Page 76 of Hack
"Yeah, we dropped it in a mailbox in town right before we went. Everything here should be good. We talked about the flight home and him taking a few days off work when we got there." Xander paused. "Listen, I need to call Matt and let them know what is going on. I'll call you when I get back home later today. Shoot me a text or call if he contacts you, will ya?"
"Of course. Let the team know if they need anything to give me a call. I'll be glad to help any way I can, but with Carter leaving his phone behind, I think all we can do is wait." Archer ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he'd talked to Carter last night.
"You don't sound as worried as I thought you would," Xander said.
"I don't think he's in danger or out doing anything stupid. I really think he's going to check into a motel, stare at the wall for a couple of days, then come home once he's worked shit out in his head. I could be wrong, but there's no point in panicking when I can't do anything about it until we know where he is." Archer hated that he would be stuck at the motel another night.
"Alright, I'll be in touch one way or another," Xander told him.
"Thanks, and again, thank you for being with him. You saved his life last night from the way it sounds. I owe you for keeping him safe."
"It's what family does." Xander hung up without another word.
Archer tossed his phone on the bed beside him and sighed. Truth was, he was worried. He couldn't know what frame of mind Carter was in or what he was doing. His gut told him he was safe, but what if he was wrong?
He couldn't risk not staying in the motel another night. He was sure once the FBI found out he was asking questions outside of Atlanta earlier in the week, he'd be the first person they looked at. He needed to play it like he was just doing regular work. He had plans to drive around the area today. Be seen staking out places as if he was following a cheating spouse, then to come back to the motel until tomorrow morning, but it was going to take everything he had to stay away. He wanted to be at the STK house waiting for information.
Curious if the murder and rescue of the girls had hit the news yet, he turned the TV to one of the national news channels. He was restless as he waited through one report, then another, but when nothing came up about the scene, he figured it was either too new or the FBI was keeping it under wraps for the time being. That wouldn't last long. As soon as families started hearing that their daughters were safe, it would be on every news channel.
He kept thinking of trying to call Carter, but that would do no good if he'd left his phone behind. He had to know they would worry about him, and he had to admit he was a bit shocked that Carter would skip out on Xander after the guy had come to help him. It was telling where Carter's mind was.
Hell, he couldn't blame the guy for wanting time. He'd been dealing with the loss of his wife and daughter for years. Or more so not dealing with it. The events last night had to have fucked with his emotions because as much as Carter seemed to think that killing Lyle would bring him closure, he was wrong. If Carter didn't grieve his loss, deal with what happened, and work through the loss itself and not just the murder, he wasn't going to find any kind of peace.
Archer sighed. Wasn't as if he could go and fall in love with someone without a shitload of baggage, was it? Nope, he had to fall for the guy who was an emotional wreck. Carter was good at hiding it, but he'd seen through him in the short time they'd been together. There was still a lot of shit to deal with.
Hopefully, that would start to happen now. Because he really wanted to see where their relationship could go, but if Carter was still caught up in the past, they probably didn't have a chance. Archer could handle the memories, even share the love, but he couldn't handle living with ghosts haunting them all the time. Carter had to let go if they were going to make it.
Hell, he didn't even know if Carter wanted to make it. He seemed to care, talked like they might have a chance at more, but they'd been tiptoeing around things so much, that Archer didn't honestly have a clue what would happen. He could easily be back home in Virginia in a week, nursing a broken heart.
That was something he wouldn't think about right now. He needed to stay positive. Carter was going to take some time to think, then he'd call or come home. Hopefully, it would be a few hours before someone heard from him. If Carter had gone where Archer thought he would, then he'd probably be home tomorrow. Still, just in case he was more mentally fucked up after everything than Archer thought, he was going to stay alert and be ready for anything.
With nothing to do but wait and worry, he eased back on the bed and tried again to go to sleep, but he had a feeling sleep wasn't going to come.
