Read Not Until You: Part VI for Free Online Page B

charm on it.
    I reached out and touched the links. “It’s beautiful.”
    “We make these here. It’s a Home Safe anklet.”
    I tucked my hand back into my lap, looking up at him. “What does it do?”
    “In the charm is a small transmitter. If someone goes missing, it can either be activated by the victim or remotely activated by whoever is looking for them. It will send out a signal to help find them—like a remote GPS. This is how we’ve saved a lot of those people on that wall out there.” He lifted it from the box and handed it to me. “I would love for you to wear it. As a symbol. But also as an added safety device. I’d feel better knowing you had one.”
    I stared at the anklet, guarded now and growing more and more uneasy by the minute. “It tracks someone. Will
track
me.”
    “It’s not like—”
    “God,” I said on a bitter laugh. “My father would’ve paid a fortune for this when I was a teenager. Instead of going through my cell phone records and having neighbors report in on me, he could’ve just sat as his computer and tracked my every move. How convenient!”
    Foster frowned. “It’s not meant to be used that way. It can only be activated in emergencies. If it’s a false alarm, the customer has to call in and have it reset. Each only gets two resets before the person has to buy a new one.”
    But my mind was already chasing the line of thought like a dog racing after a mailman. A customer would have to buy a new one but not Foster. It was his product, his company. He could probably activate or reset one whenever the hell he wanted. “You really lack that much trust in me?”
    “Cela,” he said patiently. “This is not about me not trusting you. I care about you and want you safe. The chances of anything ever happening are slim, but I’d sleep better knowing that you had an added layer of protection.”
    “Oh,” I said. “Well, let’s make sure
you
sleep better. Doesn’t matter if I have to wear some device like I’m on house arrest. What if I’m late one day or want to go somewhere and don’t tell you? You could just hit a button and
poof!
know all my business? Or better yet. You could add in a feature like a dog’s shock collar. If I stray to far, you can just deliver a little jolt.”
    “Forget it,” he said, pushing up from the desk and tossing the empty box on top of it. “You’re right. This is about trust. You not trusting that I’m doing this with good intentions and not to fucking stalk you. I’m not like your father.”
    “And I’m not your sister,” I retorted.
    “No, you’re not,” he said, full anger rolling off him now. “Because I’m actually trying to protect you. The day Neve was taken I was supposed to be watching her in the front yard. She was
my
responsibility. But she’d been annoying the hell out of me all afternoon, wanting me to play Barbies. I told her to go play her stupid baby games somewhere else. So while I was busy climbing trees with my friends, my baby sister was grabbed off the street by some monster. Because of me.
My
fault.”
    I stared at him, stricken.
    “So fine, be pissed that I want to protect you.”
    “Foster—” I said, stuck tears slowing the words in my throat. “God, that’s not your fault, it was the—”
    “No, it was mine. Just ask my parents.”
    The words echoed through his big, modern office, pinging through my chest. His parents. The ones who’d left him alone, who’d bailed on him. Now I knew why. They blamed their son for something that some sick criminal did. My heart broke for him, right there in his office, little pieces falling to the floor.
    He let out a long breath and sagged back onto the desk, his eyes haunted. “I need you to wear the anklet, Cela.”
    I wanted to stay angry, needed to fight the idea of what the anklet represented, but I couldn’t bear the flat, empty look on his face. I went to him, lowering to my knees and laying my head in his lap.
    He threaded his fingers through my