Page 69 of The Player
“Okay.” She frowned, putting the list into the pocket of her jeans, and then she came to me for one last hug. “It’s good to have you back, Bee. Don’t leave me for that long again, okay?”
“Deal.”
She left and I closed and locked the door behind her, checking and rechecking every single bolt. Then I turned and saw the knife I’d been holding earlier lying on the sofa. Maybe, for my protection, it wouldn’t be such a crazy idea to hide a few knives around the place, just in case I needed them.
I stalked over to the kitchen, reopened the drawer, and grabbed as many knives as I could. Then I went around the apartment, putting them down the side of the sofa, in a plant pot, under the mattress, inside the bathroom cabinet. I’d have to warn Will about them when he came home. I couldn’t risk him putting his hand somewhere and getting hurt because of me. But to my panic-stricken mind, this plan was a good one. A smart one. The next timehecame for either one of us, we’d be ready.
ChapterThirty-One
WILL
We scoured every inch of Newgate Forest, but we didn’t find a fucking thing. I traced and retraced our steps several times from where the woman had picked us up at the side of the road, but there was nothing. No sign of a secret bunker, trap door, or any kind of opening from where we’d emerged only hours earlier. The ground didn’t even look like it’d been disturbed. We searched until it became impossible to see with just our flashlights, and then the urge to get back to Bryony overwhelmed me, and we reluctantly called it a night. The search had been pointless, but tomorrow, I’d be back there, and I’d find him. Even if I had to tear through the mud with my own bare hands.
I dreaded telling her about the fucked-up delivery we’d had at The Sanctuary earlier. I knew how freaked out she’d be, not to mention the fact that her father’s hand was probably in that bag too. Just another twist to the knife that sick fuck had stabbed into her, making her fight to get back to any semblance of the life she had before. So, I made a little detour on the way home, courtesy of Adam and some news he’d given me as we’d been tearing through the forest looking for clues. I’d do anything to make Bee smile. Absolutely anything.
When I finally got back to the apartment, I gently tapped on the door, conscious that I didn’t want to spook her, and I called out, “Bee, its only me. It’s safe to open up.”
I heard the bolts unlock as she started opening up, and I hid my surprise on the floor beside the door so she wouldn’t see it right away.
“You took your time,” she chastised as she let me in.
“I had a lot of stuff to do. But don’t worry”—I took the new mobile phone out of my pocket and passed it to her—“you can track me, message me, ring me every minute of every damn day from now on. I’ve programmed my new number in there for you.”
She smiled, looking apologetic. “That’s sweet of you, thank you.” She placed the phone on the coffee table and then turned back around to face me. “Shelley came round earlier.”
I put my hands up, pre-empting any accusations. “I didn’t say a word, I promise.”
“I know.” Her eyes dipped to the floor. “She said Colton messaged her to let her know I was back. I know you didn’t tell them.” She faltered and then asked, “You didn’t say anything else, did you?”
“No. I made you a promise and I wouldn’t break that. You know you can trust me.” She sighed and smiled because she knew I was right. “Did you tell Shelley about… you know?” I couldn’t bring myself to say, ‘What happened to your dad’. But she shook her head to tell me she hadn’t. “We need to say something soon though, Bee. Especially after today.”
I saw her back go up, showing she didn’t agree.
“Why? What happened today?”
I debated blurting it all out, ripping that Band-Aid off, but I stopped myself.
“There’s been a development.”
“What development?” The panic that struck her then, making her look so vulnerable, sent shockwaves through me. The kind that made me want to turn right around and head back out to track the fucker down and give him the ending he deserved. But I stood my ground. I wasn’t ready to obliterate her fragile peace just yet.
“It’s something we need to talk about, but I think it can wait a while longer. It looks like you’ve had a big enough dose of reality today, and anyway, I have something for you.”
“You have something for me?” She frowned. “What is it?”
I smiled wide, heading back to the front door and opening it to pick up the box and bag of provisions I’d been hiding there.
“What is all this?”
I held the box in my arms and kicked the door closed with my foot, hauling it all into the living room. She eyed everything I was carrying with suspicion.
“I bought you something.” I put the box on the floor and the bag beside the sofa, and then I knelt down and peered up at her. “It’s something I thought might help you. I know you want to try therapy, and I’m one hundred percent behind that, but there’s other ways we can heal too, and I thought this might be one of them.”
I lifted the flaps of the cardboard box as a soft little head poked its way out to see what was going on.
“Oh my God!” Bryony slapped a hand over her mouth, then knelt beside me and reached forward to pick up the rottweiler puppy that was scrambling to get out of the box. “Will, he’s so cute. Where did you get him? Oh my God, I love him.”
“He’s a she,” I corrected as she buried her face into the pup’s fur, cuddling her close. “Adam said Tyson was used to breed a litter. They were born just after we were… you know.” I didn’t want to say kidnapped, taken, or whatever, so I just shrugged. “I asked if we could have one.” I petted the pup’s head as Bryony clung to her. “She was the only one left. They called her Tiny, ‘cos she was the smallest of the litter, but we don’t have to stick to that name.”
