After cutting part of the bottom lining of my bag, I left the plastic flap half on. I threw a few shirts and pants inside before heading out into the hallway. When I got to the main room, I found it empty. Walking over to the boardroom door, I opened it. I knew Archer had ensured that it would be unlocked.
The room was plunged in darkness, and Rev and Bishop were no longer there. Glancing over my shoulder, I slipped inside. I hurried over to the closet. I tossed out my clothes, then threw open the closet door. Rev and Bishop were far too trusting, because the cut still sat on the shelf. I grabbed it and stuffed it under the loose flap of my bag. I put the clothes back on top of it and then zipped it up. I shut the closet door fast and then raced out of the room. Thankfully, no one was there to see me.
I tried easing my frantic breaths as I headed outside to meet Archer. He was waiting for me by his bike. “Ready?” he asked, his brows rising.
I nodded. “Yeah. I got everything.”
“Good.” He slid across the seat of his motorcycle while I picked up the helmet that had pretty much become my own. After I put it on, I climbed on behind him. As my arms slid around his waist, I once again had to fight to keep my emotions in check. While each time it seemed to get a little easier being on the back of a bike, it didn’t dull the pain of losing Deacon.
Later, as we pulled into my driveway, I couldn’t help the tightening in my chest at the sight of the house that had once been my happy home. After my attack, I didn’t think it would ever feel happy again. That, coupled with losing Deacon, made me seriously consider putting it on the market.
When I started up the walk, I realized that Archer wasn’t beside me. Turning around, I cocked my brows at him. “Aren’t you coming in?”
He shook his head. “Gonna do a walk around. Then I’ll probably stay out here on the porch.”
“You don’t mean you’re going to sleep in one of the chairs?”
“I won’t be sleeping.”
“But I have a perfectly good couch inside, not to mention a guest bedroom.”
“Alex, when your protection is put on my shoulders, I take it very seriously. I ain’t gonna be caught sleeping if Sigel decides to strike.”
Realizing I wasn’t going to break his resolve, I nodded. “All right, then. But it’s looked like it was going to storm all day. If it does, you’re coming inside. I won’t have you struck by lightning.”
He laughed. “Whatever.”
“And thank you. For today. For everything.”
As the unspoken hung heavy between us, he nodded. “You’re welcome.”
Turning around, I headed back up the walk. After unlocking the door, I purposely refused to look to my left. With my emotions already going haywire, I couldn’t even acknowledge the kitchen or what had happened there. Regardless of the fact I tried to escape them, the memories of that horrible night rocketed through my mind, causing me to gasp.
Pushing myself forward, I hurried up the stairs, anxious to put as much distance as I could between me and the kitchen. When I got to my bedroom, I went straight for the bathroom. The moment I turned on the water, the tears pooled in my eyes like I had turned them on as well. After stripping out of my clothes, I slipped into the shower. Standing under the spray, I let the water wash away the tears that continued to fall. I thought by now I would be devoid of any moisture, but just like my grief seemed to have no cap to its depths, neither did my tears.
When I finished, I toweled off and slid into the silky blue robe that hung behind the bathroom door. I knew there would be no way I would fall asleep on my own tonight, not even with Archer hanging around. As soon as I took my sleeping pill, I wanted to at least order him a pizza—something to compensate for having to babysit me, even if he did say it was an easy job.
Opening the medicine cabinet, I took out the pills that my therapist had first started prescribing for me after my parents were killed. Now another tragic loss, another reason to take a blue pill to escape the torment of grief through sleep.
I closed the cabinet and reached for the glass on the counter. Something caught my eye, and I glanced up into the mirror. The bottle of pills clattered onto the counter. Both my hands flew to my mouth. Without a word, I shook my head back and forth, willing myself to wake up from the dream I surely found myself in. But nothing changed.
“Babe,” a gentle voice said.
Framed in the doorway of my bathroom was Deacon.
The ability to speak had abandoned me. Instead, my body shook and trembled as I tried to come to terms with what was before me. His eyes never leaving mine, Deacon stepped into the bathroom. Taking slow steps, he closed the gap between us. When his hand came up to cup my cheek, my knees buckled. I would have sunk onto the tile if Deacon hadn’t reached out and grabbed me by the shoulders. Easing me back, he gripped my waist and hoisted me onto the counter.
Turning on the faucet, he poured me a glass of water. When he brought it to my lips, I reluctantly took a few sips. I didn’t know how simple water could possibly help at this moment. I needed a stiff drink.
“Y-you’re a-alive?” I stammered.
He nodded.
“But how? The bomb … the fire.”
Deacon ran a hand through his hair. “Walter had followed me and Case down there. Just as Case went inside the house, Walter took off into the woods after a deer. I knew he would get lost, and you and Willow would have my ass. I took two steps into the woods, and the explosion knocked me down.”
I tried processing his words. He’d never been in the house. Walter, the gift he had given me, had saved his life. For the past two days, he’d been alive, holed up somewhere, as those he loved mourned his loss.