Attest (Centrifuge Duet Book 2)(25)
Or, maybe she just straight up misses Seb and doesn’t appreciate that I’ve uprooted her life?
The insidious voice in my head, the one that liked to remind me regularly that she has always been too good for me, seizes the opportunity to spread its poison. It seeps into every neuron and synapse it can, coating it with a venomous certainty that that is what’s wrong with Amber.
She misses Seb.
My whole body starts to shake. I grasp her son with as much tenderness as I can muster and pull him from my shoulders. Thrusting him toward Amber, who clutches him to her with fierceness, I almost give into my burning need to lash out at her. The sole reason I don’t is the look of dismay that she shoots my way when I open my mouth. It forces me to admit that now is not the time nor the place.
I may be on my way to becoming an immoral monster, but I’m not going to argue with her in front of a two-year-old.
SIXTEEN
Amber
As the light of day loses its fight against the encroaching darkness of the evening, I allow myself to breathe a sigh of relief. JJ and Charlie have kept me on my feet all day, sucking every ounce of energy I possessed out of me, on top of killing any opportunity I’ve had to sneak away to make an emergency phone call. Xander’s ignored ever me since I followed him down to the lakes edge. He’s been attentive to the boys and a gracious host who’s made sure that I had everything I needed to get though the day. Only problem? The Titanic could have been sunk by the icicles that have dripped from his tongue anytime he was forced to speak to me.
I don’t know why he’s got a burr up his butt, and I don’t have the time to find out right now. Not that it would make a difference if I did. I know this man, inside and out, and he’s a pro at holding his tongue about whatever is pissing him off until he’s right and ready to talk about it.
When he’s ready to talk, I’m ready to listen.
Right after I’ve snuck away to speak to Harry.
“Ssshh, little man, time to sleep,” I croon to Charlie as I rock him. His eyelids flutter close, only to open seconds later. While JJ is my super-sleeper, my youngest likes to play games. He is becoming adept at luring me into a false sense of security and then crying the second I put him down.
It takes longer than usual to get him into a deep enough sleep that I feel safe to put him down. I wait around to see if he’s tricking me, feeling like I’m on pins and needles the entire time. Xander left the shack half an hour ago to meet with “the neighbours” and I really want to speak to Harry before he gets back.
My self-appointed protector has no idea have far he’s stepped into it. “It” being the situation that me and Harry created so I could fake mine and my son’s deaths to escape Jax. I thought that using B to get Xander out of jail was the perfect solution. I was sure that he’d jump at the chance to play judge, jury, and assassin with the people who’d ruined his life. I’d miscalculated badly, not factoring in his overprotective streak or the fact that he’s changed in the past two years.
Charlie hasn’t stirred in ten minutes. I hold my breath and I walk on the tippiest of toes to the shack door. One wrong move and he’ll startle, and the whole process is will start all over again. After, unlatching the handle, the tiniest of creaks fills the night air when I push the door open. I dare to breathe out of one nostril as I sneak outside, declaring victory when I manage to shut the door behind me without either of my sons making a peep.
I’m thankful for the moonlight that helps me pick my way through the trees at the back of the shack. The entire lake is surrounded by an old-growth forest that would be eerie if I hadn’t been here dozens of times before with Xander over the years. Nothing much has changed, and I easily find my way to the little rise where I know I’m guaranteed to get good phone reception. Xander was speaking on his phone down by the lake earlier today, but I don’t want to risk it with my fancy phone. It’s never been out of the city limits unless it was on a plane flying to some expensive vacation spot.
Camping in the woods wasn’t high on Jax’s list of vacation spots.
My husband’s skin would be crawling at the mere thought of spending the night in the shack.
Resting my backside on a conveniently situated fallen tree log, I scroll though my phone contacts until I find the one labelled “Paediatrician 2”. When the boys are sick, they are my sole domain, so I knew I’d be safe to save Harry’s details under this false name.
He answers after two rings, his agitation and worry clear to hear.
“Amber?”
“Yes, it’s me.” My voice sounds extra loud in the exaggerated quietness of the night. I hunch over and drop my pitch an octave or two. “I need to know what’s happening back home. Have they realised that me and the boys are missing?”
“Amber,” Harry sounds like he’s in an echo chamber. “You’re the least of their worries. Jaxon is missing as is every dose of Centrifuge that’s been manufactured so far. Belinda is beside herself, which wouldn’t be especially worrying, except she’s demanding that I call your Xander and tell him not to hurt Jax. We had a good plan. Only the guilty parties would be hurt. Now, it seems that we all have a target on our head.”
I jump when a twig breaks in the distance. A quick glance around doesn’t reveal anyone, but I fall onto my knees and hide between the log and foliage at the base of the big tree next to it just to be on the safe side.