Page 86 of Without a Trace
He made a little grumble. Like he didn’t believe me.
I laughed, wet and shaky. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Sloane looked away as Lena stood slowly, wiping her cheek with her sleeve.
“Scar,” she said softly. “You know they’re wrapped around your finger, right?”
I blinked.
“What?”
She smiled through it. “Those boys. You think they’ve got the power. But it’s always been you. It’syouthey orbit. Not the other way around.”
My throat tightened.
Sloane stepped closer, letting the wall she’d built around her heart fall just enough to let the truth out. “So don’t forget who the fuck you are when you get wherever you’re going.”
I hugged Hemingway tighter, kissing his head. Finally I let go and stood up like it took every ounce of will I had left.
“I’ll come back,” I said again.
Lena nodded. “You better.”
And then I walked out the front door for the last time.
Scarlett
The trucks were already running when I stepped outside with my duffel.
Engines low and rumbling, the air tense with unspoken orders.
Zeke sat in the lead SUV, sunglasses on despite the overcast sky, door already shut—he wasn’t waiting. Just letting the rest of us catch up to a plan he’d never bothered to explain.
Alden leaned against the second vehicle, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. He glanced up when he saw me but didn’t say a word.
Trace stood at the base of the porch steps.
When I passed him, he shifted—barely—but enough to stop me.
His voice was rough. Quiet. “You’ll get answers. I promise.”
I met his eyes.
“We should’ve told you more. We should’ve told you everything.”
I didn’t say anything. Not yet. But something in my chest cracked.
Sloane stepped out behind us, her expression torn. “Scar.”
I stopped.
Turned.
She came down the steps slowly, the wall she’d been hiding behind all morning cracking just enough to show her eyes.
“You really going?”
I nodded once.
