Sapphire

Chapter 24

"What the hell was that?" Shay demanded, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Alec as soon as Noah was out of view.

"I promise I didn't know he was gonna be here." Alec defended himself, putting his hands up and looking at her with alarm.

"No, the kiss, moron."

"Oh." Alec stiffened and pursed his lips. "I wanted to test him. It's obvious he cares about you and I wanted to see how much. Maybe it's something we can use to our advantage since he also seems to have anger issues."

As much as she didn't like Alec, she liked him even less when he talked bad about Noah. And what was this we shit? She didn't want to take them down. She was in this merely to save her own ass.

And the lives of people they might potentially kill, the angel on her shoulder reminded her.

Right. That, too.

"Are you sure you weren't just testing me? You said it yourself, you doubt my intentions." Shay reminded him.

"Seeing how you reacted was an added benefit, yes. You passed, by the way."

She fucking hoped so. If not, she pissed Noah off for no reason. "Good."

"I still need more intel, though. So far you've given me next to nothing."

"I'm doing what I can." Shay muttered as she started walking back to her apartment.

"Do more, cause it's only a matter of time before someone else ends up dead."

Shay rolled her eyes even though her back was turned. She was sick of being pulled in two different directions, her heart on one side while her head was on the other.

It wasn't until they got back inside that Alec caught up to her, stopping her in the entryway of her apartment with his hand on her arm. "Wait, I'm sorry. That was harsh."

"A little, yeah."

His hand was still on her arm, the contact making her skin hot. He was looking at her with earnest eyes and Shay wasn't sure how to react. Anger she knew, kindness and apologies she did not.

"My superiors are just putting a lot of pressure on me and I really want this to work out. For both of our sakes." Alec explained.

"Believe me, I want them to go down just as badly as you do." Shay said, then made the risky choice of continuing on. "They're the ones responsible for my parent's death."

Alec looked at her in complete shock. He dropped his hand and blinked a couple of times before regaining composure. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. It's why I left." Shay revealed, hoping that Val was smart enough to cover it all up. "I don't know the details, though. They wouldn't tell me anything besides that it wasn't an accident."

"Wow. Ok." Alec breathed.

"I'll update you when I can but I should probably go."

Alec nodded. "Ok."

Leaving Alec in the entryway to think it all through, she started gathering her belongings.

It took her twenty minutes to pack everything up. She left her air mattress and shelves for Alec to take to goodwill or wherever, only grabbing the things she deemed necessary for survival. Then, after dropping the keys in the mailbox, she drove off.

The closer she got, the less pressure she felt by the rope that seemed to be constantly tied to her waist. The side that was attached to her heart was winning just as it had been, with each move bringing her closer and closer to where she had started from two years ago. No knife had been sharp enough to cut it, no bed buddy hot enough to burn it. The rope was made from a material too thick for tampering and though she had tried to fight it, it steadily brought her closer. To Val, to the house, and most importantly, to Noah.