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It sent a tiny tickle to my heart. The twist in my stomach eased. Just the feel of the vibration spoke to me in ways that relaxed me.
We know you’re there.
We’re watching.
You’re never alone.
Want and Need
DR. GREEN
Sean Green stood in the woods outside Sang’s house. He’d put on a thicker dark sweater he borrowed from Kota, and some cotton gloves. The temperature seemed to have dropped just standing there, waiting and watching the house.
If he had driven, they would have gotten there before she had entered the house.
Maybe then he could have checked her out. Maybe then he would have learned exactly what had happened at camp, and why she had been rushed to Victor’s.
Maybe he could have stopped this.
He hated the thought of her having to go back to this place.
His lips curled and he rubbed his cold nose, looking away from the gray house. Owen continued to watch, vigilant. His glasses were foggy around the edges and his mouth was tight with concern.
Kota, Victor and Gabriel were behind them. Victor was sitting on the ground with a laptop, watching, listening and waiting. Kota and Gabriel were plugged into their phones with earbuds in place, listening to the audio from the phone Sang carried. Kota occasionally relayed what was going on.
“She’s heading upstairs with Marie,” he said. “They’re about to meet the son.”
Sean glanced back at them. All three were frowning, and he echoed the deep displeasure at the idea of Sang having to face him alone. After such a crazy week, to come back to this, was truly horrible.
He tried to think through what their next step should be. Nathan and Luke were on their way to the hospital to check up on the stepmother directly and to keep an eye on her just in case this new woman, Carol, decided to place calls. They had to set up new rules for contact. No one was to call her room directly; instead, callers had to speak with a designated doctor or nurse who understood the situation. No one was to visit without someone on their team being there to supervise.
The Academy wouldn’t be happy to hear about the situation. Not at all.
Silas and North were coordinating the return of everything from camp, checking in on the school to make sure nothing new happened during school break, and ensuring Mr. McCoy was still under observation.
It had been a fight to get any of them to do anything at this point. The only way to get them to agree was the promise that doing so ensured getting Sang out of this new situation faster.
Sean wasn’t so sure that was possible. Not now.
Carol was a problem.
“We have to do something,” Sean said to Owen.
“We are,” he said. “We’re learning.”
Sean groaned and motioned to the house. “We’ve got to get her. We can’t leave her in there.”
“We can’t do anything now,” he said.
“Are you kidding me?” Sean’s eyes widened. “We can’t just wait for something to happen. That’s what happened last time, and look where that put her? In a closet.”
Owen turned to him, his expression still tight and filled with concern. “What are you going to do? Knock down the door and kidnap her? There’s risks involved here.”
“Damn the risks!” Sean straightened, facing him full-on. “The longer we leave her in there, the crazier this gets, and the harder it will be to pull her back out.”
He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. “Should we?”
With everything Sang had been through, giving her back to Carol and her father during all of this seemed like a huge step backward. Anger rippled through Sean, from his tightening stomach through to his stiffening face. He sputtered a few syllables before managing to come up with an answer. “Don’t you try your psychology tricks on me. I taught you that. It won’t work.”
Owen relaxed his shoulders but otherwise was unchanged. “Don’t start screaming. Someone’s bound to hear us.” He turned fully to Victor, Kota and Gabriel. “Speaking of which, standing in the woods isn’t ideal. I know we want to be close, but from what we’re seeing, there’s no dire emergency.”
Kota lifted his gaze from the computer. “She’s talking to Jimmy.”
“Seems kind of stupid to me,” Gabriel said and then blew a raspberry with his lips. “Asking her how old she is. Please. Whatever, motherfucker.”
Sean glanced quickly at Owen, ready to counter if he tried to get after Gabriel for his language.
Owen merely tightened his lips more. “Let’s focus on the important things. Someone needs to bring her supplies. Mr. Lee...”
Kota stood, holding his phone in his hands. “I’ll get her some clothes, and other things she can use. Her schoolbooks, maybe. She can at least pretend to do schoolwork if she needs to.”
Sean rolled his head back, looking at the hazy clouds overhead. “Why? Why bother?”
“What do you propose?” Owen asked.
“Text her. Tell her to walk out. Or, hell, I’ll go get her.” He laughed mechanically. “You want to be nice? Have her tell them she’s off to live with other family.” He pressed his palm over his heart. “Us.”
“You’re not thinking clearly. You’re stressed and tired,” Owen said, his tone becoming sharper. “We’re all tired. We’re all worried about her. But that woman is talking about divorce, which will expose everything.”
“I’m not that worried about Sang’s Academy career,” Sean said.
“Her career may be at risk,” Owen said, more sharply and loudly than before, “but her freedom is too.” He took a step toward Sean, turning those hard eyes on him. “He wants to send her to a boarding school, remember? That idiot father of hers allowed Carol into his life. If Carol is anything like the feedback reports about her suggest, taking Sang at this point will have Carol calling the police. She’s already starting to make inquiries about divorce lawyers...” He looked at Victor for confirmation.
Victor confirmed with a silent nod and a scowl, all without lifting his eyes from the laptop.
Owen redirected his attention to Sean. “We’re having to circumvent her phone calls and redirect her to Academy lawyers. She clearly doesn’t understand what’s happened here, and no one is telling her the truth. This makes her way more dangerous. She’s unwittingly going to reveal the truth. Exposure of the past to the wrong people means attention to Miss So
renson. McCoy. Hendricks. This Volto character. They’re dangerous enough without knowing what’s happening here. And if word about Sang reaches official channels, she’ll be gone. Out of our hands.”
“Then let’s take her away from all of this,” Sean said.
“Yeah,” Gabriel said, standing up. He folded his arms across his torso, shivering. “Let’s get her the fuck out of there. She doesn’t need to be in the middle.”
“Do you want explosions, or do you want to walk away quietly with her?” Owen asked. “Explosions may give us immediate results, but what are the costs? Most of you are out of favors.”
“I can get more,” Gabriel muttered.
Mr. Blackbourne shot a look at each of the guys. “I’m not sure how many of you know, but Miss Sorenson sold her ghost bird status to the Academy, promising to work with them in exchange for the debts we incurred with her to be erased.” He motioned to the house. “Are you going to charge in and risk losing her status and her sacrifice for us, without even asking her what she wants?”
Silence fell between them all. Sean clenched his teeth, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t allow for explosions, costing the last of their favors, and yet where Sang would end up with them, where she belonged. He knew she wouldn’t be happy without them.
He’d be unhappy without her.
From what he remembered about Carol, though, she reminded him of his own mother: strict and uncompromising. Maybe she wasn’t abusive, but she wouldn’t have Sang’s best interests at heart.
“I don’t like this,” Sean said.
“No one does,” Owen said, and he turned toward the house. There was the slightest of twitches at the corner of his mouth. He was perplexed, and unhappy. “But all of us need to agree not to do anything rash until we come up with a peaceful solution. Carol isn’t abusive, at least not from her reports. She’s just a strict mother. Not what our Miss Sorenson needs right now, but it might be better to handle this situation delicately.”
“Hey!” Victor said, looking up at Kota and waving at his phone. “Give me that. She’s gone into the bathroom by herself. Let me call her.”
