Page 149 of Through the Water

“No, Ari.” Ashlynn gestured toward the passenger seat. “That Agent Simons.”

I inhaled sharply, and Tsega lifted her eyes to meet mine in the mirror. “How are you doing, Ari?”

“Um,” I hedged with a squeak. “I’m feeling a little confused… and nauseated. Mainly confused, I guess.”

Her expression softened, and she cut her eyes to the passenger seat, where Dean was hunched over the laptop. “We’re married. What else do you want to know? Looks like we’ve got some time to kill until this traffic clears.”

My gaze bounced back to my sister. “And what about you?”

“Yeah, Matt and I got married last year,” she explained, her lower lip quivering. “I really wish you could have been there with me.”

An erratic burst of laughter slipped free, and I shook my head. “So, was that what made you decide to get me out? Guilt?”

“No,” Ashlynn insisted, squeezing my hand. “God, no. I’ve spent the last two years trying to free everyone. Have you ever wondered why Tristan made all the upgrades to the wall and brought in an outside security firm?”

“Because of the threats against the church?”

“Me, Ari. I was the threat. I broke into the compound once, but he intercepted me before I got anywhere. After bloodying my lip, he had me escorted from the premises by Brother Caleb.”

Matt’s family must have been pretty powerful if the worst she’d gotten from our father was a fat lip.

Tsega clarified, “We were made aware of the breach and had our plant within the church recommend a specific security firm to Tristan, and he took the bait.”

“But it wasn’t enough to get me out,” I finished for her, ignoring the scratchiness in my throat. The day had been a chaotic and draining storm of revelations that had left me on edge.

I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh anymore.

“Matt was the one who came up with the idea of reaching out to you to find the computer. He had the necklace and a letter with detailed instructions smuggled in, using a fake name. Once you had it, you called the number in his letter and made arrangements to meet at the same diner he’d taken me to when we first met.”

“Then, I got into an accident.”

Ashlynn’s voice was gentle as she asked, “Do you remember any of it?”

“No,” I whispered, while absently chewing on my bottom lip. “But I’ve had this recurring dream since the accident. In it, you say, ‘Ari, what have they done to you?’ Sometimes, you tell me you can help if I come back to you, but the ending is always the same. The monster devours you after you tell me I’m the only one who can stop it. But that doesn’t make any sense if the letter came from a fake name, right?”

She cupped her mouth and lowered her head toward her knees with a pained cry. I unbuckled and slid across the seat, struck with the sudden need to comfort, although I had no idea what was wrong.

Tsega cleared her throat, sounding close to tears herself. “She was there, Ari. When you were in a coma in SICU, we brought her in to see you. She sat by your bedside and just talked.”

An involuntary sound of anguish escaped my throat as I gathered her in my arms, grieving the time we’d never get back.

“Fuck,” Dean muttered in horror, drawing our attention back to the front.

I brushed away my tears and straightened. “You found something?”

Tristan had been willing to kill his own wife to keep the contents of the thumb drive from ever getting out. Whatever it was had to be something truly evil.

“No,” he admitted, cutting his eyes over to me. “We found everything, Ariana. You did this—”

I laughed hoarsely. “And here I thought I ruined it all.”

Dean’s jaw hung slack in disbelief. “I think you may have just saved everyone.”

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