And I couldn’t begrudge Phoenix his family.
Another round of knocking had me getting up off the bed and grabbing my single duffle bag. It was surreal to finally be leaving the place I’d spent so many of my worst years in. I hadn’t bothered telling my father I was moving out, because I didn’t care what happened to him. I owed him nothing and with Dina dead and Henry gone, there was nothing tying me to this hellhole anymore. I had no clue what I was going to do, but I knew it would start at the bus station. I had a few hundred dollars in my pocket, my last paycheck from work, and I was going to use a good chunk of it to buy a ticket to anywhere but here.
I’d been tempted to move closer to Walla Walla which was where Washington State Penitentiary was, but being closer to Hank and not being able to interact with him beyond a phone and a sheet of plexiglass didn’t make sense. Especially since Hank had made me promise when I’d left that place, that I’d never set foot back in it, even to visit him.
Hank had been returned to prison, but I wasn’t sure if the guards would heed the warning Ronan and Phoenix’s cop friendhad sent their way about Gun being a threat to Hank. My hope was that Jasper was able to watch out for Hank. With T dead, I was worried Hank would become even more of a target.
I dropped my bag next to the couch and opened the door. I froze at the sight of Seth standing on the other side.
“Hi, Levi.”
“Hi,” I managed to get out, though even the single word seemed to be a challenge for my addled brain.
“Can I come in?”
I opened the door wider for him and then looked around the room. I needed to offer him a place to sit, but the place was a mess. Beer bottles were all over the place and our couch was so old that it was ripped and stained everywhere. Humiliation flooded through me.
“Um, do you mind sitting at the kitchen table?” I finally asked.
“Sure, sounds good.”
“Do you want something to drink?” I asked, though I couldn’t offer him anything besides beer and tap water. And since it was just after eleven in the morning, I doubted a beer was on the menu.
“No, thanks.”
I sat down across from him and prayed the wobbly vinyl chair he was sitting in wouldn’t break. “What…what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I wanted to come talk to you about something.”
“Okay.” I knew I probably sounded like a suspicious jerk, but he was the last person I ever expected to see again.
“Are you going somewhere?” he asked when he saw my duffle bag.
I nodded. “I’m leaving.”
“Seattle?” he asked.
“Yeah. Too many memories,” I murmured, then realized how insensitive I sounded. “Sorry.”
He waved his hand and shook his head. “No, I hear you.”
He fell silent and an ugly thought suddenly occurred to me. “Did you and your husband change your minds?” I asked. “About pressing charges?” I hated the fear that swirled in my belly at theprospect of losing the freedom I’d just found, but I wouldn’t protest if he’d had a change of heart.
“What? No,” Seth said quickly. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Phoenix told me about everything you did for Henry…I know it must have been hard to lose him like that.”
I felt tears start to fall at the mention of Henry’s name. I wiped at them with my sleeve. “He was innocent, you know? I just wanted him to have the best life possible.”
“Better than the one you had?”
I briefly wondered exactly how much Phoenix had told him, but I realized it didn’t matter, so I just nodded.
“Then why are you leaving?”
“What?” I asked as I looked up at him.
“Why don’t you stay and fight for him?”
“Fight for him?” I asked. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I want him to have the best life he can.”
