False. Abram hasn’t been on the phone for at least fifteen minutes. That tells you how invested Finn is in his surroundings.
His comment though, does have Abram rotating his front from the window. His fingers stall their scratching at his chin. Snapping him from his rooted thoughts by the single word.
I don’t have the slightest clue what is on his mind but if I were placing bets, I’d stake it being on the same as everyone else’s. The only one that matters.
Rory.
I should be thankful that I’m being ignored because had I not been, I’d probably have snapped at Finn hours ago. My patience nowhere near as refined as of late.
Still, no one corrects him.
Sgt. Daniel’s lips draw in. His endurance finally cracking a fraction.
Finn is testing his limit. He should be grateful the man has been trained to remain calm under high-pressure situations because he’s acting as if we’re trying to steal a candy bar from a vending machine. Not hacking into multiple security databases.
Sgt. Daniel’s focus is hard on the screen. A vein bulges, sprouting from his forehead. It rises going up and over, past the top of his smooth bald head.
Eli, sensing the hostility, tries to defuse it. The animosity so thick you’d have to be blind or, in this case,Finnnot to notice. “Can you grab us some drinks?”
Hesitating, Finn stalls. Eli pushes further, claiming it will help keep him alert. Wanting a new coffee even though he already has three empty ones and a cold half-full one before him.
“It’ll help us work faster.”
That one sentence being all the motivation Finn needs. My best friend was out the door before he could spell caffeine.Ifhe can spell it.
Daniels doesn’t say anything. The permanent line across his mouth still flat but his shoulders do drop a millimeter as soon as he’s gone.
His aversion to reaction something I wish I’d been granted when I had to tell Abram what happened to his daughter.
I don’t know what was worse. The hangover I’d been dealing with or the fact that I’m the sole reason for his daughter not going away once but twice.
Every nerve in my body sizzled back to life when I explained how I’d been the one to start the fire. Burning down the barn with his twelve-year-old daughter still inside.
His eyes had bulged in a clouded mist of judgment. His neck and face a splotchy shade of red by the time I told him everything.
Abram hasn’t spoken a word to me since. Calling Sgt. Daniels over immediately instead.
My fingers tighten. Locking around the leathered armrests. All this may have started because of me but it won’t end that way.
We will find Princess. That one fact you can bet on.
“Have we tried her phone again?” Finn wonders aloud, walking back carrying exactly four cups of coffee. Handing out one to everyonebutme.
“She left her phone here,” I utterthistime, scratching at my temple in irritation. “It’s upstairs in her desk drawer,remember?”
I know how I sound, but I don’t care. This is probably the tenth time he’s asked this question. My lack of sleepormy desperate need for caffeine making me snap.
“Did someone hear something?” He quips, pulling the cup from his mouth. A hidden grin only for me on his lips.
My eyes flash and a loaded breath pulls through my teeth. I want—needto hit something.
“Sounded a lot like it was coming from the banishment side of the room.”
He isn’t looking at me, none of them are but I know he can feel how my glare flits across his face because his stance widens.
My smirk as dark as it is cocky when he tips his head back down at the computer.That’s what I thought, asshole. Look away.
He may be as worried as the rest of us but that doesn’t mean he’s earned the right to throw a tantrum and act like a five-year-old. We’re all hurting.