Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Liam struggled to go about his life as if nothing had changed. Though if he really thought about it, nothing really had. Like Annie said, he’d always been a little different, even if he didn’t know it.
He paced during his lunch break, in the tiny green space outside his office building. In the heart of downtown Seattle, there were very few places Liam had found to spend time among the trees, and this park was one of his favorites. It was not a maple, but an elm tree that sat in the center, towering over the wooden bench Liam often ate his lunch on. Now the bench, like the surrounding grass, was covered in the elm’s long, jagged-edged leaves that had yellowed and fallen.
He placed a hand on the tree’s trunk, and felt the life within it, stretching from tip of its tallest limbs nearly fifty feet high, down to the roots that reached deep into the earth below. Its bark was deeply ridged, but not so hearty as the Douglas fir, and it thrummed with energy beneath his palm.
He’d noticed that, during his cautious experimentation over the past few days that every tree had a unique sense to them, all different from one another. The part of his mind that thrived on exploration and documentation had attempted to keep notes about his discoveries, how his magic manifested itself, and the ways he could influence the surrounding life. Still, another part of him was scared by the things he could do and wondered at how he could not have noticed them before.
His mother’s words echoed in his mind, that the magic would fade from him the longer he lived outside the valley. How long did he have to get to know the gifts he’d been given, before they withered away entirely? A pang ran through him at the thought, sharper than he’d expected. This was what he was supposed to want, wasn’t it? To continue his life as it had been? Attempting to ignore the call of the valley was already proving more difficult than he’d imagined.
After the very truth about his life had been upended, he’d returned to work as normal. The days passed, and he could not help his growing frustration. Suddenly, he felt so stagnant, so useless, realizing just how much of himself he’d sacrificed for his career with so little to show for it. His best friends—his roommates—had been dating seriously for months and he’d had no idea. Never had he felt so far from his parents, his sister—hell, even his dog. For the first time in years, he was ready to admit what he had tried so desperately to deny.
He was miserable.
What a relief it was, to be honest with himself.
Maybe it was the truth about his nature that made him finally realize what had been missing from his life. He liked to think that his time with Iona, reconnecting with the forests that had been his home over those early years, played a big part as well. But now that he’d recognized the need for change, he felt paralyzed to do anything about it. The fantasy he imagined of a life beneath the trees with Iona at his side hadn’t left his mind. Instead, it haunted him, growing stronger with each passing minute until he felt ready to burn down everything he’d built the last ten years.
As if something in the universe had felt his urgency, his phone rang. A number flashed across the screen, one he did not recognize. Liam answered and put the phone to his ear. A gravelly voice rumbled through the speaker, sounding incredibly uncomfortable.
“Yeah, uh. This is Walt, from the gas station, you know? Well, I got your girl here. She’s real shaken up. ”
A jolt went through Liam, and he could hear Iona’s frantic voice in the background.
“What happened?” he asked urgently. Already his feet were moving, going back to collect his things, his mind working out the fastest way to get back to her.
“It was Andrew and his crew out there,” Walt answered so slowly it made Liam twitch. “Kid, she’s covered in blood. Now, I don’t want to get involved with this. I’m not calling the cops or anything, but I warned you to stay out of Andrew’s way. Don’t let this weigh on the conscience of an old man.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Liam told him impatiently. “Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can and to meet me at the house.”
Having already made it back to the lab, Liam hung up without another word, trusting Walt to relay his message.
The elevator ride to the twentieth floor felt like an eternity. His thumb tapped against the leg of his jeans and he had just enough time to consider the gravity of what he was about to do. This would be the end of his career. Everything he’d worked so hard for, gone in one afternoon. He should be terrified—it was such an idiotic thing to do. But as the elevator ticked upwards, he was only afraid that he was too late for Iona.
He burst into the quiet lab, garnering the concerned looks from every lab tech in the room. Liam was sure he looked as frantic as he felt, but couldn’t spare the time to compose himself. Instead, he gathered his things from his workstation and stuffed them unceremoniously into his bag.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sawyer asked from the station next to him, concern clear on his face.
“Uh, family emergency. I gotta go,” he answered, but he was already sweeping down the row of lab equipment and heading for the door to Sarah’s office.
He burst into the room without so much as a knock. She had been on the phone, and hung up with a look of supreme irritation.
“Liam, what a surprise. I assume this is important, since you’ve barged in here?” she gestured vaguely at his disheveled appearance.
“I need to leave,” he said, not wasting time on the formalities.
“You used up all your leave the other week. And we need you—we’re still catching up from your last bit of vacation. ”
“That wasn’t vacation, Sarah. But I don’t care, I need to go. It’s a family emergency.”
Sarah sighed, setting her glasses down on the table with a bit more drama than Liam felt was necessary.
“Look, I don’t know what is going on in your personal life now, but I think we can both agree this is really impacting your performance. I’d hate to write you up for all this, but we really can’t spare the help right now with how understaffed we are.” Her voice was honeyed, but Liam could tell from her body language the threat that lurked beneath the words. “Why don’t you take an hour, make some phone calls and get back to it?”
Liam closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ground himself.
A terrible thought crossed his mind, one he’d tried to dismiss for days, but could no longer ignore.
“Last week I filed a report. A sample with chromium levels above the normal range. I went back to look at that report, and it was passing. Someone wrote over my work.”
Sarah blinked at him, like he was a child unable to understand. “Liam, you know how these things work. I can hardly send a result like that back to our clients—they pay us top dollar for a reason.”
Liam suppressed a gasp, the horror of her implications sinking in his stomach like lead. “You’re tampering with the test results?”
“Oh, goodness no! But… samples are very easily contaminated, you know. Don’t trouble yourself.” Then her expression lightened, her voice louder and clearer than it had been before. She leaned in. “But if you need a few more days off to deal with your family trouble, I’m sure we could arrange that.”
Suddenly, Liam’s entire life came into focus.
How many elevated levels had his company overlooked, because they were in the pockets of whoever hired them? If such deceptive practices were the price he paid for his success, then he could continue no longer.
It was all happening so fast.
He clenched his fists around the straps of his backpack to keep them from shaking with adrenaline and anger. Liam had always been, throughout his career, a soft spoken and generally non-confrontational person. It was his personal belief that hard work was self evident, and would be recognized and awarded as a virtue. He believed that nothing good came of being obstinate or defiant when one wished to “climb the ladder.” But in that moment, Liam realized that there were more important things in this world—sweet and beautiful things that needed protecting. Without realizing it, Sarah had given him the last push he needed out the door.
“I think I just quit, Sarah,” he said before he’d even finished processing the thought himself. As he continued, his resolve strengthened about the decision that hadn’t really felt like a decision at all. It was the only possible choice he could have made in that moment. “Yeah, I’m quitting, effective immediately.”
He took one last look at her office, the fake plants trailing down the bookcase behind her desk. Their lifeless forms mocked the image Sarah tried to present to the world. Liam was tired of earning more money for people like her, who capitalized on the desire to help to turn a profit. He had found his calling, to protect the forests he called home, and he wasn’t going to ignore it any longer.
Sarah was protesting, her face growing red, but Liam had stopped listening to her and left as promised. He did feel one small twinge of regret as he realized he’d not said a proper goodbye to Sawyer, but they hadn’t been real friends, anyway. Besides, it was too late to turn back now.
***
Liam arrived back at the apartment before lunchtime, bursting with the same frantic energy. The hour-long bus ride had given him the chance to settle and calm himself after the outburst in Sarah’s office and the impulsive decision to quit, but he refused to let himself feel regret.
Maple rushed forward to greet him at the door, ecstatic at his return. Hastily, he patted at the top of her head before pushing past her into the living room. Zev was on the couch playing something on the PlayStation, and their jaw dropped at seeing Liam return home so soon. Annie was at her desk in the far side of the room, where she’d been on a video call. She apologized and told whoever she was talking to she’d call them back later.
“Uh, no offense Liam, but what the hell are you doing here?” Zev demanded.
Standing there, in front of his gaping friends, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The enormity of what he’d done felt equal parts freeing and terrifying, but there would be time to deal with that later. Now, Iona needed him. “I quit,” he announced.
Their expressions grew more shocked.
“Like, quit how?” Zev asked, as if still not understanding the statement. “Wait, you mean you finally took my advice?”
With a laugh, Annie pulled what looked like a fifty-dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to Zev. They took the money without taking their eyes off Liam, their expression shifting to one of triumphant surprise.
Liam pretended not to notice, throwing his backpack down by the entryway, and finally taking off his jacket. He busied himself making a sandwich in the kitchen, getting ready to hit the road as soon as he’d packed and grabbed what he came home for.
Liam waved the knife covered in mayo at his roommates dismissively. “It’s not like that. Well, it’s kind of like that, but no. I got a call from Iona, and something happened. I’m going back out there.”
“Is she okay?” Annie asked, all humor gone from her expression.
“I think so, but I don’t know much more. I had to leave, and Sarah was making a whole thing about it… well and I guess you were right, Zev. About her, and about the job. I just quit.” Liam finished making the sandwich and began shoveling it into his mouth.
“Should we come with you? I have a few meetings I can push and Zev could try to get tonight’s shift covered…” Annie began, but Liam stopped her with a shake of his head. He swallowed hard, then spoke.
“No, don’t worry about it. I think this is something I need to do on my own. But I do have a favor to ask,” he told them. “Could you both watch Maple for a few days? And also, can I borrow your car?”
“Of course, we’ll take good care of her,” Annie responded immediately, then her face grew serious. “Liam, you’ll be careful, right? Those guys are dangerous, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” he insisted, despite the doubt that was already creeping in.