“And the last time I checked, you don’t get to tell me to go home and stay.” She took a step toward us. “Look, I was worried. I thought I’d come and help.”
My lips pulled back in a sneer. “And how would’ve you helped?”
“I think I did. I got you two idiots to stop fighting.”
I stared at her in a way that promised we’d be talking about this later.
Dawson pushed at me. “Let me up, brother.”
I looked down at him. “I don’t know. You’re probably going to run and make me chase you again.”
“You can’t stop me,” he said, voice apathetic.
Muscles in my arms and back flexed as I held him down. “I can and I will. I’m not letting you do this to yourself. She—”
“She’s what? Not worth it?”
“She wouldn’t want you to do this,” I seethed. “If the situation were flipped, you wouldn’t want her doing this.”
Dawson reared up and got to his feet. “If they had Katy—”
“Don’t go there.” My hands curled into fists.
He went there. “If they had her, you’d be doing the same thing. Don’t lie.”
I opened my mouth, but he was right. I wouldn’t lie. I already knew this. I glanced to where Kat stood, her arms wrapped around her waist, shielding her from the cold wind whipping through the trees. If they had her, nothing, and I mean nothing, would stop me from going after her. I stepped back, thrusting both hands through my hair.
Kat inched closer. “We can’t stop you. You’re right.”
Dawson jerked toward her. “Then let me go.”
“But we can’t do that, either.” She glanced at me before she continued. “Dee and your brother have spent the last year believing you were dead. That killed them. You have no idea.”
“You have no idea what I went through,” he said, and then looked away from her. “Okay, maybe you do a little. What was done to you is being done a thousand times over to Beth. I can’t just forget about her even though I love my brother and sister.”
I inhaled sharply. It was the first time Dawson had even acknowledged that he gave two shits about us since we had him back.
“And they know that,” Kat rushed on. “I know that. No one expects you to forget about Beth, but running off and getting yourself captured isn’t helping anyone.”
“What are the alternatives?” Dawson asked.
Kat drew in a deep breath as she glanced at me again. I stiffened, having a feeling I wasn’t going to like what was about to come out of her mouth.
“Let us help you.”
“What?” I demanded.
She ignored me, like always, it seemed. “You know bum-rushing the DOD isn’t going to work. We need to find out where Beth is, if they are even keeping her here, and we need a plan to get to her. A really thought-out plan with low fail potential.”
Both of us stared at her. I had no idea what Dawson was thinking, but I wanted to throttle Kat…in the gentlest way possible. How could she offer to help him when we had no idea where to even begin looking for Beth? Because I doubted she was being kept where Dawson had been. The DOD couldn’t be that stupid. But most importantly, I didn’t want her anywhere near the DOD or this issue with Dawson. No way.
Dawson turned away from Kat, his back straight as he stared up at the trees. “I can’t stand the idea of them having her. It hurts to breathe just thinking about it.”
“I know,” she whispered.
My brother nodded. “Okay.”
A muscle began to tick along my jaw, and it took a huge amount of self-control to keep my mouth shut.
Kat had no problem talking. “But you have to promise to give us time. You can’t get impatient and run off. You have to swear.”
A shudder rolled through Dawson as he faced her. His arms dropped to his sides. “I swear. Help me and I swear.”
“It’s a deal.”
I closed my eyes for a brief second, partially relieved that Dawson was backing down and partially infuriated by Kat involving herself in this. Her fingers were like ice cubes when I took the keys from her. The walk to the SUV was strained and silent. We piled into my car, Dawson in the back. The fight had gone out of him, and he was resting his head against the backseat of the SUV, eyes closed.
Kat watched me as I pulled off the shoulder of the road, then she peered over the back of her seat. “Hey, Dawson…?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to go back to school?”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“I mean, I’m sure you can,” she continued, nibbling on her finger. “You could tell people you ran away. It happens.”
“People think he’s dead,” I pointed out, my voice harsh.
“I’m sure some runaways all across the nation are believed to be dead and aren’t,” she reasoned.
“What do I tell them about Beth?” he asked after a moment.
“That’s a good question.” Challenge dripped from my voice.
Kat paused from gnawing on her finger. “That you both ran away, and you decided to come home. She didn’t.”