So in truth, as much as I needed a break, I wouldn’t admit it. Who knew how far we were from a town, or at least a house. I would take a tree house. A cave. Anything.
And that was when the reality of our situation really hit me.
Not only was my home gone, but so was my wallet. I had no money. No computer. No key to my safe deposit box.
I was missing so much work.Everyone was going to fire me, if they hadn’t already. What day was it?How long had it been?
I fisted my hand as my eyes filled with tearsagain. I dug my fingernails into my palm just enough to cause pain, to ground me. Another choke hiccupped in my chest, and I dug my nails in just a little harder.
What the hell am I going to do when this is over?
I had no one.
No place to live and be safe in.
No money. No identification.
I might have ruined a career that I’d carefully crafted and enjoyed.
How the hell would I even start going about getting anything back in the first place?
I had nothing.
Just about nothing.
I had this being who was suddenly stuck with me but not by choice. Eventually he was going to dump me somewhere, and I wouldn’t be ungrateful because he’d already done so much. But….
“Stop it, Gracie,” the stern, demanding voice called out.
Another sound cramped in my throat, and I pinched my nose to keep it inside.
“Stop it,” he repeated.
I was trying.
“Stop,” The Defender insisted.
Tears wet my fingers, and I ground down hard on my molars, keeping the breath in my lungs so that I wouldn’t make a peep. It was the same way I’d cried in that damn cell when he’d first told me about the trailer being burned down. The tiniest little sound slipped through my hand though.
“Stop.”
I sucked in a breath, pinched my nose, and tried to remind myself… tried to remind myself that this wasn’t the end of the world.
Things were just things.
Maybe I could explain and beg for forgiveness so that my students would come back.
I was free, and I had no reason to think I wouldn’t have a long life ahead of me. I could hide again. So what if I was technically broke and had no identity?
Home could be anywhere.
The sob exploded out of my mouth.
I was full of shit.
If they had found me once, they could find me again. My cover was blown. What the hell was I going todo? This wasn’t the eighties or the nineties. You couldn’t even rent a hotel room without a credit card.
I cried.
