Page 133 of Split You Open

“He didn’t—” Blair starts but Ledger stands swiftly, tensing.

“He did,” Ledger interrupts coldly. “Don’t forget, I was there. Rhett’s not wrong to be worried about Anchor’s sanity.”

Blair scowls at him. “I know you were there, which means you can vouch that I was still alive when you pulled me out⁠—”

“Stop it!”

The dark, barking command that slips past Ledger’s lips gives all of us a pause. Ledger never raises his voice. Ever. Hell, he didn’t even start shouting when we had him locked up. I stare at him in surprise. Ledger tenses as he glares at Blair.

“Don’t defend his parenting—you know it was shit,” he growls through clenched teeth.

“Oh, yeah?” Rhett sneers. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t you stop him?”

Ledger whirls around to glare at him and I stiffen without thought, ready to step between Ledger and Rhett if I have to.

“You have no idea what I⁠—”

“Enough!” Blair snaps loudly. “I’m tired of hearing you all shit on my dad.”

I snicker before slipping into Spanish just for Blair’s ears, “I would never talk bad about your dad—does that make me your favorite, cariño?”

Blair’s glare disappears as she looks back at me.

“It moves you to the top of the list, that’s for sure,” she replies in flawless Spanish.

Rhett glares at me. “Aren’t you supposed to be working on the drone and not talking about us like we’re not right here?”

“Who says we were talking about you?” I bat my eyes at him and Rhett cracks a begrudged smile.

Turning back to the job at hand, I work on getting these stupid screws out. It takes forever but finally, just as Blair announces dinner is ready, I manage to get the plate off the undercarriage of the drone.

“Yes!” I whoop as I find the VIN and model number inside.

I scramble to my feet and dart for the back door of the cabin. Inside, I grab my laptop and hurry back out to join the others.

“Santi, eat. Work on that later,” Blair urges as the others make their way over to the picnic table.

Quickly, I hurry over to the table. I plop down beside Blair, stealing the spot from Ledger who’d been just about to sit there. Rhett shoots him a sneer from Blair’s other side. Opening my laptop, I let it boot up while I dish myself some garlic whipped mashed potatoes.

“Santi…” Blair complains as she glares at my screen.

“I’ll work while I eat.”

“But—”

“Cariño,” I cut her off lightly. “I need to do this. The faster I can figure out who sent this drone, the quicker we can eliminate them so they can’t come back.” In Spanish, I add, “I can’t lose you but it’s starting to feel inevitable. I’m scared, Blair. What if next time, we’re not fast enough to react and you’re hurt? What if they send a small army here in search of you? Please, let me do this. I think I’m starting to go crazy here with worry.”

Blair’s annoyance melts off her face. Her hand comes to rest on my thigh and then she gives me a gentle squeeze.

“Alright, fine,” she mutters.

“Santi, go to bed. You look beat.”

I look up to find Ledger standing just inside the living room. He’s a little blurry after staring at my screen for hours, but after blinking a few times, he comes into focus.

“Shit, what time is it?” I mutter, my voice raspy from lack of use.

“It’s just after one.”