“Oh, I’m well aware.” I unscrew the cap and pass her a water bottle. “It’s not like he gave me much of a choice. You know how persistent he is. But I gave him the slip. You should text him, though. We don’t need to give him any more reason to snoop around.”
After chugging several long swigs, she lowers the bottle and hits me with her puppy dog eyes. “This is so fucked up, Lila. I still can’t believe everything that’s happened. How did we end up in a freaking nightmare?”
Reaching over, I brush her ratty hair away from her face. “I’m so sorry for bringing Silas into our lives. Can you ever forgive me?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she contends.
I wipe away my renewing tears so she doesn’t focus on me. “I’m just glad you’re safe. Nothing else matters now.”
Her chin wobbles. “It was awful. I’ve never been so scared. I honestly thought they were going to kill me.”
My eyes sting as I fight back another wave of guilty tears. “You’re safe now. It’s all gonna be fine, Kenz. I got you back. They’ll never hurt you again.”
We trade pained stares, both of us failing to stave off the emotions. She looks utterly traumatized. From the bags under her eyes to her disheveled clothing and knotted hair. Not to mention the near-constant tears since I picked her up ten minutes ago. We’re going to flood the car.
All this time, I was blinded by how agonizing this has been forme. And yet, she was the one living through unimaginable horrors.
Exhaling away some of my anguish, I shift into reverse, preparing to pull out of the gas station. “You sure you don’t want to go to a hospital?”
She takes another drink. When she lowers the bottle, she pauses for a beat. “I don’t think it’s necessary. Most of my injuries have healed. They’ll ask too many questions anyhow and probably call the cops. To be honest, I just want to go home, shower, and sleep in my own bed. For like a week.”
My stomach twists. I hate that I can’t give her that just yet. “Sweetie, I’m sorry. We can’t go home because no doubt Reed is camped out. If he sees you like this, he’ll know something happened. It’s best to find a hotel for the night. He’ll be gone by morning.”
Kenzie lets her head flop against the headrest and closes her eyes. “Dammit, Reed.” With a whine, she grouses, “Finally saved after being kidnapped for more than a month and can’t even sleep in my own bed.”
I bite my tongue, bound and determined not to spend any more of my emotions on Reed tonight. It’s bad enough I’ll be stuck replaying that kiss every night for the next few years. Not to mention how hard his package was when I gave it a little distracting caress. That’s not a memory that’ll be fleeing anytime soon.
A few miles from home, I pull into a motel. “I’ll go get us a room. Are you comfortable waiting in the car?”
She barely opens her eyes, flicking her wrist toward the building. “Yeah.”
“So brave,” I whisper, pulsing my hand on her shoulder supportively.
“I see you’re still as clingy as plastic wrap,” she teases, her mouth quirking upward.
Thereshe is. My sarcastic, snarky best friend is still inside this frail package. They didn’t destroy her spirit.
Fighting a smile, I exit the car. With each step, gratefulness fills every dark corner of my soul. For weeks, I’ve been terrified of losing the closest thing to my family I have left.
But I didn’t lose her.
I did it.
She’s alive.
She’s safe.
And it’s over.Finallyover.
The motel front desk clerk gnaws on a toothpick, eyeing me down uncomfortably. “Credit card and ID.”
“I’ll be paying cash,” I respond, suddenly grateful I work in a profession that provides ample cash tips.
Reed is likely doing his FBI stuff to track me, and he’ll get an alert if I use my card. Well, that’s assuming he’s still searching for me, which he probably is. No doubt just to make my life miserable.
“ID then.” He flings his thumb toward a sign that states identification is required at check-in.
Dang it.
