Ambrosia Shore (5 page)

Just as Rayne finished loading the remains of our picnic in the storage box at the back of our little vehicle, I skipped up beside him with raised eyebrows and said, “Is it my turn to drive?”

“Well,” Rayne teased, “if you think you can handle it.”

“Oh, I can handle it,” I said coolly. I sauntered over to the driver’s seat, trying to act as smooth and confident as possible. My best friend Heather back in California had shown me how to drive her four-wheeler when I went camping with her family the summer before, but the truth was, I could barely even remember how to turn it on.

Rayne sat patiently behind me in the long black seat, waiting as I tried to figure out the buttons without his help. I knew it wasn’t very complicated, but I just couldn’t remember exactly what to press first.

Suddenly, I felt Rayne’s face lean over my shoulder near my cheek. He wrapped himself tighter around me and lifted both my hands in his, pressing my fingers slowly, tenderly, to the correct buttons and levers one at a time.

The engine roared to life, ready to move forward, but I couldn’t help myself; I lingered, stopping to feel his touch on my hands one more time, his breath on my neck. Rayne leaned down to brush his lips across my shoulder, and I twisted toward him, leaning back into his chest and running my hand behind his neck. I pulled him into me without another thought, wanting nothing but the touch of his lips on mine, wishing to hold him tighter, intoxicated by his scent and his taste, living through his breath rather than my own.

I heard a faint ring coming from somewhere behind me, and I hoped desperately that we could ignore it. But of course, despite my urge to hold on, Rayne pulled his face back from mine.

“I should check that,” he said gently.

“Oh man,” I pouted. “Couldn’t they just leave a message?”

He kissed me once in reply, and reached back to open the storage box. “It could be my family. Who knows, maybe they’re calling to tell me I’m a proud new uncle.”

I watched Rayne’s face with anticipation as he answered the call, but his cheerful grin quickly creased with concern.

“Whoa, whoa, buddy, slow down,” Rayne urged into the phone. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

Rayne hopped off the back of the four-wheeler. There was a long pause on his end of the conversation before he said, “The border patrol? How much time do I have?”

I felt my lungs start to cramp. Something was definitely wrong.

“Okay, thanks, man,” Rayne said. “I owe you.”

When he ended the call, Rayne swore under his breath, something I almost never heard him do.

“What?” I asked in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

“That was Honeycutt,” Rayne said, as if he were in shock. “I…I have to go.”

“What? Why?”

Rayne didn’t reply. Instead, he started talking to himself and pacing around across the sand. “Okay, now think,” he said to himself. “You knew this was a possibility.”

“Rayne, talk to me. What’s going on?”

When I slid myself off the seat to stand, Rayne suddenly moved back toward me with purpose, like he’d figured out a plan. He placed his hands on my shoulders and spoke to me in a matter-of-fact tone. “They’re coming for me,” he said.

“What do you mean?
Who’s
coming for you?”

“I need you to listen to me, Sadie. Any minute now I’m going to be arrested.”

My eyes went wide. “Arrested? Why?”

“Well, when I carried you through the Threshold, I had to break a bunch of laws. I was mostly banking on your father to smooth things over before that became an issue, but obviously that didn’t happen.”

“What should we do?” I asked in a panic. “Should we run? Can we reach my father before they catch up to us?”

“No, there’s no time,” Rayne insisted. “Listen, I have to turn myself in…”

I froze at his words. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Rayne placed his hands on my cheeks, forcing me to focus. “I have to turn myself in, and you have to stay here until they’re gone. Do you understand?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head beneath his grasp. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Sadie, this is the only way I can think of to make sure they won’t find you and drag you in for questioning right along with me. It’s going to be okay,” he said. “It’s me they want, not you. They won’t come looking for you once they have me in custody. Some of these guys have had it out for me since the day I left the Academy. You’re going to be fine.”

“I’m not worried about me,” I said. “I’m worried about you.”

“I know, Sunshine, but I’m going to be okay; because you’re going to go get your father and smooth things over and everything’s going to be back to normal in no time. Here,” he said, handing me his keys, “take my truck.”

I couldn’t believe this was happening, but I tried to get a hold of myself and be strong.

“Okay, I will,” I promised. “But I don’t know how to reach my father. I’m not even sure I remember how to get back to the city.”

Rayne handed me his phone. “Call Jax,” he instructed. “His number is saved. He can get you to your father.”

I heard Jax’s name and immediately tensed. “What about Honeycutt? Can’t I call him instead?”

“No, he’s been taken in for questioning. We’re lucky he was able to get a call out to us before they took him in.” Rayne glanced toward his family’s property beyond the beach. “I really have to go. I don’t want them to come out here looking for me. I need to keep them as far away from you as possible. Stay here for at least thirty minutes before you come back to the house, longer if you have to. I don’t want you to take any chances.”

Rayne gave me one last kiss on the cheek. “You’re stronger than you think you are, Sadie. You’ll figure out what to do.” He jogged a few steps away then turned back again. “Just remember…no one can find out who you really are…not Jax, not my family, no one. Do you understand?”

I nodded fervently, using all the energy I had to hold in my fears.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” he said, and then he turned away and disappeared into the trees.

“Okay,” I called out weakly. But I knew Rayne was already gone.

And then, I was alone.

Rayne pumped his legs across the grass through the field of lizzy trees. The sooner he could reach the house, as far away from Sadie as possible, the better. No one was going to touch her. No one was going to question her. No one was going to mess with her chances of getting back to her home, to her mother, and to her normal life. Not if he could do anything about it.

No matter what the authorities decided to do with him, Rayne wouldn’t let them ruin things for her. Sadie didn’t ask for any of this to happen, and she certainly didn’t deserve to be punished for everyone else’s mistakes. And, no matter what happened, Rayne wouldn’t let them ruin his memory of their last twenty-four hours, either. Sharing his home and his family with Sadie was a dream he never believed could become a reality. Even if everything finally blew up in his face and Hamlin couldn’t pull Rayne out of this mess, no one could ever steal those memories away from him. Every moment with Sadie was worth a thousand years in prison.

He hadn’t left a moment too soon. As soon as Rayne made it to the edge of his family’s house, a caravan of seven Border Patrol jeeps sped into the driveway. Seven? Was that really necessary? Did every guy on duty decide to come for the ride? It almost made Rayne want to laugh, but he chose to take it as a compliment.

He stopped a few yards away to catch his breath as a swarm of guards sprang out of the vehicles and surrounded Rayne with weapons drawn. At the front of the pack, Rayne recognized the guard from the night before; the one Rayne had handcuffed to the fence just outside the Threshold border when he fled the scene to rush Sadie off to the Sacred Pool.

“Agent Chapman,” Rayne said, coolly, “nice to see you again.”

Agent Chapman didn’t look amused, and without a second glance, he was reading Rayne his rights as one of his men shoved Rayne needlessly to the ground. Rayne didn’t resist. There were a few noses here that he wouldn’t mind breaking, but he didn’t want anything about this situation to escalate. He figured these guys were all just doing their jobs anyway. Rayne couldn’t deny that he had broken some serious rules in the last twenty-four hours, and even though these agents didn’t know it, Rayne knew that he’d been breaking the rules for the last ten years.

Rayne could have made a plea of jurisdiction—which in Banya was the right of any agent who was being apprehended by those of a lower rank to demand to be taken directly to a higher ranking official—but in Rayne’s case, the only officials who out-ranked him were the members of the Ambassadors Council and the Ambassador himself. Last thing Rayne knew, Hamlin was still outside the Threshold border, which meant the guards would have to take Rayne to a member of the Council instead, none of which knew anything about Sadie, or Rayne’s top-secret assignment to protect her no matter the price. The Council would be obligated by law to investigate the matter thoroughly, and at this point, Rayne needed to avoid that possibility at all costs.

Even if the Council chose not to imprison him, Rayne could be stripped of his rank and title; and if he was no longer a Keeper…he would no longer have a way to be with Sadie, at least not in the way that he hoped. He would find a way to run away with her if she agreed to it, but that would require her to give up any plans for a normal life, and he didn’t think he could bring himself to even ask her.

No, for now Rayne would let the Border Patrol do what they wanted with him. At least this way there would be a chance for Hamlin to step in before anyone else could get involved.

Agent Chapman escorted Rayne to one of the jeeps and pushed him into the back seat. “Have a nice ride,” Agent Chapman jeered, and then he shoved the door closed behind him.

Rayne rode most of the way in silence, staring out the window as Sadie and Lizzy Grove slipped further and further away from his grasp, pondering everything in his life leading up to this point. He supposed he always knew this day would come, and it was quite possible that he deserved whatever was coming to him. He just wished he could have ensured Sadie’s safety a little better beforehand. He probably did everything wrong again. He should have taken her to that little Bed and Breakfast just outside the city and paid cash. Maybe the authorities wouldn’t have found them there; at least it might have bought them some time.

He had let his emotions rule his actions again. Rayne was sure that this would always be his greatest weakness.

Only twenty minutes or so into the drive, the jeep suddenly rolled to a stop, causing Rayne to look up in concern as Agent Chapman shared a few unsavory words with his partner.

Rayne watched intently as Agent Chapman stomped out of the car, but Rayne didn’t have a good view of the road in front of him and wasn’t quite sure what was causing the delay.

“What’s going on?” Rayne asked the other guard in the front seat.

“Just keep quiet,” the guard ordered. The guard even went as far as to take his gun out of the holster, keeping it ready in case of any unexpected problems.

Rayne wasn’t sure what was happening, but he didn’t like the feel of it. They sat there unmoving for a couple of minutes longer before Agent Chapman marched back to the jeep and opened Rayne’s door.

“Get out,” Chapman said dryly.

Rayne hesitated, unsure what to make of it.

“Apparently, this is your stop,” Agent Chapman said, almost sounding annoyed.

“What’s this about?” Rayne demanded, but Chapman dragged Rayne forward down the road without a reply.

After they passed a couple patrol jeeps from the caravan, Rayne could see two large black SUVs pulled sideways at the front of the road, positioned to block the lanes in both directions. For a moment, he actually felt a glimpse of hope. This looked like the work of someone high up. Hamlin could finally be intervening.

But the hope quickly faded away as the face of Councilman Orion Bennett emerged from the dark vehicle in Hamlin’s place.

Suddenly, Ambrosia was this huge, lonely, terrifying place. Rayne was gone and I had no idea what to do. I paced the sand nervously, clutching Rayne’s cell phone in my hand. Call Jax and find my father…that was what Rayne told me to do. I could handle that, right?

I scrolled through Rayne’s phone until I found the name Jax Bennett on the screen, but my fingers hesitated. I didn’t even know if I trusted Jax. He had spent the last couple of weeks stealing my Healing Water and tricking me into believing he was my friend Nicole’s cousin, which of course he wasn’t—at all. Not even close. He was a Scout, and the only Scouts I had ever met were Ash and Voss Hastings, who basically lived in my worst nightmares.

But then I remembered; there was actually one more Scout I had met before—Honeycutt, and he helped me and Rayne at the Sacred Pool when I was dying, even though he knew he was probably going to get in trouble. He was a Scout, and he was one of the good guys.

Of course, all that really proved to me was that being a Scout alone wasn’t a good enough reason not to trust Jax, but I was sure there were plenty of other reasons.

But, then again, Jax did come clean in the end, right? He was the one who went to find my father when we needed him most, and he didn’t let us down.

I suddenly realized I was doing nothing but wasting valuable time. I trusted Rayne, and Rayne trusted Jax. End of story.

And when it really came down to it…I knew I didn’t have any other options.

So, I pushed the button and made the call.

A casual voice answered on the line. “Hey, man,” Jax said, obviously expecting to hear from Rayne in return.

“Um, Jax?” I replied hesitantly. “This is, uh, Sadie. Do you remember me? I’m a friend of—”

“Sadie! Sadie my beautiful
lady
,” Jax sang out, interrupting me with a cheerful rhyme. For a minute, it almost sounded like he was pretending to be Nicole’s superficial cousin Derrick again.

I wasn’t exactly in the mood. I went straight to the point. “We have a problem,” I said bluntly, trying to hide the shake in my voice. “Rayne has been arrested.”

Jax’s tone switched from smooth-talker to agent in less than a second. “Arrested? Under whose authority?”

“I’m really not sure. I think he mentioned something about Border Patrol maybe.”

“Border Patrol?” Jax scoffed. “Those pansies? That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just make a few phone calls. I’ll take care of this; you just wait for my call.” He sounded like he was about to hang up.

“No, wait,” I urged, holding Jax on the line. “Before Rayne turned himself in, he told me we should only talk to my—uh, I mean, we should talk to…to the Ambassador directly.”

“Wait, Rayne turned himself in?” Jax said. “Why would he do a dumb thing like that?”

Jax’s question caught me off guard. “I don’t know,” I lied nervously. “But I’m sure he had a good reason. Look, I just need to know if you can get a hold of the Ambassador for me. I need to talk to him. Rayne said I could count on you.”

“Okay, okay, no need to get all worked up about it. It was just a question. Don’t worry, Sadie, I’ll get a hold of the Ambassador for you.”

“You will?” I said, my tone softening.

“Yes,” Jax assured me with a hint of amusement in his voice. “And I’ll make sure Rayne is taken care of too.”

“But, you won’t talk to anyone else, right?” I reminded him.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Jax said, his voice turning so smooth it was almost suggestive. “I won’t tell anyone. But, I can’t promise you won’t owe me a favor for it later…”

My brow pinched.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Then Jax’s tone turned to mock innocence, as if he was toying with me. “I’m just saying, Sade…you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it, am I right? If I do recall…just the other day, you and I were getting pretty cozy on your couch over a nice plate of Thai food, remember?”

“
Yeah
,” I protested, “but I was practically delirious from lack of sleep, and I thought you were Nicole’s cousin, if
you
remember.”

“Interesting,” Jax mused. “So, a supposedly plain, everyday Earth-boy you like, but when a wealthy, highly successful, and might I add…incredibly handsome, Scout, right here in Ambrosia shows some interest, you shut him down. You know what this sounds like to me? This sounds like
somebody’s
in denial.”

“I’m not in denial, Jax. I’m with Rayne. Rayne and I are together, okay? We’re officially dating. So whatever this little thing is you’re trying to play here, just turn it off.”

“You two are dating?” Jax said, as if he were completely shocked. “And you were cuddling with another boy on the couch?”

“What? No, that’s not what—” I had to stop and gain my composure. Jax was driving me insane with frustration. I tried to focus.

“Jax,” I finally said, “can you please just find the Ambassador and call me back?”

Jax laughed—which was totally annoying—and said, “Of course, love. Your wish is my command.”

I couldn’t help but grumble as I hung up on him as fast as I could. He was completely impossible!

After the phone call, I had to sit there on the beach and wait, forcing myself to do nothing. It was excruciating. I tried to picture Rayne’s face to calm myself—and to help me forget the fact that I was relying on someone like Jax to help me get Rayne out of this mess.

I waited there as long as I could stand, which ended up being exactly thirty minutes—the minimum requirement Rayne had given me before I could go back—and then I fired up the four-wheeler with determination in my eyes.

There were a couple of times I was sure I was driving in circles trying to find my way back to Rayne’s house, but eventually the back side of the barn came into view. My grip immediately loosened on the accelerator, slowing to a more cautious pace. I didn’t see anyone or hear any suspicious noises, but I had to keep an eye out in case any of the men who arrested Rayne were still hanging around.

I circled through the barn door and shut off the engine, looking over my shoulder every five seconds. When the rumble of the engine went quiet, I was hoping the air around me would go quiet as well, but just when I thought I was in the clear, a rustling sound came from the far corner of the barn. I slid off the seat carefully and froze in place.

My eyes shifted from side to side, searching every inch around me. The barn was large and cluttered with equipment and gear and storage boxes everywhere. Several alcoves ran along both sides of the walls, creating a million different hiding places, making it impossible to see if anyone was really there.

I was sure I had heard something, but if it was really some kind of cop or Border Patrol guy, wouldn’t he have sprung out to trap me by now? I shook my head. It was probably nothing. Maybe Lark’s dog was running loose…or a stray little animal had wandered in by accident. Yes, it was probably just an adorable, fluffy-haired bunny.

When I waited a moment longer and didn’t hear anything more, I started to creep toward the door. But just as I took a second step, a large banging noise caused me to scream and jump around. I started to edge backward in fear as a figure appeared from behind one of the short wooden fences, clutching something small and dark in hand.

“Andella?” I finally gasped in relief. It was just Rayne’s grandmother. “What are you doing out here?” I asked.

She held the object in her hand toward me. It looked like a really old book of some kind. “I thought I lost it,” Andella said with a look of concern. Then she grinned. “But, I knew it would come back to me. It always does.”

With the funny way she worded things, I wasn’t sure if Andella was referring to the book returning to her possession or just her sanity.

“That’s good to hear,” I said, humoring her. “Why don’t we go take it back inside the house so you don’t lose it again?”

She patted my arm with a shaky hand. “You’re certainly right, dear.” And then she shuffled her little feet so quickly across the barn that I was suddenly struggling to keep up with her.

A moment later, we were safely back inside Andella’s house where she went straight to busying herself with making me a snack despite my protests. Meanwhile, I pulled out Rayne’s cell phone and stared at it, wishing it would ring so Jax could tell me that my father was finding a way to meet up with me at this very moment to make everything right again.

Andella reappeared in the front room with a tray full of pastries. “I haven’t seen you in such a long time,” she said, cheerfully handing me a warm cup of reddish-pink liquid. “It’s nice of you to stop by.”

I paused as I accepted the cup from her outstretched hand. Earlier in the day, Rayne’s grandmother seemed to be mixing me up with one of her children or grandchildren, and now it seemed like, at least in her mind, I was an old friend dropping by for a visit. I didn’t know what else to do but play along. I figured, as long as she wasn’t accusing me of being an intruder, we were both going to be fine.

I moved my nose down over the edge of my cup to get a better look, and a soothing aroma wafted up through the steam. It was some kind of spicy, fruity cider that I assumed was made from Lizzy fruit. The woman did live in an orchard full of them, after all. I allowed a few sips of the cider to ease down my throat, hoping the warmth would calm my tense nerves.

I wondered if Rayne’s grandmother was even aware that some men had been on her property to haul her innocent grandson off to jail. She certainly didn’t seem upset. I didn’t think she even noticed that anyone was gone, not even Rayne’s family members who had left early in the morning to go to the hospital. She just nibbled away at a triangle-shaped pastry while urging me to, “Eat them while they’re hot, dear.”

It hadn’t been that long since I first called Jax, probably less than an hour, and there really wasn’t anything I could do until I heard back from him. So, I picked up a triangle drizzled in white glaze and started to eat.

Just as I finished the last bite of my pastry, Andella stood from her chair without saying a word, without even looking at me for that matter, like I wasn’t even there. She left her cup of cider and half-eaten pastry sitting on the coffee table as she exited the room. My eyes trailed after her, wondering if she was planning to come back, wondering if she would even remember how to get back. But only a moment later, she reappeared, clutching the same brown book she brought in from the barn earlier.

Andella sat down beside me on the sofa. “This is for you,” she said, placing the book in my lap. She nodded, encouraging me to take it.

“Um…okay,” I said. “Did you want me to read it to you?”

Andella went on without answering my question. “I’ve been saving it for you,” she said proudly, “just like you asked me to. It had been so long, I wasn’t sure you would come back, but here you are. I kept it nice and safe.”

I felt bad for her. She obviously thought I was someone else, probably whoever gave her this book a long time ago; poor old thing.

“Of course you did,” I said, trying to smile. “Thank you very much.”

Andella took my hand and patted it between her palms. “Yes, how wonderful,” she said with a sigh, continuing to pat my hand, but a moment later she stood up. “Now, I hate to make you rush off, dear, but I’m afraid I’m a little weary today; you understand.”

Andella motioned for me to follow her as she walked to the front door. Apparently, our visit was over.

“So nice to see you,” she said, urging me outside. “Come again soon.”

I stood on the porch, unsure how to react as Rayne’s grandmother gave me a final wave goodbye and shut the door. For a moment, I stared at the closed door, clutching the old book in my hand. That whole conversation was just…odd.

But, I figured if I got bored at least I would have something to read. For now, I decided not to disturb Andella and started across the path toward Rayne’s parents’ house. Just as I strolled around the front side of the yard to check out Binnie’s rose garden, Rayne’s cell phone finally started to ring. I was seriously relieved when I saw Jax’s number on the screen.

I answered the phone as fast as I could. “Tell me you have good news,” I said hopefully.

“Well,” Jax replied. “I could lie if you’d like.”

My jaw tightened. “Please say that you’re just teasing me, Jax.”

“Sorry, love, I wish I were.”

“So, what happened?” I complained. “I thought you were supposed to be Mr. big shot with connections and all that.”

“I am,” Jax said. “Believe me; I’m just as baffled as you are. The Ambassador isn’t back in Banya yet, so I went to the border to pass through the Threshold to call him, but they wouldn’t let me through. Me! Jax Bennett! They said my clearance has been temporarily
suspended
, whatever that’s supposed to mean. But don’t worry, Sadie. I plan to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. The only people who can revoke
my
clearance are members of the Council, not some weak little Border Patrol guard.”

“So, what am I supposed to do now?” I asked, frustrated.

“I guess you could wait until the Ambassador returns, and then set something up.”

I started pacing around the flower garden. “And do you happen to have any idea when he might be coming back?”