Made for You
Page 78
“I’m not following,” Nate says.
“Will you trust me?”
“Of course, but—”
“I love you,” I blurt.
Nate stares at me for a moment. “Eva, I—”
“Don’t. I don’t need you to say it; I just wanted you to know first.” I offer him a tremulous smile. “Can I have my phone?”
He scoops it up off the floor where I flung it and hands it to me. “Are you going to fill me in?”
“I’m going to lure him out,” I tell Nate. “He thinks he loves me, so he’s not going to want me to be with you. You saw him earlier. That’s what had him so upset. I need him to focus on me, on us, not on Grace.”
For a moment, Nate is so motionless that I think he’s going to object, but then he nods once. “Tell him.”
Smiling, I type “I love Nate” and hit send. I wait. There’s still no reply, so I type, “As soon as he gets back. I’m going to tell him. Then I’ll do whatever you want if you set Grace free.”
“I won’t let you do that,” Nate says, his voice grown taut with anger and something else. “I know you want to save her, but I won’t let you—”
“I’m lying,” I interrupt, which is a little bit true. “Reid doesn’t know about my visions.”
“Okaaay.”
“He thinks you’re out somewhere and that you’ll come back to me, and we know that he’s the one that attacks you on Old Salem.” I grab Nate’s hand. “We know where he’ll be. We don’t know when, but if I can lure him out, we can make the when be now.”
Nate’s eyes widen for a moment before he clarifies, “So you’re going to send me to capture him?” Then he gets the same sort of look in his eyes that I’ve seen before he ends up in a fistfight. It’s a mix of excitement and determination. “I can do it. Then he won’t be able to ever hurt you again.”
“I’m coming too.”
“Eva, he’s obsessed with you. Taking you to him is—”
“The best plan we have. We know how he attacks you because I saw it. He’ll force you off the road, and he’ll think you don’t expect an attack. You do though. So you’ll be ready, and I’ll be ready.”
Nate watches me, but he doesn’t raise any more objections. I can tell he’s thinking about it.
“We know he’s coming, and we know he’s going to attack. We just need to be ready,” I tell Nate.
“Let me go alone.”
“No.” I shake my head and give him my best I-don’t-think-so glare. “In my visions, you were alone, and he killed you. You won’t be alone this time. I’ll be there, and that will make it end differently. Don’t you see? We know things he doesn’t, and we can use it to save Grace. Please?”
“You’ll stay far away from the fight though? You’ll let me handle that?”
“I’m not going to try to jump into a fight. I don’t fight, and”—I motion to my crutches—“I’m not even standing on both feet right now.”
Nate nods once.
“Thank you!” I reach out for his hand and say, “Help me upstairs, and then we’ll go. I just need fifteen minutes.”
Reluctantly, he agrees. I think he realizes I’m hiding something, but he isn’t asking and I’m not volunteering any answers. I’ve seen other visions. Nate knows that. Maybe he isn’t putting all the pieces together yet, but I am. The spot where Reid dies in my vision of him looks a lot like where he attacks Nate too. I know how Reid dies now—and it’s not the killer who shoots him. It’s me.
As soon as Nate goes back downstairs, I go into my mother’s room and hobble to the back of her walk-in closet. In the corner is a firebox. Awkwardly, I crouch down while balancing on my crutches, unlock it, and open it. The pistol is there where it’s always been. Next to it is a faded blue-and-yellow cardboard box of bullets. I pick both items up and slip them into my purse. I’ve been going to the shooting range with my grandfather for years, so I feel as comfortable with a pistol as I do with a cell phone. It’s a tool, one I’m hoping not to use. I want to change the vision I had of Reid’s death too. Despite everything he’s done, I don’t want anyone else to die, but if it’s between Reid and Grace, she’ll be the one who lives.
“Nate?” I call from the top of the stairs.
He comes around the corner, stops, and looks up at me. As he walks toward me, he says, “You know, I love you too.”
I can’t stop the smile that comes over me. “Yeah?”
In a blink, he’s the rest of the way up the stairs and kissing me. When he pulls back, he says, “Yeah. I do.” My crutches fall as he lifts me in his arms. “I wouldn’t put my life in your hands if I didn’t.”
He carries me down to the ground floor and then runs up for my crutches. I watch him with a smile still on my lips. When he’s back in front of me, I say, “The accident was never that bad in the death visions, but you’ll need to be careful of the crowbar. He won’t expect you to be prepared. You can use that. The Maglite helps too. A baseball bat would be better, but I don’t suppose you have one of those.”
“No bats in the truck. Sorry,” Nate says. “I’ll be ready though. I can get the crowbar away from him and kick his ass. Then he’ll tell us where Grace is, and then he’ll get locked up so everyone is safe.”
“Will you trust me?”
“Of course, but—”
“I love you,” I blurt.
Nate stares at me for a moment. “Eva, I—”
“Don’t. I don’t need you to say it; I just wanted you to know first.” I offer him a tremulous smile. “Can I have my phone?”
He scoops it up off the floor where I flung it and hands it to me. “Are you going to fill me in?”
“I’m going to lure him out,” I tell Nate. “He thinks he loves me, so he’s not going to want me to be with you. You saw him earlier. That’s what had him so upset. I need him to focus on me, on us, not on Grace.”
For a moment, Nate is so motionless that I think he’s going to object, but then he nods once. “Tell him.”
Smiling, I type “I love Nate” and hit send. I wait. There’s still no reply, so I type, “As soon as he gets back. I’m going to tell him. Then I’ll do whatever you want if you set Grace free.”
“I won’t let you do that,” Nate says, his voice grown taut with anger and something else. “I know you want to save her, but I won’t let you—”
“I’m lying,” I interrupt, which is a little bit true. “Reid doesn’t know about my visions.”
“Okaaay.”
“He thinks you’re out somewhere and that you’ll come back to me, and we know that he’s the one that attacks you on Old Salem.” I grab Nate’s hand. “We know where he’ll be. We don’t know when, but if I can lure him out, we can make the when be now.”
Nate’s eyes widen for a moment before he clarifies, “So you’re going to send me to capture him?” Then he gets the same sort of look in his eyes that I’ve seen before he ends up in a fistfight. It’s a mix of excitement and determination. “I can do it. Then he won’t be able to ever hurt you again.”
“I’m coming too.”
“Eva, he’s obsessed with you. Taking you to him is—”
“The best plan we have. We know how he attacks you because I saw it. He’ll force you off the road, and he’ll think you don’t expect an attack. You do though. So you’ll be ready, and I’ll be ready.”
Nate watches me, but he doesn’t raise any more objections. I can tell he’s thinking about it.
“We know he’s coming, and we know he’s going to attack. We just need to be ready,” I tell Nate.
“Let me go alone.”
“No.” I shake my head and give him my best I-don’t-think-so glare. “In my visions, you were alone, and he killed you. You won’t be alone this time. I’ll be there, and that will make it end differently. Don’t you see? We know things he doesn’t, and we can use it to save Grace. Please?”
“You’ll stay far away from the fight though? You’ll let me handle that?”
“I’m not going to try to jump into a fight. I don’t fight, and”—I motion to my crutches—“I’m not even standing on both feet right now.”
Nate nods once.
“Thank you!” I reach out for his hand and say, “Help me upstairs, and then we’ll go. I just need fifteen minutes.”
Reluctantly, he agrees. I think he realizes I’m hiding something, but he isn’t asking and I’m not volunteering any answers. I’ve seen other visions. Nate knows that. Maybe he isn’t putting all the pieces together yet, but I am. The spot where Reid dies in my vision of him looks a lot like where he attacks Nate too. I know how Reid dies now—and it’s not the killer who shoots him. It’s me.
As soon as Nate goes back downstairs, I go into my mother’s room and hobble to the back of her walk-in closet. In the corner is a firebox. Awkwardly, I crouch down while balancing on my crutches, unlock it, and open it. The pistol is there where it’s always been. Next to it is a faded blue-and-yellow cardboard box of bullets. I pick both items up and slip them into my purse. I’ve been going to the shooting range with my grandfather for years, so I feel as comfortable with a pistol as I do with a cell phone. It’s a tool, one I’m hoping not to use. I want to change the vision I had of Reid’s death too. Despite everything he’s done, I don’t want anyone else to die, but if it’s between Reid and Grace, she’ll be the one who lives.
“Nate?” I call from the top of the stairs.
He comes around the corner, stops, and looks up at me. As he walks toward me, he says, “You know, I love you too.”
I can’t stop the smile that comes over me. “Yeah?”
In a blink, he’s the rest of the way up the stairs and kissing me. When he pulls back, he says, “Yeah. I do.” My crutches fall as he lifts me in his arms. “I wouldn’t put my life in your hands if I didn’t.”
He carries me down to the ground floor and then runs up for my crutches. I watch him with a smile still on my lips. When he’s back in front of me, I say, “The accident was never that bad in the death visions, but you’ll need to be careful of the crowbar. He won’t expect you to be prepared. You can use that. The Maglite helps too. A baseball bat would be better, but I don’t suppose you have one of those.”
“No bats in the truck. Sorry,” Nate says. “I’ll be ready though. I can get the crowbar away from him and kick his ass. Then he’ll tell us where Grace is, and then he’ll get locked up so everyone is safe.”
