Page 85 of Everything We Found

Thomas went to the beach after he’d left James. He stood on the sand, the water lapping the toes of his ruined loafers. When a fisherman walked past him, Thomas gave him his jacket. The local shot Thomas a perplexed look but took it anyway. Thomas didn’t need it. The matching pants were ruined.

He lit a cigar and watched the sun set on this disaster of a day. The irony of it all. He’d done everything within his power to save James only to lose him in the end. But he’d do it again. The lies, the deception. James might never be himself, but he was still breathing.

He and Thomas also weren’t through. The feds needed what was in James’s head, anything to help capture Fernando Ruiz, and he was already strategizing how he could make James remember.

But not yet.

He was needed at home.

It was time to face his mother and tell her what he’d done, which wasn’t the hard part.

It was everything he’d have to keep doing to move forward.

27

NADIA

PRESENT DAY

Nadia stirred from sleep, her eyelids flickering open to early morning sunlight peeking through the eyelet curtains. She looked at the shadows on the ceiling, briefly disoriented before yesterday’s memories flooded in—horseback riding across Cammy’s property, the fading sunlight on Thomas’s back, the Sierra Nevada ridge turning pink and violet behind them. Cammy sharing stories with her and Thomas at the dinner table from her days working with the U.S. Marshals Service, watching the news, news, and more news, then, finally bed. Thomas sliding in beside her. Their frenzied lovemaking that gave her a glimpse of what it could be like between them without the fears and worry that had been clouding any sort of planning for a normal future spent together. Without her holding her breath that he’d leave her, or she’d do something to sabotage anything romantic between them before a relationship even had the chance to bloom. Warmth pooled low in her belly that had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with the fact she’d let someone in. She’d let Thomas in. And the world hadn’t ended.

Above her, she heard Cammy moving about, getting ready for the day. They should get up too to see what news had developed while they slept. She rolled onto her side to face Thomas only to find she was alone in bed. Apparently, he’d started the day without her.

Throwing the sheets aside, she padded barefoot to the bathroom. It wasn’t until she noticed the door into the den wasn’t just opened but that his clothes and black duffel bag were missing that she realized something wasn’t right. Had he moved his stuff into her room? She glanced back to where they’d slept to find only her clothes draped over the corner chair. Only her shoes scattered on the floor.

When she turned back to the den, her eyes fixed on the keys to the Ford, deliberately placed where she wouldn’t miss them. The only thing of his that technically belonged to her, at least on paper, left behind.

Panic surged through her. Nadia threw open the bedroom door and hurried down the hallway. The kitchen was empty, as was the living room. She yanked open the front door and frantically scanned the property. The Ford was still parked in front, as was Cammy’s silver Tahoe. But her gut told her Thomas was gone. The house simply felt empty.

She heard Cammy approach behind her, the older woman’s footsteps halting at the sight of Nadia’s distress.

“He left,” Nadia told her, a flat, hollow quality marking her words.

Cammy’s gaze darted to look out the front door Nadia had left wide open. Without a word, she moved into the kitchen and rifled through a drawer. She slammed the drawer closed.

“The truck keys are missing,” she said.

“What truck?”

“My husband’s old truck. The one that should be parked over there beside the stable.” She pointed out the kitchen window. The truck was indeed missing.

“Why would he have left?” Nadia asked. “Do you know where he went?”

“No. He didn’t tell me anything,” Cammy said, her brow furrowed. “But something must have come up. Did he leave a note?”

They both looked at the kitchen table and only saw the lazy Susan with the salt and pepper shakers and napkin holder. Nadia ran back to the bedroom. The nightstands were bare except for a digital clock on one and lamps on both. She tossed aside the bedding and pillows. Nothing in the bathroom or den either. No note. No explanation.

She didn’t have to tell herself that he didn’t leaveher. This wasn’t anything like her dad bailing on the family. Thomas’s leaving had nothing to do with what had been developing between them. He wasn’t running scared and she hadn’t pushed him away like she’d done with previous men she’d been romantically involved with.

No, this was worse.

With shaking hands, she called his burner phone and reached a recorded message that the phone was no longer in service. “No.” She tried again, desperately hoping for a different result only to hear the same recording. A jagged sound like something breaking inside her chest tore through her mouth in a low, keening whine. He had multiple burner phones and would have already ditched the only one she had a number to.

He didn’t want to be found or followed.

“Damn you, Tom.” Him and his martyr complex.

She shouldn’t have been surprised he’d abandon her after promising they were in this together. He’d always been prone to making unilateral decisions without consulting anyone. But histendency to do things alone and intentionally exclude her hurt more than she’d expected, especially coming so soon after losing Aimee. She felt more isolated than ever.