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Realizing Cole has let me go, I reach out to him as he turns to walk away.
“Where are we going?”
“We?”
“Yes, we! You are not leaving me alone, even with the Calvary outside.”
“The penthouse and I know you don’t want to be there. Mia, it’s not a good place for you to be. I just need to grab the phone for Foster. I know I’m grasping at straws, but I can’t ignore my gut!”
Panic. That’s all I feel. Sheer fucking panic.
Driving up to our old home, I can feel my palms sweating and my heart racing. I don’t want to see the place where my best friend was so brutally attacked, I’m not sure I can. This is all too close for comfort and I am doing everything I can to maintain a sense of calm on the outside.
“I’m right here, Mia. It’s okay to freak out, but you don’t need to walk in the house, stay here with security. I’ll be right back. Foster is already here.”
Squeezing his hand, I nod. He is right, one hundred percent, but I don’t even know what I would even be able to piece together and for some reason, I can’t seem to shake the fear that we are in imminent danger. I look around as we walk through the garage to a waiting Foster and Alex.Wait,Alex! Why is she here? How is she here?
She looks tired. I realize I’ve said that out loud when Cole responds, “She’s strong, she’ll be fine. She didn’t really give Foster a choice whether or not to bring her.” He shakes his phone in the air to indicate Foster just text him.
Walking up, I motion to Alex shrugging my shoulders. “What are you doing out of the hospital? I thought you had to stay for observation?”
“Nah, I wasn’t going to be left out of this Scooby mission. I checked myself out and made Foster bring me. I’m hoping maybe I can have flashbacks like the way you had them. I would really like to know who the hell busted my head open!” She levels intensity on the last part of the sentence. “Plus, this is like a real-lifeMission Impossible, we should have coordinated our outfits,” Alex adds as the elevator doors close.
“For fuck’s sake, Alex, I told you to be serious,” Foster grumbles.
Cole laughs, shaking his head and I just smile.
“Be quiet, or I will tell them all the mushy romantic shit you said to me tonight,” she warns Foster.
He doesn’t look at her, instead just stares ahead with a crooked grin on his face.
I’m momentarily lost in their moment when the elevator rings, making me jump. Cole looks down at me, holding my gaze and my hand back as the others exit the elevator. Holding the door open, he looks out and then back at me.
“Mia, speak. No nodding, are you good, baby?”
“Yes, but let’s just get this over with. I don’t know how Alex can come back here. I’m so creeped out!” I shiver and let him lead me out.
Walking into the house freezes me on the inside. Not at all like uncontrollable panic, but a stillness that is full of dread. I can feel it, that same feeling I had when Carter had me by the throat. I knew I was going to die, to be torn away from Cole. It must be what people feel before the end. I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. I look down at my hand joined with Cole’s and I can feel the heat from our hands. I just keep concentrating on our hands.Everything will be okay, everything will be okay.
Foster is walking Alex through her possible steps as Cole and I head for the back office to collect Alex’s phone.
“Do you know what box it’s in?” I ask Cole.
“No, honestly, I just know it’s in here. They aren’t sealed, so we just have to open the tops.”
We go through at least thirty boxes before I open and spot the familiar hospital bag.
“Got it!” I yell victoriously.
“Thank God, I was starting to worry that we were going to be here all night! Come on, baby, let’s get out of here.” Cole extends a hand for me to take and we exit back to the front room where Alex and Foster are still talking through her attack.
“No, Fos… I just remember getting a call or something. Oh good, Mia, here, hand it to me and I will open it.” Alex puts her finger on the button and her phone unlocks.
“Look at the call log, maybe I missed something,” Foster urges.
“Nope, I only have your texts, Foster, see,” she holds the phone up to him, but what her phone shows is that she was writing him a text with a picture attached. Foster clicks the photo and it enlarges.
“What is this, Alex? It’s a picture of you and Mia at a Halloween party? Do you remember why you were sending this to me?” Foster looks confused, passing the phone to me.
