I feel terribly stupid for not seeing through something that was obviously a lie. But Cole no longer seems angry. He drives the pickup silently through the pouring rain while looking straight ahead. A deep crease has formed between his brows, and his storm-gray eyes are slightly narrowed. Even his lips are tense. Yet they look so soft that I almost reach out to run my fingertips over them. Instead, I let my gaze slide over his body. He’s wearing a T-shirt, allowing me to see his arms, which are covered with black images.Tattoos, I think to myself and look at the designs. There are roses, a cross, something that resembles a watch, strange patterns, and skulls. Even on the backs of his hands and fingers, I see ink, and I wonder if his whole body is covered in it.
"Does it hurt?" I almost cringe at my own voice, which seems unnaturally loud despite the rain.
Cole shoots me a glance before looking back at the road. "What are you talking about?"
"The tattoos."
He chuckles, tilting his head to the side. "Depends."
My mother taught me that there are Native peoples who tattoo themselves. So I know how the ink gets under the skin, and it sounds pretty painful to me. "On what?"
"On the part of the body," he answers patiently. "There are areas where you can barely feel it, and others where it hurts like hell."
I wince but can’t deny how fascinating the images are to me. "Which one hurt the most?"
A strange, unreadable expression crosses his face, but I can’t decipher it because the sky has turned so dark and the forest around us puts everything in deep shadows.
"This one." Cole lifts his T-shirt so I can see his rib cage. Across his ribs, the wordguiltyis immortalized in curved letters on his skin. It’s huge and stands out starkly, which is why I can even see it in the poor lighting.
"What does it stand for?" I whisper, not averting my eyes.
He grimaces and lets go of the fabric, the tattoo vanishing beneath it. "That’s none of your business."
I flinch at his suddenly hard voice and slump in my seat, lowering my gaze to my hands. "I’m sorry."
When I hear a lowfuckfrom Cole, I look up in alarm.
"What’s wrong?"
"Cops," he replies curtly.
I search the road ahead with my eyes, seeing nothing.
"Behind us."
I turn quickly in my seat and glance out the rear window. And sure enough, back there—far, far away, but still recognizableby the flashing red-and-blue lights—is a patrol car. My heart instantly begins to race. "Are they?—"
"Looking for you? You can bet on it, little darling."
An iron fist wraps around my chest. I don’t want them to find me. And I especially don’t want them to come after us. They’ll give Cole trouble, I’m sure of it. But he didn’t do anything! He helped me, but something tells me they won’t believe us.
"I don’t want to go back," I say in a thin voice and look at Cole, who glances at me. His jaw tenses visibly as he puts his right hand on the steering wheel as well. When he looks forward again, I can see a muscle on his neck twitch in the pale glow of the dashboard lights.
"I know." He takes one more look in the rearview mirror. "You’re buckled up?"
"What?"
"Are you wearing your seat belt?" The urgency in his voice makes my heart race even faster.
"Yes."
"Good. Hold on to the door handle. It’s about to get uncomfortable."
We drive along a curve so the lights of the police car disappear. I’m about to ask Cole what he means when he steps on the brake and jerks on the steering wheel at the same time, causing the huge pickup to skid and change direction with screeching tires.
A scream escapes me when Cole accelerates again. Blindly, I grope for the handle on the door as I realize that the car’s headlights are pointed into the forest that was just beside us. Only a second later, we are alreadyinsaid forest. The dark tree trunks race toward us, and I thank God that we are not in one of Mississippi’s countless swamps, but have solid ground beneath us.
I have no idea how Cole manages to steer this monster of a vehicle between the closely packed trees, but I don’t dare ask him. I probably wouldn’t have gotten a word out anyway since I’m so startled. When he turns off the headlights and it becomes pitch-black around us, I fear my heart will jump out of my chest at any second. At the same moment, he hits the brakes and switches off the engine as soon as the truck comes to a halt, so that only the loud drumming of the raindrops on the roof can be heard.
