Page 57 of Wayward
“You should get some sleep, Haley,” I say.
“Only if you do too.”
I untuck her and help her out of bed. Holding her elbow, I steady her into the bathroom, then close the door and let her have some privacy. Zane and Sam have wandered out to the living room. Parking my ass on the edge of the bed, I wait for her to come out. This is so fucked. We should take our chances and head to the police. But then, I know enough about guys like Ed and his son. They take what they want, and damn the rest of society.
“You okay?” Haley hobbles out of the bathroom.
I rush to her side. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”
“We’re going to be okay.” She squeezes my hand, and I help her back into bed.
I nod. Because I wish I could be as confident as she is. I click out the lights. “I’ll be in soon.”
I head back into the main room and sprawl over the far end of the sofa, glancing at Zane and Sam. Haley’s not the only one angry at Dante. We’re all fighting off sleep, but there’s a buzz in the room. A pulse that says Holloway could find us at any minute.
“Dante’s here,” Calvin says. He thuds over to the main door and moves the chair from under the handle. He waits, bent over, looking out the peephole. The lock clicks and Calvin opens the door?Dante steps into the room. It’s seven a.m.
“Where the hell did you go?” I’m the first to say it. We circle Dante; all of us have our arms crossed over our chests?a quartet of fathers about to give the misguided teen consequences for missing curfew.
Dante laughs?fucking laughs. “I’ve been out, Dad.” He’s got a black backpack and an armful of plastic grocery bags with paper bags inside them. “Here.” He thrusts a fist full of bags at me. The contents smell fucking delicious. “To get what we wanted, I had to wait until the restaurant closed. And . . . where’s Sassy?”
“I’m here.” Haley emerges from the bedroom using various furniture pieces to get across the room.
“I’ve got some painkillers for your ankle and an Ace bandage.”
“Thanks, but where did you go? I was really worried.” Haley pulls the resort robe tighter around her waist.
“I went to the restaurant I worked at when I lived here. The owner is an ass, but he’s just the kind of ass we need. He’s got great food and stays open until there are no more customers. Midnight or five a.m., he doesn’t care. Word got out I was there, and things got busy.” Dante puts the other bags down on the table and takes off his backpack. “And it took a while for the place to clear out enough to ask Anan for what we really need.”
“And that is?” Sam asks.
“Passports.” Dante sits, and it’s only now I realize he’s wearing black scrubs instead of the security clothes Holloway gave us on theRosewood. “Food, clothes, and maybe a way off the island. That part is still a little up in the air.” He tosses some colorful Thai currency on the table. “But he paid my take for tonight, or last night, whatever it is. Don’t get too excited. That 5,000 Baht is about a hundred and fifty USD.” He pulls Haley into his arms. “I need to sleep.” He kisses the top of her head. “Have you slept, Sassy?”
“No.” She leans on him.
“Well, we all need to sleep. But maybe we eat first?” Dante takes containers out of the bag. There’s enough to feed twentypeople. He passes chopsticks around and tosses a fork at Calvin?who growls and grabs a pair of chopsticks from the pile.
Haley moans over the top of her container. “Holy hell, Dante. This is amazing.” And the rest of us stop eating and watch her. She glances up. “You better eat, or I’ll eat all of yours.”
“There you go, Sassy. I love a woman that isn’t afraid to eat something large,” Dante says.
“No, you lovethatwoman,” I correct.
“Touché.” Dante raises his container at me. “I stand corrected.”
We all eat, trading containers until we can’t take another bite.
Dante leans back. “Right, now we sleep, and then sometime this afternoon we need to take pictures and get them printed for our new passports.”
Haley tilts over and places her head in my lap. I’m happily petting her hair away from her face when I turn to Dante. “Where are we getting these pictures taken?”
“Here.” He pulls a smartphone from his back pocket and tosses it to me.
I turn it over. It’s brand new, and it’s on.
“It’s not on a cellphone plan, but we can connect it to the Wi-Fi. You know, if you want to do a little deep dive into your family over the last year.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.
Haley sits up. “Are you ready?”
