The Freeze by Holly Hook

Author:Holly Hook [Hook, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holly Hook
Published: 2017-03-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Sheri had let us walk right into a trap. I wondered what she had gotten out of the deal.

“Um...why?” I managed. I turned back to Dad to see his pupils shrinking in the new light. He was dressed in a wrinkled work shirt and his blue dress pants. They had stains all over them like he'd been rummaging through food. Or garbage to grab some grub for Sheri. His new stubble cast little shadows on his face.

“Laney, just do what they say,” Dad said. “They got here about an hour ago. Please, just do what they tell you. I thought I lost you and I don't want to do that for real.” He was overflowing with emotion, with both joy and sadness and everything in between. He opened the door and extended his arms like he wanted to hug me, but Chalmers cleared his throat. This was business.

I had found my father alive and all these agents cared about was freaking business, whatever that was.

I exchanged a look with Alana and Jerome. “You just want me, right?” I asked.

“All of you. Inside,” Chalmers ordered. He closed his wallet badge and stuffed it back into his pocket, which had a pistol holstered right next to it. The woman had one, too. Chalmers had a face like stone and his sunglasses looked like pits into some void. I'd seen the void before. They looked like death itself.

“Laney, please,” Dad said, sounding helpless. I hadn't heard him like this since he got the news that Mom definitely was not going to make it more than another few months. The result of this would not be good. This was somehow even more awful than not finding him here at all.

I should have known. For one moment I'd let down my shield and now we were all going to pay.

But I stepped into the hotel room.

The sheets were off the bed like there had been a struggle. Dad had fought when the agents came to his door, probably pretending to be Sheri. They might have cuffed him and told him they were looking for me, that I was associated with a guy who had run over a major commander in the military. My mind spun but the numbness returned. I'd go on trial for being a terrorist or something. Some parts of the government were still running and it wasn't the good ones.

Dad backed away to stand by the bed. “Laney—I can't believe you're alive. How did you do it?” He actually pinched himself. Dad thought he must be dreaming. All this time he had been grieving my loss, maybe even too scared to go and face it, until the agents came and told him they were hunting for me. Soon he would be mourning it all over again. “I thought you were dead. Laney, I would have come for you if I knew.” He sat on the bed and put his face in his arms.

And he sobbed with guilt and shame. He had given up hope for me out of pure logic.

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