Page 64 of Dying to Meet You

Keir

Ican’tstoplookingin at Wes asleep on his bed, Zach curled up next to him. When we carried him into the house, the loud reception from Kim and Chris woke him up completely. He became teary-eyed when he realized Mommy isn’t here.

“Guess what, little man?” Kim said with watery eyes. “I think we should make some honey toast.” Since Wes could put solid foods in his mouth Kim has made him this concoction of regular toast slathered with butter and sprinkles. The creation has now been upgraded to honey and sprinkles. He grabbed Zach’s hand, accepted his teddy bear being offered back to him, and followed Kim into the kitchen.

Glancing down at my phone, it has no new calls.

“She’d never take this long,” Blaine warns, sidling up next to me and peeking into the room.

Nodding in agreement, I turn to look him in the face. “I know about what happened earlier.” He should realize by now Chris would tell me; he’s not able to keep secrets. “We need to talk about it.”

“I’ll pencil you in. There are more important things going on right now.” His face screws up while he huffs, “I know what I need to do. My life isn’t all live, laugh, and liver damage anymore.”

Matt’s call from the police department comes in as we head back downstairs. Once they examined the scene more closely, they were willing to listen to what he had to say. The blood splatter matched his story; a patient saw an average-sized male in a pulled-up black hoodie run from the building around the same time. I’m relieved he’s being released after their questioning.

“Did you find Hutton; did you give him the keys?” Matt asks me urgently. “Is Wes-”

Cutting him off, I tell him, “Weston is with us. He’s home, he’s okay…he’s going to be okay.”

“He’s home? Really?” He breaks down crying.

Matt tells me he’s heading straight here. I share with him that the girls are gone…good news then bad. He’s distraught, which I knew would be the case.

“I’m getting worried about Eden, too. She’s with Harrison, and neither of them are answering.” Then I remember Steve’s earlier phone call. How could I forget that? With Dr. Wallen’s death, finding Weston. Fuck…

“Were you with Harrison earlier? And did you think you’d found Weston?” Oh my fucking God. If…

“Matt?”

His voice is pinched. “Explain that…”

“Eden and I were in the woods near the lake when Harrison called, wanting to meet up. He said he was with you, and you’d found Weston.”

Which we clearly know now was a lie.

“Are you sure you understood him? That’s what he said?”

The pieces start to fall into place in the most horrific way: the code sixty-seven; the seed Harrison planted about Halcyon, which Matt says he’d only heard of recently but suspected some of the agents he’d worked with in the Camp Carroll raid became involved in; the security cameras…one piece after another.

“Why, Matt…Fuck. Why?” Strapping on my holster and gun, I pull a couple more magazines from the office safe.

“I don’t give a fucking shit why anymore. Why is immaterial. We need to find him. I’m going back to the wellness center.”

“I’ll meet you there. Did you find Hutton?”

“Fuck…I did, but I lost him.” He makes a strangled noise. “He lured them in under my watch. He did the thing Number One never could. Meet me on foot near the parking garage under the abandoned laboratory building.”

“Matt? Are we…Are we going to find them all alive?”

His answer is as scared as mine and defeated. “I fucking hope so.”

Blaine finds me as I’m throwing on a bulletproof vest. “Where are you going? Did they find the girls?”

The rundown shocks him. “Steve? Who is the Bible-banging chick then?”

“B, I don’t know, but I think you should come along.” I grab a second vest and another loaded gun, throwing them in the duffle of gear I have.

Shifting from one foot to the other, he says, “So you can babysit me? Or because you want help and know Caleb isn’t going to throw his holy hands, so you need me because I have no qualms gutting someone right now?”

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