Free Phoenix: Book One of The Stardust Series by Autumn Reed, Julia Clarke Page B

there.
    Knox spoke then,
breaking the spell. “You didn’t appear to be carrying a flashlight last night;
it made it pretty difficult to find you.”
    I scarcely held in a
laugh, surprised by the change of subject. “Oh, good. You know I wasn’t trying
to be found.”
    I felt the air in the
room lighten. He scratched his chin, and I could hear the short hairs brushing against
his fingers. “Did you drop the flashlight at some point?”
    I shook my head.
“Nope.” He seemed to be done interrogating me, at least for the moment.
    He stopped scratching
his chin. “I’m just trying to figure out how you made it two and a half miles
in the dark.”
    I grinned. “It was
simple really, I used my eyes.”
    Chase laughed, but Knox
narrowed his eyes. “There was barely any light from the moon last night. You
mean to tell me you can see in the dark?”
    “Sort of.”
    He started laughing, a
laugh that was deep and hearty. “You’re kidding, right?”
    My face felt hot now.
“No. I’ve trained myself to see better in the dark. Most of the time, though, I
use a special flashlight with red light that helps preserve my natural night
vision.” Knox stopped laughing and shook his head.
    I furrowed my brow.
They had given me some answers, but I still had a lot of questions. I still
wanted to know who they were working for. Feeling braver now, I decided to push
the issue. “Last night, you promised to tell me the rest of the story. Who
hired you to find my dad?”
    Knox responded, his
voice calm but direct. “I can’t tell you that. I can tell you that we did a
full background check on our client and didn’t find any reason to be suspicious
of his intentions. Now that we know men were following your dad and he has
disappeared, we are concerned about the possibility that our client is
involved.”
    Knox leaned forward,
resting his elbows on his knees. He dipped his head and massaged his temples
with his fingers, eyes closed. “Haley, who do you think was chasing your dad?”
He sounded tired.
    I considered the best
way to respond. Knox and Chase obviously knew a lot more than they initially
let on; maybe they were still holding back details that would help me find Dad.
With escape no longer an option at this point, I realized I may have to give
them a little information if I wanted some myself. Besides, if they were
working with the criminals, relating part of Dad’s backstory probably wouldn’t
tell them anything new.
    My palms felt clammy. I
knew providing some information could help, but secrecy and silence were so
ingrained in me that any disclosure, however slight, felt like betrayal. I
grabbed a pillow from the couch, hugging it tightly. “My knowledge of all of
this is very limited; I really only know a few things that my dad told me. Long
story short, my dad used to be an undercover cop in Los Angeles.”
    I paused, debating the
best way to relay the story quickly. “About twelve years ago, he and his
partner were working undercover with a criminal organization; I don’t know any
names or details. His partner was murdered after his cover was blown, but Dad
was able to get away. We went into hiding and have been living in Coleville
ever since.”
    I’m not sure what I was
expecting, but neither Chase nor Knox seemed terribly surprised by this
revelation. I hugged the pillow closer, tightening my grip. “As far as I know,
our identities and location have remained a secret for all of these years. But,
Dad told me that he was spotted a couple of weeks ago in Sacramento by a former
colleague, and I’m guessing that’s not a coincidence.”
    I let out a breath,
feeling relieved by sharing the story but also drained. I was getting hot and
the air in the cabin felt stifling. I need fresh air. Forgetting about
my ankle, I tried to stand, wanting to head out to the deck. My feet started to
give way, and Chase and Knox jumped up simultaneously.
    Before I knew it, Knox
was standing behind me, his arms supporting me.