Brave Enough

Nineteen

**** Thank you, everyone, who has stayed faithful to reading Brave Enough! This book has officially hit 11k in views! I never thought I would get past maybe 10!

**** Also warning for anyone this chapter has more gruesome and relatively horrible parts. As this will now include part of James' past moments with Colin on the sexual side. If you are not comfortable with it. Do skip over this chapter.

        Buck rolls over and reaches out for James. Realizing her spot is cold he lifts his head up. "James?" He sits up in alert. "James?!" He shouts. Jumping up he searches the apartment. "James!" He runs to the guest room. Cleo is gone. "No." Their belongings are gone. "No. Please." On the counter, an envelope sits alone. The blood in Buck's veins goes cold. 'Evan Buckley.'

       Inside the envelope contains a letter, a photograph, and the necklace Buck had just given her the afternoon before. He falls into a chair staring at the photo of the three of them during their first trip to the beach. The letter sits there begging him to read it.

Evan, I love you more than words can describe. You've made me someone I didn't think I could be. So me leaving is the hardest thing I could possibly do. My heart already aches for you. But I'm leaving because I love you. Leaving you means protecting you and protecting Cleo. I want you to know we're safe and we're missing you. Please don't look for me. ~ James

       The apartment door opens. "Buck? James? We're here for Cleo," Maddie says. She walks in to find Buck in tears sitting at the kitchen table. "Buck, what's wrong? Where are James and Cleo?" She asks sitting down in the chair next to his.

      "What do you mean aren't you behind them leaving again?" Maddie looks at him with confusion.

      "Her leaving again? James left? Does Athena know?"

       "You didn't know? I don't know I just discovered she was gone. Their stuff is gone," Buck says sadly. "She left this note. Something had to have happened. There's no reason for her to leave. I'm going to try to call her."

      "Don't bother son. Her phones right here. She left it in her apartment with a note addressed to me. I came to see if maybe she changed her mind and came back to you. Marcus is upset and Bobby is trying to calm him down. Let me see your note."

      "Athena something had to have happened. I mean something with him. What she said in her note was a lot like when he called her two months ago. Is he in LA?" Buck's distress grows by the second.

      "Well there's good news, bad news, and then really fucking bad news. Which would you like first? Good or bad?" Zedd and Shep walk through the door dragging Talia along behind them. "You tell them your little secret Talia."

       "Well..." she looks down at her feet. "The good news is she left willingly and not with him. The bad news is that we knew for the last two months that he was no longer in Florida."