Elijah mulled it over, and I was pretty sure it was the thought of finding his cat that won out, because he finally nodded. “Okay.” He paused and glanced at Chris’s car. “Mason... you be safe too, okay?” He looked worried about something I wasn’t able to comprehend, but it finally cleared and he looked at me with trust.
I grabbed both of his arms. “Call me if anything weird happens.Anything. Okay?” He nodded. I kissed him, not caring that Derrick and Chris were watching. I wasn’t telling him goodbyethis morning without a kiss, and it wasn’t as though Chris hadn’t already seen much more than that.
I took Elijah’s hand when I pulled back and looked into those crystal blue eyes. I couldn’t read them, but I was pretty sure he could read mine, so I spoke to him without speaking.Stay safe. You have to. I’ll die without you.
His eyes shone as he looked back at me for another moment. Then he smiled. He squeezed my hand once, then turned and walked toward Derrick’s truck. Derrick smiled as they both headed for the pick-up. “You’ll have to direct me to your house, okay?”
Elijah nodded. “Sure. Thanks for the ride.”
“No problem. Anything you guys need,” he said, glancing back at me with a wave. He still looked a little confused, but was looking at me when he said, “I’ll get him back safe.” Derrick didn’t know everything that was going on, but he was an outdoorsman, and I knew he could protect Elijah if it came down to it. They were only going a few miles. I’d be fast. It would be okay.
I waved at them and they climbed into the truck. I watched for a second as they spoke to each other and Derrick backed up, making a U-turn to head back to Elijah’s.
“Come on,” Chris said urgently. “We have to hurry.” I ran over and hopped into his passenger seat, and he turned around and headed in the other direction, toward town. He started talking, running through the plan aloud.
“I think I can get you to the mechanic shop without anyone noticing. Just hurry the fuck up and buy a tire. Let’s get our story straight in case we’re asked. I found you out here looking for Elijah, because he was gone this morning. Your dumb ass got a flat tire. We’ll have to give him a heads-up if I’m seen, though, because they might go looking. And we’ll have to be much more careful...”
I tuned him out when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, hoping Elijah and Derrick weren’t already in trouble. When I saw the text was from Miller, I clicked on it fast. Maybe he had information that would help us. I needed to talk tohim about staying there anyway.
I opened the text. I had to read it three times for it to work its way through my brain. For me to accept it. Because it had to be wrong. Something had to be wrong because if it was right... if it was right, I’d just made the worst fucking decision of my entire life. I’d made some pretty damn bad ones in the past. I’d made choices that had gotten people killed. People I loved. I’d made bad calls before, but this one.This onewas Elijah.
I think I found your Will. It was a deleted profile, but he wasn’t from Greenview like he told your boy. He was in your little town the whole time, using incognito mode. His name is William Cavanagh. 48 years old. I’m not sure where he is now. I’m looking for him, but I wanted to pass you the info in case it helps.
“Stop the car.”
Chris looked over at me. “What?”
“Stop the fucking car! Turn around, Chris, go back!We have to go back!” There was enough urgency in my demand that he did as I said without any further questions, but as soon as we were headed back the way we’d come, he was looking at me again. “I’m so stupid!” I cried. “I’m so fucking stupid! Derrick’s dad. His name was Bill, right? It was fucking Bill!”
Chris wrinkled his brow. “Yeah. Why?”
“Fuck! How could I be so fucking dumb? It all makes so much sense.”
“Mason, do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” He was using his cop voice on me, but I could see the panic in his eyes. We passed my car and kept going.
I looked at Chris, trying to hold back the tears even though I was doing a poor job of it. “Chris, I just sent Elijah with the person who’s been after him the whole time.”
Chapter 24
Elijah
Warning bells went off in my head and through my entire soul when the car began slowing down. I glanced over at Derrick. “It’s just up ahead, around that curve,” I said tentatively.
He grabbed a piece of candy out of his ashtray and popped it in his mouth. “Yeah, I know, Elijah,” he sighed, despite saying he didn’t know where I lived. He was slowly pulling to the side of the road. My hand slid toward the door handle. Suddenly, there was a gun at my throat. We’d stopped but the car was still in drive, and I glanced over to find that Derrick’s innocent, confused face had morphed into one of pure hatred, his eyes burning with fury. “Don’t,” he ground out. I dropped my hand from the door.
Run from the one who’s trying to help you.How stupid could I be? I’d hopped right into the truck with him immediately after he offered to help me. Whoever was trying to warn me all this time had to be screaming in frustration.
“Derrick,” I said softly, but I wanted to scream at myself when my voice came out shaky. “What are...why?’ I couldn’tfathom what I’d done to him to deserve all he’d just done to me. To innocent people who’d encountered me.
The gun pressed harder into my neck, his finger on the trigger. “Why?Why? You fuckingwhore! You fucking Jezebel homewrecker! You should know fuckingwhy.”
My head was pressed back into the seat as far as it would go. “I don’t understand,” I said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Although I was getting the idea.
He laughed maniacally. The gun left my throat but it was still pointed at me. “You piece of shit,” he said. “You fucking destroyed my family! You destroyed my mother! So I’m destroying you. You’ll die by your own hands, Elijah. You killed your former lovers and you’ll kill yourself. You’ll end up in the grave with everyone believing you’re a murderer. And if Chris and fuckingMasoncome back, you’ll kill them too. I will ruin you like you ruined me.”
“Derrick, if I did something that hurt you, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, and I don’t know what I did.” I wondered if I could get Mason on the phone without Derrick noticing. My hand slowly moved toward my pocket.
The gun was back at my throat. “Don’t fucking move, Elijah! Apologynotaccepted. My dad fucked you while he was still married. Hecheated on my momwith you! Then, because ofyou, he decided he was gay, admitted to having an affair with asluthalf his age, and took off, leaving her destroyed. They were high school sweethearts and you ruined it all! I had to stop my entire life to deal with her mess. You ruined all of us! And fuck if you’re going to get away with it!” The gun pressed further into my throat as he snarled, “Convenient that my dad left his gun. Too bad you stole it, just like he stole something of yours. You’ll shoot yourself with it so they can trace it back to him, that wayhecan feel it too.”
