I slid two fingers into the pocket of his jeans.
The denim was still warm from him. The key ring sat deep in the pocket. I moved slowly, pinching the metal ring between my fingertips and easing it upward without letting it scrape the zipper teeth.
Dex inhaled.
I froze with the keys half-free.
His hand moved across the mattress, searching for the heat I’d left behind. His fingers closed on empty sheet. For one terrible breath, I thought his eyes would open.
They didn’t.
His breathing settled again.
I eased the keys free and closed my fist around the ring before it could jingle.
My boots were by the foot of the bed. I pushed my feet into them without tugging the backs straight. The burner phone pressed against my arch, still there, still hidden. I pulled it free and shoved it into my shorts pocket.
The restraints stayed on the nightstand.
So did Dex’s phone.
I left both.
The room key didn’t matter. The door opened from inside.
At the door, I looked back.
Dex lay in the dark, one hand open on the sheet, the crucifix resting against his bare chest. I could still feel his mouth behind my ear. I could still hear the way he’d said trouble like it was a name he meant to keep.
For one breath, staying almost made sense.
Not because it was safe.
Because Dex had taken the metal off before touching me. Because he’d asked for yes. Because he’d found the tiny ink drop and kissed it like it mattered.
Then Crystal’s face rose behind my eyes, pale and scared and too much like mine.
I opened the door and stepped into the pre-dawn.
Cool mountain air hit my overheated skin. Pine Shadow’s parking lot lay under humming green and orange neon, empty except for Dex’s pickup, my shadow, and a moth battering itself against the office light. Far down the row, someone snored behind a thin wall. The mountains beyond the motel were black against the first gray edge of morning.
I shut the door behind me without letting the latch click too hard.
The pickup waited directly in front of room twelve.
A laugh climbed my throat and died there.
Dex had parked it there so he could keep me contained. He’d also left my getaway vehicle close enough that I barely had to cross the blacktop.
I slid the key into the lock. The pickup gave a soft electronic chirp.
Too loud.
I flinched and looked at the motel door.
Nothing.
I climbed in, shut the door, and shoved the key into the ignition with shaking hands. The engine turned over low and deep.
