Page 114 of Statler

Absolutely.

The upside of it all? Her retrospection had helped her grow. It had opened her eyes to understand exactly what she wanted for her future.

Her future with Statler.

The differences she saw between Statler and Holden were significant.

Holden hadn’t shared; hadn’t believed in her enough—even after years of knowing each other—to share his knowledge of what was rotten in Liminal.

Statler? She’d only known him for a few weeks, and he’d already told her why he was here, what the situation was at the factory and with her father, and even though he’d wanted her out of harm’s way, in the end he’d acquiesced to her making her own decisions.

Eliza mused for a moment.

It was funny. She knew all that about the man she loved, plus where he resided, what he did for a living…sort of, and that he had a sister, Petula. But other than those logistics, he’d only talked vaguely about his past; not revealing any details.

Did it bother her?

Not one bit. Instead, it actually thrilled her that there was still so much to learn about the man for whom she’d fallen.

She hoped they had years of discovery ahead of them.

Still, with the closeness she felt toward Statler, Eliza wasn’t ready to talk to him on the phone and hear his pleas that she turn around, if that’s what he’d ask of her.

Nope.

This was something she had to do.

Alone.

For herself.

Pulling into the small turn-off where a half mile path led to the fishing shack, Eliza noted with satisfaction that Jeremy’s car was there.

So far, William had been speaking the truth.

Her plan, once she was a quarter mile in, was to call Statler and let him know what she was doing. That way, in case things went bad, he might still be able to save Granny if the woman was even present.

Eliza looked her weapon over once again, making sure the magazine was full, securely in place, and that one bullet was already chambered. After she had double-checked that her firearm was ready, she got out of her car and silently began making her way into the wood, her steel protection at the ready, held down by her side.

She walked softly, familiar with the path; almost knowing it as well as the one that led to her favorite rock. Eliza had spent a lot of her adult life fishing here, and because of that, she had no trouble navigating the few twists, turns, and old roots that might have turned someone else’s ankle in the dark.

When she was half way to the lake, she stopped.

It was time to call Statler.

She extracted her phone from her back pocket with her free hand, and hit his number, but a crunching of leaves off to her left had her spinning in place and quickly hiding her device by her side.

“Jeremy,” she hissed, catching sight of the despicable man as he stepped from behind a tree.

“Eliza,” he said in his normal, oily tone. “So glad you could join me.”

Eliza took a few, crunching steps toward him putting both hands behind her back and dropping her phone to the ground, hoping she’d made enough noise that he hadn’t noticed.

He didn’t even blink.

Good.

The problem was, Eliza wasn’t sure Statler had picked up.