“You’re leaving?”
“Just for a few days, Sweetheart.”
I grabbed his shirt, panic tightening my throat. We hadn’t been apart for so long, the thought of even a few days without him frightened me. I would feel naked…vulnerable.
“But you promised. You promised you’d never have to go away.”
“I did. I’m not going away,” he said, touching my cheek. “I’m a phone call away.”
“No. No…send Bex.”
“Bex doesn’t have my connections, Nina. Not yet. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, he doesn’t know the right questions to ask. I have to do this.”
I shifted my weight to one leg, trying to relax and play off my fears. “You can’t go…you can’t.”
Jared touched the thin skin under my eyes with his thumbs, silently pointing out the darkened circles. Without another word, Jared pul ed his cel phone from his back pocket and dialed.
“Bex. I need you to stay with Nina for a while.” He snapped his phone shut, keeping his eyes on mine.
“Don’t do this.”
Jared tucked my hair behind my ears. “You’re overreacting.”
“Please?”
“It’s only a few days.”
I frowned. “You don’t know that.”
“If I don’t find anything, I’ll just come back. Forty-eight hours, and I’m right back here. I promise.”
“You promised you’d never leave me.”
He laughed at my stubbornness. “I’m not leaving you. I’m going to work.”
One side of my mouth turned up and I sighed. Jared leaned in, kissing my forehead with his warm, soft lips.
The engine of a speeding motorcycle grew closer to the loft, stopping just outside. Within seconds of its silence, a quiet knock came from the door. My smile melted away, and Jared threw a few things in a duffel bag as Bex sprawled out on the couch downstairs.
“Mom wants you to call ,” Bex said, holding the remote in front of him, flipping on the television.
“Keep it down, Bex. Nina’s going to try to sleep.”
I crossed my arms, angry that he refused to compromise. “I can’t sleep without you. You think I’m exhausted now? Forty-eight hours from now I’m going to lapse into a coma.”
His arms encircled me, kissing me once more. “At least you’l get some sleep.”
He was trying to keep the mood of his departure light. Jared didn’t enjoy leaving me anymore than I, but he felt strongly enough about my recurring nightmares to break a promise. That realization only left me more unsettled.
Jared gently pul ed each of my fingers from his shirt. Imprints of where I had crumpled it between my fingers remained in the fabric, and I hastily ironed it out with the palm of my hands.
“Come home soon,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice from breaking.
Jared touched his lips to mine, and then looked to his brother. “Bex?”
“Got this,” Bex said, lifting his thumb in the air.
Before my eyes finished blinking, he was down the stairs and out the door.
For a few moments I felt nothing, but the second air fil ed my lungs, an overwhelming sense of sadness came over me. Jared hadn’t been more than a block away from me since I came to my senses and begged him back last May.
The bed seemed miles away, but I slowly made my way to it. The moment my backside sunk into the mattress, I heard purposeful stomping up the stairs. Bex ran at me ful speed, jumping up and taking flight, landing precisely one inch away.
I didn’t flinch.
“Hey,” Bex said, elbowing me. “Death Jungle is on. Come watch it with me.”
“Where is Jared going?”
“I dunno…come on,” he said. His voice was already deeper, and he had been tal er than me for several months. If I didn’t know he was stil a kid, I would have thought he was a fel ow col ege co-ed. He stil hadn’t quite fil ed out –the only thing that gave him away.
He tugged on me to fol ow him downstairs, and I reluctantly agreed, resting my head on the arm of the sofa.
A ridiculous array of mutilation and mayhem fil ed the screen. Bex watched with unyielding focus, but my eyes struggled to stay open. Shifting to find a comfortable spot, I settled in and let my mind drift into oblivion. In the darkness, with the screams of dying jungle wanderers in the back ground, I somehow stayed away from the dark building and my father.
Chapter Three
Four Feet
“Please?” Bex asked, holding open the passenger-side door.
I rol ed my eyes. “Fine. Don’t tel your mom.”
“I won’t!” he said. He took my backpack and threw it in the back as I col apsed into the seat. Within seconds he was beside me, starting the engine.
“You’re so cool,” he said with a wide grin.
“The only reason I’m letting you drive is because you completed your driving course at Cleet. If you can out-drive cops, I’m assuming you won’t wreck the only thing I have left of Jack.”
Bex frowned. “Buzz kil .”
He pul ed away from the loft, using his blinker and obeying every traffic law along the way. I watched the trees pass, the reds and oranges signaling the arrival of Fal . Jared’s whereabouts lingered in the forefront of my mind, but the wal I had learned to form around my feelings had long been routine. I didn’t want Jared to make a mistake. or get injured because he sensed my anxiety.
“Coffee shop, Oh-seven-hundred,” Bex reported, pul ing behind Kim’s dilapidated Sentra.
I shot him a look of disbelief. “Seriously?”
“Jared said you were to meet with friends Kim and Beth, to be prompt, and keep watch one block north, with front door in sight.”
“It’s me, Bex. Don’t act like a military robot. It creeps me out.”
Bex smiled. “I just want to do this right.”
I returned his smile and gave him a hug. “You’re doing great,” I said before stepping out onto the sidewalk.
Shoving my hands in my pockets to ward off the frosty morning air, I walked toward the front door of our favorite coffee place. The green door swung open and shut with patrons coming and going several times before I reached the handle. Just as I walked in, someone ran into me from behind, nearly sending me to the floor.
A familiar giggle tittered behind me. “Geez, I’m sorry!” Beth said, undoubtedly putting forth every bit of her southern charm. “I was trying to catch you,” she breathed.
My brows turned in. “Okay…why?”
She shoved a piece of notebook paper at me. “This. Josh got this in the mail yesterday, and he gave it to Chad. It’s from Ryan.”
I ripped it out of her hand and scanned it. Everything seemed to be fine. He had completed boot camp, and was now in specialized training; something about explosives and being a weapons expert.
“Great,” I said.
“But he’s doing wel ! He seems okay, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, returning the paper.
Kim shoved me from behind. “Hey!”