Elemental Thief

Chapter 22

"Riddles!" Dad exclaimed the moment Ridley opened the back door of Kayne's Antiques and stepped inside. Something hit the floor in the main part of the store before Dad came hurtling through the back room and wrapped his arms around Ridley. "You're okay," he breathed into her ear. She brought her arms up around his back, squeezed tight, and breathed in the familiar scent of his aftershave. "Where have you been?" he asked, pulling back but not letting go of her. "Why didn't you answer my calls? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"Dad, I'm so—"

"Meera said you were fine, but the two of you ended up separated in the crowd outside the school after everyone evacuated. She couldn't find you, and we both tried calling, but you weren't answering." He eased back a little further, and Ridley's arms slid away from him. "I know I give you a lot of freedom, but that's because you almost always answer my calls. If I'm worried, you let me know you're fine. But then something like this happens and afterwards you don't answer? What was I supposed to think, Ridley? Anything could have—"

"I'm sorry, Dad!" She grabbed hold of his arms and squeezed them. "I'm really sorry. My commscreen died, so I couldn't call you. I was with a friend, and I didn't realize how much time had passed, and then it was really late, so I just came home as quickly as I could."

"You were with a friend?" Dad's brow creased. "Someone who wasn't Meera or Shen?"

Ridley opened her mouth, considered lying, then allowed the truth to escape her lips instead. "Archer."

The wrinkles marring Dad's forehead grew more pronounced as his eyebrows climbed higher. "Archer Davenport?"

Ridley lowered her arms and reached behind her to pull the door shut. "Yes."

"Since when is he a friend?"

She turned the key before facing Dad again. "Okay, so friend is stretching the truth. We were ..." Again, she considered making something up, but it was easier—and more believable—to go with some version of the truth. "We were arguing, actually. I wanted to let him know exactly what I thought of him going along with the cover-up of what happened out there the other night." She gestured over her shoulder to the alley on the other side of the door.

"Riddles," Dad said, slowly exhaling. "That probably wasn't the best idea."

"I know. I was just so angry about the whole thing."

Dad nodded, then paused before adding, "It must have been a very long argument."

"It, uh ..." Ridley looked at her shoes. "It morphed into a bigger argument. About more than just the other night. You know, stuff about the past and about Lilah and everything that changed after the Cataclysm. I was furious by the end of it, so ..." She lifted her shoulders, preparing herself for the small lie she was about to slip in. "So I went for a walk. A long one. To cool down. And when I remembered the gunshots at school and how worried you must be, it was really late." Her eyes rose to meet her father's. I'm sorry for lying, she whispered silently. But telling him where she'd really been was out of the question. She'd already added to Dad's gray hair and wrinkles this evening, and she couldn't bear the thought of making him worry more.

"Okay, well ..." Dad reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "At least you're safely home now."

"Yes. And I'm so sorry for making you worry."

"Ah, it's okay." He swung one arm around her back as they headed for the stairs. "It's part of my job as your father to worry about you."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean I should make you worry any more than necessary."

"I know it's late—" he glanced at his watch— "but do you want something to eat? There was obviously no dinner at Wallace, so you must be—"

A bang on the door caused Ridley's legs to freeze and her stomach to tighten. Adrenaline kicked in, and before she knew it, she'd ducked down, pulling Dad with her as if to protect them both from the gunshot she felt sure was coming.