Chapter Twenty-Six

Maddox

He’d tried several times throughout the evening to reason with Theo, and when that didn’t work, Maddox appealed to his mom. He told her Juno wasn’t the thief and that they should let her go. Every time, she’d ask him for proof, to tell her who the real thief was. But he had nothing. The identity of the thief was no more obvious to him than it had been in the beginning. He had no idea who it was—he just knew who it wasn’t.

Maddox had fallen asleep in his spot at the table in the dining area—as close to Juno as he could get without looking suspicious—with his head on his arms. He woke with a start when people began filing into the room.

He rubbed his eyes then his neck as he watched for his mom and Theo. He needed to get through to them somehow. They couldn’t keep Juno locked in the storage closet forever. She needed food and water.

She didn’t belong in there.

But where did she belong? Maddox gritted his teeth. No one had even fought for her back in her community except for her friend Pillar. Rand and Stef, the people who were supposed to be her family, hadn’t stood up for her. No wonder she was planning on leaving.

Why hadn’t she gone earlier? Why hadn’t she stayed at the bridge when she’d had a chance this afternoon?

He hung his head. He knew why. Because he’d broken her heart. Even her escape to what was supposed to be a better place was marred by the way he’d treated her. He’d been trying to protect her, but he ruined it, and now she might never make it to the bridge.

Maddox stood and stretched his arms. He spotted Theo the moment he stepped through the door. Maybe talking to Theo was a bad idea.

Then he saw his mom. He’d try again. She was reasonable—she’d listen.

He walked straight over, stopping them from reaching the table. “I need to talk to you,” he said to Alice.

She glanced around, and he shook his head. “Outside.”

“If this is about the captive,” Theo said, “we can talk in here. We all have a say in what happens to her.”

Her name is Juno, Maddox wanted to shout. He didn’t care anymore if people knew he’d been spending time with her. She was a person, not an animal. And she deserved to be treated like one. But he did care how the rest of the community saw his mother. If they thought she might have known about Maddox’s excursions to the bridge or his conversing with the enemy, they’d lose respect for her.

“She shouldn’t be in there,” Maddox said, keeping his voice low.

Theo laughed, drawing the attention of even more of the crowd. “Where should she be, then? Back at home in bed? In one of our homes? What makes you think she won’t steal our personal items as well?”

A few people nodded their heads. Maddox kept his gaze focused on his mom. She’d listen to reason—he knew she would. He just had to make sure she saw the other side.

“We don’t have any proof she stole those supplies.”

“Theo said she confessed,” Alice told him.

“She said she’d come with us—that’s not the same thing.”

Theo laughed again, along with a few others. “Why would she come with us if she isn’t guilty? We both saw her over here, on our side of the border. Or don’t you remember?”

He winced. Yes, he’d seen her. And he’d tried to get her out as fast as possible. But he’d be lying if he said Juno wasn’t in their territory.

“That doesn’t mean she stole supplies,” Maddox murmured. “We don’t have any proof of that.”

And besides, he wanted to say, she’d been stolen from as well. But he couldn’t tell everyone that, only his mom.

“She should at least have food and water,” Maddox said.

“Give her our food?” someone asked, making him turn. “Isn’t that the reason she’s here? Because she stole our food?”

“Right,” someone else echoed. “So her reward for taking our food is to give her more of our food? Doesn’t make sense.”

“Water, then,” Maddox said.

“Let her sweat it out.” Theo shrugged. “She knew what she was getting herself into. She admitted to stealing. She deserves what she gets.”

“What does she deserve?” Maddox growled. “She’s a person. Are you just going to let her starve to death in there? Die of dehydration?”

Alice set her hand on his arm. “No.”

But Theo’s look said something different. He exchanged glances with James like they already had a plan and that plan meant making Juno suffer as much as possible.

“We’ll bring her some water,” Alice said.

“In a little while.” Theo pushed around Maddox to sit at the table next to James. “She’s fine for now.”

Alice pointed. “Let’s sit and eat first. We’ll have to discuss what’s going to happen now that she’s here. And we need to get back to work. We’ve already wasted enough time.”

Maddox sat because there was nothing else to do. Going over to the storage closet right now would just aggravate things—make the people trust him even less.

But that still didn’t mean he had to keep water from her.

“You should eat,” Alice said. “We all have work to do today.”

“I can’t. I really need to talk to you.” Not in front of Theo, he wanted to add.

Alice continued to sit. “I know this isn’t how you want things to go, but—”

“It’s more than that.”

Theo shoved a bowl at him. “Eat! We have our supplies back—at least we have food. Look at the bright side.”

The bright side? Killing an innocent girl was the bright side?

He shoved out of his seat. “I’m not hungry.”

“Where are you going?” Theo asked.

Maddox debated. He wanted to see Juno. But Theo would know—or someone would know where he was. “Home.”

He didn’t wait for Theo’s response or even look back as he stalked out of the dining area. He’d go home for now, but he wasn’t going to let Theo get away with this.

His mom wouldn’t let them do anything to Juno until the community had a say. He had some time, but not much.

He’d make his mom listen before that.

Maddox walked the long way around the shopping area, catching sight of the ocean. He breathed in deep. Fishing. That’s what he could do. He could convince Theo that Juno was a great fisherman, and maybe he’d let her repay her “debt” in work.

Then she’d be able to get out of the storage closet and still help out the community. A win-win.

He wandered in the direction of the water, working through several different scenarios of the idea. It would work, especially if he could get his mom to back him up. After all, she had more say than Theo. She could fix all of this if she wanted to.

Then the reality hit him. Theo didn’t care about fishing. He cared about retribution.

Maddox cursed under his breath, then paused. He squinted at the beach when he saw a figure close to the road, just on the other side.

It looked like a girl. Almost the same size as Juno. She wasn’t on his side of the border, but close.

He wandered a little closer, and then it hit him. Pillar.

He glanced around to make sure no one was nearby and then jogged across the sand. Pillar crossed her arms when she saw him, but she stayed where she was, making it clear she wanted to talk.

“Pillar,” he said when he reached her. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to check on Juno. You didn’t hurt her, did you?”

“No,” he choked out, guilt flooding his body. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“But you’d let them do it.”

“No. No, I won’t. I’m trying to fix this. I—” He didn’t know what else to say. He needed for her to believe him—for someone to know he wanted to help Juno.

“Why did you have to say anything? She cared about you, and then you turned her in for something she didn’t do,” Pillar said, tears in her eyes.

The surf raced to the tips of his shoes, but Maddox barely noticed. “I swear I didn’t say anything. It’s—my brother saw her when she visited the other night—when you were with her, remember?”

“She didn’t steal your supplies.”

“I know.” He almost reached out to assure her but forced his hands to stay at his sides. “I know she didn’t.”

One tear slipped out, and she wiped it away hastily. “Then, she’s okay?”

He nodded. “She’s okay. You…you believe me, right? That I didn’t turn her in. I don’t want Juno hurt. I was trying to fix this—to stay away so she wouldn’t get hurt. When my brother caught me with her, I had to push her away. To protect her.”

Pillar’s lip wobbled. “That’s why she was so upset?”

Another blow to the heart. Juno had been upset about what he’d done. He couldn’t blame her. It made sense. He would have been hurt, too. But it was for the best. At least he’d thought so at the time.

“Why did she turn herself in?” Maddox asked, glancing around again. He couldn’t stay out here much longer.

Pillar gave a bitter laugh. “Why? Someone had to take the fall. Juno did it for the rest of the community. For me.”

He blew out a breath. Of course. Theo had seen both Juno and Pillar. If Juno thought Pillar might be in danger, she’d do whatever she could to save her.

“And also…” Pillar’s voice trailed off, fading under the sound of the waves and the wind.

“What?”

“Don’t you get it by now? Even when you didn’t want to talk to Juno, she still came and found you. She turned herself in to protect me, but she also turned herself in to protect you.”

His throat dried. Why would she do that after everything he’d done to hurt her?

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“You should be.” Pillar pointed her finger at him. “And you’d better make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

She didn’t let him answer, just ran in the other direction. He watched as she disappeared behind a building.

Maddox swallowed hard, forcing himself to turn away. He wished he could run away like Pillar. But where could he run? He had nowhere to go. And if Juno wasn’t there, what was the point, anyway?

It was taking the easy way out. He owed it to himself to try harder to fix this. No, he owed it to Juno.

Maddox walked straight home and grabbed a jug full of water and some vegetables his mom had set out on the counter. Then he walked to the storage closet, passing a few people on the way but refusing to engage.

Tim leaned against a tree outside the locked room, frowning when he saw Maddox. “What are you doing here?”

“She needs food and water.” And God, he hoped someone had at least left her a bucket to use the restroom. Something. Bile climbed up his throat. They really were treating her like an animal.

“Theo said you’d probably come over here,” Tim said.

“So what? It’s not like I’m letting her out. I’m just making sure she doesn’t die before we decide what to do.”

Tim didn’t respond for a long moment, but the logic of it seemed to make sense to him, so he shrugged.

He undid the lock and prepared himself to see Juno. Prepared himself to apologize and promise her he’d fix this mess.

The door squeaked when it opened, and light flooded the dim room. He stepped inside and then froze.

There she was, in the corner next to the shelves. She peered toward the door, squinting against the sudden light.

He expected something when she saw him. Anything, really. Maybe not a smile, but that same light in her eyes that he was used to. Acknowledgment of some kind.

But when she saw him, she only lifted her chin and looked in the other direction. He’d gone too far this time. She’d never forgive him now.