Chapter 12
ANNISTON
We pull up to the cabin just as the last streaks of sunset fade behind the trees.
The drive back from Halo City felt longer than the trip there, mostly because Banks was quieter than usual.
His jaw stayed tight the whole way, hands gripping the wheel like it owed him money.
I kept sneaking glances at him, but I didn't say much.
I figured he needed the silence after what happened at Wyatt Rivers' apartment.
He parks and kills the engine. For a second we just sit there in the growing dark, listening to the ticks of the cooling truck.
"Everything go okay in there?" I ask softly, finally breaking the quiet.
He nods once. "Let’s talk inside."
I swallow the uneasy feeling in my chest and follow him into the cabin.
The familiar smell of pine and woodsmoke wraps around me, but it doesn't settle the nerves the way it did before.
Banks moves around the space like he always does, checking windows, resetting the perimeter alarms, locking the door with that heavy deadbolt.
I watch him from the couch, knees pulled up to my chest.
Something’s off. He’s hiding something. Or rather not letting me in.
I can feel it in the way he avoids looking at me for too long.
Last night feels like it happened in another lifetime now.
That incredible, heated, world-tilting night where he touched me like I was something precious.
This morning he was distant again, all grumpy protector.
I get it. Last night was probably just stress relief for him.
A way to blow off tension in the middle of this mess.
A man like Banks Hawthorne would never want someone like me for real.
I'm chaotic and loud and currently wanted by dangerous people. He’s steady and intense and has a whole missing family to worry about.
I need to stop hoping for more. I need to stop flirting. It only makes me feel stupid now.
I hug my knees tighter and try to push the ache in my chest away.
"Banks?" I say when he finally sits down at the table across from me. "Is everything okay? You’ve been really quiet since we left the city. Did something happen in that apartment?"
He rubs a hand over his face, looking tired in a way that has nothing to do with lack of sleep. For a long moment he doesn’t answer. Then he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. He slides it across the table to me without a word.
I pick it up with shaky fingers and unfold it. It’s a handwritten note on Meridian Financial letterhead. My eyes scan the words quickly, then freeze when I see the name at the bottom.
Billy Hawthorne.
I look up at Banks, heart pounding. "Your dad?"
He nods, jaw tight. "I took it before those two guys showed up.""
"What do you think it means?" I whisper.
Banks leans back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. "Maybe my dad was digging into the same consultancy network you found. This proves the players in Halo City know something about why he disappeared. They didn’t just stumble across him. They were working with him. Or against him."
I set the paper down carefully like it might burn me. My mind is spinning. "Do you think Wyatt was helping him? Or was he paid to keep quiet after your dad vanished?"
"Both are possible," Banks says. His voice is low and rough. "The big deposit in Wyatt's account could be a payoff. Could be part of whatever deal they had going. Either way, someone wanted Wyatt quiet. And now he's running."
We sit in silence for a while. The cabin feels smaller, the walls pressing in with all the new questions.
I want to reach across the table and take his hand, but I stop myself.
Last night was one thing. A heat-of-the-moment release.
He doesn’t need me clinging to him now like some lovesick girl who thinks one night means forever.
I’m sure he regrets it already. Even though he says he doesn’t.
I’m sure he’s sitting there wishing he had kept things professional.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "About your dad. About all of this. I know last night was... just stress. I won't make it weird. You don’t have to worry about me expecting anything more. I get it."
Banks looks at me sharply, gray-blue eyes narrowing. "What are you talking about?"
I shrug, trying to keep my voice light even though my throat feels tight.
"You and me. Last night. It was amazing, but I know it was a one-time thing. You’re focused on finding your brothers and your dad.
You don’t need someone like me complicating your life when this is over.
I won't keep flirting or making things awkward. I promise."
He stares at me for a long beat. Something flickers across his face. Frustration? Surprise? I can’t quite read it.
"Anniston," he says, voice low. "Last night was not just stress relief for me."
I blink, not sure I heard him right. "It wasn't?"
"No." He leans forward, elbows on the table. "I don’t do that. I don’t wake up with women in my arms. I don’t spend the whole next day thinking about how good they felt.
But with you..." He shakes his head. "I'm still trying to figure out what it means. Right now I can’t afford to. Not with everything going on. But don’t sit there thinking I regret it or that I don’t want you. Because that isn’t true."
My heart does a stupid little flip. I look down at the note again, tracing the edge with my finger. "So what do we do now? About your dad, I mean."
"We dig deeper," he says. "This piece of paper connects your research to my family. The top players in Halo City know something. They’ve known for years. We’re going to find out what it is."
I nod, trying to focus on the mission instead of the warmth spreading through my chest at his words. "Wyatt is probably hiding somewhere. If we can find him before they do..."
"Exactly." Banks stands up and starts pacing slowly. "I’ll see if my brothers can pull anything new on Wyatt's location. In the meantime we stay here. Keep our heads down."
I watch him move around the cabin, checking everything again even though he did it when we first got back. He’s so controlled, so careful. But I saw the way he looked at me just now. Like maybe last night meant something to him too.
Am I just fooling myself into believing we could have a future together? It’s way too soon to be thinking happily ever afters, right? Right?
I stand up and move to the kitchen, needing something to do with my hands. "I'll make us some dinner. Nothing fancy, but we both need to eat."
He stops pacing and looks at me. For a second his expression softens. "Anniston."
"Yeah?"
"Don’t sell yourself short," he says quietly. "Not with me."
I feel my cheeks heat, but I smile anyway. "Okay. I won't."
We move around the small kitchen together, making a simple pasta dinner with the canned sauce and dried noodles from the pantry.
The normalcy of it feels strange after the day we have had.
Every so often our arms brush and I feel that spark again.
I don’t push it. I let it sit there, warm and quiet.
Later, after we eat and clean up, we sit on the couch looking over the files on his laptop again.
Banks keeps the note with his father's name on the table between us like a silent promise.
We talk about next steps. About possible safe ways to search for Wyatt.
About what the connection could mean for both our situations.
I still worry about Sadie. I still worry that I might never see my sister again. But sitting here beside Banks, knowing he’s fighting for his own family too, makes me feel a little less alone.
Whatever comes next, we’ll face it together. Even if I have to remind myself every five minutes not to fall any harder for this grumpy, complicated man who somehow makes me feel safer than I have in months.