Falling Up

37. Don't Tell

"For your safety and that of your family. Please. Stay put."

"Why would you ask this of me? Of us?"

"You're safer where you are. I have eyes and ears on all three of you. I can keep you all safe."

"And complete your objective in the process?"

Tyrus paused for a moment. "Yes"

"I can't risk my family's life because of him, Tyrus. You're asking too much. I'm with Jason on this one. We need to pack up and leave. If he's anywhere in the vicinity, then we can't be here."

"Think about this for a second, Noah. If you leave, you're unprotected. Here you have the best 24/7 protection for all of you. If you leave, you're on your own. Just please, consider it."

Noah sighed, rubbing his forehead as he felt the creases and knots tightening and creating an unwanted tension and pressure in his forehead. If they stayed, they would have the protection of the FBI, but they were clearly already on Vincent's radar if he was this close to them. On the other hand, if they left, they were back on their own and that didn't exactly didn't go too well the first time around.

"I'll think about it," said Noah just as Jason's car sped up the gravel path, leaving a trail of dust and rocks in its wake. Noah hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket.

This was more than he wanted to deal with first thing in the morning. The thought of Vincent being out there right now had already put him on edge that his legs were a jittering mess and he couldn't seem to sit still. But what would they do? They could leave and be back on their own or could they stay, help Tyrus get Vincent back in prison, and they would be protected.

He needed to speak to Jason first.

Noah walked down the steps from the porch as Jason jumped out of the door, slamming it closed behind him.

"We're leaving," said Jason as he stormed up to Noah. "Pack whatever you need and grab Riley. I want us out of here within the hour."

"Jason. Stop," said Noah as he placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing Jason to halt in his tracks as he tried to pass by Noah. "Let's just think this through."

"He called you. Didn't he?"

"He just wants us safe."

"No," shouted Jason. "He's using us to get to him. He doesn't give a shit about us. He never did."

For the first time, Noah noticed the slight redness in Jason's eyes as he took his hand off Jason's shoulder and turned to face him. Jason was understandably in no right mind to be making rash decisions like picking up and leaving without thinking through all the facts. And although his first thought had also been to pick up and leave, he was having second thoughts on whether that was the right decision for them. Safety came first, especially Riley's safety and at least here, she was being watched. She was being protected.

"Think about it, Jason. We're protected here. We won't have this if we leave. We'll be on our own. Do you really think it would be long before Vincent picks up our trail again? If we leave, we'll be running for the rest of our lives. Do you really want that for Riley?"

Jason looked at the front door and back again and Noah could tell his words got through to him. Jason would always put himself and Riley before anyone else.

"What if something goes wrong?" asked Jason.

"Then we'll be here. After all, we've been through worse."

Jason paused, staring out at the open field as he exhaled a deep breath. "We can't tell Riley about this."

Noah raised his eyebrows at the notion of hiding this from her. It didn't seem right to hide something like this from her. "I'm not too sure that's really..."

"She's happy, Noah. For the first time in a long time, she's happy. All this will do is make her paranoid and worried, and that could lead her back down the rabbit hole, which was hard enough to claw out of the first time around. I don't know if she would make it back a second time. I don't want her to know. We'll handle this."

He had a point and as much as he disagreed, he was willing to let Jason have this one. "Okay."

At the moment, Riley opened the front door and skipped down the stairs, a huge smile on her face as the sun beamed down on her. "Ready!"

With one last glance at each other, Noah and Jason nodded as Jason stepped forward and gave Riley a hug.

"I'll take you to class today," said Jason as they turned around and headed back towards Jason's car, hopping in and disappearing out of sight.

Glancing over the field in front of him, now that he knew what he was looking for, he saw a rustle in the distant trees and noticed three men, although there could have been more, perched in bushes and hidden up trees. He gave a nod in their direction before heading back inside the house, preparing to pack some bags on the chance that they would once again have to pick up and run.