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Even when I’m far.
And if you ever want a repeat performance…
He'd added a winking face at the end.
I sat on the couch, holding the handcuffs, laughing at his sweet and cheeky note, and crying again, but not angrily this time. Blake had been so aloof in the beginning, so determined to keep things professional, and now this dear, sweet man gave me handcuffs, so I'd always feel close to him.
It worked. I did. But I did even without them, and he needed to know that. Not through a text or a phone call.
In person.
I'd been agonizing over my schedule earlier, looking for an opening that would give me time to visit. But now was the time for decisive action.
I would leave in the morning to surprise Blake at his home this time. Maybe the whole surprise visit wasn't the greatest idea after the way this one had turned out. But I thought since I was showing up with a surprise apology, it might be alright.
I needed to look him in the eyes and finally tell him that I loved him. Even if it was too late and he'd started to have second thoughts.
I thought about the space and time text, but I refused to let it change my mind.
Please don't let it be too late.
* * *
The next morning, I left for Elm Grove. I packed a bag, optimistic that I'd be staying overnight. And the handcuffs with the note sat in the passenger seat next to me.
I didn't tell anybody I was leaving. Not my dad or Andrew or even Mac. The threat had passed, and I was a grown woman. I didn't need to provide someone with my every movement ahead of time anymore.
Halfway there, I drove through a restaurant for a breakfast biscuit and thought I recognized a car two behind me.
"Blake's suspicions rubbing off on you," I said to my reflection in the rear-view mirror.
I went over how I was going to say everything to Blake I wanted to say on the drive. I felt like I needed the moment to be just right. I'd stop him from saying whatever he started to say and blurt everything out.
If nothing else, he'd hear everything I felt. Then he could decide if being with me was still worth the trouble or not.
Please don't let me have screwed this up.
When I pulled into Blake's driveway, I realized his truck was gone. He probably went to work early like he sometimes had, though he'd done it less and less as we got closer.
That's okay. I could say everything I needed to say to him at the sheriff's office as easily as at home.
I started to back out, but a car whipped in next to me. I recognized the car from the drive-thru earlier that morning.
It was Zander's Toyota. What the hell was Zander doing in Elm Grove?
I got out. "Zander? What–"
He rushed toward me, shoving me back into the driver's seat. "Get in, Callie." He grabbed the keys.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I started to stand again, but he leveled a pistol in my face.
"Don't fight me, Cal. I don't have any desire to hurt you. But I will." He closed my door, keeping the gun trained on me as he walked in front of the car and got into the passenger side. He grabbed my wonderful gift from Blake and threw it into the backseat so he could sit.
Blake.
I clutched the pendant I still wore, hoping it looked like a nervous gesture to Zander. I used my thumbnail to flip the tiny switch in the back that turned the tracking device back on.
"Call your father, Callie. He can take a private plane and be here in no time. There's an abandoned furniture warehouse fifteen minutes outside Elm Grove."
