AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Now that my crying jag has finished, I feel foolish. Aside from the night of the escape—the assault, as the police called it—I haven’t cried, and nowI do it over news that should ostensibly be good.
Ducking my eyes, I whisper, “They found him.”
“Who is he?” Cash’s voice is tight.
Even thinking the name sends flutters of fear racing through me. Which is ridiculous. It’s just a name. But—
“Ari.” He gentles. “Would it be easier if I called the police myself? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“No. I can do it.”Get it together, I tell myself sternly. “His name is Kyle Morgan. He’s—”
Get it together.
Looking up into Cash’s familiar gaze, I force everything out in a rush. “One of the stores down the street from the restaurant has a security camera that recorded him helping me into the car. With two other witness descriptions, they found him.”
Cash sucks in a breath. “Witnesses?”
Tears prickle. “One of the servers at the restaurant remembered me. He thought I looked… out of it. But Sean—Kyle—told him I was sick. And someone leaving the restaurant saw me stumbling, Kyle helping me into the car, but he thought I was just drunk.”
I draw in a shaky breath. “Two people saw me, Cash. I was drugged. I don’t remember anyof it.” My voice rises. “But neither of them didanything.”
“Fuck.”
And the worst part. “He’s already out on bail.”
“What?” His expression goes thunderous.
“I know.” My voice is small and wobbly. “I can’t stop thinking about it. All of it. He’s out there. Free. After what he did.” A shudder shakes my body. “He could come back. And I keep seeing it. The trunk. The road. The woods. I can’t stop it.”
Cash is glowering, the muscles in his jaw working. “Shit,” he grits out softly, and he pulls me into his chest.
“I’m scared,” I mumble into his shirt. “I knew he could have come after me before. But now he’s been charged. He’ll probably go to jail. Unless—” Another shudder ripples through me. “Unless I’m not there to testify against him.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.” His arms tighten around me. “Nothing.”
We’re both quiet for a minute, his heart thumping against mine. Then Cash lifts me away from him and holds my gaze. “You are notgoing to get hurt again. And we’re not just going to rely on the police. Not that they aren’t good at their jobs—but it’s not enough.”
Before I can ask what he’s talking about, he continues, “There’s a company in town—Blade and Arrow Security. They’re all former Special Forces; they do private security and investigation, and they’re the best. They’ve done some work for me before and I trust them. I’ll call them today, get them on this, and together, we’ll make sureyou’re safe.”
Twohoursago,Iwas crying.
But when I walk into the TV room and see what Cash has done, I burst out laughing.
“What?” Cash turns on the couch to look at me, his lips twitching. “Didn’t you say you wanted snacks?”
After my breakdown a couple of hours ago, as I sat on the couch with Cash, feeling raw and vulnerable, he said, “How about if we have a movie marathon tonight? There’s that new sci-fi we were talking about watching, and I think I saw a new rom-com on Netflix.”
“That would be nice,” I told him, my voice small and rough from crying.
He squeezed my hand, his smile comforting. “And instead of having a healthydinner—” His mouth twisted in mock distaste. “We could have a bunch of garbage snacks like we did in high school.”
So I agreed to his suggestion, both the movie marathon and the snacks. But I was imagining popcorn and chips and cookies—basically anything junk food-ish that we could scrounge up in the kitchen.
But this? I grin at Cash. “Yes. But I wasn’t imaginingthis.”
He widens his eyes at me innocently; the hazel turning a sparkling gold. “I said snacks like we had in high school.”
As I walk closer, I scan the large coffee table in front of me. “I didn’t realize you meant allthe snacks we’d ever had.”
