Page 15 of The Finder

“Emma,” he called out when she was almost to the door. She looked back at him. He had a sad expression on his face. Emma hated that. “I can’t. I’m sorry,” he said. Emma didn’t say anything. She opened the door and went into Hope House without looking back.

Emma went to her room instead of going right to dinner. She walked into her room and was grateful to see it was empty. She sat down on the bed and realized for the first time that she was still wearing Garrett’s suit coat. She closed her eyes in frustration. She would just have to hide it. The door to her room opened, and Emma stood up quickly, taking the coat off. She quickly placed it under her pillow and sat in front of it. Her roommate looked at her but didn’t say anything. A moment later, her roommate grabbed something from her drawer and left the room again.

Emma quickly knelt on the floor and hid the coat with her other things. When she stood back up, she noticed a note on the dresser. She picked it up and saw it was from Amy. She wanted to meet at dinner to discuss something. Emma sighed. She really didn’t want to go to dinner, but she would have to now. Strangely, she thought her stomach would be hungry, but it wasn’t. She just kind of felt numb. She left her room to head to supper.

Chapter 11

She saw Amy and Olivia right away. From the smile on Amy’s face, she knew something good was working out for them. Emma grabbed a plate of food and sat with them. She managed to get several bites down while Amy talked.

“So, I got a new job, one that I think is really going to work out,” Amy said as soon as Emma sat down.

“That’s so great. I’m so happy for you,” she said. She took a moment to sign to Olivia and ask her how she was doing. Olivia responded and Emma smiled. She was so happy to be able to communicate somewhat with Olivia.

When Amy finished telling her about the job, Emma smiled again. “It sounds amazing. What can I do to help?”

Amy looked at Emma uncertainly. “I got permission for Olivia to be here and you too if you’re willing in the afternoons. The job is from two thirty to ten thirty.”

Emma’s mind scrambled for a moment. That was going to be hard to work out with as early as she had to get up. Amy continued on, “I’m so sorry to ask this of you. I know it’s a lot, and you totally don’t have to do it. I can find someone else or work something else out.”

Emma put her hand on Amy’s arm. “It’s totally fine. This is a great opportunity.” Amy nodded and relief flooded her face.

“You’re sure this isn’t too much?” she asked.

Emma smiled at Amy and Olivia. “Of course not. I’ll get to learn more sign language.”

Amy signed to Olivia, and Olivia burst into a big smile. A pang hit Emma’s heart at that smile, and she knew she would do whatever it took to help these precious people out. “When do you start?” Emma asked.

“Tomorrow. Is that okay?” Amy asked.

“Perfect. You have it cleared for me to get in early?” Emma asked.

Amy nodded. "Renee said you can get in at two.”

Emma nodded. “That should work. I should get here at the latest by two fifteen each day. Is that enough time for you?”

Amy nodded. “Yes. It’s only a few minutes away. Thank you so much for doing this. I don’t know how to repay you.”

Emma smiled. “Just take care of that precious girl of yours.” They finished their dinner and went their separate ways. Emma needed to do some laundry, so she could have a clean shirt to wear tomorrow. She went into her room to grab her belongings. Thankful her roommate was out of the room again, she got down on the floor so she could grab her few belongings to wash them. Emma looked under the bed. “No, no, no,” she said. In an almost full-blown panic, she pulled everything out from under the bed. The suit coat wasn’t there. Emma put her hands over her face as dread wound through her. She felt nausea rising in her stomach and up into her throat. What in the world was she going to do? She had no idea how much that coat cost, but she knew it was a small fortune. Anger swiftly rose on the heels of the nausea. How dare her roommate take it. She was sick of her taking her things.

When her roommate happened to walk in a few minutes later, Emma was ready to explode. She stood to her feet quickly. “Where is it?” she asked. Her roommate ignored her and walked over to her bed. “Where is it?” Emma asked again, angrily. Her roommate continued to ignore her. She lay down on her bed and put her headphones on. Emma closed her eyes for a moment trying to calm down, but it didn’t help. Storming towards her roommate, she pulled the headphones from her ears. Her roommate sat up and swore at her. Emma was past caring. “Where’s the jacket?” Emma asked again.

Her roommate stood up and got in Emma’s face. “It’s gone. I sold it,” she said.

Emma laughed. “You couldn’t have sold it. I was only gone for thirty minutes.”

This time it was her roommate who laughed, a scary, evil laugh. “Shows how much you know,” she said. Then before Emma had any clue what was happening, her roommate punched her in the stomach. Hard. Emma sunk to the floor in pain. Her roommate kicked her in the ribs with her heavy boots, and Emma curled into a ball. After two more kicks, her roommate knelt next to her. “Don’t ever take my headphones away from me again.”

Emma lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath. This wasn’t the first time she had been beaten, far from it. She knew how to breathe through the pain. She knew it would get better in time. She finally eased herself up into a sitting position and managed to crawl to her bed. Finally, she lay down on her bed. She painstakingly turned so her back was to her roommate, probably a dangerous decision, but she was in too much pain to worry about it. She faced the wall as the tears began to flow. She wasn’t sure how long she cried, but sometime later, she finally fell into a restless sleep.

When her alarm woke her the next morning, Emma wanted to cry again. She was in so much pain, she could barely roll over, let alone walk. She finally managed to drag herself out of bed and to the showers. Everything was slowed down. She finally managed to get a shower; she didn’t wash her hair, though. It was too difficult because of the pain in her ribs. She got dressed and managed to get her hair into a topknot. She pushed herself to keep moving. She dropped her belongings back in her room in her drawer. There was no use hiding them now. Her roommate knew where they were. She glanced at the clock—4:15. She grimaced. It had taken her longer to get ready than she thought it would. She slipped out of her room and closed the door behind her. She thought she might cry at the thought of the long, cold walk ahead of her; but she forced herself to just keep moving. There was nothing she could do. If she ever wanted to get out of this place, she had to keep this job. She opened the door and stepped out into the dark and was shocked to see Liam leaning against the same car he had brought her home in last night. She stopped moving. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

He opened his mouth and let out a massive yawn. He mumbled something under his breath. Emma grinned for a moment, forgetting about her pain. Somebody was not a morning person. She started moving towards him, trying to make herself walk smoothly so he wouldn’t know she was in pain. He opened the door for her, and Emma grit her teeth as she climbed into the backseat. She took a minute to try and relax through the pain.

Liam climbed in the driver’s seat and began driving. Emma wasn’t gonna lie; this sure beat walking to work in the cold and dark. “Thank you for picking me up,” Emma said quietly. “You didn’t have to.”

Liam just grunted at her, and Emma smothered a smile. The ride passed quickly. Soon, they were in front of the shop. Emma glanced at the clock and saw it was still a little bit before four thirty. After glancing at the shop, she saw the lights weren’t on yet. Helen must not be there yet.

“You can wait until she gets here before getting out,” Liam said with his eyes closed, his head against the seat.

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