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“H-hello?”
He hadn’t been this nervous in a long time.
“Jake,” Lauren said.
He swallowed. Hard. “Lauren. I thought you blocked me…”
“I did,” she said. “I didn’t want you to contact me and try to talk me out of it until things were final.”
“Final?” Jake’s heart raced. It all was happening too fast. “You’re really leaving?” he asked. “You’re moving to Quantico?”
There was a long pause.
“Yes,” she said finally. “I’m sorry, Jake. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but I think it’s for the best. I’m going to be starting my new position soon, and I think it’s best if we just… move on.”
Jake nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. He knew she was right, but it still hurt. “I understand,” he said. “Lauren, I know I—”
“Stop,” she said. Her voice came out choked. “Don’t make it harder than it already is, Jake. I’m done. You and I both know that our relationship, if you can even call it that, is toxic.”
“But I don’t want it to end,” Jake said, and he was speaking from the heart. “I’m not ready yet.”
“Then why didn’t you go public with me?” Lauren asked. “I gave you so many chances, Jake. You clearly had doubts.”
She was right.
He did have doubts.
But looking back on it, they were more based on fear than they actually were about her. After all these years, he did love her.
“I’m so sorry,” Jake said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I should have gone public with you. I was wrong, and I’m sorry for hurting you.”
There was another long pause before Lauren spoke again.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Just… take care of yourself, okay?”
His heart felt like it was going to explode, but he tried to be strong. To take it well. “I wish you all the best, Lauren. I hope you have a great time in Quantico.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m sure I will.”
And with that, the call was ended.
Jake just sat there in the car for a few moments. He felt a wave of sadness wash over him, and he knew this was it—Lauren was really gone.
He had to keep it together. He was on a job, damn it—there were people out there counting on him. He had a killer to catch, and he couldn’t just let that person get away with murder. No matter how shitty he felt.
Finally, he took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. Fiona was waiting for him, and she could tell something was wrong.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Are you okay?”
Jake nodded, even though he wasn’t. “Yeah, just… personal stuff.” He didn’t want to get into it right now. Fiona had been right in her prediction about his relationship with Lauren, though; it had been a distraction at work, and it was obviously destined to fail.
Fiona seemed to sense he didn’t want to go on, so she didn’t push it, and he appreciated that.
“Come on,” Jake said, “let’s go see if Applegate is in.”
Fiona smiled. Together, they started walking toward the zoo. The sun was shining brightly, and the air felt warm. He hadn’t been to a zoo in years, but it looked like he’d expected—colorful signs hung from trees, and all around them were exotic animals of all shapes and sizes. They passed a large elephant enclosure with several baby elephants playing together in the mud; a nearby pond had several flocks of flamingos wading in its shallow waters; and further down were a variety of birds—parakeets, toucans, peacocks—perched on branches or flying overhead. Everywhere they looked there was something new to see—monkeys swinging from tree branches, tigers pacing back and forth in their cages, giraffes stretching their long necks up toward the sky—and Jake couldn’t help but be amazed by it all.
They continued walking until they reached the front desk It was a small building tucked away near one of the larger animal enclosures. A girl looked up at them, her face damp with sweat.
