AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Miranda didn’t say anything. When she turned to him, her face was once again a little girl’s, crushed.
He took her in his arms and held her. “We’ll get through this.” He offered her comfort and confidence that all would be well, in spite of not feeling it himself.
Into her hair, he whispered, “All I ever wanted was to be free.”
She pulled back a little to regard him.
“Free. You know? Free to live, to love. To have my own home and not worry about losing it. To have a partner in life and not have to worry that he would leave me, or—” He cut himself off with a breathless and quivering sigh. He swallowed hard and continued. “Or die.” He blinked away the tears gathering in his eyes. “All I ever wanted was freedom from worry—that I had a place in the world, a home, a family, a certain regard. Freedom to believe that I was at least as smart as the next guy and couldn’t be played for a fool. Freedom in knowing that my place in the world was a safe one.
“All of that’s gone.
“I should have known better. ’Cause everything changes. Obviously. Nothing, not things, not love, not hope, not family, lasts forever. They go away. We all die.”
He closed his eyes, almost wishing the hole below him where his home had once stood, his refuge and sanctuary, would swallow him up and bury him too.
What did he have to live for now?
And then he saw her, really saw her. Miranda. His proudest creation. His most valuable one.
And he felt ashamed, so much so that a hot flush rose to his cheeks.
“Oh, Daddy,” she said, grasping both his hands in her own. “Don’t talk like that. You have me, you know. And things like love and hope? They’re always with us.”
“I know, sweetie. I know. I’m just in a state.”
“I don’t blame you.” She led him down the path that would set them back on Dexter Avenue. Without turning around, she said, “You’ve taken good care of me all my life. I know you’re strong and capable, but I want you to know I’m here to take care of you too. Always.”
Connor was too choked up to say anything in response. He simply followed her down, down until the park ended and the sidewalk began.
He didn’t look across the street.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
TREY FOCUSED ONthem as they descended the small hill that made up most of Thomas Wales Park. He was on the opposite side of the street, just down from what remained of the condo building. Lost in the crowd. It didn’t matter if he was lost, anyway, because he now looked so different than he had. Plus, he was dressed in what amounted to a disguise, black jeans and a black hoodie, pulled up. It was conspicuous, he supposed, in a cat-burglar sort of way, but at least no one could see his face.
He pushed through the crowd, keeping his eyes trained on Miranda and Connor as they waited for a break in the traffic to dash across the street. Staying back, he followed, trailing them as they headed toward downtown and, presumably, where they’d left their car parked.
They never noticed him. There was a lot of comforting going on. He envied that closeness. It should have been him with his arm around Connor, whispering reassuring words in his ears.
They were so caught up in their pity party they didn’t even see him standing across the street under an awning, watching, waiting.
They got into the car, sat for a few minutes, simply staring ahead. Trey wished he could call an Uber, so he could see exactly where they were headed once Miranda finally started the car. But he knew that with the quake and landslide that had obliterated Connor’s (and his!) home, Ubers or Lyfts hadn’t much chance of getting through.
Maybe he’d be lucky. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper and gridlocked, all the way down, he guessed, to where Dexter Avenue turned into Seventh Avenue at Denny Way. Normally, following a car on foot would be a fool’s errand.
Just Trey’s luck that pedestrians on Dexter today were moving faster than cars.
He set off briskly, keeping his gaze trained on the car as it waited—and waited—for a chance to turn left (south) on Dexter.
When kind drivers—gotta love Seattle—in both directions paused to let Miranda merge, Trey made a plan to follow them as far as he could. If he couldn’t manage their ultimate destination, he’d still be able to find where they were staying. It was a mighty good guess to discern they were most likely headed downtown to one of the big hotels, to catch their breaths and regroup.
Luck was always on his side.
He continued to keep the car in view as they all made their way slowly south.
And there, in front of the Swedish Club, was even more proof that luck favored him. A gift! In its bike rack, there was an old blue Trek mountain bike with a lock that some idiot had forgotten to put in place. Maybe the owner had run inside the club for a moment, thinking a bike wouldn’t be stolenthatfast. Trey glanced around quickly and then nonchalantly removed the bike from the rack as though it were his own. He hopped on and began pedaling.
Now, he had a much better chance of keeping up with Miranda and Connor, of finding out where they were staying.
