Chapter 2
TWO
Yeah, she thinks she’s gotten one over on me.
As the car rumbles up the long dirt road to the new safe house, I watch her. Most of the drive here she’s had her eyes squeezed shut, her body tense beneath my touch. Only about thirty minutes ago did she finally soften, her breathing evening out as she lost her battle to stay vigilant.
I let her pretend. Fuck it. It doesn’t bother me that she hasn’t decided if she believes me or not. All that matters is that she’s still here, still safe. The rest we can figure out after we've slept.
The sky is impossibly dark this far out, and the house seems to loom out of nowhere once the curve of the driveway finally reveals it.
Set back in the thick woods, tall glass windows reflect the moonlight that manages to break through the pines.
Behind it, the pier juts out into choppy waters, the staccato thump of Dad’s boat rocking against the mooring buoys breaking through the otherwise silent night.
All of the curtains are pulled shut, except for a tiny gap in the window next to the front door, where the low light of a lamp peeks through.
I'd bet anything that Mom's been sitting right there, watching for us.
Jesse pulls the car up to the porch and puts it in park, turning the ignition so that the engine falls silent, save for a measured ticking as it cools. His back hits the seat, both hands running roughly through his wild hair. It’s beyond obvious that we’re both running ragged.
His head rolls to the side, studying Bo, who’s sleeping silently with his temple pressed to the passenger window, before meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror.
A dark chuckle bubbles from his mouth, humorless disbelief that pretty much sums up the shit we’ve found ourselves in again. “What the fuck are we going to do?
It’s the same question that’s run circles in my head since it hit me that we’d been betrayed, that an inside member of Mercy had fucked us over. What was I going to do about someone terrifying them, and sending out those recordings?
Those nights we were all together were only meant for my eyes.
I’ve never thought of my sexual conquests as an intimate matter before, or something that demanded privacy.
Actually it was kind of the opposite, I’d fuck anywhere and I didn’t care who saw, because it meant nothing to me.
But the idea of these strangers watching Emma and I together triggers a feral need to have their heads in my hands.
Fuck the bodies, I just want their dead, decapitated heads.
Jesse will be on board. He’s cleaved through at least two neck bones that I know of, both for less than this, and he was fucking smiling both times.
It’s just a given that anyone who saw her and Bo like that forfeits their life.
“For now, we just get them inside. The doctor should be here soon to look at her ankle, and then we need to call the senior members for a meeting. Someone ratted us out, and nobody but our most trusted members can know we’re here.
” My eyes fall to Emma, sleeping peacefully in my lap. “That they are here.”
He nods to himself, ghosting his thumb and index finger along the leather steering wheel. “I can’t remember the last time I felt afraid, like real fear. That was fucking scary.”
When I shift out from under her Emma whimpers in her sleep, curling inward, then moans in pain when her injured ankle jostles.
“We’ll figure it out. We always do.” Opening the door, I sigh as my dad stumbles onto the porch and runs over to pull us into a crushing hug.
He’s shorter than me now, but still a fit, tough-as-nails man. His dark hair is hidden beneath a fisher’s hat, and now on top of everything else I feel like shit for ruining his boating trip when I’d blown up his phone in my panic.
“Any trouble on the way?” he asks, eyeing our spent faces with worry.
“We’re okay, Uncle Liam,” Jesse says, scanning the house. “Is my dad here?”
Dad nods. “Asleep upstairs. Had to drug his whiskey. Wouldn’t sit the fuck down, he was so nervous.” He shrugs at me, like what he just said is normal. But we’re the Finch’s, so for our family it is. “I thought he might try to end Bundy tonight if I didn't.”
Jesse huffs, opening the passenger door. “He’s always an asshole the morning after you dose his drinks like that.”
Shrugging, Dad turns his attention back on me.
“I’ve got their space set up, or have you been keeping them separate?
It’s secure enough, cameras, same deal as the last place.
” He waves his hand, nonchalant about me arriving in the middle of the night and needing a place to lock up two people.
“Doctor’s almost here to look at the girl.
” His eyes fall to the window, taking in our captive.
Except, that’s not what she is now. Not at all. Bo either, and it’s easy to tell that from the gentle way that Jesse rubs his shoulder, trying not to frighten him awake after the day they had.
Can’t hide shit from my father, though. Watching Jesse whisper into Bo’s ear, he turns and burns his narrowed eyes into the side of my head. “Noah?”
I run my hand down my face and sigh. “Things have changed a bit.”
He blinks at me, waiting for me to elaborate. “Oh?”
“Yeah. They aren’t negotiation pieces anymore.”
His confusion quickly starts stitching itself into anger instead.
He stares at me for a beat before barking out a cynical laugh.
It's loud enough to shake Bo from whatever dream he’s having so that he shoots forward, peering around at all of us, then damn near breaking his neck to check on Emma in the backseat.
He’s smart, my father. So it takes him two seconds to piece together what’s happened.
Never one to miss a chance to drag me over the coals, he starts the same bullshit.
That’s what he does. That’s what he’s always done.
“Just how do a pair of extremely necessary hostages end up not being hostages, Noah? Please fucking tell me how that happens.”
I’m tired, and though I should have broached this topic before now, I just didn’t know what to say. It wasn't clear what was happening between all of us. Still isn’t. All I know for sure is that they belong to me and Jesse now, and that’s the end of it.
“They just aren’t. I know it's…unexpected, but nothing changes. Eric is still our target. He’ll still pay for what he did.”
He shakes his head. “And you're just going to what, keep his wife here forever?”
Wife. The inference that Emma belongs to anyone but me makes me crazy. “I’ll do whatever I want with her, okay? That part hasn’t changed. She’s just going to be in my bed with me when I do it, not a prisoner.”
My sarcastic smirk has him rolling his eyes.
“Jesus Christ,” he mutters. “First time you get wrapped around a woman, and it’s the fucking wife of our target, Noah.
Of course it is.” He hisses the words, and then turns on Jesse, who’s helping Bo get his bags from the floorboard.
“And you. Just what the fuck is going on between you two?”
“It’s midnight, old man. Can we talk about this in the morning?”
Bo’s eyes widen as he takes in my father. He’s definitely not easy to miss, with all the scars and that haggard, expressive face of his. The fishing hat and his slippers top it off to make him look batshit.
“Great, just great. I see. You two can’t be trusted on your own.
Six weeks, you convinced me it would be worthwhile to keep these two locked up at the house with you while you played mind games with Eric.
Now look at you. You know it’s crossing a bunch of fuckin’ lines to act like this with someone who’s in your care.
Someone who has no choice but to depend on you. ”
I don’t like the accusation in his eyes, even though he’s right. It’s not morally sound, what we’ve done, and I have never gave less of a fuck. “Bo, go with Jesse upstairs, okay?”
He nods, a deer in the headlights as he follows Jesse to the front door.
“Look, I know changing the plan isn’t ideal.
Eric is no longer the only target, and Bundy has fucked very heavily with me.
I’m this close to saying fuck the plan and showing up at the front doors of his mansion, Dad, this close.
” I know my wild eyes back me up when I get in his face and he doesn't interrupt. “Right now, I just need to figure out which of your men flipped on us. Then I’m going to string Eric up from that tree”—I point to the large fir next to the porch—“and let Jesse hack him to pieces. That hasn’t changed. Okay?”
He grunts deep in his chest. “Then what?” he asks, motioning to Emma. “You gonna kill her, too?”
I snarl. “She’s a victim of him too. They both are.
I have proof that Bundy wanted her, and Eric was happy to give her up.
So let me do what I need to, and I’ll protect them like we have with every other person we’ve saved before.
You said this was my mission, so let me run it, and you and Uncle Aiden focus on whatever shit you have.
” I wave my hand dismissively, feeling like an asshole already for talking to my father like this, but not in the mood to argue about the girl I’ve lost my head over.
His jaw flexes, deciding whether my insubordination is worth correcting. Instead he settles for making me feel even worse.
“What we have son, is an organization of men that we cannot put at risk. Try to remember that when you change things without a vote. Revenge is important—especially for Lily, but if your plan puts us all in danger of being killed, then the plan you’ve got? It’s worthless.”
Emma stirs in the backseat and his eyes dart once more between her curled up form and my stony expression.
He just needs a few days to adjust to the change because under this gruff exterior, my dad’s a fucking teddy bear.
He’ll love her, that’s a given. Then she’ll be tucked under the protective wing of the only people in the world I trust.
Dragging my hands down my face, a heavy sigh fills the space between us. “Dad, it’s late. Try to believe that you’ve raised me with some sense. Can we do this in the morning?”
He scoffs, but nods sharply, holding the door open while I pick up Emma from the backseat and cradle her to my chest. She barely moves as we ascend the stairs to the room we’ll be using. Today has put us all through hell, her body and mind will need time to recover.
The doctor arrives while I’m placing her things in the corner and moving Molly’s large pile of toys next to Emma’s side of the bed. The cat darts from her carrier as soon as the door pops open, diving under the bed where she blinks at us as if we can’t see her there.
After a brief examination, he peers at me from over his glasses, gently setting her foot back to the blanket.
“Without having all the equipment needed, I would guess a hairline fracture at worst, more likely a sprain or bone bruise. She’ll need to be non-weight bearing for two to three weeks to be safe, then we’ll work on slowly introducing activity to her ankle.
” He turns to me, leaning on the footboard.
“I’ll grab the boot and put it on her before I leave, and some crutches.
If that works, we won’t need her to come in. ”
Anxiety had carved straight through my chest as I watched him look her over, but I tried to beat it back. They could have killed her, this is the best case scenario.
I nod, feeling like I’m about to fall the fuck over. Exhaustion laps at my bones as the adrenaline from the earlier scare fully recedes. “Got it. I’ll keep her off her feet.”
He leaves, and finally, it’s quiet. We’re alone.
To silence some of the frenzy in my brain, I tread into the hallway and quietly open the door to the room directly next to us.
Jesse and Bo are passed out, Bo tucked under Jesse’s arm.
Their exhaustion is evident, but I did the best I could with the time we had.
Somehow I got everyone here in one piece, and now the three of them can rest knowing we should be safe.
Should. Hopefully. Maybe. The words echo in my head on repeat.
I pull off my shirt and climb into bed, taking in every plane of Emma’s sleeping face once I’m settled in next to her.
She’s peaceful now. A few hours ago, that same sweet face had been drawn with terror as she ran through the woods, trying to leave me.
Mmm…now that I say them, I realize the words are misleading. Saying she tried to leave me implies that I had her, that I’d ever asked her to be mine.
I haven't asked her one single thing, and yet? She is. No matter how much she fights it.
For a moment, she’d convinced herself that I was the monster—that I’d lied about everything Eric did—and tried to return to her piece of shit husband. The thought fans that ever-simmering fury back to life, but no, I smother my reaction because I understand.
I know why she did it. They’d purposefully made it look as if I sent the videos to cause a rift, to plant a seed of doubt in her head.
Whoever did it wants her to hate me. I don’t understand their reason for it, but I will once I find the rat.
Once Jesse and I take them out on the boat and waterboard them in the middle of the lake, their secrets will belong to me too.
I forgive her for her lapse in judgement, and also for slicing my face up. Emma’s a fighter if you push her far enough. That’s a good thing, I need her to be ready for whatever comes next.
She puffs a tiny noise of discomfort, the boot from the doctor probably confusing her in her sleep. At least for now she won’t fight me, so I pull her to my chest and she tucks her head under my chin. Once she’s snuggled in closer, she exhales heavily into the fabric of my shirt.
Almost like she feels safe with me, even in her nightmares.