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“I’m here because I’m worried about you all. I’m sorry, okay? I just…” He shakes his head and sits up straight. “I love you both. I can see what this shit fest is doing to everyone. And each day that goes by is like another kick in the teeth that we’re no further forward at catching this fucking asshole.”
I know what Clay means. I’ll never give up looking for him, but there has to come a point when we need to try and move forward with our lives as well. How do we do that knowing he’s out there, taunting us?
This is our life now – hiding away.
I pull out the stool from the breakfast bar and sit down. “I’ve dealt with some of the world’s toughest criminals, and here I am crumbling when the one person who means the world to me needs me the most. How can I be strong for Aria when I feel weak and useless?”
Clay sighs. “I don’t have any answers, bro. What happened last night? Was it him?”
I shrug. “I want to believe it wasn’t, but I think Aria believes it was. I can’t contradict her, because I just don’t know. Someone was there for sure.”
“It seems too much of a coincidence that you guys come out here with less security and this happens. You know I love you, Caleb, but I’m with Aria on this one. I think you should get your asses back to the compound…”
A small voice says, “I’m sick of running.”
We both turn to the voice behind Clay. Aria is standing with her arms wrapped around her chest. Clay stands up and wraps his arms around her. “Morning, honey. Sleep okay?”
She nods and walks into the kitchen and pours a coffee.
“Should you be drinking coffee?” asks Clay with a wide smirk.
Aria smirks even wider and leans into his ear smugly. “It’s decaf.”
“I’ve been drinking this for hours to get an energy boost. Seriously? Who drinks this decaf shit?”
I laugh. I can’t help it. Aria just got a big one up on my brother, and that doesn’t happen very often.
“Are you drinking this, bro?”
I nod. “It isn’t that bad.”
Clay shakes his head and Aria leans over the breakfast bar, wrapping her hands around the cup.
“Are you here to take us home?” she asks Clay.
“I’m not in charge of what you guys do. I’m here because of what I heard last night. I’m here because I believe you should be at home.”
“Answer me truthfully, Clay. Do you think it was him last night?”
Clay looks between Aria and me. I know he’s asking my permission to tell her the truth, but I shrug my shoulders and let him make up his own mind. Clay is the straight talker out of us all. Aria knows this, and she’s expecting an honest answer from him.
“Honestly… I do. I think you’ve been right all along. I think he will try to come back for you. I think he has this weird connection to you, and I don’t know why. I believe he’s just waiting for the right moment to strike.”
Aria stands up and places her hand over Clay’s arm. “Thank you for being honest.”
“Also… I think if he has been following you guys here, it’s a little bit obvious that you’re pregnant now. Even if you try to pass it off as Caleb’s baby, it doesn’t take rocket science to work out you can’t be this far along when you were in captivity for nearly twelve months.”
Aria walks away from us into the living room.
“A bit too honest, asshole!” I snap at Clay. I punch his shoulder and follow Aria.
She’s looking out of the window the mystery person was at last night. Her posture is tense, and I can feel every emotion radiating from her. I can see from her reflection that her hand rests on her stomach lovingly, just like you’d expect from an expectant mother.
She walks away from the window and heads outside. I let her go, but I follow closely behind her. I can feel Clay on my heels. Mike and Amber are walking back from his truck when we exit the cabin. He looks between us all and holds his hand up for an explanation.
I leave Clay to it as my steps quicken to catch up with Aria. She seems to be heading down to the dock. We come to a stop a few feet away from the water’s edge and she looks up to the sky and closes her eyes. I look over my shoulder to see Clay and Mike standing several feet away from us. I don’t know where Amber went, but I turn back to Aria and gently place my hand on her shoulder.
“Babe. Talk to me. You’re going to freeze out here.”
