Finding Lily

24- Alex

Drops of water slid down my clothes and pooled onto the fiberglass beneath me. The towel I was given did nothing more than soak up the water and become just another wet material on my skin. I took it off and put it on the seat next to me. Dan gave me another.

"How are you doing?" Dan was sitting next to me in the rear of the boat. Luke drove it, keeping the throttle low so we weren't heard. The speed was equivalent to about five miles an hour.

"Fine."

When Luke had climbed up on the boat, Dan thanked him, giving him a pant on the back and a gratuitous look that bothered me somehow. I didn't want to speak to him. Not yet.

He may have saved my life, but he was the reason it was in danger in the first place.

I didn't say another word as we dropped off the boat at the dock. It became apparent that it had been stolen when I didn't see a key. I didn't say anything at the airport either, or when we were on the flight back to Cori. I sat between the two men, my body rigid as I kept myself closed off to both of them. I could feel Luke's eyes occasionally landing on my face, waiting for me to look back at him. I did once, if only to remind him that it wasn't him I was unsure about.

I did wonder though, would this be the last time I saw him?

When we landed in Cori, my question was answered.

"Are you coming with us, Luke?" Dan asked as we stood at the curb of the pickup area. I was next to Luke while my father stood on the other side of me. I had been between them for most of the journey since they both had an unspoken desire to protect me. As much as I despised it, I didn't have the energy to fight it.

"My partner is picking me up." Luke replied. Partner. As in cop. So he was telling the truth. How was he going to explain his month-long vacation, though?

"If you ever decide to work for me, my door is always open."

I looked at Luke then. Sadness was something that I rarely felt, but recognized it as soon as it came. Despite myself, I would miss him. I reached for his hand and timidly linked my fingers between his. He looked down at me with a smile and squeezed gently.

"Thank you." I whispered so only he would hear. It was a blanket statement that included many things. Thank you for saving me. For being there for me. For wrapping my wounds. Everything.

He nodded in return. "Seeya later, Alex."

The satisfaction at hearing him say my new name was lost when I saw him get into his partner's car. It wasn't until he was out of sight that I wished I could hear him say my real name, just one more time, even though I told him a million times not to.

"Let's go." Dan had stood silently by me until a black SUV pulled up. He opened the door for me and went around to the other side. The man driving wasn't one that I recognized.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"My office. The only place you'll be safe."

Of course. My new identity was air tight when it came to law enforcement but Ray Malone? He knew my face. Both of them. I couldn't walk freely until he was dead.

After my wound was treated, I would fix that problem once and for all.

*********

Dan's place hadn't changed much since I last saw it. It was still dressed up to look like an investment firm. The lady at the desk was the same one I'd met several months ago, skinny but strong, smiling as she let us in.

The room I was led to was past all of the cubicles, hidden from the public eye. It was a room with two hospital beds on one side and a chemistry lab on the other. A man in a white coat was waiting for me as I stepped inside. He had me change into a gown before I sat on the white paper of the examination table.

Concussion. Infection that hadn't yet gone septic. A couple of bruises and scrapes that would go away on their own. He gave me a tetanus shot and started an IV of antibiotics. Then he washed the wound and dressed it, and said I wasn't to leave this bed for at least a couple of days.

"I'm glad we got you here when we did." Dan was sitting in a chair next to my bed. He'd been around for the entire process, watching and asking questions when necessary.

"Why do you keep pretending to care?" I asked.

"I do care. I just don't know how to show it." Dan frowned. "Seems like you're experiencing something similar."

"I'm nothing like you."

He didn't say anything and glanced down at his hands, which were folded neatly in his lap.

"Why did you stop being a father?" I asked.

"I didn't think I was worthy of being one. Not after all that I'd done."

At least he was honest. Emotion swelled in my heart and I quickly dimmed it. I still didn't understand. It didn't matter how he thought of himself. Leaving me was inexcusable.

I couldn't talk about it anymore. Instead, I asked an easier question. "How did you and Luke meet?"

Daniel didn't hesitate. He'd been anticipating that question. "After the cabin, I ran a lead on Jane. There was a Jane Doe that ended up in a hospital 30 miles away from Gina's house the night that everything happened. I went there to see if they could tell me what happened. Turns out she never existed. Luke fudged the information to see if Ray would take the bait and follow up." Dan explained. Upon hearing her name, I flashed back to that image of the girl on the island. Had I hallucinated it? It looked like Jane. Maybe it actually was.

"And then you became friends?"

"I ran some background checks on him but we didn't interact again for awhile. Not until you started growing more suspicious and I couldn't ask anyone in my office to go."

I nodded. "So I wouldn't notice anyone was missing and ask why."

"Yes, among other reasons. I knew it was only a matter of time before you found out the truth from Mohammad, though."

"I almost shot you." I remembered the day clearly. The memory of my chilly voice sent shivers down my spine. It was like all of the light was taken out of me. There was only darkness left. Only pain. Only anger.

"I trusted that you wouldn't."

I remembered the feeling of my finger on the trigger. At that moment, the only thing I could think about was the pain of him leaving. Somehow, that hurt more than the rest. I wanted him to hurt as bad as he hurt me. Maybe that's why I went on a suicide mission to the island. Maybe I wasn't focused on getting back cause I wanted him to lose me.

"So you were hoping to get to Felix before I did. And when I didn't, you told Luke to drop the mission and protect me instead."

"Yes."

"You paid him?"

Dan looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Yes."

"Ok. That's all." I kept my voice neutral. I didn't let any emotion in until Dan had left the room. I knew that's how it was ever since I found out Dan sent Luke. It gave Luke a more logical reason for protecting me. Of course he didn't actually care.

Even though I knew that deep down, maybe it hurt. Cause maybe, just maybe I cared about him.