Page 94 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
“What did he want?” she asked.
“He wanted me to go into witness protection but we convinced him to let me stay at the outpost until we knew more about what was happening with the case.”
“Ah, gotcha.” Maisy nodded. “Did he tell you anything? Did he give you a timeline for how long it would take to put them away?”
I shook my head. “Not really. And since the case isn’t new anymore, there hasn’t been much in the headlines lately. I’m pretty much in the dark.”
I wasn’t sure if it was better or worse to have internet access every day. At the outpost, it had been easier to push my worries about the Federovs aside because I had no way of tracking the FBI’s case. But now, I found myself refreshing The Seattle Time’s website every thirty minutes.
“No news is probably good news,” Felicity said.
“I hope so.”
“Well, Maisy’s right. There’s nothing we can do about this now. You’re here so at least we can catch up today. Tell us everything. I want to know what happened at the outpost.”
Maisy smiled into her coffee mug. “And I’d like to know what is going on with you and my brother.”
“What?” Felicity’s eyes snapped to mine. “You and Beau?”
I blushed and looked to my coffee. “Yeah. Me and Beau.”
“For how long?”
“A couple months.”
“All right. Then hurry up and give us the outpost recap first. Then get to the good stuff.”
I smiled and laughed with my friend. We spent the next thirty minutes talking through everything that had happened at the outpost. I told them all about my journey into writing. About Dylan and the hotshot crew. And about my meeting with Henry Dalton.
“I’m so glad you didn’t go into witness protection,” Maisy said.
“Me too.” Though, I still thought staying in Montana was just delaying the inevitable. Regardless, I was glad he hadn’t come back to collect me. That had to be a sign that things with the Federovs were progressing, right?
“Wait a minute.” Felicity frowned and counted out a couple of fingers. “Were you and Beau together when Silas came up to the outpost and brought you down to meet with Henry?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
She threw her hands in the air. “And he didn’t tell me anything! Silas is in trouble.” She pointed at my nose. “And so are you. This is all information you should have been sending in your letters.”
I winced and scrunched up my face. “Sorry?” My letters had been so focused on wedding details, I’d left out the details of my budding relationship.
“You’re forgiven, but only if you give us all the details now. What’s going on with you two?”
Felicity and Maisy both leaned further into the island, anxious for me to share the juicy gossip.
I shrugged. “We’re temporary, I guess. I don’t know how else to describe it. Our circumstances are completely insane, but no matter what, I’m really glad I’ve gotten the chance to know him. We’ll just have to see what develops.”
“Would you ever consider staying?” Felicity asked.
Beau and I had only ever talked about parting ways eventually, but what if we didn’t have to? I wanted to keep seeing him and I think he wanted that too. Excitement at the possibility bubbled up in my chest.
“Yes. If it was safe, I’d stay.”
“Yay!” Maisy cheered at the same time I said, “But.”
Her hands came down from above her head. “Uh-oh.”
“You don’t want to get your hopes up.” Felicity voiced my fears.
