“Not for a moment did I think it bothered you,” he said. “How about I make you a deal?”
“Er, not so sure about that,” I admitted, not caring if I sounded wary. Anyone as smart as him could trick me into doing just about anything if he wanted to.
“It’s simple. I’ll tell you what Ireallythink about Clay and how he’s doing since I flew out to see him the other day,” he said, and I perked up at that. “And you tell me what you’ve been doing since you got back to Arete…and what you plan to do differently this time around.”
“Different?” I asked cautiously. “I like what I’ve been doin’…except for the alone part.”
“If you always do what you know, you can never be more than you already are,” he said softly. “And imagine how over the moon Clay would be if he found out you’ve been making great strides while he was doing the same.”
I frowned. “That’s cheatin’, ya know that, right?”
“All’s fair in love and war,” he snorted. “What can it hurt?”
Plenty, but considering I was being forced to watch people around me get to where they were leaving me behind…well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt more than it already did, right?
“Fine,” I said. “You first.”
“Mhmm,” he said, as if we both knew he wouldn’t let me off the hook that easily.
Just like when Isaac had been here, though, it was easy to fall into conversation with him, even when it wasn’t about mental things. It turned out he was also worried about Clay, but was just as tentatively hopeful that what he had seen of Clay was a good sign. I wasn’t much good at sharing what I’d been doing since returning to Arete a week before, but it was nice to talk about normal things for a few hours as the sun made its way high enough to cast its bright light over the ridges of the mountains.
Others showed up; the early risers and those like me who probably hadn’t slept much last night. I knew most of the faces, though there were a couple of new people because there was always someone new at Arete. Most waved or called my name before moving on, probably to get caffeine or breakfast while it was fresh. Sound and life were returning to Arete, and it made me feel just that little less lonely.
“And this,” I heard the familiar voice of the facility administrator say in his best welcoming sales pitch, “is the best time possible to get a good look at the facilities we’ve already discussed and the people you’ll be spending a lot of time around.”
“You don’t have to show off,” a fresh voice said, and a shockwave rolled through me so totally that I stopped speaking and stared at the mountains outside without turning.
There wasnoway.
As the shock rolled through me, I could barely hear Isaac’s concern. “Cade?” I stood there and stared at someone I never dreamed I would see again.
What had it been? Five years? Five years since I saw the man standing beside Reggie with a scowl that looked out of place on someone I remembered being lighthearted and gentle. Someone who had always understood the pain in the world, but never let it get to him. Someone who could look at you and make you feel special when he spoke because he had that knack, even more than Isaac did.
I hadn’t forgotten him, not really. I could remember the last time I’d seen him. Being flown away on a chopper, fighting for his life as he was transported to safety. I’d believed I would never see him again after everything that transpired a few months later. And yet?—
He turned his head and caught my eye, and I saw the same expression of shock, his lips parting.
My voice was husky and rough when I spoke. “Rhodes?”
WALKER
God,the man couldtalk.
I looked around the introduction room, or at least I think that’s what Reggie had called it; it just looked like a lounge and an office. There was the desk Reggie had sat behind while I had taken one of the plush chairs on the other side. It had been tempting to take one of the chairs near the couch on the other side of the room, just to see what Reggie would do.
And now I was listening to him ramble on about the Recovery Program, with a brief mention of the other two, but those weren’t for me, were they? No, I was a problem child as far as Uncle Sam was concerned. I needed to be dealt with in the most intensive program they had.
Sure, Reggie could insist this place, this ‘resort’, didn’t operate like others, that there were no restrictions or constant evaluation, but I wasn’t fooled. Places like this, where you were sent when you weretrouble, weren’t where you were going to sit back, kick your feet up, and pretend you were on vacation. Even if they were more lax, there were still going to be bars somewhere in the cage, and the minute someone eventhoughtI might start rattling them, I would find out how ‘restful’ and ‘organic’ Arete really was.
“And you haven’t heard a word I’ve said for the past five minutes,” Reggie said, and when I glanced at him, raising a brow sarcastically, he actually grinned. Not the kind of smile that came with patience and understanding, a smile that said,I’m not a threat; I’m here to help you. No, it was the smile of someone who was amused by how I’d been acting and wasn’t afraid to show it.
I scowled. “We both know I’m here on the recommendation of the government, not because I looked at your website or brochure, or because I talked to your best sales rep and was won over. I’m here on the taxpayers’ dime because it’s the only way I could be…” I stopped, grimacing as I remembered I wasn’t supposed to share that I was here because it was the only choice left to me. Not that Uncle Sam and his cronies were any happier. Here I was, a decorated vet who had got a lot of positive attention once upon a time, and suddenly I was making a lot of fuss. Not outright selling government secrets, but pointing other people to where they might dig if they wanted the juicy stuff.
So, not outright treason, but enough for them to get nervous about having me off the leash for so long. All the medals and commendations in the world couldn’t cover up the fact that I was becoming a problem, and they couldn’t just lock me away, not when there were already enough targets on the government’s foreheads lately. No, their best option was to remind me oh so politely that while they didn’twantto lock me away because it would cause trouble, they absolutely would because the danger I presented running my mouth was worse than whatever might come down on them if they threw me in jail or made me disappear. They then reminded me that my family was innocent, and did I really want to see my siblings’ lives endangered by my eagerness to end my life in a roundabout way?
The answer was no. My life wasn’t important to me if it could serve a better purpose, but I wasn’t so zealous that I was willingto throw my siblings and their kids onto the pyre alongside me. So I was told that all I needed to do was make it sound like I had been having mental health issues and that once people started talking enough about it, Big Happy Friendly Government Man would step in and offer to get me the help I needed. So, my family was left alone, and the suits could not only cast doubt on everything I’d been saying, but get brownie points for helping one of their decorated veterans.
Wins all around.
