Page 61 of A Matter of Time

I groaned. “I’d rather die of hypothermia than tell you.”

“Very dramatic. Answer the goddamn question.”

I grunted.

“The people at county told me you have a mild concussion and you’re all beat up and⁠—”

“I’m fine.” I shivered hard, my teeth chattering. “I just don’t wanna go home unless you promise you won’t be there.”

“I am here.”

I sighed deeply. “I knew it.”

“You’re not coming home on purpose?”

“Yep.”

“Jory, you do understand that you were kidnapped and assaulted and⁠—”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You know? That’s all you have to say?”

“Pretty much.”

“Jesus, you’re an idiot! Jory, they are not going to stop trying to kill you!”

I sighed heavily. “I gotta go to work. What time is it?”

“Work? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Jory, your ass is going into protective custody today!”

“Yeah, no.” I yawned, shivering again, my teeth making the clicking noise that I was powerless to stop. “I’ve got a lot of shit to do, and I need to talk to my boss about something important because I think he’s making a big⁠—”

“Jory! Where are you?”

“Why’d ya blow me off? Were you on a date?”

There was a beat of silence.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked me, his voice quiet but filled with force at the same time.

“You were, weren’t you? Your buddies or whatever…you had to go on some date with some woman, so you couldn’t come see me.”

“That’s what this is about? A date?”

“Go to hell.”

“Are you on drugs? Did they shoot you full of shit at the hospital?”

“You know what? I don’t even care. Just leave me alone.” I hung up on him.

When my phone rang again, I saw that the number was different.

“Hello?”

“Jory, baby, where are you?”

“Hey, Nick.” I sighed deeply. For whatever reason, his voice was soothing.