Page 24 of All The Way Under
I need her to tell me more about her so the things in my head don’t accidentally come out and make me a liar. The fact is, I know practically everything about her life without knowing who she is as a person. I find it surprising the two things don’t match in any way, shape, or form, or perhaps the stereotype I labeled her with is dead ass wrong.
“Everything, pretty much. I’m best with computers, but my dad can fix anything, and I helped him since I was a little girl.”
At the mention of her dad, her voice changes.
“I miss my family so much, which doesn’t make any sense because I’d still be sailing right now and still not seeing my family. Something about being trapped here and not knowing when I’ll see them again really makes me sad.”
If she only knew how long they were intending to keep her, she’d probably start screaming again. I’ll keep that fact to myself.
“These groups aren’t notorious for torture. They just want money. You can fix engines?” I ask to distract her from her emotions. Selfishly, I don’t want to deal with them. “What do you do?”
“Why do you care about who I am and what I do now?” she fires back, laser gaze homing in on mine to see if I’m lying.
Her trust is what I need the most at this point. It would make my life a whole lot easier.
“I need to know what skills you have other than sailing and having a name to match that. These guys have some form of trust in me that they do not have in you, killer. Either you’re with meor against me. How am I selling you, Saylor? What do you have to offer other than voice pipes that annoy the fuck out of them?”
She winces. “There it is. There you are.”
I open my arms up. “What do you want? I’m trying here.”
“Trying to be an asshole?” she hisses.
“No, that comes naturally. I need to figure out how you can be useful and non-threatening outside of this. When I ask what you can do and who you are, it isn’t because I care, it’s because I’m trying to save your life.”
“You just said they don’t torture. Which is it? Now you’re trying to save my life?” Saylor asks.
I groan. “Do you want to stay locked in here? If you do, just say so.”
“Maybe I don’t want to share who I am with an absolute asshole stranger. Did you ever think of that? Maybe I find it weird they just bust you out while I’m sleeping and return with some magical deal where we can both be free outside of this cage. Maybe you’re one of them. You look like a warmonger. You present like some backwoods killer who has no regard for societal norms. You seem like you belong here with them, Brody.” Saylor says my name like a curse. “If that’s even your real name.”
Rolling my eyes, I decide this is going to be a pain in the ass. The whole thing.
“This is why they want me to help them. You are difficult, and you killed their men, so you can’t be trusted. This is fairly easy to understand. You stay here, and I’ll go out alone. I don’t care, but I feel bad for you.”
She scoffs. “You feel bad for me? I was fine before you got here, and I’ll be fine if you leave.”
What a stubborn, jagged pill. This is why I avoid women—why I haven’t had a girlfriend for years. Why do they have to beso spiteful? I’m trying to help her, but of course, she assumes I have ulterior motives.
Don’t I, though? She’s seeing my lies without seeing them.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say.
“Why can’t you just be a kind human?”
“Why can’t you?” I counter.
She huffs and stands. “Because you’re incorrigible, and you can’t be trusted. The first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew something was off. What’s off, Brody? Tell me.”
“I’m not going to bend over backward for you. That’s what’s off, I guess. I’m not one of those men who keeps trying to help after you push them away and refuse. You tell me once you don’t trust me or want my help, that’s it. This is who I am. I’m selfish and self-serving. I’m kind when it’s deserved and earned. I’m not going to blow smoke up your skirt or say things I don’t mean.”
I see Ravelo and Nery heading toward our cage, but she’s staring at me while I speak, so she doesn’t see them yet.
“If you don’t want my help, say that. I figured you’d want out of this cage, seeing how I hate it already, and you’ve been here longer. By all means, Saylor, make yourself at home. Don’t trust me.” I stand up and wait.
She nearly falls trying to stand up when she sees them.
“They’re letting us out,” she says to herself.
