The Waitress

13 - The Blame

Jared was upset and he was angry. He was angry at himself. He should have known that something like this would happen if he sent Kaely away. He should have listened to the guys; he should have listened to her. They were all right, but now because of him she was never coming back, and he didn't know in the slightest how to deal with it. How could he save her if she refused to let him? He was stupid to think that she would be safer away from him, and he was even dumber for thinking that getting rid of her was the best way to protect her.

"What was that about?" a voice asked, and Jared turned to find Dex standing in the hall beside him. Jared had stepped out of Eliot's hospital room to make the call, but he'd taken so long that, obviously, Dex had come out to check on him. So he sighed and shook his head, hoping that Dex hadn't heard much of the conversation.

"Nothing," he replied smoothly, raking a hand through his hair. "Don't worry."

"If something happened to Kaely, I think you'd best tell us before it gets out of hand again."

Jared looked at Dex but said nothing. He had gotten used to hiding what he was feeling, but now that Kaely was involved, it was getting harder and harder. He couldn't keep going, especially when it came to her. But after what he had done...

"Come on, Eliot's up; fill us in."

So Jared followed Dex back into Eliot's room, closing the door behind them. Eliot was sitting up in his bed and looked cheerful, as always, but the exhaustion was clear. Being shot would do that to a person. Jared was just lucky that it wasn't a stronger gun, because if the guy wasn't expecting the Feds to show up, Eliot could have died.

"What did she say?" Eliot asked as soon as Jared closed the door. "Is she worried about me? Is she concerned for my wellbeing?"

Jared sighed. "Well," he said, "she would have been if we weren't busy arguing about her own plans."

Eliot frowned, his pale face now troubled. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice dripping with confusion. "What's going on?"

"She won't tell me."

Leo narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "What did you do?" Jared clenched his fists by his sides but made no other indication that he was angry. Instead, he took a deep breath and explained.

"Someone called her," he admitted finally. "About us. Threatened everyone she knows. She's listening to them; she's going to meet them some time in the next week or so, and she won't tell me where."

"Who was the call from?" Dex asked, alarmed, and Jared narrowed his eyes.

"Didn't say," he replied tightly. "American guy. No name. He claimed to be behind the one who framed us in Canberra."

Eliot looked like he wanted to hit something. His sapphire blue eyes that were usually dark and vibrant had narrowed down to a paler blue that showed his fatigue. The others were silent.

"Why would he threaten us to get to her?" Dex asked eventually, his voice calm and even. He didn't believe that Jared was to blame.

"Yeah," Leo agreed, frowning. "She wasn't in Canberra; as far as everyone else knows, she was just caught up with us in Adelaide. If he is behind this whole thing, then he'd know... oh. Oh, shit."

"What?" Jared pressed, alarmed. Leo stared at him.

"If he's behind this whole thing," Leo announced, "then when Kaely goes to meet with him, he'll find out who she is. I mean, who she really is." Jared's heart sank.

"You think he'll tell her?"

"I think it's highly likely he'll let something slip," Dex agreed, his expression grim. "We can't risk it."