If I got a full night of sleep, maybe my feelings for Dr. Amelia Hawthorne would go away.
But I had a hunch they were here to stay.
I tucked the stack of books under my arm and slid up to the front counter, where a bespectacled man—with three gray hairs combed over his otherwise shiny head—sat, watching the morning news on an old analog television.
“Find somethin’ good?” he asked as he thumbed through the stack I slid on the counter.
“Yes, sir,” I said as I pulled out a few bills I had stuffed in my pocket. Since I wasn’t sure how long we’d be here or if we’d have to move, Amelia and I were working on a tight budget. But these were necessities.
The man punched a few buttons on a dinosaur of a register and read out the total.Less than ten bucks. Nice.
I handed over a twenty and waited as he slowly counted out my change.
So. Fucking. Slowly.
My gaze drifted to the morning show, where the commercial break had just ended, as the perky host with a bouffant hairdo gave the camera a stern look.
“The search continues for a man authorities say may be connected to the disappearance of an Alcott University professor and her brother. Dr. Amelia Hawthorne was last seen leaving the apartment in New Haven, Connecticut, that she shares with her brother, Joel, on Friday evening. Joel was last seen entering his apartment Friday night. Neighbors called 911 on Saturday morning after noticing the apartmentdoor was ajar and found signs of a struggle. Dr. Hawthorne’s car was later found abandoned outside of the Four Horsemen Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Surveillance footage from across the street shows a possible abduction in progress. Authorities have identified the man in the video as Jude Graham, a Four Horsemen employee who previously served time for aggravated assault, armed robbery, unlicensed dealing in firearms, and extortion.”
“Hold on, I’m short a dime,” the man said as he turned toward the TV, moving slower than molasses to grab a roll of coins.
My mugshot flashed on the screen as the newscaster read off phone numbers to call if I was spotted. You know—since I was armed and dangerous and all.
That was my cue to get gone.
The news report meant trips into town would have to be few and far between. When someone around here eventually realized I was the guy from the news, the woods wouldn’t just be crawling with cops.
I was out the door before the man even turned back around.
The drive back to the cabin was full of more evasive turns and alternate routes than I usually took. I constantly checked my rearview mirror, even after the forest had swallowed me whole once again.
Instead of parking in front of the cabin, I parked to the side, behind the giant pile of wood I had split yesterday while I attempted to avoid Amelia. I set the shit I picked up in town on a log, then covered the truck with tarps, branches, and leaves until it looked as though it had been there all winter.
Amelia was awake when I slipped inside. She was sitting on the couch, staring listlessly at the wall as she chewed on her fingernail. “You should really leave a note or something whenyou leave,” she said softly. “I hate waking up and realizing I’m alone.”
It wasn’t fear in her voice that stopped me in my tracks. It was hurt.
“I won’t do it again.” When Amelia looked at me with wary mistrust, I added, “I promise.”
What I didn’t tell her was that it was because the hunt was on.
I set the Dollar General bag on the end table that covered the cellar entrance and pawed through it. “And if I have to, we have paper to leave notes now.”
That piqued her curiosity. Amelia glanced over her shoulder as I continued to rummage through the bag and handed her the journals and pens and pencils. There were a few skeins of yarn and knitting needles. Back when I had broken into her apartment, I’d spotted a knitting project. I didn’t know if I had gotten the right kind of yarn or needles, but it was something to keep her busy. I had gotten a few decks of playing cards too. Anything I could find to keep her mind engaged.
I wanted her to stay sharp. Shehadto stay sharp because I had a feeling Amelia would be the key to getting us out of this mess. She just didn’t know it yet.
“You got books?” Amelia asked as her eyes danced over the spines.
“I wasn’t sure what you were into . . .” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I just . . . picked out a few things I thought you might like.”
She reached out and touched the stack, her lithe fingers lingering between a Whitney West romance and a thriller by Jordan Loft.
I thought she was going to take the thriller when she laughed. “You jackass.”
But it wasn’t mean-spirited. I wasn’t sure Amelia could be mean even if she tried.
Her amused snicker broke the fog looming over her head as she picked up the pocket dictionary I had paid a whopping ten cents for. “I wonder what the definition of ‘never’ is,” she mused.
