Page 60 of Betrayed

“Great. Another non-answer, just what I need.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to my room.”

Damn it. That hadn’t gone well. Not that I’d expected it to, but I had hoped maybe. I wanted her to talk to me, not shut down and run away.

I messaged Jack on the SSI secure phone and told him what little I’d learned. Blake was ignorant of her father’s questionable practices and his money woes.

Then I messaged Jay to ask if he wanted a sandwich.

After swapping places for a few minutes so he could eat and take a leak, I sat back down to read. A crime thriller probably wasn’t the best choice given the circumstances, but it was all I brought with me.

I must have fallen asleep because my book thunked on the floor when a scream caused me to jump out of the chair.

Blake!

I ran to her room and charged in without knocking, gun drawn.

She sat on the bed, eyes distant with silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

She jumped and yelped when I invaded her space; the door crashing against the wall. I saw her eyes widen when she saw mygun, then she buried her face in her knees, covered her head, and rocked back and forth.

I scanned the room, verifying no one was inside, before holstering my gun.

The bed sagged as I sat down beside her and rubbed her back. “What happened?”

She lifted her head and sniffled.I wish I had tissues for her. “Nothing, I just had a bad dream.” She pulled away from me. “You didn’t need to come charging in here ready to shoot the place up.”

Not expecting her anger, I stood up and walked back to the door.

Before I left, I turned back and said, “I’m sorry if I scared you, but I won't apologize for responding to your scream.”

She turned away and curled up in a ball instead of answering me.

“I’m leaving the door cracked. Please don’t latch it,” I said. I wanted to be able to check on her without disturbing her.

No answer. I sighed and did a sweep of the house, for my sanity, before going back to the living room.

When I got up a few hours later to use the bathroom, I checked on Blake. I could hear her muffled crying, so I knocked softly before pushing the door open with my knuckles. I asked from the doorway, “Blake, do you want to talk about it?”

“You don’t have to pretend you care,” she said around sniffles. “My father isn’t paying you to be nice.”

What the actual fuck. Where did that come from?

“Blake, I’m not pretending.” I took a few cautious steps into the room.

“Nobody cares. I bet my friends haven’t even noticed I’m not around.” She didn’t bother to move while answering me.

Why does she think that?I chalked it up to the stress of the situation and being isolated.

I was sure they’d noticed. Paige seemed okay, at least when Fuckface wasn’t around. I was sure he’d noticed when he had to pay for his own lunch, or some other selfish reason. Not that I’d ever tell her that. I had to believe she had better friends, ones I hadn’t met.

“I’m sure they have,” I said, keeping my voice soft.

“They don’t even like me. Not really.” She sniffled.

Where had all this come from? I’d expected her to be upset about her dream, or being locked up in a safe house, but not this.At least she's talking to me.

“What makes you think that?”

“They can’t. They don’t even know the real me." She sniffled. "They just like me for my money.” She rolled onto her back and leaned up on her elbows.

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