Rules of Survival(29)

He was furious and I shouldn’t have cared—I’d done what I’d done to protect myself—but I did. I actually felt bad. About keeping a secret to protect myself. He was a hunter, for f*ck’s sake. He’d handcuffed himself to me so I couldn’t escape, and here I was feeling guilty.

The world was coming to an end.

I wanted to be pissed that he was making such a big deal about this, but I couldn’t. He hadn’t been anything other than honest with me so far and I’d lied to him. And really, it wasn’t so much the lie that bothered me, but the double standard I’d imposed. I’d told him we were in this together, yet I’d withheld information that technically could have gotten him killed.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have told you.”

His eyes blazed, and he ran a hand through his dark hair. “Why the hell didn’t you?”

I didn’t know what to say. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I didn’t have an excuse ready and waiting. For the first time, the truth seemed like a better answer. “I don’t know you, Shaun. Think about it from my perspective, for a second, because in case you missed it, I have justifiable trust issues. Patrick has hunted my mom and me my entire life. You come along—his mini-me—and chain us together. Does that sound like an act that screams trust me to you?”

Some of the tension faded. “I need to know everything. You asked for my help. I can’t give it to you if I don’t have all the damned facts.”

He was right, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier. I took a deep breath, determined to get the whole thing out. If I wanted free of this in one piece, and the chance to have a normal life some day, I couldn’t do it on my own. “What I said about not seeing the whole letter was the truth, but I did get a little more than I told you. There was something about someone getting hurt—killed—and she was the main suspect. Aside from that, the only other thing I saw when I skimmed the letter was something about information. She had something and wanted it to get to the ‘right people’… I think the information has to do with the murder she was wanted for—which I also think is what got her killed. Find the information, and I find the killer.”

“Information…” He held my gaze, then grabbed the chain and tugged lightly. “And that’s it? You’re sure?”

“I swear, other than the partner thing, that’s the last of it. You know everything I do now.”

He watched me for a moment, and I couldn’t tell from his expression if he believed me or not. After a minute, he set the chain down and said, “If she had information that would clear her name and save her life, why wouldn’t she bring it to the authorities herself?”

“Maybe she was afraid it wouldn’t matter. Mom wasn’t a saint. She might not have killed anyone, but she’d done other things. Just because she cleared her name of murder didn’t mean she’d be free. She had me to think about. No,” I said. “She would never have gone to the police unless there was no other option.”

“That makes sense…but you’re not considering all the facts here.”

“Yes I am,” I insisted. What else was there?

“No. You’re not,” he said. “Didn’t you say Mick and T were her partners?”

“So?”

“Your theory is actually great. Her partner would be in the perfect position to set her up for murder—but remember there were two of them. Maybe it was the other one. The one whose name begins with a T.”

I’d never even thought about that. “Shit.”

Shaun crossed the room and peered around the corner, inadvertently dragging me along. “Without anything more than a first letter, we have no way to search. We don’t even know if T is a he”—he whirled around, face inches from mine, and froze—“or she,” he finished slowly, backing away.

I swallowed and backed off as well. “The second partner could be a woman…” I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it felt right.

Holding a finger up, he listened for a moment, then made a beeline for the phone.

“What are you doing?” I hissed.

He lifted the receiver to his ear. “Calling Pat.”

“Now?”

“There’s a phone. We have a minute to kill while we wait for the old man. Why not? I bet he knows who Mick is—and this T person.”

I pressed up close and listened as the phone rang. Once. Twice. On the third ring, Patrick answered. “Yeah?”

“It’s me.”

“Shaun? What the hell is going on? Where—”

“No time. We got to the mall and there were cops waiting for us.” There was an accusatory edge to his voice. “Like they knew we were coming.”

There was a moment of silence, and then a curse. “Don’t let her do this, kid. She’ll have you convinced I killed Lincoln if you let her.”

“She does think you called them,” Shaun said, glaring at me. “But I don’t. Still, something’s not right about this one, Pat. We don’t think they were real cops, either. Did you find out anything about this Jaffe guy? What’s his interest in her?”

“He says he’s family. An uncle on her mother’s side.”