AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sit across the street,knowingJamie would do nothing bad. Well, except for murder. Yet the man I kissed this morning, the man I was intimate with last night, I know he’s a good person.
I didn’t recognize the boy, and I didn’t know who Jamie was talking to on the phone, waving his hand as if angry. I watch as Jamie walks out of the diner and approaches his car. He steps back, hands on his hips, studying the car and looking up and down the street. He walks around and looks at the other side.
That’s when I spot it—the deflated tire. I guess the kid did it when he left, but I was too focused on Jamie to notice. Jamie grunts and kicks the tire, shaking his head. Then he sits on the hood, running a hand through his hair.
My maternal instinct flares awake. He deserves so much better than this—a grimy meeting on the outskirts of the city and a beat-up old car. I know he’s capable of so much more if only he could find the right woman to support him, but he owes me answers, or he gets nothing.
This is probably not a bright idea, but screw it. Climbing from my car, I walk across the street, stopping in front of Jamie. He looks up slowly, his blue eyes refocusing. His initial response is to smile. That makes me so freaking happy I could scream, even if it shouldn’t.
“You followed me,” he says a moment later, his smile fading as he stands up from the hood.
“I saw the notification on your phone last night,” I say. “I wanted to know what was going on. After what I saw, I’ve got questions.”
He groans and runs a hand through his hair again. His body seems even more tense than it did last night. It’s like he’s on the verge of erupting every single moment.
“I wish I could give you answers.”
I march right up to him. “Youcangive me answers. Jamie, after what you did all those years ago and whatwedid last night, I’d say you owe me answers.”
“I can’t, not until Kylie and Kyle are safe.”
“Your sister and your nephew?”
He nods.
“When will that be?” I ask.
“Soon, hopefully. They’re packing now. They’re going to stay at her brother-in-law’s lake house. Nobody knows where that is, I hope. Nobody will make the connection.”
“Who’s after her? Who’s afteryou?”
“I can’t discuss that,” he says, wincing as if angry at himself for telling me no.
“It concerns me,” I reply. “Whoever this is, they showed up at myhouse.”
“That was the kid, Zack.” Jamie lets out a long breath through gritted teeth. “Takes a real small man to use a goddamnkidas part of this sick game. What’s wrong with this freak? What’s wrong with thisworld?”
He sounds like he’s talking to himself as much as to me, not genuinely asking for an answer. When he looks at me with that emotion in his eyes, I remember what he said before about being a man worthy of me. It’s like he’s pissed at himself for not being strong enough and unable to fix this situation easily.
“Wrong with who?” I ask. “I don’t even know what we’re talking about.”
Jamie turns away, walking over to the wall of an abandoned house and leaning against it. I follow, standing near but not getting too close. If I do, I know I won’t be able to resist falling into his arms, forgetting all of this. The connection from last night pulses through me, tempting me to forget, to let everything else slide. I don’t have to think about the mystery if we can be together, but I can’t do that. Something strange is happening here. I mean, stranger than falling for my dad’s killer.
“When I was a kid,” Jamie says after a long pause. “I basically raised Kylie. Our mom died giving birth to her.”
When I shudder, he glances at me. Then his features soften as if we’re communicating wordlessly. I’ve never felt a connection like that, an instant understanding.
“Yours too?” he asks huskily, with a surprising gentleness in his voice.
I nod. “Then it was just me and my dad.” I don’t let my mind dance to the dark things, the ugly aspects of my father, the things he did that make mourning him difficult sometimes.
Jamie moves away from the wall and touches my hand. We hold each other firmly, as if pushing all the darkness away, all the doubt and the pain.
“What happened after your mom passed?” I asked.
“My dad was a drunk,” he goes on. “He wasn’t good for much, so I essentially raised Kylie. I took care of her like she was my daughter, though I was only a child myself. I promised I’d let nothing happen to her.”
“What does this have to do with telling me what’s happening?” I whisper.
