“I’m… sorry…” I manage to say weakly.
“Don’t worry about it,” he is quick to reply. “I’ll clean that up. Let’s get you to bed now.”
Unsteady and weak, I allow him to take me to my room. I feel the cold, wet cloth as he wipes my face. Sleep takes over me violently, like a tornado, promising no rest. Only more turmoil.
Chapter 14
Anderson
I doubt I’d been asleep for longer than an hour or so, and yet it seems like I missed everything. Fynn quickly updated me on what happened over the phone, and I see he’s out of his mind. Even though, just by looking at him, you’d never tell. He is that good at hiding it. But, I see his fingers. They’re not calm, as usual. They’re the only part of his body that always betrays him when he’s like this.
“So, that’s why I think we should head over there now,” Fynn wraps up telling me exactly what happened, and suggesting to go and hide somewhere else, somewhere where not even the police would know where we are.
“Is it still safe?” I wonder. “We haven’t been there in about…”
“Five years,” he reminds me. “Luckily, we didn’t need to use it. The police safe houses, any of the ones we used, did the job. But, this time, we’re screwed.”
“You think the hiker had something to do with the call?”
“Everything points to the contrary, but it can’t be a coincidence. It just can’t.”
“You know I trust you when it comes to smells and gut feelings,” I remind him.
“I know,” he tries a smile. “Thanks. Really.”
“So, we wake her up and get going?”
“I think so,” he nods, drumming his fingers silently against the kitchen table, as if following an inside rhythm which is trying to soothe him, only not very successfully. “Just get what we need the most. Some food. Water. Leave the rest. We need to go now.”
“OK.”
“Actually, you go get the girl,” he tells me. “I’ll grab stuff from the kitchen. Just shove her stuff in her bag and don’t spend too much time on it. I’ll be waiting outside by the car.”
“Sure thing,” I nod again, and rush over to Maddie’s room.
I wasn’t in on the conversation, but judging from what Fynn told me, Sven either knows where we are or he’ll know very soon. And then, there’ll be Hell to pay. We need to get the heck out of here and now.
With those thoughts in mind, I knock on Maddie’s door, and immediately enter without even waiting for the OK. She’s lying on the bed, her entire body covered with a blanket. She’s breathing slowly, evenly. She’s fully asleep and I almost feel bad for waking her up. But, there’s no time to spare.
“Maddie,” I call out to her, shaking her gently on the shoulder.
She stirs a little underneath the blanket, but doesn’t acknowledge me.
“Maddie, you need to wake up,” I tell her again, a little more loudly. “We need to go.”
She stirs some more, her eyes barely open, a faint flicker of recognition. Then, she props herself up on her elbows, as her chestnut hair falls in thick tresses behind her on the pillow.
“Go where?” she asks, fully awakened now by the newfound knowledge.
“Can’t tell you,” I shake my head, as I pull the blanket off of her. “It’s Fynn’s place. Well, not technically. He doesn’t live there. But, he’s used it for years. It’s abandoned, and perfect for what we need.” I realize I’m babbling, but that’s me on edge. Fynn’s fidgety. I yack like a bored old grandma with her nose in everybody’s business.
“Oh…” she nods, rubbing her eyes. “Well, lemme just get ready and - “
“No time,” I shake my head, already up from the bed and grabbing the few items of clothes she’s brought with her from the shelves. “Where’s your bag?”
She points at a little backpack in the corner, and I shove all her stuff in there. I grab her toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom and two towels.
“You ready to go?” I ask her.
Her eyes are sparkling in the darkness. I can’t tell if she’s trying to suppress the tears. I squeeze her shoulder.
“Hey…” I tell her. “I know it looks bad, but you have no proof that your dad took that shot.”
She lifts her diamond eyes to me, and I see hope in them, hope unlike any other I’ve seen in all my years on the force.
“But, Fynn said - “
“I thought I told you to take into account that Fynn’s an asshole sometimes,” I remind her, and the joke works. She bursts into laughter, and two large glistening tears roll down her cheeks. “He thinks he’s got the Universe by the balls or something, and I love that guy to death, but sometimes, he’s got his head so deep up his ass that he has no idea what he’s saying.”
She chuckles again.
“So, let’s focus on us first, and getting out of this house safe and sound. Then, once all this is over, I promise you that we’ll find out what happened to Hugo. Let’s not jump to conclusions before we got all the facts straight. Alright?”
She takes us both by surprise when she jumps at me and wraps her arms around my neck. For a moment, I don’t know what to do, and just stand there stupidly, with her hanging from my neck, all elongated and swan-like. But then, instinct takes over, and I envelop her into a warm hug. She fits into my arms so perfectly, like she was made to be there.
She looks up at me, her cheeks still red and her eyes a little swollen, but she’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on. No matter how many times I repeat to myself that this is a case we’re working on, a very delicate one at that, I can’t pretend like there isn’t chemistry between us.
It’s hard not to lower my head just a few inches towards her and press my lips against hers. I can’t. I want to, with all my heart, but I know I can’t. I keep staring at her, so sweet, so vulnerable, so willing. Her lips part slightly, and her warm breath spills onto me. I dig my fingers deeper into her flesh. I press her closer to me. I can feel her heart beat against mine, beating in unison.
Finally, I let go of her. I know I can’t do this. I’m not allowed. I’m the older one here, and should know better.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” I resort to the usual phrase that is said under these circumstances, and it provides some distance from the overly intimate moment we just shared.
She nods. I feel sorry that the magic is broken, but it’s better that way.
“Come on, I got your stuff here,” I pat the backpack in my arms. “We need to get going now.”
“Let’s go,” she says, still weak, but willing to obey.
We walk out of the house, and I grab a few other things on the way. Outside, Fynn is standing by the car, cigarette in his mouth. When he sees us, he inhales deeply, then drops the rest of it to the ground and stomps on it angrily. I don’t have to be near him to know that all the hairs on his body are pricked up. He is trying to pick up a sense of a possible intruder, but he isn’t agitated. He is focused, calm.