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“Dancing in the Moonlight” blared in my ears and I closed my eyes, curling into myself and replayed my last moments with Franky in my head. Him touching me under the covers while we watched a movie, him holding me in the bathtub, and him trying to kiss me awake before he left. I focused on the last one the most, pretending I could change it.
Instead of pushing him away and going back to sleep, I dragged him back into bed with me. I kissed him back, and begged him to stay. I kept him with me as much as I could, not ever wanting to forget how he felt and what he looked like.
Seeing him in person again felt impossible. Here in my memories, and fantasies might be the only place we could ever be together again.
Eighteen
Franklin
“You have to get back ”
“What?” Edgar asked, looking like he was ready to fight someone.
“Neither of you are allowed through the gate. I was given stricts orders to deny you access on base,” the man answered sternly.
“Why?” My voice cracked.
“Because we have reason to believe you two have been doing multiple trades with The Trader recently.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Edgar blurted out. “I don't even know the guy. Where's your fucking proof?”
“Henry, a monster on base has confirmed all your meetups with exact dates and times.”
“That little shit. He's the one that should be facing some kind of penalty. He knows Nova better than we do. He's the only one who can get in contact with him. Who do you think introduced us?”
“How about you take it up with the detective in charge of the investigation and not me.”
“This is crazy,” I finally spat out. “Henry is as guilty as we are and yet he gets to remain on base. Why would he be so quick to throw us under the bus, huh? Maybe he's the one who made those trades.”
“Like I said.” The man shoved against my chest. “Take it up with the person in charge, not me. I'm only doing my job, and that's to make sure neither of you get on base.”
We quickly turned around, and went back through the portal. “I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Edgar.”
“You didn't. This is all that little shit, Henry's fault.”
Edgar plucked his phone from his pocket and slammed his fingers against the keyboard. When he called Henry, the line had been disconnected. Or he blocked him. He planned this. Did he turn Nova in?
Edgar made a few calls to friends on base and confirmed what I already knew. “Turns out Henry was the one who gave them Nova's real name and location.”
“Why? I thought he was his friend.”
Edgar rubbed his face. “Or someone planning to set him up this whole time.”
“You think Henry was the one who traded the poison?”
“There's something I didn't mention before because I didn't find it important at the time.” He leaned against his truck door. “Henry had this glass jar under his bed full of orange and red prickly flowers. I swore they were the same ones I remember being a part of the list a friend made of what to avoid when going out there.” A muscle twitched in his cheek. “I didn't think muchof it until now. Henry said he didn't go past the trains anymore and the ones mentioned in the book don't grow anywhere near base. But he's been proven to be nothing but a fucking liar.” He paused. There was more he wanted to tell me. All this information was even too much for him to grasp.
“What? What is it?”
“He lied about his visa being approved. He got denied ten times according to a contact of mine. But he was approved to live on base as long as he didn’t cause trouble. And he hadn't. Not that anyone's aware of.”
“Why is he labeled as dangerous?”
“Not sure. But I have a feeling we're about to find out.”
“Do you think he'll hurt Nova?”
He shrugged. “I don't know, but let's not give him time to.”
