Sapphire

Chapter 14

Shay didn't move from her spot at the bar even after Noah was long gone. She switched to water as remnants of their conversation drifted through her brain, the sting of his anger towards her leaving scars in her heart.

Even after two years of growing up in the same house together, that was the first time she saw a negative emotion directed at her. Usually, they were on the same side, fighting for each other like friends did.

Apparently, that ended as soon as she walked out the door. For good reason, she supposed, but it still sucked.

Despite the bad feeling in her stomach, Shay waited there for an hour to see if Noah would return. She had a vision of him running back into the bar after the shock of seeing her wore off, a rare smile on his face as he took her into his strong arms. She used to be the only thing that made him happy, the only thing that brought light into his dark eyes.

But, as the sun started to set outside, her hopes dimmed as well. Maybe he just needed time.

After settling her bill, Shay walked outside into the brisk autumn air of small town Massachusetts. Throwing her hood over her wavy hair, she stuck her hands in her pockets and walked to her car parked in the lot out back.

"Where did he go after he left?" Shay called Alec as soon she started her journey back to New Hampshire, alone in her own vehicle.

"You were supposed to check in with me immediately after, remember?" Alec's plan had been that she would meet Noah, which Shay knew wouldn't result in anything, and then she'd go back to the van and update Alec. Shay, knowing Noah, didn't think that was such a good idea.

"I decided not to go back to the van for the same reason that we took separate cars. Noah might have followed me and then he'd be suspicious." Shay replied carefully.

"You could have let me know that before you drove away."

"You never answered my question, where did he go?" Shay repeated.

"He just paced around for a little bit, clearly pissed, and then drove away."

Shay let out a deep sigh. "Ok. I guess now we wait."

For the next week, Shay was to continue on with life as she had before. After convincing Mrs. Lang that she was not in trouble, the woman reluctantly let her continue working. So, she spent her time there and at home with occasional workouts sprinkled in between, a routine so boring and predictable that she was surprised it had taken the cops so long to find her.

She began to wonder if deep down she had wanted to be found.

Alec decided too that they shouldn't meet up again. Now that Shay was on Noah's radar again, there was no telling if he'd come after her or send someone from the house to track her down. The situation was too volatile to mess with, so Alec stayed as far from her as possible. Good thing he had implanted her with a tracker, otherwise she would have bolted.

It wasn't until five days after her meeting with Noah that anything out of the ordinary happened. After cleaning rooms that day, she clocked out and went out to the parking lot as usual.

As soon as she stepped foot onto the gravel, she felt the hair on her skin stand up and she quickly analyzed her surroundings. Feeling like she was being watched, she spotted nothing out of place besides a black Ford truck that looked vaguely familiar to her. She squinted to see if anyone was in the front seat and saw nothing, so she continued on her way. Pushing the bad feeling out of her chest, she started her car and sped out of the lot, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.

Then she picked up her phone and made a call.

"I think Noah is following me."

"Why? Is he following you now?" Alec said from the other end.