“If you enlisted. How come you are here?”
“I’ve served my two-year active duty contract, and I’m an inactive reservist now until further notice.”
“You lucked out.”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Sarah,” I scan the now-busy highway. We are closer to the hotel. “I can't expose you, not to these people, not like this. You don't know where my brother is being held. I don't…”Wait a minute.
That’s it. I need a woman I can trust.
I need a slave.
No. No. No. This is fucked up.
I can't, there's no way I'm not going do that to her...again.
“You don’t, what? What stopped you?”
I can think of a thousand things I need from Sarah right now, and none of them are the things she might think.
If I could simply not look at the highway, I would. I want to keep my eyes on her a little longer. Seeing her is like a painful optical illusion, a vivid dream, and I'm afraid I’ll wake at any moment. I take one more look. Her hair is hidden under the wig, her face looks marbled between brown and white because of the make-up she tried to wipe off when she saw me. Why did it take me so long to figure out it was her? She changed so much, her spirit is different. I can feel strong, accelerated vibrations from her. But all those changes over the past two years haven’t changed the fact that both our bodies want to reconnect, to share the same space.
She is here.
“Never mind. I'm going to kill Carter...”Did I say that out loud?I peer at her, hoping she didn’t hear me.
No luck.
“Carter had no choice but to explain to me what was going on. I pushed him into a corner and stripped him of all choices. He was dealt a shitty hand and did the right thing. I was going to find you, one way or the other, believe me.”
Pushed?
My eyebrows snap together in confusion. “What could you extort from a man who has nothing to lose?” My eyebrows snap together in confusion.
“You don't know how wrong you are. Everyone has something to lose. You have yet to understand Carter's love for you. You're the most important thing in his life, and that makes him a target.”
I'm looking at her with curious eyes. Are we talking about the same man?
“Let's not go into details. I just want you to know that he had no choice but to tell me where you were.”
I just got something else to write down in my imaginary notebook about her reactions.
“Speaking of Carter. He told me you moved out. Why didn't you stay at my house?”
She takes her time to respond. One of the things I feared the most was her leaving home. Because if she was leaving, the only place that made me real,made us real, well, that only meant one thing, she was moving on.
“To be honest, it was painful to be there. I woke up the morning you left, feeling invigorated, rested and ready to talk to you about the decision I had made after out pillow talk. That was until I found the letter.” I remain silent, so she continues. “I... I thought I wasn't going to survive. I didn't want to live without you and your guidance.”
With my heart in my throat, I keep my eyes fixed on her. Fuck the road.
She had an answer for me.
A decision of her own.
Shit.
My heart beats ferociously. I’ve never felt so nervous or so out of control in my fucking life.
