Page 38 of Through the Water

“You cannot come back,” she forced out, her nostrils flaring. “Do you understand me?”

I nodded, not understanding at all. True North could only let me stay for up to twelve weeks. Regardless of what I wanted, eventually, I was going to have to go back. It wasn’t as if I was in any shape to do much else. Even if there’d been a solid plan behind my escape, the details of it were rotting along with the mangled remains of the convertible.

Morgan shook her head, one corner of her mouth lifting slightly. “You’re looking at me like you think I’m crazy. But I’m not. Ari, you know as well as I do that if you’re out here, you’re safe.”

There was a chance she was telling the truth, but my mind lingered in doubt. Tristan had never been one to let Morgan off her leash, especially not after what had happened to me. I froze; the hair on my neck lifting at the thought of him crouched just outside the door, patiently waiting for his cue to come in and absolve me of my many, many sins.

I pushed Morgan’s hand away from my face and grabbed my notebook.

Where is he? Is he putting you up to this?

She huffed a mirthless laugh and lowered her head. “C’mon, Ari. You’re smarter than that. Do you really think so little of me? Tristan’s in New York. Dean’s working.”

My father contracted an outside security firm two years ago, after claiming the church had been receiving threats. Overnight, Brother Caleb and his magazines were replaced by stone-faced men and Dobermans.

Dean must have been working the night of my accident. It made the most sense as he was the only one who ever spoke to us. Well, that and his willingness to look the other way for the right price.

How can I believe you?

Morgan’s lips moved silently as she read, mouthing each word like a curse. “I’m a little surprised you haven’t figured it out by now. I mean, haven’t you been even the slightest bit curious as to why he’s not here, watching your every move?”

If Tristan wanted to push for a plea of guilt, he would have sent Brad or another church elder to monitor me until I cracked. The fact I’d been left alone spoke volumes because it meant someone had taken my place. I tightened my hands into fists, squeezing until my fingernails dug into the flesh of my palms.

“That night, Tristan called. He’d wanted me to go down to the church to meet a guest pastor who’d flown in to speak. I guess he wanted to get a feel for the space. The details are kind of a blur now, but when I went outside, the convertible was missing.

“I told him I sent you, Ari,” Morgan sighed, confirming my fears. “Said I wasn’t feeling well and asked you to fill in for me. What was I supposed to do? Tell him you’d snuck out and taken my car? You know what they would have done to you—”

But what did they do to you?

She lifted her shoulder in a half shrug, eyes glistening with tears. “Nothing I can’t live through. Believe me, it’s better this way.”

Morgan wasn’t acting as an emissary to Tristan but as a martyr… for me. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, my mother’s ring glimmering from her left hand. Everything she possessed had once belonged to someone else—the ring… the clothes… the children.

Had she ever wanted more than a hand-me-down life?

I shook my head at the unfairness of it all. The decision to run away and the consequences of being caught should have rested firmly on my shoulders.

My jaw tightened as a piece of my nightmare came back to me. Morgan’s BMW had gone off the road and down a steep embankment. The nurses had confirmed that much. With the tree cover and lack of light, I should have remained lost for days.

She hadn’t known my plans or even where I was headed, but someone else had.

How did they find me?

“I wondered the exact same thing and did a little digging. It took some time, but I finally found what I was looking for. Tristan has trackers… on every single vehicle.” She shifted from one foot to the other before lowering herself onto the chair. “I haven’t told anyone, but I think—I think maybe that’s how they found Ashlynn.”

I closed my eyes for a long moment, feeling the blood as it drained from my face, no doubt headed down to stir up my stomach some more.

Ashlynn.

It had been almost two years, but my heart ached just as fiercely as it had the afternoon I learned my sister’s fate. Loss was the one wound impervious to time.

Unfortunately, Morgan wasn’t finished.

“This is why you can’t come back.” She hesitated, fished a small teddy bear from her bag, and then gently placed it in my hands. “When we moved away, my granny gave me this stuffed animal. She said it was a way for me to always feel close to her. I kinda thought she was crazy but squeeze it.”

I did, surprised to feel a solid mass in the middle of its stomach. What is it? I mouthed.

“Well, it turns out Granny was a little skeptical about the nice preacher man inviting us to live in his gated community. So, she hid a cell phone and some cash inside the bear and sewed it up.”

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