She Will Be Loved

She Will Be Loved - Chp 26

Chapter 26

"I'll alert the police." Ms. Rigshaw said when the shock had finally begun wearing off, but for me, it never left. I was effectively immobilized by the horror in the realization that someone who could escape Jonie's surveillance now held the most precious thing in my entire life. It wasn't a question of whether she'd hurt her...she'd already poisoned her, now it was hoping she would be alive when I found her...if I ever found her.

No. I couldn't think that way. Somehow, I would find her but I'd be needing help. "I have to go." The words sounded hollow as they passed my lips. Emily....she had my Emily....

Not willing to wait for the bus to decide how quickly I saved my daughter, I hailed a taxi and headed home—more specifically across the yard to Jonie's house. Once there, I reached up to bang on the door but it flew open far too quickly causing me to stagger forward. On the inside, pale eyes looked at me. It was as if she was looking at me...but she wasn't really seeing.

"Jonie, where have you been? I needed you! Emi needed y—"

"She's going to blow it up, Kai."

It was enough to give me pause. "Blow up what...what Jonie, you're not making any sense. What's she blowing up?"

"The gym...the rally....the people."

This was all too much for my heart to take. I felt a lump take form in the centre of my throat. "But she can't; Matt and Jayden are there...Tarah's there—our friends. Jonie, she can't." How could so many things go wrong in one afternoon? It couldn't be happening.

"She can, everything's already been set in motion. At first, I wondered why I figured this out—Cyn's as careful as they come but then it hit me. She wants me to know. I know and I dunno what to do about it Kai. Whatever I do, she'll always be a step ahead, she'll always see me coming."

"This is not the time for self-doubt." I tried to take a deep breath for however ragged it ended up. "Right now, you're the only one who has even the smallest chance of stopping all this—I know you can, I've seen you do things the CIA would be stumped with. Emily's missing and our family's in trouble, you can't quit now, Jonie please."

"Shyla's missing too."

...

In that moment, I found myself wondering just how far Cynthia's reach could stretch. Shyla hadn't done anything and Shyla was out of the way. Jonie and I had warned them to leave Cynthia alone. Hadn't they heeded our warnings? How could they not have seen it was for their own good? This was no longer some silly competition to determine who could be the better spy, this was life or death. I shook my head, trying to displace the shadows of doubt that were sinking in. Somehow, we would get through this.

"We have to think! Uh...remember everything you've told me. We just have to logic our way through this. Why would Cynthia want you knowing her plans?" It was a question I was now thinking through myself, my eyes pleading Jonie to do the same. There were too many lives on the line for her to go back upstairs and cover up under her blankets. This new, unsure Jonie didn't suit her. I needed my confident role model back. "Maybe...maybe it's to taunt you—because you weren't as keen on things going back to normal...or maybe it's because she wants you feeling helpless?"

"No." She shook her head slowly, her eyes glazing over in thought the way it did when there was a particularly sticky piece of data that didn't seem to fit anywhere. "Cyn wouldn't...not to me...it wouldn't gain her much of anything. If she's let me know, it's for a reason...." Slowly, the light creeped back into the once hollow pupils. "You said Emi's in trouble too? Shyla's missing and the Gym with Jayden's in dange—it's not."