Forcing her eyes closed, Caitlin focused on her breathing, on Booker’s heartbeat thrumming faintly in her ear.
She’d make it up to him in the morning, she decided.
In the light. When it would be easy to spot someone peeking into their room.
* * * * * * *
Greeting people as she passed, Caitlin headed for the teacher’s lounge—the room designated for elected official meetings. If no one was inside, she’d leave a note asking to speak to them.
About what yet she hadn’t decided.
She didn’t want to lodge a complaint, necessarily. She just needed to make someone else aware of the growing concern coiling in her gut every time she spotted Seth meandering through the halls or cafeteria.
David and Max were slowly making their way to Sister Agnes’ story time, Matilda toddling along in front of them, a hand in each of theirs.
“Look who it is, Maddie,” Max cooed. “Auntie Caitlin.”
She beamed, waving at the little girl. “Hi sweetie, look at you walking!”
“Soon she’ll be running,” David said with a sigh. “And then climbing. And then I’ll never get a moment’s peace ever again.”
Max shushed him. “At least she’s got my sense of balance.”
“And she’s also got your reckless nature.”
Slipping her hands into her back pockets, Caitlin smirked at the men.
“You two are definitely married,” she said. “And definitely parents.”
Max chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Just before they passed her, Caitlin jerked her chin at Max and asked, “Actually, can I talk to you about something? It won’t take long.”
“Sure,” he said, giving David a knowing look as he slid Matilda’s little fist into his hand.
Stepping over to the side of the corridor, Caitlin folded her arms and leaned a shoulder into the wall.
“You look very serious,” Max commented.
Caitlin tried to smile but it felt like a wince.
“How much do you know about Seth?”
Max frowned. “Seth… From the Iowa camp?”
“Yeah.”
“Not much,” he admitted. “I’ve only talked to him a handful of times. He was helping set up camp back in Oklahoma. Seemed friendly enough. Courteous.”
When Caitlin shifted uncomfortably, Max took note.
“Why do I get the feeling you’ve had a much different experience?”
Pushing her hair off her forehead, she let her gaze drift to the dusty bulletin board nearby advertising the end of school year jamboree.
“He hasn’t… done anything,” she said finally. “Not really. He just keeps popping up, and making these comments like… he thinks he knows me.”
Max waited for her to continue.
“I don’t know, there’s something in his tone. It feels… like he’s trying to lull me into a false sense of security.”
“Is this another ‘Ted Bundy looked normal too’ kinda thing?”
She smiled briefly at the memory. “Maybe. I’m not sure. I feel ridiculous even bringing it up, but after last night…”
“Wait, what happened last night?”
Her cheeks burned.
“Um, well.” She glanced over her shoulder, making sure no one was within earshot. “Last night, Booker and I were… being intimate…”
Max’s eyebrows shot up for a moment before he regained his composure.
“And I felt someone watching us.”
Immediately, he went from mildly embarrassed to horrified.
“Seth was watching you two have sex?”
Caitlin started to shake her head. “I don’t know. I think. Maybe.”
“That’s an awful lot of uncertainty.”
“I know in my bones someone was outside our door,” she said. “But when we went to check, no one was out there. But I’ve run into Seth in the halls before—early morning, no one else around, and he’s just lingering in a doorway, not making a sound.”
“Huh. Well, that is a little disconcerting,” Max said. “Still, that doesn’t mean—”
“I know,” Caitlin cut in, sighing. “I just… Can’t get a read on this guy. It’s making me nervous.”
She looked over Max’s shoulder to where David and Matilda were still making their way to the library.
“Geeks aren’t the only things we have to worry about,” she added. “And I made a promise to myself I’d do whatever I could to keep people safe. They’re my responsibility.”
Max reached for her, gently placing a hand on her forearm.
“You’re not responsible for every person in this group, Caitlin. Why do you think we have an elected council? Voting? It’s to keep the burden off the shoulders of one individual.”
Blinking back the sting of tears threatening to build, she held his stare.
“Booker and I brought these people out of the Arks,” she whispered roughly. “They keep saying we rescued them, but really we just made them trade one hardship for another. What kind of person would I be if I just left them to the whims of fate?”
“You’d be a human being,” Max told her, compassion softening his features. “And let me take this moment to remind you, that because you broke into those Arks—making people trade ‘one hardship for another’—I have my husband and daughter back.”
A knot formed in Caitlin’s throat, and the more she tried to swallow it down, the firmer it lodged itself.
“We’ll never know which call is the right one,” Max continued. “But from where I’m standing, this decision feels pretty damn great. And I’m never going to hold you liable for what happens to us next.”
Overwhelmed, all she could do was nod.
Giving her wrist a squeeze, Max smiled. “Stop trying to appoint yourself as the Reject’s Atlas. Your energy is better used elsewhere.”
It was the kindest thing anyone had said to her in a long time.
“Thanks, Max,” she murmured.
At the end of the hall, David called out to them. “Better hurry, Papa! Maddie’s outpacing you by a mile!”
Chuckling, Max turned and waved.
“Go,” Caitlin told him. “Thanks for… Well, everything.”
“Anytime.”
She watched him jog across the polished tile, rejoining his family.
Caitlin might
