We walked back through the kitchen. This place gave me serious deja vu.

Our bags were still there next to the island. Vince grabbed Meg's car key which was lying in a tray, then headed out.

We knew we couldn't drive her car forever. It could have a tracker, so we drove it to the beach and left it there. After that, we took a short walk back to the main street and got a double room at a busy chain hotel.

"The more people around, the better," Robert said after paying.

As soon as we settled in, the thought about our dad and all of its horror came back to our minds.

"We have to call someone!" I said to my brother.

"Damn right," Vince scratched his head. "We can call the police... No, no, we should try his assistant and secretary. They will alert the Department... "

"Guys, calm down. They're looking for him." Robert interrupted our scrambling.

"What do you mean?" Vince's eyebrows squeezed together. "Who are 'they'?"

"Well, I mean, your dad is a big deal. A four-star general goes missing during this? Whew! They would have known by now, right? They would not sit on their ass, doing nothing!" Robert gave us an innocent smile then leaned back on the wall where he stood.

"Yeah, but..." Vince hesitantly looked at his phone. "We're in the middle of a shit show, as you've mentioned. Not sure the Federation would care about one specific general... I still think we should call and let people know at least."

"I don't think it's a good idea. I mean, we don't even know who we can trust."

My eyes stayed on Robert. What he had said made sense, but something just didn't smell right. The guy had just rescued us. It felt ungrateful to question him, but the uneasiness kept nagging at the back of my head.

"Robert... Is there anything we should know about?"

Both of the guys stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

"What do you mean?" Robert asked.

"You know what I mean," I dug my toes down on the carpet, feeling the weight of what I was about to say. "You appeared at such a perfect moment to rescue us. How do you even know we're there or we're in danger? Now, you said we shouldn't call anyone. It just seems to me that you know something that we don't. This is our dad we're talking about, so if that's the case, I think you should let us know too."

"Lou, come on!" Vince tutted. "What can he know? I gave him the address." My brother glowered at me, then eyed Robert, before going back to his phone.

"Why don't you just let Robert speak for himself, Vince? He's not a princess you need to protect! Right?" I snickered and gave Robert a taunting look. A strange stubbornness came over me, strengthened by the discomfort I could sense from him.

"Vince gave me the address," Robert repeated what my brother had said while pushing his shoulders back. "I came and heard the scream, so I climbed over the fence and got in when the woman pointed the gun at you. I shot her with the taser. There. End of story. About your dad, as I said, it's just common sense that the Federation will do something. There's not much you guys can actually do at the moment besides staying safe and waiting anyway."

I scoffed without commenting. Robert might sound honest and simple, but there was definitely more to his story. At least, that was how I felt.

It had been that way since the accident. A while before we officially broke up, he had shut me out. No reason, no explanation. The change had happened almost overnight as if a total stranger had taken the place of the man I used to know and love. Robert had become a boulder that was impossible to crack, no matter how hard I tried...

That memory triggered me. I wanted to grab Robert by his neck and shake him, but I knew it would not have the desired effect since I only reached the guy's shoulders.

"Come on, Lou! Don't be ridiculous."
My brother's interference surely didn't help. Robert could do no wrong in Vince's eyes. The guy could kill someone and my foolish brother would help him dispose of the body.

"Right, I'm the ridiculous one!" I snapped. "How can precious Robert be wrong? He's always right. He's the hero. He does what he wants, waltzes in and rescues us, and we're forever in his debt. That's how it is, right?"

"Wow, you're batshit crazy. I don't kn..."

"It's ok," Robert squinted his eyes and held his hand up to stop Vince. "I'm right here, Lou. Whatever you want to say, you can say it to me directly."

His voice was perfectly monotone, but I knew I had gotten under his skin.

"You want to be a hero so badly," I smirked, determined to push the invisible button. I didn't know why. Seeing Robert's façade crumble just filled me with joy. "You constantly find new ways to impress people. Making them depend on you. Cannot live without you. Right? What are we to you? Friends? Families? Or the useless people who you have to charge in and rescue from time to time? 'Oh, the Haynes would be screwed without me!' Makes you feel better about yourself, doesn't it?"

At that moment, as if a tap in me had been opened, all of my bottled emotions spilled out.

"You are so fake, Robert! Fake and heartless. You don't love or care about anyone. You don't know how! You dumped me after everything we had been through together. You couldn't handle the fact that you were vulnerable and needed me. That must have annoyed you. Killed you inside even, but that's how relationships are supposed to work! We're supposed to depend on each other! Or is it just like you said, I was not what you wanted? Found yourself a new squeeze and suddenly I was not it? How is she by the way? Is she still with you?"

That was as awful and embarrassing as it could get. I sounded like a bitter, jealous ex who couldn't get over the fact that Robert had moved on. I only realized the full damage when the last words left my mouth, but it was too late.

Robert took a full minute to process my ranting. The look on his face would stay with me for a long time.

"I didn't know that's how you think about me, Lou... I don't know who you're referring to, but after everything, I thought there's at least one thing I've made clear. I do care about you, despite our breakup. That would never change. There are just things that you don't understand..."

There he went, talking to me like a child again.

"What don't I understand, Robert? What?" I pressed so close to him that my nose almost hit his collarbone. "That you couldn't wait one week after we broke up to get cozy with a new chick? That's right! I saw you two in front of the old apartment. I understand, you got your freedom. You can do whatever or whoever you want! I know that if it's not because of Vince, you would have erased me from your memory a long time ago."

"That's not true! Ok, it was a long time ago, so I don't know what you think you saw, but if you can just stop accusing me for a second, maybe I can explain..."

Robert backed up a little, frowning down at me like I was a yapping Chihuahua. The height difference between us used to be the thing I loved, now it just pissed me off.

"Accusing you? I wonder what took you so long to come out and defend yourself? Now you want to 'explain'. You could've done that on one of a million occasions we met in the last seven years!"

"When? How? During our barely-existent conversation at one of the Thanksgiving dinners? Or right before you left and we might or might not see each other next year? Or," Robert chuckled humorlessly, clearly getting frustrated. "Or one of a few times you came to Vince's places and didn't come in because I was there? You think I didn't know?"

"Oh, right, blame me! So convenient! It's my fault again! 'Lou is so stupid that she never understands what I want. She didn't beg me to take her back, didn't come around to entertain me, then all of a sudden, she had the nerve to call me for help! What a stupid, annoying little bitch!"

"Stop saying that! Stop making stuff up in your head! You know I would never say that about you!"

Vince dashed his eyes back and forth between us. We had been so consumed in being at each other's throats that, for a while, we had forgotten he was still there.

"You guys can stay here and fight it out," My brother grabbed his wallet and put it in his back pocket. "Me? I'm starving. That psycho didn't feed me all day, so I'm gonna go get myself a burger or two," he looked directly at Robert. "Maybe a lager."

Vince closed the door behind him. I didn't really care about what my brother wanted for dinner or my own growling stomach, but there was a very subtle change in Robert's demeanor that caught my eyes. I didn't know he was that interested in a drink.

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