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Hayley laughed again. She loved this, just hanging out with her friend who was now her boyfriend, he made her laugh like no one else could. The downside to being a serious person was you didn't laugh a lot. It wasn't that she didn't have a sense of humor or that she was a negative or pessimistic person, it was just that she didn't often relax and let go. But with Brian it was so easy. She didn't have to worry about slipping back into old habits and being overly emotional, so that removed some of the pressure she put on herself, and she could just be her. The her she might have been if her start in life was normal.
“What about we steam some vegetables? And I thought I saw some chicken in the fridge. I know an awesome sauce we can make for it,” she suggested. Hayley liked to cook but living alone she didn't usually bother to make much, it was too much work for only one person.
“Sounds perfect, then let’s make homemade pretzels for dessert. I haven't made those since I was a kid, but we used to make them every Christmas and eat them on Christmas Eve while we watched Christmas movies.”
“Sure, sounds fun. Then after dinner we can turn off the lights, turn on the Christmas tree lights, snuggle under a blanket with hot chocolate and the pretzels and watch all those old Christmas movies. Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I love all those old movies.”
“You’re adorable.” Brian kissed the tip of her nose then stood and headed to the kitchen.
Hayley stood, intending to follow him, but her phone buzzed with a new Facebook message. They’d brought their phones with them, although the location services and GPS tracking had been temporarily disabled, and they couldn’t use them to call or message family.
Without thinking she picked it up, then almost dropped it again when she saw who the message was from.
“Brian.”
The tone in her voice had him rushing to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“Maria Turner just Facebook messaged me,” she told him.
“What did she say?”
She hadn't even read the message yet. Putting in her passcode, she opened the messenger app and then the message from Maria. “She said she wants to talk to me about her husband. Do you think she’s finally ready to turn him in after what he tried to do today?” Brady, Aurora, and Arianna had left earlier this afternoon after Brady got a message telling him that Jay Turner had tried to break into the group home where Kinsley was staying, injuring Sawyer Watson in the process.
“Reply, don’t give away anything about where we are, but ask her what she wants to tell you about him.”
Typing in a message, immediately after she hit send, she saw the message had been read, and the little dots that said Maria was typing a reply popped up.
They waited in silence to see what the woman was going to say.
“Brian, did you see this?” Hayley held the phone so they could both read the reply that said Maria wanted to turn Jay in.
“Message her back and tell her to give you the address of where her husband is hiding out so you can pass it on to Adam and Jessica.”
Hayley typed that in, and then they both waited to see what Maria would say.
“She says she wants me to call her,” she read the reply, even though she knew that Brian was reading it too.
“I don’t like that,” he said.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” she protested.
“Tell her just to keep messaging.”
“It’s easier to talk to her. I feel like I have a better chance of convincing her she’s doing the right thing if we’re talking, I don’t want her to back out. Jay isn’t going to stop until I'm dead and he has Kinsley back. I don’t want him to hurt that sweet little girl.”
Brian exhaled slowly. “Fine, but call on one of the burner phones then we immediately turn it off.”
She knew Brian didn't really want her to do this, but he also knew that this could be the only way they could end this before anyone else got hurt. She typed back asking for Maria’s phone number, and the woman replied with it right away.
When Brian gave her one of the phones, she dialed, then waited nervously for the other woman to answer. She didn't want to mess this up.
“Hello. Maria?”
“Hayley?”
“It’s me. I'm so glad you decided to do this. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I don’t want Jay to hurt Kinsley.”
