Page 80 of The Player in New Zealand
Without saying goodbye, Tane tugged me toward the entrance and we hit the street. It was early enough to be crowded on Queen Street, neighboring bars and clubs playing music, people walking around. I scanned the faces quickly, still not seeing Devon.
My head warred with itself. If he were here, maybe Tane would make a difference. But with Devon having disappeared again, when would he pop up next?
We were still standing on the street when I realized Tane didn’t know where we were going. DidIknow where we were going?
“Where are we going?” I said out loud.
“Your hostel.”
“Okay. This way.”
It was fifteen minutes to my hostel room. Tane felt like a bodyguard, my shadow, protecting me from the big bad city.
Ugh, I hoped Auckland wasn’t forever ruined for me.
We arrived without incident, locking my door behind us. I slumped against the wall while Tane took a careful seat on the twin bed in my room.
He tipped his chin at my bag. “Show me a picture of him.”
I pulled out my phone and turned it on, clearing the messages that popped up and navigating to Instagram. I handed the phone over. Tane squinted at the screen and scrolled for a few swipes until it buzzed in his hands. “Your sister’s calling.”
Before I could protest, he’d answered the call. “Hi, Iris, she’s safe with me.”
I swiped at the phone angrily, tossing it across the room. It smacked into the wall and bounced onto the crappy carpet.
“What the fuck, Claire!”
“How do you think Devon found me, huh?”
He drew back as if I’d slapped him. Which I nearly had. “Do you really think your sister told him?”
I could hear Iris shouting from the floor. “How else would he know? She said he’d been to see her.” I wanted it to be this simple. I wanted it to be the obvious choice over him doing something more nefarious, like hacking me. And at the same time, it would crush me if it had been an innocent photo snapped of me and Tane.
I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly, but if those were my three choices... then Iris was the one I could do something about.
Tane stood up and walked to the corner of the room, picking up my phone. “Iris,” he said.
He sat down on the bed again, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes while he listened. He grunted occasionally.
My body was winding down, the stress of the day leaving me a husk. I sat next to Tane. He pulled me sideways until we lay on the bed together, his knees bent and my head resting on his chest.
I didn’t cry anymore.
But I let Tane stroke my hair and I listened to the sound of his breathing, the tinny sound of my sister’s voice coming through the phone, less hysterical now.
And I fell asleep.
TWENTY-NINE
I wokeup to a faint buzzing noise. My head rose and fell with Tane’s chest, the buzzing coming from his pants pocket on the far side of his body.
Raising my head, I looked up at him. His mouth was set firmly in sleep, his forehead a little furrowed, as if he were trying not to wake up.
Under his hand was my phone, and when I pried it from his grasp, I found that it was dead. “Tane, wake up.”
He grumbled slightly and pulled my shoulders close. “I’m awake.” His eyes were still closed.
I reached down and slipped his phone out of his pocket. Nina’s name lit up the screen, though his battery was nearly dead too.
