Somewhere Between Water and Sky (Shattered Things #2) (24 page)

I crack a smile.

“
I don
’
t hate you though, Stephanie. I
’
m just
…
.I
’
m trying to wrap my brain around this.
”
She leans her back against the wall across from me.
“
Is there anything else I should know?
”

I swallow and bite the corner of my thumb and just stare at her, my heart still beating an erratic rhythm.

Jessa crosses her arms.
“
Stephanie. I know that look. What.
”

I drop my hand.
“
My dad
’
s name is Sam Tiller.
”

She nods.
“
I caught that in the coffee shop.
”

I look at her.
“
He
’
s going by the name of Joey.
”

For the past few minutes, she
’
s had her foot propped up behind her. It drops with a thud and dust flies up into the air.

“
Joey.
”
Her hands fly up to her mouth.
“
Ohmigod. The guy. That picture! You
did
know him. Is that why you freaked?! Why you ran off?
”

I hesitate.

“
My dad was at the abandoned house, Jessa. I don
’
t know how he did it. I don
’
t know how the hell he knew we
’
d go down that road on the way home. Maybe he didn
’
t. Maybe it was some crazy-ass scheme of his to continue to make money while looking for his deranged daughter and we just happened to stumble into it like a nightmare. But that was him. I knew it the second Oliver started telling us his story.
”

Jessa walks over and sits in front of me, grabbing my hand. I try not to notice how much her fingers are trembling.

“
My dad used to always say things like
if you run away, bitch
—
I
’
m always gonna find you.
Oliver said the same thing. He said his kidnapper told him if he ran away that would be the least of his problems.
”

“
Shit.
”

“
Yeah. And that
’
s not
—
that whole story? I knew it. I knew when the SWAT team ran up the stairs that Oliver wouldn
’
t be there. I knew the whole thing would go up in flames. I knew it all because my dad used to talk about this amazing fool-proof plan he had in relying on the kindness of strangers.
”

She tilts her head.
“
The kindness of strangers?
”

“
If Ren wouldn
’
t have been there, and you and I would have waited just five more minutes in calling the cops, they would have ambushed the place and we would be in some shed right now
—
waiting for our next customer.
”

Her breath grows shallow and I continue.

“
And, who knows
—
if Ren would have waited, they still may have ambushed and just killed him or maimed him or something severe enough to ensure he never messed with them again. They did that once to a guy working with Jude.
”
I grimace.
“
I saw the pictures. It wasn
’
t pretty.
”

She rubs her face with her hands.

“
Stephanie. What the fuck are we gonna do?
”

I laugh.
“
We? Last time I checked
I
was the one who was in this situation
…”

Her head jerks up and she points at me.
“
No. No.
”
She shakes her head.
“
You don
’
t get to do this.
”
She finds my eyes and stares me down.

“
You will not run from this, Stephanie. I won
’
t let you.
”

My voice falls to a whisper.
“
You
’
re kind of scaring me, Jessa.
”

She rests her hands on her knees.
“
Good. Because you
’
ve been running from the second I met you.
”
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out woven thread with a small key attached to it.
“
I brought this with me to work today to give you.
”
She hands it to me and I take it and run my fingers over the thread.

My eyes grow wide and I struggle with the words.

“
It
’
s a
…
it
’
s a friendship bracelet. You actually gave me a friendship bracelet. I
’
ve never had one. Did you make this?
”

She nods and smiles.

“
There
’
s this poem I love that talks about being key droppers instead of cage dwellers. It seemed like you needed reminding that the key to your cage is within your reach.
”
She lifts her wrists and I notice a similar one hanging delicately from her arm.

“
We
’
re twinsies.
”

I laugh and sniff and wipe my cheeks with the side of my thumb.

“
I need you to know that I
’
m trying really hard not to be scared shitless right now.
”

She grabs my hand.
“
See? That
’
s what so great about friendship. You can be scared shitless. I just get to hold your hand through it all. You can
’
t run forever, Stephanie. No one can. The past has a way of catching up with us.
”

I watch the way the key grabs the sun peeking in through the windows, creating a dance of light on the ceiling.

“
I don
’
t want to run anymore. I just
…”

She reaches for me and for once, I don
’
t back away; I just lean in and rest my head on her shoulder.

“
We won
’
t run, Stephanie. We won
’
t. I
’
ll stand with you. So will Ren. We
’
ll stand with you and we
’
ll fight. Bastards don
’
t get to have my friends.
”

I snort through the tears and she gives me a squeeze before leaning back and looking me in the eyes.

“
Okay. First thing. Ren is having a get together at his place tonight. Do you want to come?
”

I stare at her for a few beats.

“
You
’
re seriously inviting me to a party?
”

She shrugs.
“
Why not?
”

“
I don
’
t know
…
I just
…
maybe I thought we
’
d do something different. Like watch the ocean or something.
”

“…
watch the ocean?
”

“
Yes.
”

She sighs.
“
You
’
re such a transplant. Listen. While I absolutely agree that facing those demons and
not running
is of the utmost of importance, sometimes you just need to remind yourself that you
can
have fun.
”

“
Fun
…”

She nods.
“
Yes. Fun. It
’
s this thing that forces belly laughter to rise from the center of your gut?
”
She runs her hands in circular motions in front of her crop top and I crack a smile.

“
Is it like
…
a crazy party?
”

She throws back her head and laughs.

“
Hardly. Ren is like
…
three steps away from teetotaler. Seriously. We just eat, drink a few drinks, chat, and see where the evening goes from there. Deal?
”

I chew on the inside of my cheek for a few seconds before responding.

“
Okay. Fine. Deal.
”

We hear footsteps behind us and we look to see Ren peeking around the corner. Jessa motions him over and he scratches his head.

“
How long have you guys been here?
”

Jessa and I look at each other before she turns back to Ren.

“
I don
’
t know
…
maybe an hour? Two?
”

He blinks and looks at something behind him.

“
Did you hear anything at all?
”

We shake our heads.

Jessa stands and walks over to Ren.

“
What
’
s going on? Besides the occasional seagull, I heard nothing.
”

He points to something and Jessa goes white.

“
Stephanie. I think you need to come here.
”

I can
’
t breathe again, my heart pounds in my chest and I feel my pulse everywhere: my fingers, my eyes, my toes, my scalp.

“
What is it?
”
My vision is already growing blurry with the preparation of something grotesque. I walk over to where they stand and peek my head in between their shoulders.

The first thing I see: Kevin leaning over something written in the dirt.

The second thing I see: scrawled in front of the door, less than ten feet from where Jessa and I sat and talked, words that make me see red all over again.

Lollipop,

I will not stop.

Kevin lifts his head and meets my eyes.

“
Your dad.
”

I nod and look toward the ocean, the waves crashing over each other, and clench and unclench my fists.

“
I know.
”

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

“
He could have
…”
I close my eyes and grab for Jessa
’
s arm. She reaches up and rests her hand on my own.

Ren
’
s voice cuts through the silence.
“
Help me out here? What does this mean?
”
I open my eyes and look at him pointing at the message in the sand.

I sniff.
“
It
’
s part of the poem he left on my door the other night. The next few words are
until your breath reaches mine.
And then he threatens me.
”
I point to the words.
“
This is a threat. He sat here and listened to us talk and decided to send me a message instead of doing something immediately.
”

I rub my hands through my hair.

“
He
’
s toying with me. Trying to get me scared
—
normally his threats make me run after him in fear.
”

“
No more running.
”
Jessa whispers.

I shake my head.
“
No more running. I
’
m sick of this. Sick of the fear. Sick of him controlling me.
”
The anger from the other night thrums wildly through my veins and I draw in a shaky breath to try and contain it.