Sapphire

Chapter 29

"You're working for the cops?" Noah asked. 

Shay sniffled and looked at him with a face scrunched up in pain. "I haven't told them anything. I only agreed to it cause even if it didn't work out, at least I got to see you guys before they put me away." She lowered her head in distress, causing Noah's heart to tighten up in his chest. "But now I'm stuck, and I don't know what to do cause I don't want to hurt you guys but I also don't want to go to jail and-"

"Stop." At that point, he couldn't handle it anymore. After glancing around to make sure no one was around, Noah moved next to her and wrapped his arms around her so that her face was buried in his chest. Sobs wracked her body as she let it all out and he even felt some of her pain absorbed into his skin, a sympathetic sadness that was foreign to him.

Noah rubbed his hand over her back in an effort to calm her down. It was only a matter of minutes before she sat up and looked at him again, panic in her expression as if she just remembered what she confessed to. "Why aren't you mad at me?"

"I already kinda figured it out." Noah replied. It took him a little bit to remember where he'd seen that blonde guy at Shay's apartment before. Turns out he was passing through the police department a year ago when Noah was being questioned. Add to that Shay's sudden reappearance and unexplained behavior, and he knew without a doubt that she was in distress.

What he'd really been mad at was how many secrets she was keeping. For someone who hated liars so much, she was being quite the hypocrite.

"You knew?" Shay asked with tear-stained eyes.

"I'm a spy, Shay." Noah said. "I was just waiting for you to admit it."

Shay wiped her eyes with her hands, the waterworks finally over. Noah was thankful. He didn't like to see her cry, never had.

"Wait, so does that mean Val knows too?"

Noah shrugged. "Most likely."

"Shit." Shay's breathing turned rapid, the air rushing in and out of her lungs so quick he thought she was going to hyperventilate. "What am I gonna do?"

"If she knows, which I'm sure she does, she would have kicked you out already if it was a problem." Noah reasoned. Either Val knew that Shay would be on their side or she was confident in her ability to hide their activities, either way, Noah trusted her to keep them safe. It's not like this was the first time they'd been under scrutiny.

Noah's answer seemed to calm her down a bit cause all she did was nod. The two were then accompanied by silence, both lost in thought. Noah stared at the trees surrounding them while his mind stayed deep thought. He had one question. Something he needed an answer for before they could be friends again. 

"Are you going to stay this time?"

Shay eyes were red but dry now. Though he'd wiped his own slate, she seemed to still have a mountain of emotions contained in that body of hers. Her sapphire eyes, piercing as always, were like a small entrance into that mountain, a cave allowing him a small but powerful glance into her soul. "Yes."

"Why?"

Shay hesitated but the intensity of her expression didn't change. "Cause of you." 

Noah clenched his jaw and looked away. The answer he'd been hoping for was the same one he dreaded, and he looked for some kind of distraction to interrupt their little moment.

He wasn't that lucky, though.

It wasn't for another couple of hours that anything happened. Two hours of sitting in uncomfortable silence, neither of them with the energy to maintain a conversation. Noah stayed in a crouching position behind the rock, peering into the full-size windows that lined the back. One of the benefits to watching a secluded house like this is that they don't have neighbors, which means less use of curtains and more windows. People in houses like these always assumed they had privacy, and that was their fatal flaw.

While Noah was calmly observing, Shay was restless beside him. She switched sitting positions multiple times and appeared to be shivering in her all-black attire. Since she was also biting her nails, he wasn't sure if she was cold or deep in thought. Judging by the conversation they just had, he assumed it was the latter.

Despite his urge to hold her close again, he tried to keep himself distracted until finally, he heard a car door slam shut in the driveway.

"Incoming." Noah whispered as he ducked down lower. Pulling out the binoculars, he pointed them at the glass sliding door. Lights flicked on either side, illuminating only as far as the edge of the porch. Shay perked up beside him and put her hands on the boulder to steady herself. Her movement distracted him and Noah took his eyes away from the binoculars for a second to take her in, from the hood over her head, strands of thick brown curls hanging down to her breasts, to her tights jeans and grey converse that were covered in mud.

"Did you see her?" Shay asked him suddenly, her blue eyes piercing into his like  spears of ice.

"Yeah." Putting the equipment back to his face, he watched.

Barbara McAuley was around forty-five years old, according to her file. Noah saw her appear at the kitchen window where the sink must be, her blonde hair tied into a messy bun as she stood there for a couple of minutes washing dishes. Noah could make out a partial view of the two children as they ran around, a boy of 10 years and a girl of 7. Both with the same blonde hair and wild energy. It wasn't until thirty minutes later that they sat down at the breakfast bar behind the sink with a plate of food.

After eating, they moved to the living room a couple of windows over.

There, Noah could only see the changing lights from the television as it lit up the room. The couch was closer to the front of the house while the table was in back with a clearer view, though it was covered in art supplies and books and didn't look often used.

About an hour later, at around seven o'clock, the father finally came home. Barbara was still moseying around in the kitchen, moving from one side to another as Noah caught glimpses of her striding past. She stopped moving when Greg walked into the room, both of them stopping on the other side of the counter to give each other a quick kiss on the lips.

That was the extent of the action.

After watching them move upstairs, floating in an out of the bathroom and bedrooms, with lights turning on and off behind them, the house was finally silent.

"Well that was boring." Shay muttered as she flipped around to lean back against the rock. Noah put down the binoculars and sat next to her, their bodies only inches apart.

"Definitely not one of the most exciting cases I've ever taken."

Shay expelled a breath and glanced down at his arm, her eyes trailing over his tattoo before landing on his face. "Do you think we'll ever be okay?"

Noah couldn't look at her. They were too close for that. "I hope so."

"Me too." She breathed. "Thank you for listening. I really am sorry about hurting you. If there's anything I regret in this life, it's that."

Noah felt a heat spread through his core, traveling up to his cheeks and urging him to smile. He didn't, though.

"I know." Noah stood up and gathered his equipment, stuffing it into a bag before looking down at her. She grabbed his hand so he could pull her up, the contact causing the fire in his face to burn brighter. Good thing he had about three days of beard growth to cover it. "Come on. We've gotta talk to Val."