Page 31 of Web of Lies
He gives me the standard huff and sigh and I ignore him.
“Just take a drink, Larken. I know you’re thirsty.”
She swallows, watching me lick the moisture from my lips.
“One drink,” I urge.
She looks down at the soda then back at me. Finally she wraps her fingers around the glass and brings it to her mouth. I nod at her. Then she closes her eyes and takes a small sip. She waits, unmoving, for a solid minute before downing the rest of it and looking back at me.
“Good. Now watch.” I pick up her cup of water and take a sip of it, going slow so she can watch the entire process. Then I slide the cup across the table.
No hesitation. She grabs it and drains it.
“Do you want more?”
She starts to nod, but her face scrunches up and we all listen to the sound her stomach makes echo off the walls. She blushes as her nod turns into a shake.
“You're alright.” I reach across and tap the rim of her cup. “That was just a lot all at once. Do you want to try something to eat?”
She shakes her head, but she's staring at the peanut butter sandwich Wyatt made pretty hard.
Wyatt picks up the sandwich and tears it in half. He takes a small bite out of the middle of each half and chews it slowly before swallowing. He even opens his mouth so she can see for herself that he ate it. “See?” he asks. “It's not like we're going to poison you.”
Neither of us miss the way she pales and flinches at that suggestion.
“Go ahead,” I tip my chin in the direction of the sandwich. “You eat that and he's got a nice tin of sardines for you to chase it with.”
She shoots him a disgusted and horrified look. “Sardines?”
“They came with the house,” he shrugs.
Her gaze settles back on the peanut butter sandwich.
“How long has it been since you ate something?” Wyatt asks.
Larken shrugs. “A few days.”
“Go ahead,” I say. “Just half, though. You really will get sick if you go too hard too fast.”
She takes a deep breath and picks up one of the halves. I've never seen anyone psych themselves up to eat a peanut butter sandwich. Not once. Then she takes a bite and her eyes roll shut in pleasure as she chews. I've never seen anyone experience orgasm-level bliss from eating a peanut butter sandwich, either. Today has been full of firsts, though.
“Go slow,” Wyatt reminds her when she takes a big bite.
She nods and chews carefully while she watches me get up to refill her cup with water and grab one of the apples I got from the store and a knife on my way back to the table. I got these apples on purpose. I knew from the look of her that it's probably been longer than a few days and I grew up going a few days between meals, so I got apples. Apples don't usually make an empty stomach sick. They never made me sick anyway, and the school nurse always gave me apple slices or apple sauce and crackers if I actually went to her.
I put three slices on Larken's plate after I peel the apple. She snatches one and shoves it in her mouth with the sandwich she's still chewing.
“Go slow,” Wyatt reminds her again, flicking me a tight look.
Yeah. I'm pretty sure the job is about to go fuck itself. I don't know much about him and I don't know anything about her other than the few obvious things I've observed, but I'm becoming less and less inclined to send her skipping back home. I don't think Wyatt will take much convincing, either. The only problem we'll come across at that point is what to do with her then.
We can't keep her. That's a ridiculous thought to even consider. Wyatt and I aren't exactly partners, or friends for that matter. Even if we were partners or friends, you don't take jobs home with you regardless of the situation. But we can't exactly cut her loose, either.
This isn't supposed to be a job that gets news coverage. It's a fake abduction designed to get her cooperation with whatever bullshit the husband wants to accomplish. What happens if we let her go? If the husband is willing to go to these lengths just to ensure her cooperation, what lengths will he go to when he doesn't get her back? Worse yet, what happens if he finds her after we let her go? And most importantly, why am I agonizing over this? This isn't like me. Sure, I think this is a bullshit situation, but realistically we should put her out on a sidewalk in the next state and then go dormant for a few months while we pretend we never set eyes on her.
That's very obviously not what's about to happen, though. I can feel it in my bones. I've been watching Wyatt watch her since we pulled her out of that trunk. There's no mistaking that kind of concern. The kind that turns into worry. I don't think we were ever going to send her back to the husband and I think we need to start making decisions about what we actually are going to do with her.
“What?” Larken asks with her mouth still full of apple peanut butter mush.
