Page 58 of Wayward
I’m still staring at the phone. Am I? I’m not sure. “What’s the Wi-Fi password?” I say, looking at Zane. He’s got the resort info book open again. He tells me, and I put it in. I’m shaking while I open a search engine.
“Where did you get the phone?” Haley asks Dante while she settles into the crook of my arm.
“Anan’s got a drawer full of them. That was one of the only ones unlocked and charged enough.”
I’m tuning them out as I type in Dad’s name. The list populates the first few articles about things at Rockwell-Harding. But far down the page it goes into theRock Candybeing lost, and then there are the pictures I was hoping existed. My sister is wearing a life vest and being pulled onto a cargo ship. There are pictures of Dad too. But those are a hell of a lot scarier. He’s strapped to a stretcher like they put you on after a car crash, and he’s being hoisted above the water. It’s a picture, but I can almost feel the stretcher he’s lying in swinging back and forth onto the ship. Then there’s a picture of him from a few weeks ago in front of the headquarters sign at the New York office. He looks old.
I close that article and click on one about Emily. That’s a page down. She’s standing in our dining room in Miami. There’s a navigational chart behind her. It takes up the full wall. Attached to it are pictures connected with string, like she’s on a murder mystery show. Emily looks like shit. Her hair isn’t combed, and she has dark circles under her eyes.
“They were rescued,” Haley says softly.
I hold Haley’s stare. Her eyes are glistening. “Hey, it’s okay.” I skim through the rest of the article about Emily. There are a few more pictures. “Isn’t this Shayla, the other stew?” I hold it for Haley to see. Shayla is sitting on the silk sofa next to Emily in the formal sitting room in our Miami house.
“It is. She looks so good.” Haley stares at the phone. And I know she’s talking about Shayla because Emily looks like she needs to sleep for a month. Guilt washes over me. She’s been looking for us, for me. Not that I was intentionally keeping myself from them. Not until now.
I squeeze Haley’s hand and turn to Dante. “Your friend is going to be able to help us get out of here, and fast?” I need to get back to them. Let them know I’m okay. That they can relax. It’sso tempting to just log in to my company email and shoot them a message.
“What are you doing, Rockwell? I see that look in your eyes. Don’t get us killed.” Dante reaches for the phone, but I angle it away from him and pass it to Zane.
“No. I’m not doing anything. My sister, my dad, the whole other raft was rescued. They were at sea for a long while. My dad took the hardest hit . . . other than Candy.” They all nod. But Sam has the same scowl on his face when anyone mentions Candy. He has a good reason to be upset with her and my dad. They made Anders take the tender out when it wasn’t safe. It’s remarkable that Dad and Anders made it out alive, from what Calvin has explained to me.
“Anyone else want to check on their family?” Zane says, holding the phone up.
“Are you checking on your sister and mother? Or the soccer scores from last year?”
Zane lifts his head, his smile bright. “All three?”
“And how are they?” I ask.
“It looks like they’re fine. I made a fake account on Insta. Anyone else want to check social media?” Zane holds the phone up.
“I’ve already checked in on the other raft and my sister and mother.” Dante picks up Haley’s almost empty container and eats the last bites before dropping it into an empty bag on the floor. “That’s damn good.”
“Because you’re an amazing chef,” Haley says and yawns. “Sorry, how are you not falling over?” She cocks her head toward me.
“You promised me you were going to go to sleep, Firefly.”
“I’m asleep already. I have to be dreaming. I’m here with all of you in a nice air-conditioned resort with a big cozy bed.” She nuzzles into my arm.
I extract her from my arm, stand, and carefully carry her across the room into one of the bedrooms off the living room. Zane pulls down the covers, and I place her in the middle of the bed. She pats the spot next to her. And there’s nothing I want to do more than crawl in beside her. But Calvin’s whispering to Dante in the other room. I’m not excited about trusting Dante’s old boss. A guy who can get us fake passports and has a drawer full of cell phones. The kind of guy who runs a business until first thing in the morning. We might need him, but I don’t like it. Zane kisses her temple and slips back into the main room.
“We’ll be right in. I should clean up a bit,” I say.
“You sound like me.” Haley smiles.
“That’s a good thing.” I pull the door partially closed.
“Easton?” Haley calls.
“Yeah?”
“Get the truth out of Dante. I know he doesn’t want to scare me. But anyone who’s selling passports? That’s the same sort of person who would easily sell us out.”
“I know, Firefly. I know. I will.”
“Good. Because I’m not as tired as I thought.” She pulls the robe off from under the covers and tosses it on the ground.
“Haley,” I growl. “Go to sleep.” But I sure as hell hope that she’s awake when I come back. I close the door, and four heads turn toward me. “Keeping things from her isn’t going to help in the long run.”
