“I don’t want to hear that. We need to go to our house, no one knows where that is, so they can’t come for us there. I don’t want to be alone right now. I can’t make funeral arrangements on my own….please?”
Oh God, she’s right, I can’t leave her to deal with all of that on her own. And maybe I will be safer there…
“Don’t give me that look, Ted, this is what’s happening. You are coming with me. I’m not leaving you here in this cess pit. I never should have left you in the first place.”
I know she feels just as bad as I do. The weight of the guilt between us is crushing. I don’t think I have any other options here. I need to help her and keep her safe.
“Okay, Mom,” I tell her slowly. “I will come with you. But I can’t just vanish on Chloe like this. Not after the way I hurt her last time. You know how bad it was.” She nods and says nothing. But she saw it. “I need to leave her a letter explaining everything. I won’t say anything about where I’m going or anything. I just need her to know…” I can’t get my words out.
Mom nods silently. She knows I’m in love with her.
“I’m going to write my letter and then we can get out of here.”
“I’ll get our plane tickets booked for the morning. We need to leave as soon as we can.”
I grab the first bit of paper that I can find, and I start writing.
Dear Chloe,
I’m sorry to leave you again, I never intended to come back into your life to run away and hurt you a second time. But I have to go. Maybe you’re happy I’m leaving. Since I came back, all I have done is bring danger to your door.
But Chloe, I want you to know that I have always loved you. I will never forget you, and I will always be grateful for our friendship and connection. So, while this is a goodbye, it isn’t without me wanting to say, if I can fix this and come back to you I will. You will always have my heart and be on my mind.
Love always, Ted.
I don’t realize that I’m crying until I stop writing. The thing is, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find a way to let Chloe know how much she really means to me. This letter definitely isn’t enough, and not how I want to say goodbye, but I don’t have a choice.
“I am going to drop this off,” I tell Mom,. “I will be back in time to get to the airport in time for the flight.”
“Don’t be long if you need to talk to Chloe.”
“If Chloe even wants to talk to me.” I stop for a moment and stare at my Mom. “Are you okay?”
Of course she isn’t, there is no way that she can be. But she shrugs and half smiles. “I’m going to try and get some sleep.”
“I won’t be long.”
“Don’t worry about me, Ted.”
I slip out of the hotel room, the same place that I just got attacked, and got my father killed. I don’t want to get caught up in my emotions, but I’m overwhelmed. No time to cry, I have to get this letter to Chloe.
Chapter 19 – Chloe
The noise outside my front door startles me. My stomach drops and immediately, I think that whoever shot Ted’s family is here to kill me. I sent Alex away, but now I wish that I wasn’t alone.
“He… hello?” I don’t know why I call that out, as if the murderer is going to answer me. Hell, I probably just told them exactly where I am.
Then I see something sliding under the front door. It looks like a note of some sort. I race over and grab it with my heart pounding in my chest. I recognize the writing. This is from Ted.
I know that I should probably just read the note, but something has me swinging the door open and calling out his name. He spins around and stares at me in shock, but thankfully he walks back towards me. Something about him calls to me, and I can’t just let him walk away.
“What’s this?” I demand. “You’re really going to leave me a note and run?”
“Dad,” he whispers with his eyes on the ground. “I can’t have that happen to you too.”
I glance around. “Pretty sure you wouldn’t have come here if you thought someone followed you. You can’t just leave me with a note and go. Come inside. You owe me that much.”
He does what I ask. I don’t know if he wants to, but he comes inside anyways. He stands awkwardly with his arms folded across his chest looking uncomfortable.