Page 30 of Lily's Eagle

“Close the door,” Cross barks at me.

He’s leaning against the side of his large, gleaming dark wood desk, while the others are sitting on the black leather sofa and armchairs. They’re all still glaring at me when I turn back from doing as Cross instructed. The sound of the door clicking shut seems to echo in the silent room.

“Did you know what happened to Lily at the police station the night she left?” Cross asks me pointedly.

This is it. The music. And it seems to be playing real loud. I should’ve told him right after she told me. But how could I? She forbade me. I made about a dozen plans on how to get back at the chief for assaulting her, but so far I haven’t come up with a perfect one yet.

But how do I handle this, now? Lie?

Is this the last conversation I’m ever gonna have? Is Cross gonna kill me for this?

Those questions have no good answers. And the silence as they all wait for me to speak is now thicker and more oppressive than the walls.

“He knew,” Ice says in a growl-like voice. “You can see it in his face. Why wouldn’t you say anything?”

“Tell us what you know,” Cross demands before I can even react to Ice’s question.

I’m not gonna lie, I know that much. So the only other thing I can do is just tell him everything.

So I do. In as few words as I can.

“She overpowered him and ran out of the station,” I say in conclusion. “No one tried to stop her. And the last thing he yelled after her was that she should go tell her father all about it. She was worried you’d try to get revenge, and get hurt or arrested doing it, so she didn’t want to tell you. I guess that’s why she left so suddenly. So you wouldn’t have to deal with any of it.”

That’s been clear to me for the last couple of days. But it doesn’t explain why she wouldn’t just tell me so. I’d understand. Kind of.

“I told you he knew,” Tank says. “Fucking kids. Why didn’t you tell us?”

He sounds more exasperated than angry. Maybe.

“I probably should’ve told you, but she really didn’t want me to,” I say. “Was that my one mistake too many?”

The pause as my question just hangs there seems to drag on for hours.

Then Cross looks at me sharply. “What? No. We’re trying to fix this.”

“But what the hell are we gonna do about it?” Tank asks. “She’s wanted now. A fugitive. And I’m willing to do what it takes so she never has to come face to face with that bastard police chief ever again.”

“Wanted? For what? Fleeing police custody?” I ask, even though I’ve probably done enough talking and am expected to stay silent until spoken to.

“Yeah, officially,” Hawk mutters.

“It makes sense, if the bastard wanted to use her to flush us out,” I say. I bet Lily was thinking along the same lines too when she made her decision to just leave in the middle of the night. But why didn’t she say anything?

“I’ll take care of him,” I add, too hot-headed as always. But whatever. If I can’t be with her, I can at least do this for her.

“Say what?” Tank asks looking very confused.

“I’ll take care of the chief and that way none of the rest of you need to get involved,” I say. “I’ve already been thinking about it—“

“The problem with the chief is gonna take more than you being a hothead hero,” Cross says. “We’ll deal with it. What I need you to do is go after Lily, make sure she’s alright where she is.”

The suggestion feels like a slap in the face. And the fact that it’s an order feels like my head was chopped right off.

“She’d send me right back if I try,” I choke out before thinking about it.

Tank chuckles, Ice grumbles, Hawk barks a laugh and Cross has a big lopsided grin on his face as he looks at me like I’m a pitiful idiot. I hate that look.

“You’ll find a way to convince her to let you stay, I’m sure,” Tank says and chuckles again.

---