Page 14 of Cavern of Silence
He turns more in his seat. "What are you talking about?"
"I shouldn't be discussing any of this. Please forget I said it." I cover my face and breathe into my hands.
"Julieta, I don't know what has happened to you or who you got involved with, but whatever you tell me won't go anywhere else."
He sounds so trustworthy. I want to trust him. More than anything, I want someone to unload everything off on just so they can tell me everything will be okay, even though I know it's not a possibility.
But I can't trust him. I've been down that road, and all it does is hurt me more. But I also can't completely ignore his request.
"I can't talk about things. It all involves the Global Leaders."
"Who are they?"
Tears blur my vision, and I will myself not to let them escape. I blink hard and wipe my eyes. "Who aren't they? Anyone who has any power is a part of them."
"I don't understand."
"Please. Can we drop it? I've already said too much," I plead with him.
His blue eyes drill into mine, and I think he's going to ask another question about it but instead says, "Your paperwork didn't have any family listed. Your status was empty. Do you have someone you want to notify that you're okay?"
"No. I don't have anyone."
"You don't have any family?"
I turn away from him, shame filling me. "No. No one that cares about my whereabouts."
"Any friends you want to call?"
All my friends sided with Miguel and my twin sister, Josie. She was the one still in town all the time. I was the girl who had a career and wasn't ever around.
Because I was working to pay for his dream.
"No."
Voicing the sad truth of my life makes me hate myself even more.
"Sorry. I'm probably your most boring rescue ever," I say to deflect the pathetic image of my life.
"I don't have any family anymore, either," he murmurs, almost absentmindedly. There's sadness and grief in his voice.
"Why not?"
He avoids looking at me and taps the steering wheel. "Everyone is gone."
I'm not sure what that means, and I don't respond, fearful I'm going to blab something stupid again. But I see his pain, and it stabs at my heart. I put my hand on his shoulder.
He turns toward me. "I'm sorry for your losses."
"And I'm sorry for yours."
Zoe stumbles past the car in her stilettos, and we stay silent. Ryker goes to open the door, I presume to tell her to go back inside or at least not go outside without one of his guys, but Dirk comes into sight, and Ryker relaxes.
"If you work for the good guys, where are you taking us?"
He furrows his brows. "I don't know."
My pulse increases. "What do you mean? Don't you normally know where you are taking the people you rescue?"
