She pressed her hands to her cheeks, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I knew you would understand.” With a sniffle, she wiped under her eyes. “Come on. You must be starving.”
I eased carefully out of the van with shaky limbs. We were at a clearing of some sort. Dense forest surrounded us, blocking any kind of view that might have helped me get my bearings. Not that I could tell one jagged peak from another. The only mountain I could recognize was Squaretop.
My chest squeezed.
Jeremiah must be so worried?—
Jeremiah. I felt my pockets. No phone. Cecily must have taken it. Feeling her gaze on me, I looked up to find her watching me with narrowed, mistrustful eyes. “My phone! Is it in the van? Jeremiah put a tracker on it. He’ll be able to find us. We can’t stay here.”
Her expression cleared immediately and she smiled. “Don’t worry. I tossed it back at the lodge. He can’t find us.”
Jeremiah can find anything. I had to believe that. I had to trust him. My only job now was to stay alive.
I looked around. “Where are we?”
“Somewhere safe. We can hang out here as long as we want. I have plenty of supplies, and we’re not too far from civilization. We need to avoid the main roads while people are looking for you.”
That was too vague to be helpful, but I nodded.
“Sit.” She pointed to a camp chair by the fire ring. “I’ll make us some dinner.”
I lowered myself into the nylon chair. Cecily bustled around. Her purple ponytail bounced happily as she boiled water on her pocket stove. It made me irrationally furious. I wanted to grab hold of it and smash her face into a tree. Because right now I should be wrapped up in Jeremiah’s arms. But I wasn’t. I hadn’t even had a chance to tell him I wanted to stay. Not for the summer. Forever.
Everything hurt. But that hurt most of all.
“Here.” Cecily passed me a container of homemade chocolate chip cookies. “A snack to tide you over until the pasta is ready.”
“They’re not poisoned, are they?” Her expression turned furious and I realized my mistake. Friends didn’t poison each other. “Just kidding!” Forcing a lightlaugh, I shoved half a cookie into my mouth and chewed.
“It’s because of Miguel, isn’t it? That’s why you don’t entirely trust me. I didn’t want to hurt him either, just so you know. I flashed my brights at him thinking he would steer into the ditch, not off the fucking cliff.”
I nearly choked on my cookie. Jesus. She might actually be insane.
“He would have died without me, you know. I went back and saved him because the idiots at the sheriff department wouldn’t do their fucking job.”
I brushed crumbs from my lap, my mind racing. “I guess I just don’t understand why you did it at all. I’ve never even met Miguel.”
“So you could keep working in the kitchen with me. Duh. Amos hates a crowded kitchen. With Miguel back, he would have pushed you to find something else to do with your time.” Cecily dumped a quarter box of pasta into the boiling water. “I really like Amos, but sheesh. Men get in the way. They’re always trying to take you from me.”
I mentally sifted through her words, searching for clues. Normally, I knew when someone wanted to fuck me. Hell, I made a living offmakingpeople want to fuck me. But I wasn’t getting that vibe from Cecily. Something else was going on here.
Evening faded to night. The stars popped out. A million pricks of light in an inky black canvas.
Back in the van, sharing a lumpy mattress, Cecily gave me an apologetic smile as she handcuffed us together. “I know it’s uncomfortable, but I’m not stupid. Jeremiah has some weird hold on you. Men are like a drug. We keep going back even when they’re killing us. This is for your own good.”
“I understand.” I closed my eyes.
Come find me, Jeremiah.
40
JEREMIAH
“You need to eat something.”Holly smacked my abs with a protein bar. “Keep your strength up for that twenty-four-hour fuckathon you’re going to have when you find her.”
Mateo rubbed his eyes under his glasses. “Jesus, Holly. Now is not the time.”
“What? I’m being a good friend! Seb, back me up.”
