Page 37 of Escape

I shook my head with disgust. “I’m going to kill him, Grey. What he did to her, I’m going to kill him.”

“Then what?”

“He’ll be dead.”

He cocked a brow. “You told me her father abused her.”

“He did.”

“Now, her fiancé.”

“Yeah? What’s your point?”

Greyson shot me a look of incredulity. “If you kill him, and I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it, where does that leave her?”

“Safe from him.”

“And you’ll be in jail. So, if she moves on and finds someone else, who keeps her safe if that person decides to do the same thing to her?” he questioned me.

A frustrated sigh escaped, and I tore my gaze away from my best friend. I strode over to a chair, sat down, and interlaced my hands behind my neck as I rested my elbows on my thighs.

I couldn’t stop replaying the sight inside that house. The blood, the furniture, Josie. Fuck, Josie.

Greyson walked over and sat down beside me. He clapped a hand on my back and said, “After what I saw in that house, Huck, I can’t say I don’t understand what you feel. I get why you feel the way you do, but you can’t take this too far, not if you want to make sure you keep that promise to her to keep her safe.”

I knew Greyson was telling me what I needed to hear. He was doing exactly what I would have been doing for him if the roles had been reversed, what I would have done or had already done for other guys we worked with.

But now I understood what it was like to be on this side of it. I understood the utter terror they all must have felt in those moments. And the craziest thing of all was that Josie and I weren’t even dating.

If ever there was something that would solidify what a person meant to someone, the fear of death could do that. The only thing that gave me hope right now was knowing she’d been awake nearly the entire time I was there.

She’d been through something unbelievably traumatic, and she had the battle wounds to prove it. I just hoped there wasn’t something worse happening inside, something I couldn’t see that threatened to take her away from me before I could fix this and show her what it was like to be treated right.

“Huck?”

At the sound of the familiar female voice, my head snapped up and landed on the only person who could make this situation better. “Mom?”

“What are you doing here? Did something happen to one of the guys from work?”

I stood and shook my head. “It’s Josie.”

Confusion washed over her expression as her eyes searched my face. “Josie? Are you talking about Josie from high school?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened to her? I didn’t even know you were still in contact with her.”

“I saw her for the first time since high school about a week ago,” I explained. “She’s a waitress at Betty’s diner. Then I saw her again yesterday, learned she was an in abusive relationship, and begged her to get out. She was going to call me this morning after he left for work, but she called sooner than expected.”

My mom’s expression turned horrified. “Oh, God. How long ago was she brought in?”

“Just a little bit ago. Maybe twenty minutes. You need to find out what’s going on with her. I need to know she’s going to be okay.”

Her eyes were still stunned, but she gave me a nod. “Okay. Okay, sit tight, and let me see what I can find out.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome.” She slid her eyes to the side. “Hi, Grey.”