“I’m at the Shady Acres Hotel. It’s just outside of Hemet. Do you remember Hemet?”
Of course I remembered Hemet. It’s nothing but a town in the green mountains between the Coachella Valley and San Diego. But it had an amazing music store where I used to drag Uncle Jim when I was a teenager just so I could get some bootleg CDs.
“Okay, stay there. I’m coming to you. What room are you in?”
“Room eight,” he said. “Thank you, Ellie.”
His voice cracked, bordering on tears. There was a pause, then a click as he hung up the line.
Guilt. I used to wear it like a badge, now I wore it like a ball and chain. I couldn’t believe this was happening to him, my only family left, the only one who I could depend on. I was ruining his life with all my past mistakes.
I looked at Camden, his face shadowed in the dark of the room. “We have to go to him. We have to help him.”
He didn’t nod like I thought he would. His lips were pressed together in a firm line.
“Camden?”
His jerked his head as if saying no.
I frowned. “Look, I know it’s out of the way and not part of our plans, but I can’t let my uncle hide out on his own. They’re after him, Camden.”
He licked his lips quickly. “Are they?”
I looked at him askew. “I don’t follow.”
“Yes, you do.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He strolled over to the window then drew the blinds shut and flicked on the light. “But you don’t want to think about it.”
I crossed my arms. “Think about what?”
“That he’s lying to you,” he said. He flinched a little as he said it, as if I’d hit him. I almost did, too. Smart boy.
“How dare you say that,” I seethed at him. “He’s my uncle.”
He raised his palms in defense. “I know he is. And I know it’s a terrible thing to even think, but I’m just being cautious. Your life is more important than his.”
“Maybe to you! Not to me. He’s been there for me when no one else has. My parents left me with him. They basically screwed him over! They left me and ran and they never came back. Sure, they talk on the phone now, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t sacrifice a lot of his life to raise me. And through high school, of all places. He was there during my deepest, darkest hours. There’s no way I can’t repay that.”
He nodded. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page, that’s all.”
“Well I’m not on your page. Shit, Camden. I’m tired of fucking people over! I need to make amends and do things right for a change. If I endanger myself trying to help him, then so be it. He deserves my help and everything else he can get from me.” I flopped down on the bed, trying to calm myself, trying to pretend the next words wouldn’t hurt. “You don’t have to come with me, you know. Go rent a car, go to your Gualala. You don’t need to be dragged deeper into this sorry mess.”
He sat down beside me and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m not letting you go on your own. We’re in this together, until the ocean waves crash on our feet.”
I squeezed back, giving him a shy smile. “You really paint this Gualala as a paradise,” I told him.
“If you’re there with me,” he said, “it will be.”
He kissed me softly, his hand getting lost in my hair. I started to fall back onto the bed but he caught me and kept me up. “We can do this later,” he murmured into my neck. “We’ve got your uncle to save.”
We got changed into normal clothes and threw our stuff into the car. We hadn’t even had the chance to unpack.
***
It felt completely wrong to be driving south to Hemet when we should have been driving north to Gualala, but my concern for Uncle Jim was too overpowering. Thankfully the drive was just under six hours, even with the rush hour traffic, and it wasn’t long before we were passing Lake Perris and winding through the mountains. With darkness enveloping us, the roads seemed extra treacherous, and Camden was tense as he drove. I’d decided Jose was probably safest with him—they’d been through a lot together.
The atmosphere inside the car was tense too. I could tell Camden was worried and for different reasons than I was. I was busy planning what to do with Uncle Jim. Telling him we were on the run from Javier wouldn’t come as a surprise, but I wanted to leave the whole “by the way I tried to rob Camden” thing out of it. It would only hurt him that I tried to do it in his hometown, and looking back now, I felt ashamed for even trying it.