Page 74 of Tracked
Displeasure rumbled from my chest. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“That’s what I thought. I could see how someone like Sarah would be a good target for something like that and how she could be easilyswayed.” She paused here, a silent acknowledgment that Rachel would’ve been chosen and willing for similar reasons. Except Lara thought that reason was me, and I still felt the war being fought in my bones on whether it was my place to correct her.
What good would it do? Arguing about a decade-plus-old relationship? Sharing things her sister clearly wanted to keep private even if it had been at my expense?
What would the truth change?
The wordeverythingechoed from somewhere deep in my chest, and I strove to ignore it.
“So what do we do now?” Her arms folded over her chest and her head swung side to side;the hummingbird was back.“Should we leave? Or confront Dr. Julia? Ask where the Garden is—”
“Slow down, hummingbird,” I said without thinking. “Let me see what Callum can find out. We don’t know anything about Eden’s Children. If it’s legit. If it’s not. If we confront Maxwell and it spooks her, or her partner, I don’t want to risk it.”
Based on the limited information Lara had gleaned, I had a gut feeling about the kind of organization we were dealing with, but I didn’t want to throw the c-word out just yet; for Lara’s sake—and Rachel’s—I hoped I was wrong.
“You should head back,” I said, reaching for the heel of my boot and the cell phone hidden within. Lara stared, her silence heavy with protest. “You know they roam around the campsite to keep an eye on everyone and make sure we’re reflecting alone. If they can’t find either of us ...”
Her lips pursed, but she finally clipped her chin in a nod.
“I’ll let you know what he finds.”
“Eden’s Children,” I said when my brother answered the phone.
“Hold on,” Callum grunted. There was some shuffling and then a loud bang. “I’m dealing with something for Calder. Can you leave?”
“What about borrowing one of your drones—”
“I’m not getting involved in your prank war with Creighton,” Callum interrupted our sister.
“But he spray-painted Donnie—”
“I don’t give a fuck. Or a duck.” That was as close to a joke as Callum would get—one that was barbed in cold antipathy.
“Fine. I’ll ask Colt.”If she could find him.
People were usually surprised to learn how solitary most of us were. They thought because we lived on a family compound, sequestered from society, that we must live close-knit, like the seven dwarves, whistling by the campfire every night while we roasted s’mores.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
Mom had been the glue in that nuclear-knit family, holding together all the strings Cassius taught us were safer to keep separate. Once she was gone, we all unraveled. Some of us farther than others.
The following silence was broken by the march of Callum’s hands over his keyboard and Twister’s trot, nails clipping against the floor, as he followed Colby to the door; our animal-whispering sister was his second-favorite person after Callum. A few seconds later, I heard his door slam shut.
“You’d think living in my own damn house would send the message that I want to be left alone,” he muttered. “I’m going to have to install a bigger lock.”
“A bigger lock is only going to encourage her to pick it.”
He cursed under his breath. “Then I’ll install whatever Creighton has on the attic. She hasn’t managed to get through that.”
No, she just trained her duck to fly through his window.But I decided to forgo mentioning how much Donnie would probably enjoy the skylight in Callum’s house or chasing down his drones. I’d called for a reason, and it wasn’t to give Callum advice on how to manage his relationships. God knew, I was a pretty poor poster child for that right now.
“Anything come up?”
“How’d you learn the name?”
I flexed and released my fist. “Lara talked to one of the other women at the retreat who was invited to join.”
Callum’s silence wasn’t promising.
