He looked at Charlie. There was less hostility in his gaze, now. “If…” he took a deep breath. “If you’re not the one to blame, your memories will help. Even if you didn’t see the killer’s face, there could be details you don’t realize are important.”
Charlie nodded. I sat back down next to him and took his hand again.
“I’ll do it,” he whispered.
I squeezed our linked fingers harder than I should’ve.
“Alright,” Tate said. “Thank you. If I can arrange it, would you be able to come to my grandmother’s house? Are you able to leave the lookout?”
Shit. I hadn’t even considered that.
“For short periods, I’ve been able to manage it. It’s much easier with Reece. If I’m with him, I think I can go. Or we can try, at least.”
He nodded. “When’s your next supply run?”
“In a couple of days,” I answered. The band around my chest tightened even more. I wasn’t ready for it to be that soon. What if it went wrong? What if Charlie disappeared forever? I needed more time.Weneeded more time. There was still so much I wanted to do with him, to say?—
We can’t lose him,the Thing wailed.We can’t, we can’t, we can’t?—
It’s not my decision.
It bared its teeth at me and slinked off.
“I’ll see if I can swing it,” Tate said. “Work’s hell right now, obviously, but I’ll talk with my grandmother and ask her about seeing you.”
“Is that okay with you?” I asked Charlie, hating every single word of this conversation.
He nodded and squeezed my hand back. “Sure. Yeah. Great.”
Rocky’s loud bark cut through the cabin. He leaped up, front paws on the windowsill, and continued to huff and growl even after Tate’s command to hush.
“What are you hollering at?” he asked as we all stood to see for ourselves.
Randy sat on the railing outside, chattering back at Rocky as if scolding him for all the racket.
Finally, she’d found someone besides me to be angry at.
“Oh, it’s time for her hot dogs!” Charlie said.
He pulled one from the package on the counter and stepped outside, ripping it into pieces. His dimples appeared when she ignored Rocky in favor of washing her tiny paws in the water bowl he kept out for her, before reaching for the first piece of hot dog he left on the railing.
“You two seem… close,” Tate said, keeping his voice low.
I cleared my throat and turned back to him, realizing I’d been caught staring. “Yes.”
He raised an eyebrow. “How do you know you can trust him?”
“You didn’t see how broken and angry he was when I told him he’d been blamed for murdering six people in cold blood.”
Tate sighed. “I hope you’re right, for your sake. And be careful. Not just because of that, but… He’s aghost,Reece. That will never end well—for either of you.”
My mouth set in a hard line. “We’ll see.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “You’re a stubborn ass.”
“And you’re just an ass.”
He laughed, hearty and deep. Something shifted between us, like the walls of pretend cordiality finally fell. For the first time, I thought that maybe, someday, we could be friends.
