Chapter Thirteen #2
He placed extra emphasis on using her full name, then immediately regretted it. The snide tone didn’t lend much credence to any argument he might make for growing and maturing.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice flat.
But her attempt to brush him off only amped up his determination to get his point of view across.
“You were the one who said we should keep things casual,” he said.
“You moved to a town three hours away,” she reminded him.
“But you were the one who started dating other people.”
“I did not,” she shot back, her eyes wide with indignation.
“Someone told me you were hanging around with Robby McAvoy.”
She blinked and he couldn’t tell if she was stunned by the accusation or impressed with his total recall.
“Robby McAvoy?” She said the guy’s name like she was parsing it for hidden meaning.
“Yeah.”
“Robby McAvoy from Mr. Fenton’s history class?” Her brows drew together, thin furrows of hurt creasing her forehead as she stared at him, looking genuinely baffled. He wanted to smooth them away. He wanted to go back. Forget they ever stumbled down this particular path on memory lane.
“Who told you I was dating Robby McAvoy?”
“Jenna—”
“Burke,” she chorused along with him. Then, expelling a long sigh of depletion, she gave her head the barest shake. “Of course, Jenna Burke.”
“What does that mean?”
The eye roll was back again, but this time her weariness seemed bone deep. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does,” he insisted.
She sat straighter, then secured her thumbs under the straps of the backpack and lifted the weight of the bomb she was wearing off her shoulders for a few seconds. “No, it does not. Like Mr. Fenton’s class, Jenna Burke and Robby McAvoy, it’s history, Jake. It’s not what’s happening right now.”
“I know, but, Cass…”
She held up a hand to stop him. “No. You need to go.”
She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, oblivious to the fact she was riding in circles and therefore pointing in all directions. It was abundantly clear that she wanted him to go away.
“Go. There are bombs to be found. And an RV with who knows what waiting for us,” she added with a resolute nod.
Jake opened his mouth to object, but she preemptively thrust her palm into his face.
“You can read my ramblings while Max does his thing. I laid it all out there—the stop, the arrests, the testimony I gave. I couldn’t remember many of the specifics, but I’m sure your people can fill them in.”
“Listen—”
“No, you need to stop dredging up the past and start working because I’d like to have a future. And maybe by the time you get back, we’ll figure out how to talk to one another like adults.”
“Cass—”
“Jake, I’m not feeling anything near rational at this moment.”
He wanted to push back. He wanted to insist she speak her mind here and now so they might figure out what had happened way back then. But Cassidy was right. They had more pressing matters to attend to than a teen romance mired in ancient history.
Without another word, he stood, Max’s lead gripped tight in his hand. Max, perceptive boy he was, darted one last worried glance in Cass’s direction. Jake could only wonder about what his partner might have seen there, because he would not allow himself to look back.
He and Max hopped down, found their balance on solid ground again, then started up the incline to the fair’s main artery. Jake clenched his back teeth, keeping his jaw taut and his eyes moving, taking in everything that lay ahead of them and refusing to indulge in a single backward glance.
The best thing he could do for Cassidy was find a way to put an end to this madness. And then, once they had Baker or whoever was doing this to her in custody and Cass off that nightmare of a ride…then they would talk it out.
But at the moment, his mind felt cluttered and his emotions chaotic.
Cassidy was right; they needed to set their past aside and concentrate on the task at hand.
They were closing in on five o’clock and none of the signs they’d found so far were set to the hour.
Aronson had put out a call for all available officers to be on the lookout for any indication of where their bomber would strike next.
He needed to stop focusing on why Baker was targeting Cass and figure out a way to get her out of the crosshairs.
True to his word, he headed for the children’s rides.
Because the fair was a popular family activity, Kiddie Land made up a decent portion of the midway attractions.
Small-scale rides and games where smaller patrons could win small trinkets and stuffed toys.
Jake and Max crossed under a colorfully painted archway and made their way to a miniature carousel that featured shiny motorcycles and sidecars.
Hanging back, he gave Max enough lead to move from one shiny cycle to another.
While his partner did this thing, Jake turned in a slow circle, taking in his surroundings and searching for any Be Back Soon signs.
There wasn’t one posted near the operator’s stand.
He flexed the fingers of his free hand as he swiveled in the opposite direction.
If he hadn’t been so attuned to the particular shade of sky blue used for the background on the yardstick, he might have missed it.
He was smirking at the cutout of a llama warning all riders to wait until the ride came to a complete stop, remembering all the times he’d hopped onto and off a moving carousel in the past few hours.