“Don’t hate me,” I whispered, just barely making theexcuse audible. “But that whole ordeal kind of wore me out. I don’t think I’dbe any fun at dinner.”
Jesse leaned forward, his eyes deepening with concern.“That’s okay, Caroline. I can take you home.”
His simple acceptance made me feel even worse. “Sorry,Jesse. I… Well, to be honest, I used to have a thing for Sayer too. We endedbadly. Seeing him tonight?” I turned and stared out the windshield at The DCInitiative glowing in the night, alive with movement and people and all theghosts of my past. “I had hoped I would never see him again.”
Jesse sat there for a few long minutes, watching mewatch the gallery. I couldn’t find the courage to look at him again, to let himsee the raw emotion spilling out of me. It was too much. All of it was toomuch.
And what I wanted to do—take a hot bubble bath andpsychoanalyze every single jaw tick and raised eyebrow and minute detail in aninvestigative report of what the hell Sayer Wesley was up to—I couldn’t do. Ididn’t have time to get lost in the past or even deal with the present. Ineeded to think about the future.
I needed to think about Juliet. And Francesca. And Ineeded to figure out how the hell to get us out of this town.
Jesse drove me back to my apartment and walked me tothe lobby door. We said goodbye as friends, and I hoped we would be after theweirdness of tonight wore off. I took the elevator up to my floor and letmyself in.
Juliet and Frankie were asleep on the couch whilemovie credits played on the TV. The lights were dim save for the small spotlightabove the sink. The windows were open, letting in the cool autumn breeze.
I moved over to the kitchen sink, lifting my face tothe smoky air that floated through the open window there. It curled around myface and caressed my hair before sinking into my skin, grabbing hold of mybones and reminding me of how much I’d let this place get into me. I’d let itchange me. Save me. And now the thought of leaving it, this city, this life…
It hurt.
I hurt.
I threw my clutch on the counter and noticed the noteimmediately. I would try to figure out when exactly he’d slipped it insidelater. I had been paying attention the entire time. As soon as I saw Gus, I washyper-aware of his movements and Sayer’s.
The white corner of the paper stuck out of the sidepocket, proof that they still had the skills to pull some things off.
I pulled out the note and found Sayer’s familiar handwriting.Ache and anger bloomed side by side.
I know this is going to be difficult for you, butdon’t leave town, Six. Not if you know what’s good for you.
I made a groaning sound. Cliché much, Sayer?
“What’s that?”
I sucked in a sharp breath and stifled a scream. Ihadn’t heard Francesca approach. She was just very suddenly there, looking likea horror movie apparition with her sleep-wild hair and smudgy eyeliner.
Her brows drew down over how I huddled against thecounter, cradling the loathsome note I wanted to burn. “They’re here. Theyfound us.”
She tugged the note out of my hand, her finger ice coldas it brushed mine. “Who?”
I met her terrified gaze. “Sayer. Augustus. They’rehere. They opened the gallery.”
She looked down at the note, reading it and rereadingit and rereading it. “No.”
“I saw them, Frankie. I talked to them. They lockedJesse and me in their basement office and—”
She held up a hand. “Start at the beginning. Tell meeverything.”
So I did. I told her how the art gallery was amazingand how Jesse and I were having a great time when suddenly Gus showed up. Itold her about Sayer and how he’d changed and how he hadn’t changed. How I’dunlocked the basement door and how Jesse totally picked up on theex vibebetween Sayer and me. And then finally, how I foundthe note.
“But we’re going to leave anyway, right?” Francescademanded. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was counting hermoney and pooling our resources. She was driving through Colorado to Wyomingand up to Montana and maybe straight on to Canada. She was crumpling the notein her hand, already dismissing it. “Caroline, tell me we’re going to leaveanyway.”
“Y-yes, of course. Obviously. Frankie, we’re leaving.We can’t stay.”
“But.”
I rolled my eyes. “But we can’t leave tomorrow. Wehave loose ends that need to be tied up, and we need to get our resources—”
“Caroline, that’s not our deal. We promised each otherthat if we ever got a whiff of the brotherhood sniffing around, we would begone. No attachments. No reasons to stay. We’d just get up and go.”
