CHAPTER 26 - Rosie

I feel like my life ended last night during those fireworks and what's walking around today is just some shell of what I was.

I am never gonna see my son again. I feel this in my soul.

And I'm floundering this morning at work. I can't take orders right, I can't pour coffee right, and everyone who comes in stops to look at me with pity eyes. Because of course, news travels fast around these parts and everyone in Revenant knows that Cross is missing.

Both Geraldine and Jonesy tell me to go home. It's slow, they don't need me.

But I can't go home. I can't. Not with Cross missing. I can't be in that house without him. So I tell them this and they nod, and look at me with sad eyes, and then Jonesy says, "Amon will get him back. Don't worry. He'll be back, Rosie."

Which does help, I do admit. Because I know that Amon's trying. I heard him this morning on the phone with Collin. It's just… well, maybe I didn't actually hear the conversation, but I can fill in the blanks just from his tone.

Amon said he was one hundred percent positive that my Erol is connected to Blackberry Hill. Just thinking about this makes me sigh because while I don't know the whole story about what happened up there—Lowyn didn't want to talk about it—I got lots of third- and fourth-hand gossip from all kinds of people after it happened.

Secret military bases. Underground tunnels or some such. Aliens. The gossip kinda turned into conspiracy theories at that point and stopped having any value, but while aliens might be a tick too far, underground tunnels actually make sense because there are tons of caves in West Virginia.

People always think they know everything because you go online and you look up caves and it pops up a list with a bunch of pictures. And we think to ourselves, Well, that's that. Those are my choices for caving .

But it's not true. For every one cave we know about there are probably a hundred that we don't. We think the internet is God, and it's not. It's just a collection of things that we put there. Like the inventory in Lowyn's shop.

So I would know this underground thing could be true even if my Aunt Ester hadn't told me once, a long time ago, about a girl Jim Bob needed to save up in the hills because she saw something she shouldn't have.

That was Lowyn the first time Ike had her, of course.

And isn't that something those Blackberry Hill people fancy doing? Taking people?

They did try and kidnap Olive.

"Why don't you go take a break, Rosie?"

"What?" I look up, sighing, and find Jonesy lookin' down at me with worry crinkles in his forehead.

"If you won't go home, at least take a break." He nods his head to the back door. "Go on. Go take a walk or something."

My mouth makes to form the word ‘no' but I stop myself from saying it. Because he's right. Being here isn't helping. So I take off my apron and nod my head. "All right. I'll just walk down to the river or something."

Jonesy places a comforting hand on my shoulder as I pass by him.

When I get outside it's bright, but quiet. Weekends around here are loud and long, so Monday mornings are always especially soft and slow. But I can hear the river and it's calling me, so I head across the street towards the teeny-tiny marina. Which is there mostly for atmosphere because Revenant modeled itself after a coastal town for reasons unknown to me. It's been this way my whole life, so probably this decision got made a hundred years ago, at least.

The only reason the town can pull this esthetic off is because the river has this weird bend in it right here where I'm headed. And this bend happens to be wide, relatively speaking. So on this bank it creates a little bay of sorts and this is where there are seven little sailboats tied up to the dock.

I can't recall a single time those boats actually went for a sail, but that's fairly typical when your town is a carnival and they're just props to begin with.

They look pretty, though. This whole part of Revenant is nice. There's a little cluster of shops—a fortune teller, an arcade, a taco place, and a tattoo parlor—and the storefronts all have custom signs with fancy hand lettering. So it comes off cute during the day.

At night, this place is filled with buskers all lit up with glowing neon face makeup and other performers who do things like fire juggling and street dancing.

It's a good time and since it's July fifth, I bet last night was a party.

I make my way over to a picnic table and sit down, leaning my elbows on the old wooden top so I can prop my chin in my hands. I just stare at the water and wonder where it all goes. Where it all comes from, for that matter. How there can be so much water that it just… flows like that.

A shadow appears to my right and when I look up, there is a man sliding his way around the other side of the table. He sits down across from me and waits, saying nothing.

He looks like any other man from these parts with his fair skin and blond hair. But I'd know those blue eyes anywhere.

Erol.

He speaks first. "Aren't you gonna say anything?" And then he has the audacity to smile.

This smile is like a gut punch. Because it's so familiar. I saw this smile in my dreams twelve years ago. Then, last night, I saw it in my nightmares.

I do not say anything.

"No?" He shrugs. "Well, that's fine, I guess." His accent is the same too. His voice, his lips, his mouth. "I've got plenty to say for the both of us, so I guess I'll just get to it."

Still, I say nothing.

"I've got Cross."

I suck in a breath when he says this and I am suddenly filled with so much hate and anger, I break out in a sweat.

"He's fine. In fact, he's better than fine. I didn't take him, ya know. I didn't. I just… made him an offer. One he couldn't refuse, I guess."

It's almost diabolical the way he says these words. All casual and with a smirk on his face.

But as the seconds tick off and I don't reply, this smug look falls and then he's frowning. "I didn't leave you, ya know."

"You lying piece of shit." My words come out angry and low. I nearly growl them out.

"I'm not lying."

"You left me. I was eight months pregnant and you got scared?—"

"That's not what happened." He's loud now and he bangs his fist on the table, making me jump.

I lean back, eyes wide, thinking I should probably get up and run.

But then he sucks in a breath and lets it out slow. "That's not what happened, Rosie." His words are softer now. Like he lost control there for a moment, but he's reined it back in. "You can think whatever you want, but this is the first time they let me out to explain."

"Explain what , exactly?" I have not wrangled my control back, so these words come out angry and loud.

Suddenly he's reaching for me and I'm so startled by this that he's got a hold of both my hands before I can start pulling away. He doesn't let go when I resist, just holds them tighter like he's afraid I'll run. "Listen to me. I only have a couple of minutes before they turn the cameras back on."

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

He nods his head up to the street lamps that are positioned every so often along the walkways. "They've got cameras all over this town and if I get made, then I'm done."

"Made for what?"

"I'm…" He stops and takes a breath. "It's gonna sound stupid, but I swear to God, this is the truth, Rosie. So I'm just gonna say it and you can do whatever you want with it. I didn't disappear. Not with you, anyway. You see… I was a runaway when I met you."

I'm so confused. "What?"

"I was on the run. I had escaped." He sighs again. "I mean, ‘escape' is a little bit dramatic, but only a little. Because I was born into a family that… well." He nods his head at Revenant. "You get it, right? I mean, you're part of the Trinity too. It's just the public face, of course. So you don't understand what it really is."

I stand up, use every bit of strength in my little hundred-and twenty-pound body, and rip my hands from his grip. Then step out from the inside of the picnic table bench and glare down at him. "What are you talking about?"

He stands up too. "I'm talking about Blackberry Hill. I'm talking about what's underneath Blackberry Hill. I'm from there. I was born there." And then he points to the ground.

Which makes me look at the ground. And while I'm doing that I'm thinking of that gossip back when Collin rescued Lowyn from Ike Monroe.

Underground military bases.

I look back up at Erol. "It's real?"

He exhales out a smile. It's a small one, but that just makes it more attractive. "It's real. You have no idea what this place is." He pans a hand in the direction of Revenant behind me. "All of it. Disciple, Bishop, and Revenant. They're just… cover, Rosie. And I was born into Blackberry Hill the same way you were born into Disciple. You grew up playing your part and I grew up playing mine."

I sit back down. Because I don't know what to say and my legs are feelin' weak. Of all the things I imagined happening to this man who used to be the boy I loved, ‘underground military base' never even made the top million.

"So, on my seventeenth birthday, I ran away," Erol continues. "I went to New York. I went to Boston. I went all kinds of places. And I figured it was safe. They didn't come get me. So I came back this way, took a job, and met a really pretty girl who just blew my mind. And we fell in love?—"

"Stop it!" I yell it. "Just stop. You're a liar."

"I'm not lying."

"You're not lying now, or you weren't lying then? Because you told me you were from Fayetteville! That you were trapping beavers or something."

"Well, what else was I gonna say? That I grew up in an underground military base that literally exists under your feet? That I ran away because I have no choice but to work for them? Because I was born into it? I mean, at least you people out here get a choice. You can leave if you want. You choose to stay, Rosie. I never got that choice. I guess they figured they'd let me run for a year. But only a year. Because on my eighteenth birthday, as you well know, they came for me and took me back."

"You've been underground this whole time? All twelve years of my son's life? And you didn't once think to maybe a write a letter?"

"Don't you get it?" He's growling at me now. But I'm not afraid of him, so he can growl all he wants. "I'm not allowed to leave. I'm not allowed to talk to people on the outside. I'm not allowed to do anything but exist in the little bubble I was born into."

I scoff. "Well, for someone who isn't allowed to do any of that, you sure did find a way to stalk me with letters."

"With puzzles."

I place both my hands over my face and scrub them down my cheeks, trying to pull myself together. When I manage that, I pull them away and look Erol in the eyes. "What do you want me to do in order to get Cross back? Because that's why you're here, right? You want something from me and whatever it is, you knew I'd say no. So you took my son as insurance. And I would just like to be upfront with you here, you are an evil son of a bitch, Erol Cross, for using my son like this."

"Come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me, Rosie. Be with me. We can all be together. I talked to them. I worked it out. They love Cross?—"

" What !"

"They want him to join. You did a good job. And of course he's half mine, so he's half Blackberry Hill, too."'

"What the hell kind of delusion are you living in, Erol? I'm not going anywhere with you! I want my son back and I want him back right now!" I pound the table with my fist and stand up again. " Right now !"

He pulls out a phone and before I can ask what he's doing, he's got it on speaker and it's ringing. The call is picked up on the first ring. "Daddy?"

My heart sinks. And Erol is watching. His eyes are locked on mine when my son's voice comes through the phone calling him ‘Daddy.' I shake my head.

But Erol doesn't care what I'm feeling. "It's me, son. I've got your mama here. She wants to hear all about what you're doin'."

"Oh, Mom! This place is great! Did you know there's a city underground? Right underneath Disciple! It's got everything down here. I love it. And I've got my own gun now!"

"Isn't that great, Rosie?"

Erol and I are still lockin' eyes. And I don't know what to say. What does a woman say when something like this—something so unbelievable, extraordinarily improbable—is happening in real time? What can she say?

"When are you getting here, Ma?"

"When am I getting there?"

"Yeah! Daddy says we're gonna live down here now."

I turn away and the tears are falling down my cheeks before I can stop them.

"All right, Cross. I'll be back soon and I'll see you then. Your mama will come tomorrow, OK?"

"All right, Daddy! See ya tomorrow, Ma!"

The call ends and there's a bit of silence. But then Erol says, "You've got twenty-four hours. That's all the time I could talk them into. I'll call you on your house phone at noon tomorrow and we'll make arrangements."

I don't look at him and my words come out as a whisper. "And if I say no?"

He scoffs behind me. "You're not gonna say no. We both know that."

Then he walks away and all I can do is watch him.