“Yet, you still smell like a mixture of evergreen and lemons. How do you do that?” Farrow leaned down and buried her nose in his damp T-shirt, inhaling deeply. She wanted nothing more than to surround herself with him and snuggled in even closer when he sighed deeply and wrapped his thick arms around her back. They held still together for a moment, as if both knew something momentous was going to happen that night.
“What are we going to do if this lead is another dead end?” Farrow asked carefully. She’d seen how torn up Alik and Creed got every time one of Greg Burns’ leads turned up dry. The two boys had been a couple bears to travel with, but she wasn’t going to give up. She wanted to be a part of Alik’s life and Meg was a huge part of him. He loved his sister as if she were his twin.
Farrow ran her strong hands up and down Alik’s tense back, willing her touch to help him feel some sense of calm. He just leaned down and curled his thick body around her, demanding the air between them to move aside.
They’d been searching for Meg for the past three and a half months. They had been chasing shadows. Williams kept relocating Meg, and the three would find their location a few weeks too late. Always ten steps ahead, Williams had a shrewd way of behaving unpredictably. So far, Meg had been hidden on every continent and never stayed in one place longer than a month. Alik would do everything in his gifted power to track with his retro-cognition skill, but every time the trail ran cold.
Farrow saw how tormented the brother was. At night, she would sleep in her own room and see the glow of the lights from the adjoining room as the two boys passed the nights by watching television, playing video games or just staring off into space. The dark circles etched themselves deeper in to the handsome brothers’ faces.
Alik never wanted to leave Farrow alone. Farrow knew it was because he was so afraid of losing another person he loved. He felt determined to protect the former assassin turned girlfriend, however capable Farrow was at protecting herself. She let Alik do what he felt he needed to do—she let him do anything to help him find some sense of control and peace. There wasn’t a whole lot of either being felt among any of them.
“Alik?” Farrow prompted, as he hadn’t responded other than to breathe shallow breaths forcing his body to demand more air with periodic sighs.
“If tonight is another dead end, we keep searching. Farrow, listen,” Alik pulled back to look into the large doe eyes of his love. “You don’t have to live your life like this. You are free to go anytime you want. I’ll give you money and you can go start over somewhere far away. No one will need to know you’re different. You could live a completely normal life. You know?”
Farrow was shaking her head, no.
“Don’t. Farrow, don’t choose to live like this with me. You’ve spent the past three months chasing the ghost of my sister around the world. You could be enjoying the simple, normal pleasures of life. You could get a job as a personal trainer or a middle school coach, like you’ve dreamed about. You’d be great with those kids. You could even find a normal guy, fall in love and someday marry. You know, live the normal life of an eighteen-year-old?”
“I choose you, Alik Winter. I choose to walk at your side because I love you. Your battles are my battles. Would you leave me if the roles were reversed? Would you leave me to make a home where life was simpler?”
“No, of course not. Nothing would be worth anything without you. You are my home.” Alik’s strong hand gently cupped Farrow’s delicate cheek. She couldn’t help but lean into his touch.
“You’re staying?”
“I’m staying.”
“Do you love me—even when I’m angry and heartbroken for my sister?”
“I love you because of the devotion you have for your sister, and for so many other reasons, Alik.”
“Creed said something just now. He said Meg was the glue that held the family together. I think he may be right, I just never realized it before.”
“Each of you plays a part in the ties that bind. You just feel Meg’s loss more acutely because she’s been gone for so long.”
“Sparrow, it’s like she’s died. It hurts to admit it, but it’s the truth, and I can’t get closure. Hell, I don’t want closure. I want my sister back. I can’t wait until we find her, but I’m scared that even when we do find her, she’ll be gone.” Alik motioned to his head. “It’s so painful not to know what’s happened to her.”
Farrow nodded quietly, letting Alik wallow for a while. He was usually so upbeat, pulling the others in the family with him in his efforts. He only showed these moments of doubt to Farrow and she felt honored to be so trusted by him.
“Let’s take this one day at a time, Alik. Just tonight. All you have to think about is tonight. Tomorrow will come and we’ll deal with those issues then; we’ll deal with them together. Okay?”
Alik nodded slowly, too much tension molded into his young face.
He pulled away from her and quietly headed into the second bathroom so he could clean up. He knew he needed to get it together. They had room for only one heartbroken soldier in their group. He had to be the strong one, for his sister’s sake.
Chapter 41 Modus Operandi