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I openly sobbed as I squeezed him back. He remembered me. I was so thankful he was having a good day. Sarah had told me they were coming less and less.
“Hi, Daddy. I’ve missed you so much,” I managed to say between tears.
We sat down and talked for the next half hour. My dad talked about Sarah and the seniors who lived here. His mind wasn’t the same as it had once been, but I didn’t care. He remembered me. I could have sat there all day, but Alex cleared his throat. I looked up and saw him staring impatiently at me.
“Dad, I have to go. But I’ll be back soon. I love you.” I gave him a long hug and peck on the cheek before leaving. Swallowing the anger I had toward Alex, I walked out of the room. Gone for six months and I only got to see him for a half hour. Sarah said goodbye to me and completely ignored Alex before we left the building.
“Thank you, Alex. That meant so much to me,” I said gratefully, being completely honest for once.
“What was that back there?” he asked as we got into the parking lot.
“What was what?”
A hand suddenly closed around my arm. “Sarah. She used to love me. What did you tell her?”
I turned and looked at him. His cold stare was back.
“After I drove back from up north, I came here. I gave her my new phone number, and I didn’t want her to give it to you. So, I told her we had a bad breakup.”
“Abusive bad?”
I shrugged. “No, I didn’t say that. But I’m sure I didn’t look very good after that night.”
Alex’s eyes bored into mine as I yanked my arm away, but he didn’t let go.
“She thinks I’m abusing you—”
“I told you, I didn’t say that.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like you might have implied it. She looked like she hated me.” His eyes darkened in growing anger. “What was this? A plan for me to be a suspect if you ever did go missing?”
“No. I never thought I’d be back here with you. It was a story so that she wouldn’t give you my phone number.”
“Right. Let’s go.” Alex was still closed off as we got into the car.
After we got back to the house, I went straight to the bedroom and shut the door. It was only eight in the morning, and I’d been up over twenty-four hours. I dumped my bag onto the bed and was surprised that my cell phone was there. I thought Niko would have taken it. Looking through it, I was glad I hadn’t kept any research about the society on it.
I sent a quick text to Kiara, telling her what happened, but that I had a plan and was right where I wanted to be and to not contact me. There wasn’t much she could do anyway. Kiara had absolutely no proof of anything. I didn’t want her getting involved while I was here. It was too dangerous. After the text sent, I deleted her number and turned off the phone.
There wasn’t anywhere in this room that would make a good hiding spot. I put it in a hoodie pocket and shoved it in a dresser drawer under other clothes. The paper that I had ripped out of the book all those months ago was still folded up and in the pocket of a pair of jeans. I put those in a different drawer, not wanting the phone and paper to be too close in case one was found.
The bed was calling me. Even as fear invaded my bones, I still couldn’t stop my eyelids from falling. The comforter was soft and fluffy, and I got comfy under it. With Alex showing up and me being found, it had been a long damn night. I slowly fell into a light sleep, thinking about what the society would decide to do with me.
* * *
I rolled onto my side, and my eyes flew open when I hit something solid.
“Mornin’, sunshine.” Niko was sitting on the bed, right next to me.
I scrambled out of bed, putting space between us. “What the hell, Niko?”
“Hey, I waited for you to wake up. You slept for almost four hours. We need to talk before my baby brother comes back.” He flashed me a grin as he patted the bed. “You can sit down. It’s not like you have anywhere else to be.”
I bit my tongue, not moving a muscle. The last time we were alone in a room, I had been on his lap. That was never happening again. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
“Where did he go?” I asked, stepping farther away.
He paused. “He has some people he has to talk to.”
“People. Like the people who are going to choose what happens to me?”
“Yeah. Those people. You really got to Alex, because he’s going to beg them to let him be responsible for you.”
My face scrunched in disgust. “Responsible for me?”
