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“Here?” she croaks, nervously looking around.
Fallon raises an eyebrow and nods at Toby. “It’s not like he’s not privy to sensitive information where the four of us are concerned. Who do you think sent you those photos?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Toby calmly replies.
But Avery clearly isn’t playing this game. “I’m not doing this here. And I won’t allow you to insult my client, either. Please, leave. The three of you, just leave. Now.”
“Your client,” I say the words again, fighting an itch to punch Toby in the throat. “So, you’re going back to work for Charlene.”
“I need to look after myself,” she replies.
Toby doesn’t move. He is too still for my comfort. Yet another red flag in an increasingly more alarming situation. I make plenty of mental notes as I observe his behavior, his silence, and the way in which he ferociously analyzes each of us in a fashion similar to our own. Around us, the other patrons continue on without so much as a care toward the silent conflict unraveling at the table.
I must be careful with how I continue to address the situation, no matter how badly I want to see Charlene back behind bars where she fucking belongs. I’m not letting anybody ruin our relationship with Avery.
“Avery, you don’t have to do this,” Luke tries to reason with her. “We can go back to the house and talk about everything, down to the last shitty detail, if that’s what you want, and then—”
“Nowyou want to talk?” she shoots back with a deep frown.
“Yes,” he holds his own, and quite admirably so.
“After I begged the three of you, several times, to tell me everything,” she says, shaking her head in dismay. “I’m not sure I’ve got any energy left for talking at this point. I can’t trust the three of you anymore. You made it clear that you are comfortable lying to me and keeping secrets.”
Fallon sighs deeply. “We should’ve told you everything. You’re right. But you have to admit, or at least accept, that we found that difficult, given the situation.”
“The truth is the truth, no matter what,” Toby cuts in.
That’s where I draw the line. “I need you to get the fuck out of here.”
“Excuse me?” he asks, his voice but a whisper as he looks up at me.
I point to the gun holstered on my belt. “Get the fuck out. Don’t make me say it again. And don’t think for a second I won’t use it.”
“You’re an officer of the law,” he replies.
“That’s not the card you wanna play right now,” I say.
Avery clears her throat. “Toby, it might be best if you do leave. I’ll see you soon enough, though. I promise. And I apologize for this. Please know they do not speak for me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Toby replies with a wry smile, then carefully removes himself from the table, casually exiting the coffee shop.
Once he’s gone, the air seems clearer if only for a second before Avery’s unbridled anger shows in her eyes as she looks up at us. “You’ve gone far enough,” she says.
“And we’ll go even farther to keep you safe,” Fallon replies. “You don’t understand, Avery. This is bigger than you and us. Charlene is trying to pit us against each other.”
“And why should I believe anything you say?” she asks.
Luke takes a deep breath, trying to be the more reasonable one among the three of us. It’s a difficult mission, I’ll give him that. I should be the more levelheaded one here, but seeing those photos in our house, seeing the empty drawers in Avery’s room, no longer hearing Annie or Miley’s giggles as they run down the stairs every morning has done something to me. I need my family back.
“Avery, please. Let’s just go home and sort this out,” Luke says.
“No, I’m not going back there,” Avery insists. “There’s a fracture between us, Luke. You three didn’t trust me enough to tell me the whole truth, and someone else beat you to it. Their motives don’t matter, not to me anyway, and not at this point. What matters is that you had the opportunity to do the right thing and you chose to keep me in the dark.”
“We were doing it to—” Fallon tries to cut in, but she waves a hand to silence him.
“You were doing it to protect yourselves, not me,” she says firmly. “I need some time to think. I need to be on my own for a while. My girls are fine and I will take up as much work as I need to in order to support myself and them.”
I shake my head slowly. “You’re still pregnant with our child, Avery. You can’t cut us out. We have to help you. We want to help you.”
