Page 97 of Savagely Yours
“Did you tell them about Tapley?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t. I knew you wouldn’t take kindly to that. Plus, Neal left after interrogating me. Ronan was supposed to beat me up, finish me off. Instead, him and Dr. Lin explained what would happen next, how they would get me out.”
The guy was smarter than I thought. I could do worse than Neal and Ronan combined. When it came to Larke, Iwoulddo worse.
“Dez, you spent a lot of time with Cerner,” he said. “Have you talked to him? Rumor has it that he left with a team to talk trade with another community, but the team came back, and he wasn’t with them. Then they said he actually never showed up to leave with them in the first place.”
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t talked to him in days.”
It was the truth.
Dead men couldn’t speak.
“In the interim, Neal’s been implementing changes,” LaSalle went on. “It’s for the best that me and Leigh are leaving now. We’re headed for a community in Pennsylvania.”
Leigh, nodding, finally let go of Larke. “Yeah. It’ll be a fresh start for us. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Then be safe,” Larke said, smoothing Leigh’s hair. “Hopefully, I’ll be right behind you. Neal and I have history. Bad blood. He won’t let me escape this place unscathed. If we run into each other, it’ll be a problem.”
I stretched the muscles in my neck, a tic I’d picked up in the Navy. Most of the time, it was a way to reduce anxiety. When the shelter-in-place order first came down, and it was just me and Larke at her condo, the anxiety ramped up every single time I thought about how much I didn’t know about what was going on. As I’d had no definitive plans to keep her safe, the uncertainty would trigger the tic.
When I could, I went to another room to regain control. The entire time, I’d hoped she didn’t take it as my discomfort over being locked up with her. That, I’d enjoyed every minute of. Had we been more honest with each other, I could have enjoyed it even more.
Right now, however, adrenaline flooded my bloodstream at the thought of Larke not leaving Totten unscathed because of Neal. I was not a well man, and I hoped Neal reconsidered attempting to cause her any harm. I didn’t want her to see me with my traumas unhidden.
Larke glanced at me again before giving LaSalle a hug.
The pair said their well wishes and hurried off.
Ronan followed.
She faced me. “So, seems like Ronan’s been helping Dr. Lin smuggle people out of Totten. That explains the inflated numbers we found.”
She was still wearing my shirt; she’d simply put the dress on underneath it.
“What do you think Leigh meant when she said Ronan used to rescue people before the outbreak?” she asked. “Then, he’s at the same level as you. Think he was some kind of Special Operations, too? Maybe in his respective country? I can’t place his accent.”
I reached for her hand and drew her closer. “You are abeautifulwoman, I swear. There’s something insanely captivating about you, like a magic spell or something. I can’t stop thinking about you, and I want to touch you all the damn time. You’re going to get sick of me.”
“I doubt it,” she countered.
“We’d make beautiful kids, I think. Hopefully, they won’t get your eyes. I can see it now: ‘Daddy, will you get me a pony for my birthday?’”
“And then here you come, with a team of massive Clydesdales, for our three-year-old.” She laughed, briefly lowering her gaze. “Speaking of which, we’re going to have to raid a Totten condom stash or find some once we leave here.”
“You don’t trust me to pull out?”
“Um,” she gestured to her legs, “no.”
I laughed and kissed her forehead.
“Dez, is Cerner alive?” she asked.
“No.”
“Is my safety somehow involved?”
“Yes.”
