Chapter 19
We didn’t speak of the night before when we left for D.C. the next morning. For once, the drive was silent.
For the most part. Apparently twenty-four-hour drives and my passenger carrying status were incompatible.
There was vomiting. Lots of vomiting. And I wasn’t subtle about it.
Seatbelt around my waist, I was lying across the back seat, a makeshift garbage pail in the footwell, curved between my elbow and the bench. Both sets of eyes kept flickering to me in the rear-view mirror. Dark and darker.
This was getting ridiculous. I needed to tell Jack. And I needed to do it in a neutral space, so we wouldn’t get distracted, and so I wouldn’t chicken out.
“I didn’t know you got motion sick, Delilah.” Jack’s eyes didn’t drift from the rear-view mirror.
Waving him away, I kept my mouth shut. I’d kept the contents of my stomach down for the last hour, my pail was empty, and didn’t want to tempt fate.
“She’s not motion sick.”
Todd’s words struck me with a white-hot bolt of panic, but I tempered it down along with the accompanying swell of bile. He raised a thick brow in my direction. Even in my subpar state, I knew he was seeking permission to share the half-truth I divulged back at the vamp gathering. I gave him a nod.
“It’s hormones.” It felt like forever before he added, “Birth control.”
Worry ate at my insides. He would have only paused like that if he didn’t really believe it.
Tension lined Jack’s face. “What, and it’s this bad?” Another pause. “I thought the vomiting was a one-time thing. I’m so sorry, Delilah.”
“I’m fine.”
“We’ll get you in to see someone to get this sorted. This is unacceptable.”
“It’ll pass. I’ll be fine.”
“Still.” Jack shifted in his seat. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the idea of me being uncomfortable because of our arrangement. “I might have something to make you feel better.” Another moment passed, before Jack continued, “Should we tell her?”
Todd shrugged.
My ears perked up. “Tell her what?”
“The cash that was left to you by your brother.” Which was most definitely in evidence, yes, I knew of it. “It’s in the trunk.”
“What!” I bolted upright. “What do you mean?”
“All of the cash, it’s yours.” Jack wasn’t making sense, so I turned to Todd who said, “We had it catalogued, then listed as returned to rightful owner.”
“But it—"
“Would you rather we didn’t?”
“No, I just…” What was it? “I don’t know. What am I supposed to do with it?”
“It’s money, Delilah,” Jack laughed. “You buy things with it. Invest it, if you’re keen. The choice is yours.”
“But it’s… it’s not mine.”
“It was gifted to you by your brother. It’s yours.”
Dumbfounded, I sat in the back seat processing just what the hell this meant. For me. For my situation.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“If you’re not sure what to do with it, I can always watch over it for safe keeping,” Jack teased. “Of course, I’ll charge a hefty protection fee.”
I was still too flabbergasted—yes, flabbergasted—to appreciate Jack’s joke. But Todd must have thought it was funny, because after he assessed my upright position, a tug pulled at the corner of his mouth as he turned to Jack, “Too bad you didn’t make it a bet. You could’ve made five bucks.”
“Betting on my pain and suffering.” We were in familiar territory. I knew how to respond to this. “Real mature.”
“He would have been betting on you feeling better,” Todd corrected with a smug grin. “I would have been betting on your pain.”
I slapped Todd’s shoulder. He flicked my knee.
Jack ignored our antics as he pulled us off the freeway, taking the exit for Alexandria. “I’m just glad we won’t have to make another puke bag disposal stop before we get you home.”
“Eww,” my stomach clenched, “don’t say ‘puke bag’, unless you want me to puke.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Todd held out a stick of gum, which I yanked from his fingers without thanks. It only made his smile wider.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“Do you need to get that?” Jack eyed Todd, who looked none too happy at the prospect of answering his phone. “It seems urgent.”
“It’s you-know-who.”
“She’s called five times in the last ten minutes.”
“She knows I can’t talk on the phone.”
“I can play translator.”
Jack and Todd exchanged a look. Grumpy Todd returned, conceded with a huff, then answered his phone with a grunt.
Whatever the person on the other end of the phone had to say, must not have been good news because it took two seconds for Todd to stop breathing. Two seconds for him to grip his phone so tight, his knuckles turned white.
A deep sinking feeling took root in my bones. Whatever would cause such a reaction from Todd, had the potential to be catastrophic. And I couldn’t get a read from Jack. He was the epitome of calm as per usual. One of us had to be.
A second later, Todd exhaled a slow, jagged, breath. Squeezed his eyes shut. Then jumped into action. From what I could tell, he was saying something to Jack, but I couldn’t see Todd’s hands move. It was like he was trying to hide what he was saying. From me.
Jack nodded, and when Todd held out the phone, Jack said, “On our way.”
There was more movement from Todd. More obstructed communication.
“Of course, text Ben. We’ll get more resources on this.” Jack’s on-the-job demeanor was in full force. “We’re twenty minutes out. Delilah, I’m afraid it will be a rolling stop for you.”
“Do you need my help?”
Jack and Todd exchanged a heated glance before Jack said, “I’m afraid your throwing up would be a distraction. And I’d prefer to know you’re somewhere—”
“Out of the way?”
“—Comfortable.” Jack continued, “I appreciate the offer of support, but it’s a missing persons case. Not our usual fare. And before you ask, yes, Mads is still in custody. This is another matter entirely.”
“Do whatever you need.” Now, I had the opportunity to conduct a leash check, see if the agents were willing to loosen their hold.
Earlier in our drive, the agents received an update that Mads’ second getaway car was located about a mile from where we took the unexpected ‘detour’ through the cornfield.
His fingerprints were all over the inside of the hotwired vehicle.
For all intents and purposes, it appeared he was working alone.
But I wanted to see if the agents were willing to take that chance.
“You can drop me off here if it’s easier.
It’s not too far, I can walk. I need the fresh air anyway. ”
“No, we’ll get you home. It’s on the way, and we’re almost there.” Jack pulled us onto the side street that led to Todd’s and my apartment building. “But we’ll drop off your things later.”
The car slowed just outside the parking lot. My cue to leave.
I unfastened my seatbelt and grabbed hold of the handle. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” And I meant it. “My phone will be on.”
Todd flashed me a glare, as I got out. “It better be.”
Then the agents drove off, leaving me with a leash the length of the parking lot.
?
To be fair, I didn’t exactly want to jump into a rescue mission after I’d been throwing up for an unreasonable amount of the drive back from Eureka.
I was looking forward to some time alone, to think through the revelations and the vamp case.
But nothing prepared me for the sense of peace I felt walking into my building’s foyer, when I realized there would be no Muffin Man mirror messages to worry about, or duct tape on my windows.
The spontaneous trip to Eureka had given me a level of closure I didn’t know I needed.
I could close the door to that chapter and move on.
This was my home now. These polished floors and painted walls.
I had a path forward, and pieces of the puzzle that I could take some time and try to work through.
Mads, for all his grievous faults, had given me some insight into what happened with Lawrence, how he ended up in a state where he could be manipulated to the point of…
. doing what he did… and I had a lot more answers about my unpleasant past.
Which meant revenge was closer than ever before. So close I could almost taste it.
On my way to the elevator, I was confident the only gut-punch to my mood would have been if I spontaneously vomited, when I passed by a wide-eyed girl, somewhere between single and double digits.
Unease set in. Something about the girl with raven-black hair and freckles across the bridge of her nose, struck me as familiar. Not in the she-lives-in-the-same-apartment-building-as-me familiar. I couldn’t quite place it. Not just yet.
But I tried to quiet my overactive imagination, forcing myself to think little of it as I pushed the button to the fifth floor, and returned my thoughts to my to-do list. My notebook, the knowns, and unknowns.
Both for the Seal, and what Mads had described during our altercation, but also my obligation to get to the bottom of what happened to the familiars after the fang ceremonies. And how the vamp hunters were involved.
Because the vamp hunters were most definitely involved.
The elevator dinged as I passed each floor. But the closer I got to the top, the more uncomfortable I became. There was an itch at the back of my mind like I was forgetting something. Or missed something out of place.
To figure out the cause of my discomfort I needed to release the hold I’d placed on my overactive imagination, just for a second. I could seal it up later and return to my more pleasant thoughts.
A face flashed in my mind. My unease magnified. The child in the lobby.
I just passed a kid... By themselves. A kid that looked lost.
None of my business. Not my problem.
I mean, she probably wasn’t alone. She was probably just waiting for someone who lived in the building. Maybe she did live here, and the look she’d given me was because of the scar on my face… even though my instincts had told me otherwise.
She’s fine. Everything was fine. She was none of my business. She really wasn’t. I was just operating on high alert, seeing problems that weren’t there.