Jake’s face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning as he lifts the ring from its velvet bed and slips it onto my finger. It’s a perfect fit. And I can’t help smiling as I hold my hand up, admiring it.
“Do you really like it?” Jake asks shyly.
Shoving the pizza box to the side, I push up onto my hands and knees. Crawl over the blanket to him and kiss him like the world is ending.
“Cassie, you’re still recovering. We don’t have to—”
I cut him off with another kiss that makes my intentions clear. His hands glide down my hips, slipping under the bottom of my shirt. Grasping my backside, he lifts me onto his lap. Straddling him, I thread my fingers through his hair while his hands roam my body like he’s trying to memorize every inch.
I’m at risk of overheating, and yet I shiver as my shirt comes off. Moan softly as his lips trace over my skin. And wish, with everything in me, that this moment would never end.
CHAPTER 35
I’m woken by a flash. A moment later there’s another as a bolt of heat lightning streaks across the moonless sky. Dark clouds have gathered, blocking out the stars.
I stare into the blackened room around me, listening. Hear only the soft sounds of Jake’s breathing as he sleeps curled around me, one arm pillowing my head, the other draped across my chest. Another bolt of electricity forks across the sky, revealing the stark contrast between the dark tan of his skin against the pale curves of my breasts. Then I’m shrouded in darkness again.
I wish I could stay here forever. In this place, in this moment, in the arms of the man I love. It almost kills me that I can’t. But the threat of death is greater if I do.
Gently, I lift his arm and wiggle out from beneath it. Whisper the word “bathroom,” in case I’ve stirred him to consciousness. Stand there, looking down at where I know he lies just long enough for the room to illuminate again, searing the image of him as he sleeps into my brain, before I creep down the hall.
Shutting the door to the bedroom, I turn on one of the lamps, using the light to dress. Locate the pad of paper and pen I found earlier and use it to scribble a note.
I love you more than I would have ever thought possible. Please don’t be mad. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and this will all be over. ~ C
I pray that it’s true as I grab the car keys off the dresser. The gun from beneath the mattress. Some cash from the backpack stashed on a shelf in the closet. Stare at the phone, finally deciding to leave it in case I’m wrong and I fail and Jake needs to call for a way out of here.
Then I turn the lamp off, feeling my way in the dark until I find the back door. Inch it open. Turn the lock on the knob so it will latch as I pull it closed behind me.
The sounds of the car seem painfully loud against the still of the night. Every crunch of gravel beneath the tires makes me flinch as I crawl down the narrow lane, trying not to disturb any of the campers. Finally, I pull out onto the road. I make it only a mile before I pull over, blinded by the tears that stream hot and thick down my cheeks.
I punch the steering wheel as I cry, loud, angry sobs that wrack through my body. I weep at the pain of leaving like I did, without even a goodbye. At the unfairness of it all. How hurt Jake will be when he wakes to find me gone. And how angry I am that any of this is necessary in the first place. It’s this emotion that I use to pull myself together.
Wiping my eyes dry, I continue my journey. The clock on the car dashboard tells me it’s just after 3 a.m. It will be hours before anything opens. But I’m going toneed every moment of that time. Without the phone’s GPS app to navigate with, I’ll have to drive around, searching for the places that I need.
Time seems to stand still as I journey across a series of islands connected by a string of narrow bridges, all of which I appear to have to myself, yet before I know it, the indigo sky is paling. I make my stops. Collect my purchases. Have found a place for the car and a spot to hide before the heat of the new day has had a chance to gather.
So much of this relies on chance. If one thing goes wrong, the rest of the pieces of my plan will collapse like dominoes set into motion. That’s why I can’t let anything go wrong.
I have to take my time. Do things right. Even if my bladder feels like it’s going to burst by the time I step out of the bushes and place the barrel of the pistol I hold snugly between the man’s ribs.
He yelps. Tries to twist away, but I already have my other hand clenched in a fist around his belt.
“Quiet. If you do as I say, I won’t kill you. Do you understand?”
His shaggy hair flops as he nods.
“Good. Now we’re going to turn around—slowly—to face the back of the parking lot. Then we’re going to go through the hedge to the other side. Got it?”
Another nod.
“All right. Let’s go.”
We move as one, branches scraping against us as we squeeze through a gap hardly wide enough for an underfed alley cat. But getting to the other side is only a fraction of this battle.
“Get in the car. The driver’s side.”
I slip into the seat behind him as he gets behind thewheel.
