Page 9 of Shadows Relived
Sophie buried her face in Meaghan’s lap as the two boys ducked over, hands to their ears.
As soon as they were away from the school, Meaghan exploded, the fury bottled inside of her the moment she saw Callen, spewing from her raw nerves. “What the heck was that?” Her chest heaved, her jaw tightening with her rage. “My school is a war zone, my students areterrified, and my father thinks the best solution is sending you to kidnap me like I’m some porcelain doll that can’t fend for herself? What the heck is he into now that brought this to my school?”
Callen spared her a glance, his face set in grim lines. “I didn’t come here to argue with you, Meg. I came to keep you alive.”
“I wasn’t in danger until you arrived! Then all heck broke loose.”
She saw him glance at her in the rearview mirror, one brow cocked. Rolling her eyes, she pointed to the three children. She would not cuss in front of the kids.
He shook his head, a humorless laugh bubbling out of him that only infuriated her more. “You honestly think I caused the… darn gunfire?”
“I think you think you’re still some kind of tough guy soldier, bursting in like this is your next mission. But this isn’t a battlefield, Callen. These are kids. My kids.”
He kept staring at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road ahead. “They turned your school into a battlefield, Meaghan, not me. And for the record, the saddest part of war is that kids die on the battlefield because the bad guys don’t care they’re there. And if I hadn’t been there, that could very well have been the case today, regardless of what you think.”
She stared at the back of his head for a moment, his words pulling at her heart.
The sobs grew louder, and Meaghan immediately shifted in her seat, softening her voice.
“Sophie, baby, it’s okay,” she said. “We’re going somewhere safe. I promise.”
“I wanna go home,” Willie cried, swiping at his eyes with the back of his arm. “I want my grandma!”
“I know,” she murmured, tears stinging her own eyes now as she reached over Sophie to stroke the back of the small boy’s head. “We’ll get you there. Soon. Everything’s going to be all right. You’ll see.”
Callen said nothing as she spoke, but she noticed his grip on the wheel tightened.
“We need to contact these kids’ parents,” she said to the back of his head. “They’ll be worried and want their children back. Pull over so I can make some calls.”
He sighed. “It’s not safe. Whoever was shooting at you could be after us right now. They saw us leave, remember? If we stop, then it’ll just make us sitting targets again. We need to get somewhere safe first.”
She scooted to the edge of the seat, draping one arm along the back of the seat in front of her. “I need to tell these parents that their children are safe. They’ll be going out of their minds.”
He made a slow bob of his head. “I get that, but I can’t stop until I know we’re safe.”
She growled as she shoved herself back into her seat, reaching for her phone.
As soon as he saw her pull it out, he reached over the seat, snatching it out of her hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” She lunged for her phone, but he rolled his window down and tossed it out.
“They can track your phone.” He glanced at her in the mirror, one brow cocked. “And watch your language. Kids are present.”
She growled again, clenching her hands into tightfists. “You never change. Do you know that? You’re always doing what you’re told, no matter how wrong it feels.”
His nostrils flared. “And you’re still the same reckless rebel, always fighting the people trying to help you.”
“I don’t need your help,” she snarled, crossing her arms over her chest.
A beat of silence filled the inside of the car. Then, softer, but full of frustration, he said, “No. You never did.”
Her stomach clenched at that. Because she remembered. God help her, she remembered everything.
The feel of his breath against her ear in that dark closet during Seven Minutes of Heaven. The scent of pine and firewood on his hoodie the night they kissed at the bonfire. The way he’d touched her like she was something precious the night after graduation, and then the way he vanished before morning.
She’d waited. Waited to hear him say the words she swore she’d seen in his eyes.
But all she got was silence.
