Page 47 of Pain
"Thanks." There was no point in refusing. She'd do it even if he told her not to. Turning to his sister, he smiled. "I guess I'll see you soon then?"
"You know it." She hugged him. "Love you."
"I love you too." He hugged her back. His sister was slowly starting to understand that he didn't need to be cared for all the time, and leaving him alone was sometimes best, but she still called and showed up unexpectedly. He gave a final wave to his mom after taking the bag of leftovers she handed him. "I'll be in touch," he promised before rushing out the door to the safety and silence of his car.
Glad the night was over, he headed home, trying to sort out the millions of emotions the day had brought to life.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"You what?" Xander stared at Bryon in shock. "This is his daughter you're talking about. You have to tell him. How could you not?"
"If we give him any information it's going to get his hopes up. If this turns out to be nothing...."
"But it could be something. Think about this, Bryon, if this was your child, you'd want to know. You wouldn't want your friends keeping secrets from you. He brought the file over here. He easily could have done the search himself."
"He could have, and then he would probably head off to find his daughter and make a mess of everything. It's better this way. All we know now is we have a location that matches the description the psychic gave us. We don't have nearly enough information yet to go on. It could be nothing. This woman could have just picked a random location and gave it to Matt." Bryon poured himself a cup of coffee.
"He deserves to know, even if you don't give him the location." Xander was pissed. Matt deserved to be a part of this. He agreed he shouldn't be allowed to run off and check out the location in person, but he did have the right to know that it did exist. "How long have you known?"
"A few days. Why are you suddenly so worried about Matt?" Bryon eyed him.
"Leave Xander alone," Dyson spoke up from his spot on the couch in the living room. "You know we'd all fight for each other if we thought someone had a right to know anything."
His comment made Xander wonder if Dyson suspected something was going on with him and Matt. He hadn't told anyone, but Dyson knew him better than anyone. If someone was going to catch on, it was him. "I just think he has a right to know. He's trusting you with the file. He didn't have to do that. You know as well as I do that he could have researched most of it himself. It might have taken longer, but he didn't have to come to you guys."
"Think about it. If this was your child, what would you do? I've been in his shoes, Xan. I know what the man is thinking. I know how he'll react. I'm protecting him."
"Bullshit. You don't know him at all. He's nothing like you." Xander fisted his hands at his sides. "If there is any information, he deserves to know. He's not a loose cannon like you were, Bry. He will wait if we tell him to. It's not like we're going to give him the location, but he deserves to know there is one that matches. I won't keep this from him." Xander turned to leave.
"Xander, don't—"
"Don't what? Treat people right? Do what's right? Fuck you, Bry. I'm right on this and you know it." Xander opened the door.
"Where are you going?" Bryon yelled.
"To see Matt and tell him what we know." Xander was out the door before anyone could say more.
Once in his car, he took a deep breath. He understood what Bryon was saying, but he didn't know Matt the way he did. Matt would be furious if they kept anything from him. It was a point of trust. Matt trusted the team with the information, and he deserved that they trust him not to run off and take matters into his own hands.
With his temper flaring, he raced down the road to Matt's house, wondering if Bryon would send Dyson or someone after him. The fact that his phone hadn't rang gave him hope that he would let them be. It wasn't like he was doing something that would blow a case or put the team at risk.
As he pulled into Matt's driveway, he saw the kitchen light on, glad that Matt was home. He probably should have called first, but he didn't feel uncomfortable just dropping in. Matt would tell him to go if he didn't want company or was busy.
He parked beside Matt's car, surprised it wasn't in the garage. It wasn't like Matt to leave it out all night. It was still early, but he assumed Matt would have put it in the garage when he got home.
The two of them hadn't talked in days, which wasn't uncommon. It wasn't until he'd gotten to the team house that he'd even heard that a psychic had approached Matt. His first reaction was to be pissed off that someone would try to scam him, but once he heard from Bryon that some of the information was panning out, he paused and really thought about it. He'd never not believed that kind of stuff was possible, it just hadn't ever been proven to him. He'd seen so many fakes that he just dismissed them all, but if the information this woman gave was proving to be true, then maybe they should listen. The fact that she didn't ask for money went a long way in showing that she wouldn't have anything to gain by lying to Matt.
He took the steps two at a time onto the front porch and rang the doorbell.
Several minutes passed with no answer, but Xander was sure Matt was home. He never left lights on, and the only time he didn't take his own car was when he was with him. Worried that something was wrong, Xander tried the door.
When it pushed open, his pulse shot up. Why wasn't Matt answering? A million thoughts rushed into his head, everything from the dark web having tracked him down to Matt finally having a breakdown, but none of it felt right to Xander. Matt was strong, and he'd been off the dark web from this location for over a month or two now.
It was shocking to think that it had been that long since they'd met, it seemed less, but then again, longer in other ways.
Hoping he wasn't walking in and interrupting Matt, but needing to be sure he was safe, Xander headed inside, wishing he had his gun. "Matt?"
He paused to listen, hearing nothing at first, but as he made his way down the hallway toward the bedroom, a small sound caught his attention, then another. Xander blew out a relieved breath as he headed for the only room in the house he'd never been in — Faith's.
