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I’m the only one noticing Sam shifting from his phone to shooting daggers at Craig, but this is the least of my concerns right now.
It’s hard to hear their conversation, Rose is leaning against the reception counter and exchanging whatever secrets she has with ‘Craig’.
It becomes impossible to hear when the door opens again to Emily. She hurries to me and takes me in her arms straight away.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I was so drunk I just took a taxi and crashed as soon as I got home. Are you okay?” She pulls away, holding me at arm’s length, and checks me out from head to toe.
“I’m fine,” I reply. “We’re still waiting to hear anything.”
I’m fine. What a lie. I’m so far from fine. I’m on a speedboat towards the end of the world and fine is the land getting further and further out of view, and Emily can see it clearly.
“Right. Here, I brought you some clothes, you should go get changed.”
She’s wearing leggings and a long sweater under her expensive coat and I hope she brought me leggings too because I feel awfully naked under this dress. Probably because I am. I grab the backpack and make my way to the bathroom.
When I come back in one of Emily’s fluffy cashmere sweaters and her Lululemon leggings, Sam and Craig are in a heated conversation and Rose is next to them. Her eyes go from one to the other like she’s following a tennis game, but her face has paled.
I only catch a glimpse of their conversation but I’m too tired to try and comprehend why Sam is fuming at him.
“I don’t give a shit, Miller. Get him out of there.”
I haven’t often heard him speak but his accent somewhat makes everything he says harsher like you don’t have a choice but to listen.
“I get what you’re saying. But you can’t give me what I need, the only way I can do that is by calling–”
“Find another way, you twat.”
By the time I’ve reached my friends, Sam is talking in hush voices with Rose only. They seem to agree on something. He squeezes her shoulders reassuringly and drops a peck on her forehead as a goodbye before heading out. She walks back to all of us and crosses her arms across her chest.
“You guys should go,” she says to Luke. “Chris is still at Silver Falls’ ER. He’s going to be there all night. You should stay with him.”
I’m not sure if she’s talking to the three of us or just Luke and Emily but she’s crazy if she thinks I’ll leave before Jake gets out.
“You’re right. Come on, Em, I’ll drop you home.”
Luke gets up from his seat at the same time as Emily. She gives me a tight hug and promises to call tomorrow. Luke gives Rose a hug. “Call me when you hear anything.”
An hour later, the clock keeps ticking and Rose and I are still sitting in our exact same seats. While I keep my eyes on the clock, she keeps fidgeting, squirming on her seat, her foot tapping the floor. Every time I glance at her, she’s looking at the officer she called Craig and biting her thumb.
“What is happening? We’ve been waiting for hours,” I finally say.
Rose doesn’t reply. She keeps eyeing the only police officer at the counter. Further behind him, there are other officers on night duty.
“Rose,” I push. “What’s happening? What did you talk about with that officer?”
I know she’s not one to share but this is a different situation. Jake is going to jail. That’s all my brain says on repeat.
“Nothing,” she mumbles, her foot still tapping.
Why does she have to be so secretive when people talk to her? Like she holds the world’s biggest secrets.
“Do you know him? Can he help us?” I ask.
I hate when people make you beg for information. They’re usually seeking attention, withholding information in the hope of themselves being the topic of the conversation and it usually turns out that their information is useless. Rose isn’t like that though, she’s always the center of attention. She just wants to be left alone. And I have a feeling the information she’s withholding isn’t exactly useless.
“Help us get Jake out of being caught with a gun? I don’t think so.”
I roll my eyes at her sarcasm.
