ChapterSixteen
Greer took a long, long shower. It didn’t help clear his brain, but it felt good on his aching forehead, neck, and shoulders. Nothing could help his aching heart, though. Nothing but Emery, and she wouldn’t soften to him. Ever.
He wrapped a towel around his waist and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked tired. He was tired. His eyes were red-rimmed and his lips were slightly swollen. Ah, Emery. Those kisses. But she was so much more than his physical attraction or even the incredible connection and powerful emotions when they touched or kissed. She was everything to him. More than he’d ever dreamed or hoped for.
He loved her. Had he even told her that? He hung his head. Nope. It wouldn’t surprise anyone who knew him that he hadn’t forced words out when he should have.
Why hadn’t he told her in every synonym he could think of that he loved, adored, cherished, and revered her?
Yet when he’d tried to explain through the bedroom door, talking much more than he ever did, it had caused all the anger obviously building inside of her to explode. Would him telling her he loved her have done the same?
He took a long breath, closed his eyes, and prayed. He’d have to give it until morning, pray she could forgive him, pray they could work things out, that she would somehow believe him about what Travis had attempted to do, that he could tell her how he felt about her. But he didn’t hold out much hope. She hated him, with lots of different synonyms.
His phone buzzed on the bathroom counter. It was quarter past ten, so it automatically wouldn’t ring. He turned it over and saw it was Papa. Blowing out a breath, he didn’t want to answer. Could he just send Papa a text that he needed to sleep? The only person he wanted to talk to right now was Emery. Did he need to tell Papa everything that had gone wrong and that the Voice, whoever that guy was, might come after them? What if Emery had texted the man and told him to come after the Deltas?
The phone stopped buzzing. He held it up to his face and swiped it open. His eyes widened. The phone icon showed seven missed calls and ten texts waiting to be read. What was going on? He clicked on the phone and saw two missed calls from Papa and five from his dad. He clicked on Papa’s number.
“Greer. You okay?”
“Yeah. Are you?”
“Yes. I’m almost to your house to check if it’s secure. Where are you going and why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Going? I just got out of the shower.”
“The cameras show your truck leaving your garage a little before ten. We didn’t get a notice of anyone walking through the main area as it was before ten, but your dad saw you drive past and tried to call you repeatedly. When you didn’t answer, he called me to look through the cameras. I looked at the garage cam. It was dark, but I saw your truck pull out.”
Greer rushed to his closet and started sliding into a T-shirt. “Living room camera?”
“Let me pull it up. I didn’t want to watch any … private moments.”
He appreciated that, but if Emery had taken his truck and was running from him …
Please keep her safe, he begged heaven above.
“Okay. It shows you going to your room and … about fifteen minutes later, nine-fifty-one, Emery walking through the living area for the mudroom and garage. She’s got her backpack.”
Greer wanted to curse. He finished dressing, grabbed his wallet and shoved it in his pocket, and ran for his garage.
“What are you going to do?” Papa asked.
“Go after her.”
“Do you want me, your dad, or Thor to come with you?”
“No.”
“How do you know where she’s going?”
That slowed Greer’s steps as he reached his Tesla, quickly unplugged the battery cable, and then rushed around and jerked open the door. She’d taken his truck. At least she’d left him the faster car. “I don’t.”
“I’ll put out a request with highway patrol. If they find your truck or her car that she left in Grand Junction, they’ll let me know and stay with her if they can, but they won’t stop her. Unless you want them to?”
“I need to be the one.” He slid into the car and pushed the garage remote and then the start button.
“Okay. Good luck, Greer. She’s running from you. Does that mean she’s trusting whoever sent her?” Papa paused but didn’t seem to expect an answer. Greer didn’t know. He sped out of the garage, flipped around, and took off into the night. “She might be in danger for not fulfilling her assignment,” Papa mused. “Did she tell you anything about her instructions before…?”
Before it all went sideways, or backwards, or worse.