Page 14 of Only Everything
“I’m not at home. I’m…in the woods. I didn’t even think I’d have service. He said I wouldn’t.”
I stiffened. “What do you mean, woods? What woods? Like camping?”
“You could say that.”
A smile tugged at the side of my mouth, and I couldn’t fight it. “You, camping?”
“Tell me about it. I want to go home.”
The last was so full of longing but something else entirely.
“I can come get you. I can take you home. I can bring you to my home. You can stay here with me. We can talk. We really need to talk, Taur. I need you.”
Silence.
“I’m sorry.I’m sorry.” My hand was up as if she couldsee me trying to calm her. I was fucking this up. I was pushing her away with my smothering declarations, but I couldn’t stop now that I knew she was listening. “I miss you. We were good, right? Back then? We had something? I didn’t imagine that. You didn’t—You wouldn’t use me like that, right Taur?Tauren?”
Anger clipped her name. I closed my eyes, trying to control the deep breaths.
“You were better off without me. Becky wouldn’t leave. …I couldn’t leave. Dammit, Reid.”
“And Emmett?”
His name came out more as a growl than anything.
“I have to go.”
“Fuck that motherfucker. Let me come get you. Tell me where you are.”
“Reid—”
“I’ll come right now. Give me a landmark.Something.”
“There is no name. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know where we are. We left the Mini Mart and drove down a ways. Fifteen, twenty minutes? Then we made a left, driving just about as far. The road… it changed from asphalt to gravel. We parked and found some rundown hiking trail that lasted miles. Then…a fucking cliff. I’m in the middle of nowhere.” A sob left her, and it had me walking deeper into my yard. She was crying. Something was…wrong. There was this edge, this panic to her words that I didn’t like. I’d heard it before. I knew when she was afraid.
“That could be anywhere.”
“Exactly. Maybe that’s the point.”
“What do you mean? What are you not telling me? Taur…”
“Tauren?”
“Almost done!”Her voice lowered. “I’ll be here for about three days. I’ll call you when I get home. We’ll talk. But Reid…if you’re hoping—we can’t—I can’t.”
“We’ll talk about it. But you have to call me, Taur. Call me. Don’t forget. Don’t ignore me. Otherwise...I’ll come for you.” My tone deepened through my threat, and I couldn’t stop it. “I don’t need the name of the place. I will find you.”
The line went dead, and I squeezed my fist around my phone, breathing deeply through the rolling fury as lightning once again lit up the outline of trees. A part of me had hated Emmett from the moment I found out he was a cop. Maybe a big part was because it was a shield for Tauren, but also because it was a civilian mirror of myself. I’d had a lot of training throughout my four years as an MP. Military Police—Criminal Investigation Division. The safety that she’d needed was exactly why I had gravitated to my job. It was a slap in the face. It wasmemeant to protect her.Me, she was supposed to run to, not some overcompensating piece of shit that had freedom when I hadn’t. Now, something was wrong. I had to think. I had to switch gears and go back to the one thing that I couldn’t stomach to think about. Not the secrets. Not the things I’d done. Those would stay locked away. I needed to focus on the training. The classes. The work…
I turned my pacing to the yard, hearing Lucus’s voice in my mind. I could still see us staring through the glass at the soldier handcuffed, sitting at the table.“You’re startingthis one. You know what you’re doing. You’re ready. Just remember, listen for the vocal cues and speech patterns. The silence is where the truth hides. Watch his breaths. Pay attention to when he hesitates. You got this.”
I did. I had this.
Think.
Tauren’s voice bled into my mind. I replayed our conversation, letting it repeat. She’d sniffled a few times. The way her breath would hitch.She’d been crying while we talked.And then there was the way she spoke softly. Whispering. Yes. She admitted she was hiding the fact that she was talking to me. But it was more than that. Emmett told her she wouldn’t have service. She was surprised that she did. He had her isolated in the wilderness. And she didn’t want to be there. She said she wanted to go home. There was definitely fear in her statement, if it wasn’t a downright plea.She was afraid.
Turning, I felt a sprinkle drop down to my arm as they swung from my wide steps. I was eating up the ground, letting my mind race as I gave myself over to the training that was ingrained.
