Page 7 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity (Secure Watch #2)

Unable to sit still, he pushed his chair back and paced.

All he wanted to do was figure out who was after Sky so he could get her out of his life again.

Being with her was too hard. All he could think about was what could have been.

What they could have been if she hadn’t pushed him away.

Fourteen years was a lifetime. It was forever ago and just yesterday.

He wanted those fourteen years with her back, but he’d never get them.

That was the hardest pill to swallow when the choice hadn’t been his.

“I know life has never been the same for us, Land,” she whispered, using the nickname she’d given him as a little boy.

Reece had called her Sky and she had said, “If I’m your sky, then you’re my land.

” And it had been that way every day after until that October night of their senior year.

“But you have to promise me you’ll stop blaming yourself for something you had no control over.

If you can’t do that, then I’m leaving now. ”

His laughter suggested they weren’t in a life-or-death situation. “I don’t think you’re in a position to demand that, Sky.”

“Maybe not, but it’s time we clear the air once and for all, Reece.”

“I’m not the one who pushed you away!” he exclaimed. “I’m not the one who said I couldn’t be part of your life anymore!”

He turned back, and Sky spun her chair, blocking his way. He plopped down on the club chair and ran his hands over his face rather than make eye contact with the woman who had been the one to do those things.

“I know that, Land. That was me.”

“Don’t call me that,” he said between clenched teeth.

“Do you think it hurts any less to hear you call me Sky? Do you think it doesn’t destroy every part of me to know you’ve blamed yourself all this time or that you’ve dealt with PTSD all these years because of that night?”

“It’s not PTSD,” he said, shaking his head. “The guys I work with at Secure One, yes. Me. No.”

“Denial isn’t just a river, Reece. From what I just saw, you absolutely have PTSD about October 15, 2010.”

Hard as he tried, he couldn’t hide his sharp intake of breath when he heard the date. “Enough, Skylar.” He didn’t speak the words as much as he grunted them. “It’s time to call Secure Watch.”

“Oh, I get it now,” she said slowly, her head nodding as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Get what?”

“Get why you won’t admit you have PTSD or talk to anyone about the accident.

At least, I assume you don’t, because you probably don’t want the guys at Secure One to know, either.

If they knew, they might tell you it wasn’t your fault.

It makes it harder for you to keep punishing yourself for my decisions whenever someone tells you that. ”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

Her snort was loud in the silent room. “Only if you speak a language other than English. I’ve spent, what?

” She checked the watch on her wrist before glancing back at him.

“A hair over six hours with you and already figured out that your big, bad, tough cybersecurity persona is an act. See, you try to temper the fact that you still blame yourself for me being in the chair with aloofness and fake aggravation, but your tells give you away. You can’t look me in the eye.

You can’t touch my wheelchair without grimacing.

You crack sarcastic comments to come off as uncaring when the truth is just the opposite. ”

“Okay, I care!” he exclaimed, unsure what she wanted him to say or do.

When she took his hands in hers again, he was sure that wasn’t it.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Sky.

I care you’re sitting in that wheelchair because I didn’t catch you.

There. Is that what you needed to hear? Can we move on now? ”

“No. We can’t move on until you repeat after me.” His huff did nothing to stop her. “Skylar uses a wheelchair.” She paused and waited for him to repeat the words.

A hard eye roll escaped, but he answered. “Skylar uses a wheelchair.”

“Because she broke her back during an accident that injured several members of her high school cheer team.”

“Because she broke her back during an accident that injured several members of her high school cheer team.”

“I couldn’t have caught her from the ground with a broken wrist.”

“I couldn’t have caught her from the ground with a…no, wait,” he said, rubbing his left wrist absently.

Rather than let him speak, she took his face in her hands. “Close your eyes. Let yourself see those last few moments of that night. You know I’m right, Land. You know none of us stood a chance.”

This time, he met her gaze and held it. “I don’t need to let myself see those last few moments. I see them every time I close my eyes. Yes, logically, I know none of us stood a chance that night. Emotionally, it is another story.”

“And that’s PTSD by definition, Reece. We can’t make that part of it disappear, but I also can’t sit here and watch you beat yourself up every second we’re together.

The only thing I can do is help you see that this wasn’t your fault.

Not when I knew the risk and agreed to it when I walked onto the field.

Every game. Every practice. Every time I asked my body to do something that defied gravity, this was always a possibility,” she said, motioning at the chair.

“I know that, too,” he agreed, still holding her gaze.

“You were always my protector, Land. I loved you for it, but we’re not little kids anymore.”

“It looks to me like you still need my protection.” He lifted his brow to challenge her, hoping she’d take the bait and get fired up. Anything to get her to stop forcing him to confront what he’d kept buried for fourteen years.

“I absolutely do,” she agreed. Reece’s shoulders deflated, knowing she wouldn’t distance herself from him.

“I’m scared to death, but I know if we can get past this and work together again, you’ll protect me just like you used to.

I’ve always trusted you, Reece, including that night in October when you held my hand and promised me everything would be okay even when I couldn’t feel my legs.

You were right that night. I’m okay. We’re okay. Okay?”

“That’s a lot of okays,” he said, forcing back the emotion welling in his chest when she smiled that smile he had lived for back in the day. “I’ll do my best to remember that we’re both okay, the present situation notwithstanding.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” she said, giving his hand one last squeeze before she backed up her chair. “Now, let’s find this Binate so I can get my life back.”

“Before we call Mina, I want to run down the situation with you so we’re on the same page when we call in.”

“I’m not even reading the same book,” she said with a frown. “I have no idea why this has happened.”

He held his hands up to calm her. “What I mean is, I want to give you all the facts so that you’re not surprised by anything Mina might say.”

There was no doubt Mina would bring up things she didn’t want to hear about, and he wanted to give her the chance to ask questions when they weren’t on camera.

He ran down everything he knew, starting with the vandalism of the art galleries and ending with how, as of two days ago, she’d still existed in the world.

“Wait, you’re saying there’s an actual warrant out for my arrest and the cops didn’t try to arrest me? That doesn’t make sense. I’m not hard to find.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I also agree with you, which is why I think, more than anything, it was a way to drag your name through the mud for a hot second before they shut everything down to keep the cops from coming for you. You can’t come for someone who doesn’t exist.”

Skylar waved her hand in the air. “Doesn’t make sense. I do exist! The cops in Duluth know me, Reece. They know where I live.”

He continued once he grasped her hand and lowered it to her lap.

“I know you exist, and so does the Duluth PD. What I mean is the persona they were trying to sell the cops. The person-of-interest alert came out of Minneapolis. It would get filtered to Duluth and they would follow up. The police would come to your house and ask you to ride with them to the station to chat.”

“They wouldn’t because they know me,” she said, motioning at the chair.

“My point is,” he said, frustrated by her inability to hear what he was saying, “if the cops did come to your house, you were gone, which meant all they could do was keep trying until they found you at home or they changed it from a person of interest to suspect. Since it was only forty-eight hours ago, they may not have had a chance.”

“Let’s say that’s the case. Eventually, I have to go home. So the question is, how do I prove who I am and that I didn’t commit these crimes?”

Each word got louder until he grabbed her hands and squeezed. “Deep breath,” he said, and he sucked one in, waiting for her to follow. Once she did, he nodded and spoke. “Remember, Secure Watch will help you, so don’t let that fear paralyze you.” He dropped his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’d have made a joke about it any other day, but I’m not feeling it today.”

“Understandable. What I was trying to say before I put my size twelve in my pie hole was to stay focused on the facts. Focus on the things we know are true about the situation. Those facts are that you didn’t vandalize galleries, and you do exist. We also know someone out there has a vendetta against you for an unknown reason, but one that we’ll uncover with time and investigation. ”

As though she deflated, her shoulders slumped forward and her head followed. “I know that, and you know that, but the galleries don’t know that, Land. I’ve spent the last decade trying to get a full gallery showing in a city like Duluth or Minneapolis. This will make it all for naught.”