Page 22 of Escape

My body was in agony, screaming at me with each movement I made. I had to get up, though. Because if I didn’t do as Kurt asked, I would only set myself up for more of what I’d just gotten.

So, I tried my best to get to my feet, winced with each step toward the stove, and fixed Kurt’s dinner. The moment I set it down on the table in front of him, he ordered, “Now, get out of my face.”

I was grateful for that command. The last place I wanted to be was anywhere near him. So, I didn’t mind that he wanted to eat alone. I’d walk away, give him the time he wanted on his own, and try to regain control of my breathing and the pounding of my heart. After he was done, I’d return to the kitchen and clean everything up before grabbing some icepacks and heading to bed.

Fortunately for me, Kurt had not another word to say to me the rest of the night. But as I sat alone with my thoughts, one thing became clear to me.

I had to find a way to stop thinking about Huck. Because if I continued to allow myself to be distracted by him, it was possible I was going to wind up dead.

FIVE

Huck

It had been five days since I saw Josie.

And over the course of those five days, I’d found myself struggling to think about anyone or anything else but Josie.

It was a wonder I’d managed to successfully get through my classes I needed to teach.

No matter how hard I tried not to allow it to happen, visions of her beautiful face flashed in my mind. I kept hearing her sweet voice replaying in my head. And even if I hadn’t wanted to, I continued to question just how honest she’d been with me.

Granted, I didn’t think she came right out and lied to me, but she certainly wanted to avoid certain topics, and I believe she’d done that by not divulging her true reality, whatever it was.

I couldn’t stop recalling some of the reactions she’d had, especially the way she flinched when I moved to hug her after I’d first arrived at the diner. That reaction indicated to me that there was something else going on in her life.

Of course, even though there had been plenty of good things I’d had moving through my mind over the last few days, there was bound to be some unwelcome thoughts. In addition to the unsettled feeling I had about her physical reaction to me offering her a hug, there was the issue of her confirming she had a boyfriend. That had been the one thing I’d desperately tried to ignore, but I couldn’t seem to make that happen.

Worse yet, I was concerned about whether her reaction to me had anything to do with the way her boyfriend might have been treating her. I hoped he was being decent to her and treating her the way she deserved.

I didn’t want to imagine the possibility of Josie ever allowing herself to remain in a situation that was harmful to her. As a kid, I recognized her options had been limited. But she was an adult now, and she was smart. What worried me was that she hadn’t gone on to do what she’d talked about doing in high school and gotten herself that career as an obstetric sonographer.

Though it was possible things had fallen off the rails for her, or she simply could have changed her mind, I had this awful feeling that wasn’t the case for Josie.

Doing what I did for a living, I recognized the signs. I’d seen how bad it had gotten for quite a few women who’d stepped through the front doors of Harper Security Ops looking for help. And though it was possible Josie had trauma lingering from when she was a kid, a lot of time had passed. I didn’t think she would have reacted to me the way she had.

At this point, I just needed to see her again. Luckily for me, I taught several classes already and had just finished my last class for the day. So, I was going to head to the diner for a mid-afternoon snack. I had promised Josie I’d come back for pie, and considering how badly I wanted to see her again, I didn’t think there was any better time to make that happen.

“Hey, Huck. Do you have a minute?”

I turned around and saw Greyson coming in my direction, concern written all over his expression. “Yeah, sure. What’s up, man?”

“Are you okay?”

“Me?” I countered.

He gave me a nod in response. “Yeah. I just… well, maybe I’m crazy, but you seem like you’ve been a little bit distracted the past couple of days. I guess I just wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

I sighed. All I wanted to do was leave so I could see Josie, but I owed Greyson an explanation. “I’m sorry, Grey. I’m mostly okay. It’s… well, I ran into an old friend the other day.”

His brows shot up. “An old friend? Like, a lady friend?”

A chuckle escaped. “Yeah. I guess you could say that. Her name is Josie, and we were friends in high school. I haven’t seen her since we graduated, but she was working at the diner when I went there the other day.”

A mischievous grin spread across Greyson’s face. “So, Jake was right. You did find your girl at the diner.”

If only that had been the case.

Shaking my head, I shared, “She’s currently in a relationship.”