That Day by Karen Deen (best novels to read in english txt) 📕

His hand ever so gently lifting to my face, his thumb wipes them away. “Your mom told me the night I got them to safety, that if I ever found their daughter whose name is Jenna, that I had to tell you this. Then you’ll know you’re safe.”

I sit up straight, hearing every single noise around me; my breathing, Kurt’s air as it’s escaping his mouth, my heart thumping.

“The caterpillar lives in the dark, but when the time is right, and it’s safe, it emerges as the beautiful butterfly.”

I’m stunned for a moment at his words as my world crashes around me.

I lunge into his arms, sobbing. No one would know that unless my mom trusted them. It was the code we set between us that last night I was pulled from her arms.

I’m clinging as tightly as I can to my dad.

How can they do this to us? I don’t understand why we can’t stay together. I’m so scared.

“Please, Daddy, don’t let them take me.” I bury my head against his chest so I can block the world out. He’s always the one I turn to when things go wrong.

“It’s okay, Jenna, they will keep you hidden, and then we’ll see you when this is all over. All I want is for you to be alive and safe. I can’t protect you like they can.”

As he slowly releases me, I turn to my mom as she pulls me into her arms and hugs me as hard as I’m wrapping my arms around her.

“Now listen to me, Jenna. You be brave. I know you’re strong, you just have to believe it.”

I shake my head back and forth. “I don’t know who to trust. When I need you, I won’t know how to find you.”

Her mouth near my ear, she whispers so no one can hear, “Remember this code, only you and I will know these words. If you hear them again, you can trust that person to find me.”

“Okay,” I say, my voice wobbly.

“The caterpillar lives in the dark, but when the time is right, and it’s safe, it emerges as the beautiful butterfly.” Her voice is so low even I can barely hear it, but it’s just enough that I’m now repeating it over and over in my head, praying that I’ll never need to use it.

With that, she starts pulling away, taking my heart with them.

“Shh, it’s okay.” Kurt’s voice brings me out of the memory from the last time I saw my parents alive.

“You promise…?” I sniffle. “They’re really alive?” I look up into the eyes that show the kindness and love I never should have doubted.

“I would never lie about something like that. But you can never tell anyone. We can’t risk their lives.”

“Where are they, can I see them, can I talk to them?” I’m almost begging him through my tears and sniffling.

“Not yet, but soon. When this is all over, I promise I will take you to them. But for now, we need to keep you both in hiding and apart. They have been in their safehouse ever since that night, and still to this day, no one knows who they are. As far as the agency is concerned, they’re dead, that they died that night in a massive car bomb explosion.”

I want to protest and demand he call them, yet I know what he’s saying is the right thing.

“Asha, there is so much more to tell you, but I need to know. Do you trust me now? We are not out of this by a long shot, but I need to know that we’re okay.”

I don’t even hesitate with my answer. “Yes! I’m so sorry, I should never have doubted you. I was so crazy, I should have just talked to you.”

“We’ve both made mistakes, but you don’t know how good that is to hear you say that.”

His lips land on mine, my face in his hands, and the kiss makes everything melt away.

How could I have ever left this, the feeling of being right where I belong?

“No matter what happens from now on, you need to do everything I say. No hesitation and even if it doesn’t make sense. Just do it. Okay?”

“Yes, I understand.”

His stare is burning into me, his face masked with totally seriousness. “The only people you trust are Ghost, Seth, or my family. Scott, too, I guess – though we call him Hawk. Oh, and Ashton and Mason who are flying this plane. No one else, regardless of what they tell you.”

A sinking feeling hits me. “This has gotten a lot worse, hasn’t it?”

Kurt kisses my forehead and then looks at me again. “Yeah, beautiful, I’m afraid it has. But don’t worry, we aren’t playing nice anymore. It’s game on.”

“I’m not sure I like this game.” I slide my hands around his back and drop my head to his chest just to hear his heartbeat again.

I need centering.

“Me, neither, but I’m good at it, and even when they think I lose, I always win.”

KURT

Sitting on the bed with Asha curled up in my lap, I start telling her everything that has gone on and what I know, with her occasionally adding in any little details that she thinks might help. If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that the smallest fragment of information can be the last piece that makes the whole case finally come together.

I can’t squash down the overwhelming feeling of having Asha back in my arms. The last twenty-four hours have been intense, and although things are going to get worse before they get better, I’m just cherishing this time we have where nothing can touch us.

The shock and turmoil have Asha now snoozing, her head on my chest. The sedation still in her system will take a little longer to completely clear.

Looking down at the top of her blonde head, stroking my hand down her back, calms me like I never thought it could. Telling her the story of what happened