Deep Waters

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The next week was pretty boring. I basically did nothing. Daniel still hadn't contacted me about the information on the plan to catch Charles, so every second of my time was spent by my phone waiting on that call. In an attempt to fix our boredom, my brother Gavin and I spent a lot of time playing card games. I lost the majority of the time because I didn't know how to play half of them but that didn't stop me from trash talking. Trash talking spilled from my mouth anytime I got competitive and it made me feel like it was going to push me to the winning spot, but it never did, unfortunately. But in good news, Sam didn't really show his face very often. When he did, he didn't speak to me, or hardly even look at me for that matter, so I was proud to think that my threat scared him off.

At one point I called Miles to check in with him and see how he and Olivia were dealing with the loss of their parents. He was honest with me and explained that the two of them wouldn't be okay for a while, but they were alive and that's all that mattered. I could tell that he felt guilty for their deaths since he was the one Charles had been after. My heart broke for him and assured him repeatedly that is was indeed not his fault. Fortunately, with my experience of losing loved ones, I knew the right things to say. I spoke a prayer for them, too.

Despite Miles going through that tragedy, he still spent a lot of time working with Daniel on the plan to catch Charles. He said it was a good distraction. It was only an extra benefit that he could get payback on the man. I tried explaining that payback wasn't always a great idea, but he disagreed, and I didn't bother arguing. I took the opportunity to ask about Kason while on the phone since I hadn't been able to talk to him much at all, and Miles said my boyfriend wasn't very fond of this idea I had, but he hadn't done anything to stop it. My heart warmed, knowing that Kason was respecting my decision.

The morning that the others returned, we were all in the middle of eating breakfast. Weird timing, but I would never complain considering the excitement to have Kason back in the house was eating away my appetite. Marla was the first to walk in without knocking, making Gavin jump up from the dining table and run to pull her in his arms. "I just wanna get back in the car and drive until I find the edge of the earth," she whined, wrapping her arms around Gavin with a frown on her face.

"Eat something, Sis. You have a freaking existential crisis every time you get hungry," Holden replied, following in close behind her. I raised an eyebrow at him. What was with her mood? He just rolled his eyes and gave me a shrug, likely saying that she was being dramatic. Nothing big, I suspected. I decided to blame it on her period.

I hugged everyone tightly as they walked in but practically threw myself at Kason when his face appeared in front of me. His arms secured themselves around me immediately and the warmth of his chest scared every inch of anxiety I had over the hills. I felt his lips press against my scalp, likely him giving me a hint that he wanted me to kiss him, but I was so happy to have my face hidden in his neck that I stood there for as long as I wanted. "I missed you," I whispered, muffled by his skin.

He chuckled, probably not understanding a word I said. "I missed you, Babe." Finally. after a couple of minutes, he was able to pry me off of him long enough to place a kiss on my lips. He showed me his bright white teeth and that deep glint in his eyes. I hadn't realized how much I had missed him until he was back right here in front of me.

After we both finished eating our breakfast, it didn't take him long at all to drag me back to my bedroom and ask me to explain every little thing that happened while he was away. I laughed as Kason threw himself on my bed, rolled onto his stomach, and propped his chin upon his hands like a little kid. "No! I wanna hear how Lucy's birthday party went!" I chuckled, pushing him over to the side so there was room on the mattress for me.

Kason rolled over on his back and folded his arms behind his head, looking at me with soft eyes. His brown hair was wavy and tousled, probably not even combed, and his face seemed to be spotted with a few more freckles than when he had left. "Well," he started with a bright grin, "she had the pinkest cake I'd ever seen that was waaay too sweet for my preference, and she got a barbie doll that she names after you, though it looked nothing like you, so I don't know why she did that."

I stuck my tongue out at him and interrupted his words. "Maybe she just likes me that much."

My boyfriend's blue eyes rolled. "Oh, please, that's definitely not the case because I've never had a doll named after me." I just smiled and let him continue. "I absolutely loved every second of her presence, but I could do without all of her screaming little friends." He turned onto his side and grabbed my hips, pulling me a little closer to him. Once I was close enough for his preference, he threw an arm around me and rested his head on my collarbone. He was such a big baby. "What happened here?"

Caressing my hand up and down his back and through his hair, I took a breath and figured out where I'd start. He sighed with a little moan and pecked his lips against my neck. "Well, Hazel and I seem to be good friends now, which is weird." For a brief moment, Kason lifted his head and furrowed his eyebrows at my words before returning to his comfort spot. "Like, we are actually getting along and actually kind of enjoying each other's presence...and before that, I found out Miles has a crush on me--."

Kason lifted his head again. "What?"

I rolled my eyes at him and pushed his head back down. "Not important...in bigger news, I set Sam in his place after he practically attacked me--," I started again.

"Wait, what?" he interrupted again.

I sighed. "Kason, I took care of it. It's not a big deal anymore."

"What do you mean by 'practically attacked'?" he questioned further anyway.

I stared at him, hoping he'd let me off the hook. He didn't. "He held me back against the wall by my throat?" I answered in more of a question.

Fury lit up in his eyes and he jumped up. For a brief moment, he gently touched my neck as if checking for marks before moving to race off the bed and out of the room. "I'm going to kill him."

Before he could get out of reach, I gripped his arm and pulled him back down on the bed. "I handled it," I told him clearly, staring straight into his eyes. "I'm okay, don't worry."

He let out a deep stressed sigh. "Why do you keep telling me very surprising and not okay things and then tell me to not worry?"

"Because I am strong and independent and have taken care of everything already."

After a moment, an attractive smile stretched his cheeks and he genuinely looked proud of me. Lowering his head to mine, his plump lips connected with mine roughly. "Your confidence is attractive, Baby," he spoke in between kissing me.

I just smirked and pushed him away from me. "Good. I'm glad you like it, 'cause I don't need you anymore."

Shock concealed stare, but he recovered quite quickly. Within a few seconds, he rolled over on top of me. "But you know you want me anyway," he said, his ego clearly too large. I didn't argue though and just kissed him in return. We both knew he was right.

#

The two weeks got boring again as we waited for a call from Daniel about the plan. I took advantage of the free time though and spent most of the time sparring with Kason in the barn. He wanted to make sure he could teach me as much as he could in the time we had just to make sure I knew how to protect myself.

One Thursday evening we were all eating pizza for dinner at the dining table, listening to the radio. There was a sudden surge of bank robberies in multiple states, whether the cases were connected or not was undecided. A ring of my phone interrupted the reporter on the radio speaker. "It's Daniel," I announced to everyone after observing the lock screen. Darrell immediately turned off the radio as I answered the call. Every single one of us had been eager for this call since I originally decided on the idea nearly a month ago now. "Hello?"

"We are ready," he got straight to the point, both of us knowing exactly why he was calling me. "Are you sure you are still up for this?"

I nodded, glancing at all of the nervous faces surrounding me. "Yes." Excitement and anxiety swirled in my stomach like possessed butterflies. I had never been so excited to be face to face with Charles.

He sighed. "Okay...You'll leave in the morning. The cars will be there to pick y'all up at six. Be ready."

As the line disconnected, I glanced at the traditional clock hanging on the wall. Twelve hours. Just twelve hours from now and I'd be on my way to catch Charles. 

***

oooo... Next chapter is going to be....interesting. Any predictions??? 

:) Love you all. Hope you are doing well!

~Emily