Page 59 of Burn For Me

“Do you really think you can make that happen? Escape and be free of this place for real? I mean, they have a lot of security.”

“If I have your help, I can do anything.” Raising my head, I kissed the end of her button nose, making her giggle.

“I think I’m falling for you, Derek.”

The flash of a light blue sweater coming out of the store caught my attention, and my pulse skyrocketed as she walked in my direction. I waited, hunched low in the truck, until she passed, slipping out of the truck as she stared down at her keys.

She was bending down to put the armload of grocery bags into the car when I rounded the edge of the vehicle beside hers and stared at her back.

“I’ve missed you,” I said, and she let out a yelp and jumped away from the sound of my voice.

Adalyn’s head whipped up in my direction, and even with my hood up and her sunglasses on, I could feel our eyes lock.

“Derek?” That one breathy word sent a shiver racing over my skin.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I stepped a little closer but stopped as she took a step back. She looked me up and down and then removed her sunglasses. The fear I saw embedded in them pulled at my heart.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking around the parking lot.

My mouth fell open, not sure what to say. I’d figured that would be the self-explanatory part. I’d assumed she’d be happy to see me and run into my arms for us to be reunited.

“I’m here because I just learned that you’re still alive, and I wanted to see you. We always planned to run away together. I…I guess I thought you’d want to see me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down at the black army-style boots I was wearing. The range of emotions flowing through my body was all over the map as my earlier enthusiasm had a big bucket of water poured on it.

“I’m happy to see that you’re alive, Derek, of course I am, but to be honest, I figured you were alive,” she said, and I lifted my head to look her in the eyes.

“You knew I was alive?”

“No, but I guessed you were. All these strange fires going on around town—they’re you, aren’t they?”

I looked away from her and nodded. I didn’t feel ashamed of what I’d done, but at the same time, the look of disbelief on her face made the enthusiasm I’d experienced earlier over my wonderful plan working feel tarnished.

“I did them for you,” I said.

Her hands went to her chest as her mouth dropped open.

“What do you mean, you did this for me?”

I stepped in closer and took some encouragement from the fact she didn’t step away this time. I leaned closer, lowering my voice.

“They were all the people that hurt us. That hurt you,” I whispered. “Jim and the men that attacked you that night, and today, I completed the task by making sure that Dr. Wallace never hurts anyone ever again. You knew what he was like, what he was doing to his patients. You hated it, and it was time for him to pay for all the terrible shit he’d done to me.” Adalyn shook her head as she stared at me. This was so not how I pictured this conversation going. “You were encouraging me. I could hear you telling me to avenge your death.”

“My death?”

“I thought you were dead. I thought you’d died in the hospital fire.”

She leaned in close, her face darkening.

“Don’t say that like it was some random act of God. You did that, you set that, and if I’d been in there, you would’ve killed me too.”

I swallowed hard.

“I know, and I cried, and I grieved and…I didn’t mean to. I didn’t think you were back at work. I mean, you weren’t, and I know that now. You know what I’m trying to say.”

Adalyn sucked in a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Oh, I know exactly what it is you’re trying to say. You didn’t think I was there, so that was why you did what you did, but then, for whatever reason, you thought I was….” She stopped talking and hit her forehead with her palm. “My car. You saw my car. That’s why you thought I was dead. I was wondering why someone would break into my car and only take my car’s registration papers. It made no sense, but it does now.”