Away From the Dark (The Light #2)(66)
If I told my uncle now, Stella wouldn’t have a chance. “You’re really losing it,” I said. “If I f*cking tell Gabriel any of this, you’re the one who’s dead.”
“I don’t give a damn about myself. You think I give a shit about me when my wife and child are locked in there? If I can’t help Sara, I don’t—”
Wife and child? As if any of this shit was real.
I ran my hand through my hair and slowed my words. “That’s not her name.”
“I know that. I was told the name she used in the dark, but now she’s in The Light—where you put her.”
“She’d be dead if I hadn’t, and you were wrong earlier. It is all her fault. I tried to stop her. Hell, Mindy hadn’t gotten as deep into it, and they took her. I did everything I could to stop both The Light and Stella. She’s stubborn as hell, and too damn good at what she did. By the time she was too deep, Gabriel wanted her dead. I convinced him to take her as far away as possible, and do the memory thing. I didn’t know how it all worked. Fuck, I can’t be seen around the temple or any of the buildings in Highland Heights. I’m mostly only here. I don’t want to know what happens here, much less over there.”
Jacob stilled before tilting his head to the side. “Wait, who’s Mindy, and are you saying Sara’s a cop? Or she was?”
This guy really was clueless, and the last thing I needed to do was be the one who filled him in. I shook my head. “No, and f*ck, I shouldn’t be saying any of this, but I did try to save her. Now, Gabriel’s pissed at you. I overheard the conversation. You did something that’s made him suspicious. That never ends well. I know enough about how this works to know that if you don’t get your shit together, your days are numbered, and if you’re banished, so is she.”
I went on, “I had to think of something, so I asked Gabriel for confirmation that she was alive. For some reason he agreed. There were never any plans for her to go back to Alaska. Reassignment was, is, her only hope.” I shrugged toward the locked door. “I even tried to have her given back to me, but he was adamant that wasn’t an option. They’re too concerned that allowing her back to her real life would result in the return of her memories.”
I refused to think about my uncle’s plans—the brides. I had a plan too. It was to get Stella assigned to the Western Light. It was better than here. I respected my uncle and all he’d built, but he was a sick twisted bastard when it came to women.
The shrill ring of Jacob’s phone filled the basement, echoing off the walls. From the look on his face, the way the color drained from his cheeks, I had a pretty good idea of who was calling. Father Gabriel didn’t like to wait.
I shook my head. This guy was doing everything he could to be polar bear food. Pressing my lips together, I leaned against the wall and watched as he pulled the phone from the pocket of his jeans.
He took a deep breath, and his chest inflated and deflated before he answered. “Brother Jacob . . . I’m on my way . . . Yes, I understand . . . I’ll go through the yards.”
I gave the guy credit. He held it together on the call.
His eyes met mine. “They’ve already driven to the landing strip. I’ll get your uncle everything he needs. I’ll find that damn envelope, and get my shit together.” He emphasized my words. “Please, watch out for her.”
I nodded. “It’s safer here right now, with him at the Northern Light.”
That was the truth. Part of me actually felt sorry for this guy. No matter what he did, he wasn’t coming back. Once he found the information that Gabriel needed, he was as good as dead. I’d even heard they had a new pilot set up to take his place.
Gabriel didn’t put up with shit from anyone. Half of this f*ckup had started at the Western Light. The envelope Reuben was supposed to give to this idiot had been simply a test. Somehow either Michael or Reuben had given him the wrong one—the one with the pass-phrase needed to access overseas accounts. Michael might be one of the original three, but I’d bet he’d received an earful from my uncle on that move.
Personally I would have laid Michael out too. Then again, if he hadn’t given Jacob that envelope, even by mistake, Jacob probably wouldn’t have made it back to the Eastern Light, and then neither would Stella. If he had made it here with the envelope, tomorrow on the police scanner I’d be hearing about some tall white dude with no fingerprints dead in an abandoned building in Highland Heights.
They really needed to spread out the bodies better. I’d told them more than once.
“If you ever cared about her—”
I lowered my voice. “Haven’t you listened to a goddamn word I’ve said? I cared. I still do.”
“Then watch out for her, and try to hold off on that medicine.”
I nodded, though the medicine was exactly what she’d get. It was the only way to reassign her to the Western Light.
I glanced at my watch. Right now he needed to get out of here, so Gabriel would be gone. That would give me at least a few days to figure out my plan. I tilted my head toward the steps. “Let me show you the best way to the backyards.”
I hesitated on the second step while Jacob stared at the door to the room where we’d left Stella. When I cleared my throat, he squared his shoulders and turned toward me. I didn’t turn back around. I didn’t need to. The heavy sound of his boots stayed close behind as I walked back up the stairs and closed the door to the basement. We walked silently through hallways and rooms, down another set of stairs, and finally out to the back lawns.