Chapter 20
Chapter 19
“Bree, do you want to go check out everything I got you?” Cierra asked softly.
She
glanced at Cierra, “Sure, why not, Cierra, can I ask you something, though?”
Bree began as they headed to Justin’s room.
“Of
course.”
“Do
you miss Ben?”
“Yes.”
She answered surly.
“Oh.”
“Do
you miss Justin?”
“I
shouldn’t should I?”
“Well,
I can’t tell you how to feel.”
“But
it’s still wrong, isn’t it?”
Cierra
sighed, “I don’t know, there’s so much we don’t know yet, Bree, but we’ll
figure it out, Justin won’t give up.”
“Is
he always so nice?”
Cierra
smiled, “He’s usually pretty decent, I’ve never seen him like this, though,
it’s definitely new.” She began to pull clothes out of the bags she had brought
back.
Bree’s
gaze landed on the lavender sweatpants and sweatshirt, “Can I wear those?”
“Of
course,” Cierra handed them over. “I’ll step out so you can change.” She
stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door softly.
Bree
slowly stripped from the gray pants and t-shirt she had on and slipped into the
lavender outfit. Was she ever going to know where she was supposed to be?
She
hated not knowing anything, except for the fact she wanted Justin. She sighed a
little as she sat on the bed, Justin and she had cuddled on earlier.
Cierra
sat down on the couch as she pulled her phone out, she began to call Holly,
“Holly, are you coming back?”
“I
honestly don’t know, I’m still upset.”
“Holly,
why can’t you just move on from him? It’s been years since you’ve been hung up
on him and he’s not into you and hasn’t been, he hasn’t wanted anyone.”
“Yeah,
and all of a sudden, his niece disappeared, and he runs into that mysterious
girl in the woods, and he fell for her? Makes so much sense.” Holly grumbled.
“Holly,
he’s not falling for her, she needs someone, for now, she’s been through so
much.”
“It’s
still frustrating.”
“I
don’t know why he’s just not meant for you.”
“I
guess so, I just figured he’d care that I was attacked today, but no, he pushed
me away, but the minute she fell, he was all over her.”
“Okay,
maybe he has fallen for her a little, but I don’t see how, he barely knows
anything about her, I’m sure once he finds out who her family is he’ll ship her
off to them and get on with his life.” Cierra tried not to sound mean, but it
was more than likely true. She froze when she heard the sharp breath behind
her.
Cierra
spun around on the couch, and there stood Bree, “Holly, I’ve got to go.” She
hung up the phone and stood. “Bree,” she began, but Bree stepped away.
“Is
that what’s really going to happen?”
“No,
please, Bree, I was just trying to calm Holly down.”
Bree
stepped further away, “I think I need to leave.”
“Bree,
please don’t.”
“Stop
calling me Bree, who the hell even knows if that’s really my name or anything,
I could just be faking everything.” She grabbed the knob and pulled open the
door quickly.
“Where
are you going?”
“I
don’t know, but anywhere is better than here or the prison I was kept in.” And
out the door, she went before Cierra could stop her.
She
screwed up, Justin and Ben were going to be so upset.
Ben
pulled the Sonata off to the side of the road, “Is this it?”
Justin
looked around, “Yeah, I had my bike in between those two trees there, this was
where I started.”
“All
right, let’s go then.” Ben put the keys in his pocket then got out of the car.
Justin
followed suit, and they grabbed their packs from the backseat and checked their
guns. Good to go, they headed out into the woods. He didn’t know what he was
going to do if this was indeed a hoax and his darlin’ was in on this. His faith
was faltering a little, and he hated himself for it.
If
this was real, he’d feel like a real lug head. He just had to figure all of
this out. He took a deep breath as he and Ben trudged through the trees.
“Justin,
you okay?” Ben asked carefully.
“I
guess, I just have a bad feeling, something’s going to happen, there’s just
something very messed up here,” Justin explained.
“About
the girl you found or this whole situation?”
“Everything,
Ben.”
“You
were kissing her when I opened the door, you kissed her in the living room
today too.”
“Hmm,
yeah, might as well admit it, I had no idea what I was doing. When she tilted
her head up before we walked into the apartment I took crappy advantage of it,
and she asked me to kiss her again when we were in the bedroom when she woke
up, I’m assuming when Holly stormed out of the apartment. She was polite and
said thank you when I did, and I told her anytime like it could ever happen
again, and it did in the living room, if we solve this and she’s a part of it
I’m in deep shit.”
“is
that part of the reason we are out here?”
“That
and I don’t want her coming back out here, you can’t fake being that bruised
and skinny.”
“No,
you can’t or fake the kind of pain she feels.”
“Now,
who’s growing soft?”
Ben
scowled and shoved Justin’s shoulder a little, “It’s not my fault, Cierra
reminded me how it was when we first found her and that she only trusted me for
a while, I imagine that’s how this situation is.”
“But
you knew how old she was and everything.”
“Yeah,
but I really think Bree’s no younger than eighteen, there’s quite a bit of time
frame missing from when her mom died to now, but like you said, we’ll figure it
out.”
“I
sure hope so, because I care about her.”
“I
know, Justin, it’s obvious and congrats.”
“Won’t
be congrats if we don’t figure things out, and I’m at a loss.”
“We’ll
figure things out, our team never gives up.”
“Yeah,
except for Holly,” Justin grumbled as he stepped over a log, followed by Ben.
Both
of them were alert, darting their trained gazes around even while they were
talking quietly.
“Well,
it’s not a huge loss.”
“Yeah,
I never should have brought her with us.” He ducked under a low hanging branch
when a snap echoed throughout the trees.
Ben
and Justin ducked behind two thick trees, holding their breaths as they
listened. Their gaze collided when they didn’t hear anything else. They peeked
out from the trees, but saw nothing.
They
stayed hidden a few minutes longer when a figure came toward them but veered
away off to the left.