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“I know, baby,” I said as calmly as I could. “I know.”
“No one else has shown up, either,” she said. “I don’t think that Richard called the police like he said he did.” She shook her head. “We need to call them as soon as we find Lulee.”
I closed my eyes as I let out a deep breath. Whatever was going on here, it wasn’t good, but that still wasn’t the worst of it. I wasn’t scared to fight. Hell, I wasn’t even afraid of fending off a knife attack. A gun was the only thing that could cause more problems for us, and I knew for a fact that Richard Clark owned several for simply living way out here if nothing else. The reality of the situation was that none of us were safe from a gun. Yeah, I could jump in front of a bullet for Verity, but then that would leave me dead and her at the mercy of whatever the fuck was going on here.
Opening my eyes, I looked down at her. “I’m going to go get Cree-”
“No,” she snapped. “This isn’t the part in the movie where you leave your fucking girlfriend behind, and she agrees like an idiot.” She shook her head. “I go where you go, Saint.”
I ran my hands down my face. With or without me, this place wasn’t safe for her. However, without knowing where Marilyn and Donovan Clark were, I couldn’t let her leave to look for help alone. I also knew that she’d never leave here without Lulee, something that I understood completely. Nevertheless, right now, Richard Clark didn’t suspect anything. If I took Verity back with me, he might become suspicious, or it might place her in his crosshairs when she wasn’t right now.
I stared into her blue eyes. “If you go back to the trail with me, you have got to act like nothing is wrong, Verity,” I told her. “You cannot tip Richard Clark off.”
She took in a deep breath, and I watched her try to collect herself. “Yeah…okay…”
“I mean it, Verity,” I said sternly. “Lulee’s life could depend on your acting skills.”
“Okay,” she snapped tearfully. “I get it.”
I pulled at my hair. “Fuck!” I roared.
“I can do this, Saint,” she lied. “I promise.”
Grabbing her face again, I said, “If shit goes south, I need you to fucking run, Verity.”
“Saint-”
“No,” I bit out, my heart in my throat. “If it gets to the point that I can’t protect you, then you fucking run, baby. You save yourself and fuck anyone that might judge that. Everyone here is a grown ass adult and responsible for themselves.”
“Then why are you taking responsibility for me?” she challenged.
“Verity, even if I didn’t love you, I’m the man,” I told her. “It’s what we do.”
“I promise,” she lied again. “I promise to run.
Chapter 24
Verity~
There was no way in hell that I was going to abandon my friends, and Saint knew it. Now, did that make me stupid? Yeah, it might. Still, I was the one that had to be able to look at myself in the mirror each day, and I wouldn’t be able to do that if I left Saint, Lulee, and Cree behind.
With my hand in Saint’s, we were headed back towards the trail to get Cree, and while I felt stupid with only a few bits of cutlery in my pockets for protection, it was better than nothing. If I found something better, then I’d grab that. I stopped when that line of thinking reminded me of something.
“What’s wrong?” Saint asked when I stopped walking.
“The maintenance shed,” I said. “Richard had gotten the ropes and stuff from the maintenance shed.” I grabbed both of Saint’s arms. “There has to be better weapons in there, right?”
“I fucking love you,” he rushed out before kissing the top of my head.
Grabbing my hand, Saint pulled me behind him as we searched for anything that looked like a maintenance shed. When we came across a small building located just south of the main lobby entrance, hope began to bloom in my chest.
“I don’t see a padlock on the door,” Saint remarked. “It should be easy enough to break the door down if we have to.”
“It’s probably locked,” I stated unnecessarily. “I mean, it’s possible that Richard might have left it open when he’d gotten all the supplies, but-”
“Okay, step back and-”
“Wait,” I said, grabbing his arm.
