
“Fine. Okay,” Roman says. “I’ll send you the address, but be careful. If cult members are still active—”
“We will.”
He grunts. “I’ll be in touch.” Then he hangs up.
Clover’s worried gaze slices into me like a million tiny knives. “We’re really going to Peachvale?”
“I can go myself if that makes you more—”
“No. I…” She swallows. “I want answers too. I want to know who’s doing this. Who’s sending me packages. Who’s trying to…”
“We’ll figure it out,” I promise.
She nods, and when I reach across the empty space between us, I’m thankful she wastes no time resting her palm in mine.
Then we drive in silence while my mind plays every fucked-up what-if scenario it can conjure because Clover in danger is not a scene I ever want to see.