Once we’d both finished eating, Ned’s voice still droning on from the office upstairs, I laid Cara down in her play yard and carried his plate up the stairs.
“No, we’re going to have to come in at least under ten percent, or we’re toast,” he told whoever was on the phone. “No way. Evans would have our asses.” He chuckled. “You got that right.”
I pushed open the door, knocking cautiously as I did it and held up his plate. Thank you, he mouthed, making room on his desk for food by scooting some manila folders over and laying a stack of papers on top of them.
I stood waiting, knowing he was expecting me to leave. He glanced up at me, his brows up as if to say what? and I smiled, waiting patiently for him to hang up. He sighed, spinning around in his chair and putting his other hand to the phone. “Listen, Travis, let me call you back in just a sec.” He paused. “Yep. You too, buddy.” He laid his phone on his desk. “Sorry, sweetheart. Busy day.” I watched as he rubbed his palms together, looking over his plate. “This looks delicious.”
“Thank you. Listen, we need to talk.” I eased myself into the chair in the corner of his office.
His face grew ashen, obviously caught off guard. He shot up. “Is something wrong? Is it Cara?”
I raised my hands chest-level, trying to fend off his worry. “It’s not Cara. Everything’s fine. It’s just…I heard from a detective today.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Okay…and?”
“They think they may have found her. The woman from the island.”
He was up again. “They did? Do they have her in custody? Where is she?”
“They don’t have her in custody. They just want me to meet with a detective and answer some questions. I’m meeting him tomorrow for lunch. I was hoping you could come.”
“Yeah, of course,” he said without a moment’s hesitation. “But I don’t understand. Is it one of the detectives we’ve already spoken to? Do they have more questions?”
“No, it’s about a different case. Someone recognized my photo online. They think she may be a con woman.”
He furrowed his brow. “Are you sure it isn’t just someone pranking you again? I mean, how many messages have you gotten saying something similar from someone with a username like hairymashedpotates42?”
I groaned. “This was a phone call with an actual detective. And when I returned his call, it was to an actual police station.”
“Yeah, but how easy would that be to fake, you know?” He sat down on the edge of his desk, watching me carefully. “Honey, you know I want you to find out the truth about what happened. I know you want justice for your friends and for what you went through, but it’s time to take a break. It’s time to heal and move on. We’ve been doing this for more than a year.”
“But this time is different! This time—”
“Yeah, and last time was too!” His tone was exasperated. I’d exhausted him, and I didn’t know how to stop. “What’s so different this time than any of the other times?”
“None of them were real!” I shouted. “But this one might be. Don’t you get that? Don’t you get why I can’t let this go?”
He hesitated. “No,” came the final answer. “Truth be told, no I don’t. When you were gone, it destroyed me. I thought I’d never see you again. I prayed for you to come home. Come back to me. And here you are. You came back. That’s all I wanted. I don’t understand why you can’t just accept how lucky you are and move on—”
“Because they’re dead—”
“And justice won’t bring them back!” he bellowed, then instantly lowered his voice. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t want to yell at you, but this crusade you’re on is going to get you killed. If these people are as powerful as you say they are, you can’t keep doing this. I went along with it in the beginning because I thought it was what you needed, but I have to draw the line somewhere.” His heavy breaths warned of his frustration. “I know that this is important to you, but I can’t believe these people would stick their necks out for you, Katy. They’re practically strangers to you. And I know you loved the one, and god knows I’ve tried to be understanding about it, but how much longer are you going to make me compete with a dead man?”
Tears stung my eyes at his harsh words, the even harsher reality. I sniffled, standing up and turning to walk out of his office.
“Katy, wait!” He realized he’d gone a step too far and reached out for me, but I shrugged him off.
“I just need a minute.” I pulled open the door and shut it, letting myself back out into the dark hallway. I pressed my back against the wall, trying to catch my breath as his words replayed in my head.
He didn’t understand. He’d never understand. No one would.
No one except the people who’d lived through it with me, and they were gone. I half expected him to chase after me, but after a painful minute of silence, I heard his voice again.
“Travis, hey, sorry, I had to take care of something. Do you still have that report pulled up?”
Exhaustion, frustration, and heartbreak reeled through me, and I closed my eyes, thinking the thought that had haunted me for over a year now every time Ned let me down. Noah would’ve never done that.
I knew he was right. That he was competing with a man who had no place in the competition, but I was powerless to control the way I felt. Cara
