Set Me Free (19 page)

The only thing to break the awkward silence between Elliot and Zach was the slamming of the door. Zach flinched, but kept his eyes on the floor, his jaw aching from being so tense.

"How the hell is she planning on dealing with the L.A. Feds on her own?" Elliot finally muttered.

"Damned if I know." Zach shook his head. "Shit!" Punching the air, he let out another curse. "She can't do this to me again. Come on, let's go get her."

Elliot hesitated before reluctantly closing his laptop and packing up his stuff. His movements were slow and infuriating. Zach was still fired up after their scuffle. The urge to hit and throw made his muscles twitch, but he contained himself by clenching his fists.

"Any chance you can go a little faster?"

Elliot gave him a deadpan glare. "Are you sure you don't want to let her blow off some steam?"

"Last time I let her do that she disappeared. We're already taking too long, now hurry up."

Elliot slowly unzipped his bag.

"Okay, I get it. You don't want me to go after her."

"I didn't say that."

"You're saying it right now, Mr. Slow Ass!"

"Look, maybe it's a good thing she's gone. If things went wrong tonight you'd be in deep shit, not to mention the fact there is still a chance the FBI are gonna catch up with us at some point. Do really you want to go further along this path? It's gonna jeopardize everything."

Zach's eyes rounded as he pointed at his friend. "You were the one who encouraged her to keep going!"

"Yeah, that was before I thought I was going to lose all my friends."

"You're not going to lose them!"

"It's looking pretty dicey right now, Zach." The way he said his name with such scorn made Zach realize just how cut up Elliot was over AJ's scathing words.

"It's gonna be okay," Zach sighed. "AJ will forgive you, we all know he will."

Elliot zipped up his bag and pulled out his keys. "It's not just that. I mean I was on fire about this before, but it's starting to sink in...what we're really doing and I'm..."

"Chickening out?" Zach spat.

Elliot shot him a dark look as the front door creaked open. Zach sucked in a quick breath and raced to the top of the stairs.

His expanded chest deflated as Alex ascended towards him.

"What?" He frowned.

"I just thought you were Lucy," Zach mumbled.

"Isn't she here?"

"She took off."

Alex's confused frown morphed to wide-eyed surprise as he stepped into his living room. "What the hell happened in here?"

Elliot went instantly red, shoving his hands into his pockets. Zach scratched the back of his neck and tried for a chuckle that came off as breathy and guilt ridden.

"We just had a disagreement and then Lucy ran off."

"Again?" He looked pissed as he threw his keys onto the table. "What is it with that girl? We need her to pull off tonight. She can't just ditch us now." Alex sighed into his hand. "I know you like her a lot, Zach, but she seriously needs to get herself a backbone. We're trying to do something huge here."

"A back—What did you just say?" Zach's voice sparked with rage. "A backbone?"

Alex nodded, stepping away from his fiery nephew as he paced towards him.

"She— Lucy Tate is one of the strongest people I have ever met! You know what she's been through, right? The fact that she's still sane is a huge credit to her. Do you honestly think at the age of 13, you could have survived that kind of trauma? She's intelligent and resourceful and amazing and she has every right to walk away from this! She's not doing it for her, she's doing it for us!" Zach slapped his chest.

"Which is why we owe it to her to keep going! We have to convince her not to bail. We're too close to gold. Tonight could end this...for all of us!"

Zach growled, running his hand through his hair. "Look, you just need to back off. She's entitled to freak out. If we don't get into the house tonight, we'll find another way. We'll work it out."

Alex looked pissed as he jerked his head. "This is a really good shot and possibly our only one for a long time. It's a safe bet. Lucy can fool this kid and if Tenner's hiding anything, he'll have it in his office, that's just basic logic."

"We don't know that for sure."

"Oh come on!" Alex flicked his hand in the air. "It's a damn good guess."

"I don't care. If she doesn't want to do it, I'm not gonna make her."

Alex licked his bottom lip and crossed his arms, the answer not appeasing him. So far today, Zach had managed to piss off everyone he cared about. He felt like a piece of dog poo on the bottom of someone's shoe. Pinching the back of his neck, he closed his eyes with a huff, wrestling to rein in his emotions.

"My only priority right now is making sure she doesn't split," Zach mumbled. "I gotta go find her."

With a reluctant sigh, Alex dug into his bag. "Here, just take this in case she changes her mind."

Zach stared at the small bag in Alex's hand. It contained a small jar and a gauze cloth.

"Just a small splash of this stuff on the gauze will knock him out." He pointed to the bottle. "Don't use too much though, you don't want to kill him."

Taking the bag with a tentative grin, he mumbled his thanks.

"Sorry for messing up your place."

Alex looked around the room and shrugged. "It's just stuff, little bro."

Zach nodded his thanks, stepping into a quick embrace with his uncle. He slapped him on the back twice before turning to look at Elliot.

His friend, faithful as ever, gave him a nod and started for the stairs.

"I hope you find her," Alex called after them.

Zach wished for the same thing as he jumped into Elliot's car.

His leg bobbed uncontrollably as they slowly drove the streets looking for Lucy. They didn't even know where to start and after two hours of pointless turns, Elliot eventually sighed. "This is idiotic. We just need to go home, okay? I want to go home."

Zach kept his eyes out the window and gave a stiff nod. His mind hadn't stopped whirling since the second they got into the car. His reunion speech was perfected as he went over the words again and again. The only thing he was struggling with was how to start, but he was hoping once he saw her that it would all solidify in his head.

He squeezed his eyes shut as Elliot turned for the bridge, silently praying they did find her so he could say his piece.

Thirty minutes later they were pulling into the outskirts of Danville.

"You know she might have gone back to get her stuff."

"Yep." Zach's reply was clipped.

"Dude, I hate this. Would you talk to me please? I'm sorry I got pissed with you over the AJ thing. I don't get the power this girl has over you and it bugs me that you're willing to write off your friends for her."

Elliot still sounded pissed. Zach's smile was glum and pathetic as he faced his friend.

"What can I say, she captured me and I don't know how to let go."

"Look, I do get that. She is unique and amazing, but she's just one girl."

"She's not just..." Zach shook his head.

Elliot pressed his lips together, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove towards Zach's place.

"What are you gonna do when you find her?"

"I don't know." Zach scratched the corner of his mouth. "I've got to stop pushing though, you know. Ever since I found out the truth, I've been pushing, pushing, pushing for justice and totally forgetting the fact that I'm asking her to take on the guy who killed her parents, whose been hunting her for the last five years. He's killed everyone she's cared about."

"Yeah, it's pretty heavy," Elliot muttered.

"I don't know what to do. I mean part of me wants to yell some sense into her and tell her to stop running, but then another part just wants to hide her away from the world and tell her that if she runs, I’d go with her." He threw his hand in the air.

"That's ridiculous." Elliot glared at him. "If you do that I'm gonna slap you so hard. Dude, I know you have a brain deficiency when it comes to girls, but she is taking you beyond that. I have never seen you like this over someone before."

"She's not just someone, Elliot. She's Lucy. She's Dani. She's—"

"Got enough identities to become a spy."

Zach threw him a dark look. "Whatever she's..." He huffed, not really sure how to finish the sentence.

"She's yours?" Elliot's dramatic voice made Zach grin.

"If I can find her." He clenched his fist, tapping it against his knee.

Elliot’s soft sigh and light punch told Zach they were cool and that he got it...sort of. As they turned into Zach's neighborhood Zach said, "I don't expect you to stick around and look with me. You go do your thing."

"Yeah, I will. I'm...I'm gonna go see AJ."

Zach tried not to flinch, sneaking a quick look at his friend out of the corner of his eye. "Uh-huh."

"I need to make things right and I'll put in a good word for you too."

With a cynical scoff, Zach shook his head. "Not sure if they'll buy it."

"They'll come around."

Zach smiled, noting the change of tune they were both having. A few hours ago it was Zach trying to convince Elliot of that fact.

"Are you gonna tell them?"

"If I have to."

Zach nodded.

"Lucy will just have to cope," Elliot said firmly.

"Yeah, well, she may not be around to find out." Zach clicked his tongue.

"Or she might." Elliot slowed to a stop outside the Schultz home and pointed to the front step.

Zach expelled a sharp breath and scrambled for the door handle.

"I'll catch you later, man." Elliot grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, see ya."

"Good luck."

Zach barely heard his friend's farewell, he was too intent on the brunette with the blotchy face sitting on his doorstep. Pulling in a slow breath, he stepped towards her. No matter what she was about to tell him, he was determined to get in the first word.

Chapter 22

LUCY

He strode towards me as Elliot pulled away. I was kind of relieved we were on our own. I didn't know what to say to Zach and I'd spent the last hour-and-a-half sitting by his door trying to figure it out. I'd come up with so many different speeches they were now a jumbled mess in my mind.

In spite of this, I opened my mouth to begin. I had to get this over with.

Zach raised his hand.

"Before you say anything, can I just go first?" He tipped his head, looking sad and a little angry.

My stomach clenched, but I nodded.

"Lucy, no matter what you say to me right now, it's not going to change how I feel, okay?"

"Okay." My voice was barely a whisper.

Taut muscles that had been holding me together felt ready to snap as he drew in a breath.

"I'm—" He paused, looked up to the sky and then let out a breathy scoff as if suddenly changing his mind on what he wanted to say. "You know what, honestly? I'm kinda mad at you." His hands spread wide before dropping to his upper thighs. "I get that you want to protect me and my friends, I really do. I even admire that about you. But it just makes me so irate that you won't let me do the same for you!"

I swallowed, annoyed that I was finding his emblazoned voice such a turn on. His eyes were sparking like crazy and the way his muscles strained just made him look hot. I dropped my gaze, pinching the side of my neck.

"I want you to be happy. If I really think about it, that is ultimately what I want, even if it means losing you." His voice dipped, but then rose with passion as he kept talking. As hard as I tried, I couldn't take my eyes off him. "But I just can't see how you will ever be truly happy if you don't end this thing with Tenner. I want to set you free, Lucy. I care about you so much. And I hate that at the end of the day staying or going is still your decision. I want to tether you to my side, but then what does that make me?" His hands spread wide again. "Freedom means choice, right? And I have to respect yours, even if I think it's the wrong one." Sticking out his chin, he went for a brave expression, but his voice gave him away. The heated passion was nudged aside by a soft heartbreak that tore my insides to shreds.