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36: Life of Death and Deceit

36: Life of Death and Deceit

I woke from the haunting sleep a few hours later to a ringing. Selena was calling me. Emmett was also asleep, probably incredibly bored since he couldn't move. I answered it and murmured, "What is it?"

"Louise!" It was whisper-yelled into my ear and I flinched slightly. "I just overheard my dad on the phone with someone," she whispered. "Saying he found 'her' and I don't know who that is but I think it's you. He knows it's you."

"I walked into the main house today to find Walsh in Emmett's kitchen," I said quietly.

There was talking on the other side before she urgently whispered, "I got to go. Look, get out of town. Like, as soon as you can."

"Emmett and I are tomorrow," I said reassuringly. She hung up and I dropped the phone on the couch next to me. Emmett stirred slightly, but stayed asleep.

Rising carefully from my spot so I didn't wake him up, I looked at him to see a cute pout on his face. He was still asleep, though. I turned and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. It was two o'clock in the afternoon, so I didn't figure it was really breakfast. It was closer to dinnertime.

There was pancake mix in the pantry, so I grabbed it, chocolate chips, a cup, and the syrup. I never really measured the powder or anything, I just threw it and some water in the cup and mixed until it seemed about right. My mom had taught me at a young age because I'd wake up on a Saturday and occasionally be the only one in the house. I learned to cook breakfast quickly, but there was a bag of some sort of food on the counter for me to eat usually.

As I cooked, I felt a presence behind me and turned to see Emmett. "I have a speech ready but I'm not sure you're in the right state of mind to be yelled at," he said quietly.

"Have at it," I muttered, flipping the pancakes. "I'm sure I did something to deserve it."

"Well, this could definitely have been avoided had you not rolled the window down last night," he agreed. "It made a noise and Walsh saw you. That's probably why he showed up here this morning."

"But if he found out it was me, why did he come here?"

"I don't know. Probably to trick me into confirming that it was, in fact, you." Emmett raked a hand through his hair and released a breath. "We're leaving tomorrow. No doubt. It will be okay."

I nodded. "He knows it's me, not 'Lilly.' Selena called me and told me she overheard him on the phone." His jaw clenched.

"Of course he knows it's you. You haven't grown an extra head since he knew you! There's no possible way you look that different since he knew you. Unless, of course, you dyed your hair and lost glasses or something."

I winced slightly at the tone and flipped the pancakes again to make sure they were done. He sighed and came over, resting one arm around my torso and tugging me over to look at him.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you that it's all okay and crap. But I'm not going to let anything like this happen."

His promise from a few hours earlier sounded in my head and I felt one corner of my mouth quirk upward. His hand on my waist made me feel safer, like I would be perfectly fine in his arms.

I put the pancakes on two plates and handed him one. Smiling, he took it and sat down at the counter. I joined him after turning everything off and cleaning up. I grabbed us both forks.

As we ate, I noticed how tense he was. His back muscles were stiff and his shoulders up slightly. He must have been so stressed, seeing me causing so much trouble with the world around us.