Page 77 of The Secrets We Left Behind
Cate traded glances with Jack, knowing she’d have to tread carefully.
“I agree that we can’t leave without her, she’s an important part of the plan,” Cate said, her voice low. “But we may not get an opportunity like this again, so—”
“We’re not leaving without her, and that’s final.”
She looked from Harry to Jack, not sure what to say. She didn’t want to leave without Elise and Adelaide either, but this was their only chance at getting home.
“Cate, can we talk a moment?” Jack said, gesturing toward Harry. “Alone?”
She glanced at Jack, about to say that there was nothing he couldn’t say in front of Harry, but changed her mind. He moved into the kitchen, just out of earshot, or at least out of sight.
“About the other night ...” he started.
“Please, Jack, can we just not talk about it?” she asked. “We have a long journey ahead of us and—”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just want to say that I know what I did was wrong, and you’re right for hating me. And I wanted to say that I’m so sorry, just one more time. I’m so, so sorry, Cate.”
Cate stared into his beautiful dark brown eyes, wishing she could forget that he’d lied to her. “I don’t hate you, Jack. But I don’t want to talk about it. I want us to focus on our journey.” She brushed away her tears and sighed. “I can’t even wrap my head around it all.”
He nodded. “Fair enough.”
“What do you think we do about Elise and Adelaide, though?” she whispered. “We owe them everything, but if something’s happened to them, if there’s a chance—”
“Someone’s here,” Jack interrupted, grabbing her hand as he ducked down low.
“It’s me.” Elise’s voice rang through the house. “Me and only me.”
Jack slowly stood and Cate’s heart stopped pounding as she walked out to see Elise, her ashen-white face sending shivers through Cate.
“What happened? Did you find her?” she asked.
Elise’s eyes looked too big for her face, her cheeks hollow and the color completely drained from her skin.
“She’s gone,” Elise said. “Adelaide has disappeared. There’s no sign of her.”
Cate pulled Elise down on to the small sofa with her, forcing a smile, knowing that Elise was the one who needed help now, more than any of them. This was about family; this was about the one person in the world Elise had left.
“She’s not gone,” Cate said, trying to sound upbeat. “Adelaide had a job to do, and wherever she is, whatever she’s done, it’s because she’s doing what we agreed on.”
But Elise’s face told another story. “She should have alerted us by now,” Elise said. “She’s not following the plan.”
“If she’d betrayed us, we’d know it. They’d have stormed the house,” Jack said.
“Betrayed us?” Cate almost tripped over her own tongue trying to get the words out. “Adelaide is no traitor.”
“But what if she has told him? What if she went to him and something went wrong? How far did you look for her?” Harry asked. “We need to get out of here. I’m not letting that bastard slaughter anyone in this room, not on my watch, not with a boat waiting for us. We have to go.”
“I agree, we leave now,” Elise said, her voice too even, too static.
“Elise,” Cate whispered. “We can’t just leave Addy. She’s your sister, and she’s—”
“Harry’s right, we have to leave. I’ve looked everywhere for her, but bar walking into the German camp and demanding if she’s there, there’s nothing else I can do.”
“But your plan,” Cate murmured. “You wanted her to be safe, you wanted her on that boat.”
“Wait, Adelaide was coming back to England with us?” Jack asked.
Cate nodded. “She was. Elise made a bargain to keep her safe.”
