Page 106 of Deserving Lara
“Oh. I never heard them.”
“I know,” Owl said with a grin. “You sleep like a rock.”
“I don’t like it when you aren’t sleeping.”
“I know that too. And I’m sure my insomnia will return at times. My brain has a hard time shutting off. When I think about how close I got to losing you…” His voice trailed off.
“You didn’t,” she said softly.
“I didn’t. And I’m very grateful for that. But…”
“But Stone is still out there somewhere,” Lara finished for him.
“Yeah,” Owl whispered. “We promised that we’d always be there for each other. And I let him down.”
“No, you didn’t,” Lara told him, sitting up and frowning. “You were unconscious, Owl. And so was he.”
“I know. But I can’t stop thinking about what he might be going through. We don’t know who took him or why. Where he is, or if he’s even still alive.”
“He is,” Lara said with conviction.
“I love your optimism, but you don’t know that,” Owl said sadly.
“I do. I heard what that guy said when he was dragging him away. He said his boss only wanted one of you. He has to want him forsomething…and not to just kill him, because that would be stupid. He could’ve had him killed right there in that hangar. He’s alive. And we’ll find him. Ry will.”
“I can’t believe Ryan was the one who found Jasna and tracked Reese,” Owl said with a shake of his head.
It was obvious he was changing the subject, and Lara didn’t push him to talk more about his friend. She had no doubt whatsoever that they’d find Stone…she just worried about what kind of shape he’d be in when they did. But he had the support of all his friends, and there was no better place to heal than here at The Refuge.
“Right? Apparently, she’s a super-level hacker, whatever that is. I heard Brick talking to Pipe about her, and he said even the infamous Tex was impressed with her abilities.”
“Which says a lot,” Owl agreed.
“Tiny’s not happy though,” Lara mused.
“No, he’s not.”
“If he hates her so much, why did he insist that she move into his cabin?” Lara asked.
“I think because he doesn’t trust her not to simply up and disappear. He wants to make sure she sticks around to find Stone.”
“I don’t think she’d do that. Leave, I mean. She wants to find him just as much as the rest of us. I think she feels guilty for not being able to get to us before everything happened. Which is silly, because there was no way she could’ve known that Ricky was working with Carter.”
“You know that, and I know that, but she doesn’t. And I doubt Tiny hates her…in fact, I think that’s part of his issue right now.”
“Oh! I didn’t even think about that.”
“Right. You ready for bed?”
Lara blinked at yet another abrupt change of topic. “You tired?” she asked.
“Exhausted.”
At that, Lara was up and moving like a flash. “Why didn’t you say something before? Come on, I’ll help you up. Does your leg hurt? Do you need another pill? I’ll get you some water.”
“Easy, sweetheart. I’m fine. Just tired.”
“Right. Sorry.”
