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“Glad to see you up and around.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I thought I might go upstairs, get out of everyone’s way for a while.”
“Want company?”
“Not really.”
He held up his hands. “I get it. May I walk you up there at least?”
“Sure. I don’t know the way.”
He smiled and gestured behind him. “Come on.”
Jessica followed Harper through the main space where everyone was busy looking at maps or tablets or on their phones. No one paid them any mind as they slipped out of the condo. Harper didn’t press her to talk either as they rode up the elevator to the roof.
Sure enough, there was a lovely little sitting area and container garden someone—or several someones—had been tending.
Harper stopped in the doorway. “We’ll be downstairs.”
“Thanks. I’ll be back soon,” she said.
“Okay.”
And then he left her.
Honestly, she’d thought that would take more effort, but she was relieved nonetheless.
It was time to let Oliver know his trap had worked. She was in.
Jessica pulled out her phone, blew a breath, and sent her message. She crossed to the seating area and sipped the hot chocolate while she watched the texts for a new message. The minutes ticked by, but only a few.
She let out a breath and tapped the new message.
Directions to a meeting spot.
This was dangerous, foolhardy, and possibly even stupid. But she had to do this.
Jessica downed the hot chocolate despite it scalding her mouth. That done, she pulled out the notepad and pen she’d taken from the room and wrote a note. Harper was the one who’d probably see it. With that in mind, she found a small stone in one of the containers, put that inside the travel cup, then placed her fashioned paperweight on top of the note lying on the ground.
When someone came to look for her, they’d find the note. If everything went wrong, they’d know. And if Samuel came back, and she didn’t? She hoped her words gave him peace. She couldn’t let people suffer because of her.
Getting out of the condo building was easy. She took the stairs all the way down, warming up her muscles and her mind. At the street, she hailed a cab and gave the driver an intersection down the street from where Oliver wanted to meet.
Jessica powered off her phone as she got closer. It stood to reason that Harper or Logan or someone else might be able to track her based on her signal.
It was a cruel twist of fate that she’d realized just how deep her feelings had grown this morning. It was too soon to tell Samuel how she felt, and if things went poorly she didn’t want to burden him with that knowledge.
She drummed her fingers on her thigh and pocketed the phone. The address was memorized.
The drive through the city took longer than she’d have liked what with the morning rush of traffic picking up. She clenched her jaw and dug her nails into her palm at every light. By the time she saw the street sign of at least one of the roads she’d mentioned to the driver, she had to resist the urge to throw herself out of the cab and run the rest of the way on foot. Considering that she had no idea where she was going, that was a poor idea she skipped.
At long last, the cab pulled to the curb outside a curry shop. She paid the nice, older gentleman and got out.
It was lighter now and the day overcast. She pulled her hood up to save her from the drizzle that was threatening then turned.
Her meeting spot with Oliver should be a few blocks that way.
Jessica started walking. She moved through foot traffic, sometimes stepping off the curb to get around slower-moving pedestrians. The closer she got, the faster her heart raced.
