Page 31 of Hook

My hands shake as I press the button on the key fob that unlocks my doors, and I get inside.

As I sit in the driver's seat, I shove the key into the ignition before I have a chance to even close the door. My eyes dart up so I can look through the windshield. I need to see how close Hook is.

To my amazement, he's still standing in the garage. With the clicker in my hand, either he can't get out or he doesn't want to.

He could always run through the office like I did, but he doesn't seem to be putting in that much effort to chase after me.

I throw the car into gear and speed out of the tow yard, narrowly missing two cars as I fishtail side to side in my haste.

I look in the rearview mirror once I get out of the main gate, but I don't see Hook. He really isn't chasing after me.

My heart continues to hammer away at me as I drive like a bat out of hell to get away from him. He's cruel; I know he is. But still, something deep inside me tells me I'm wrong about him.

"There goes your last chance," my subconscious says, and I feel the weight of what I just did come crashing down on me.

I may have gotten away from Hook, but now I'm on my own when it comes to Lance. I'm about to be in the fight of my life, and I've got no one around to have my back.

The steady red light on my dash deflates my spirit. I hear my car struggling to keep from turning off as I've been riding with no gas for a few miles now. Soon, I'm going to be stuck with nowhere to go besides a parking lot—the same thing that happened the first time Hook found me.

I check the glove compartment and pull out the small Bible I had stashed inside. I didn't use it to read, but I had a few dollars inside for emergencies. I'd been using it for the past few weeks, and now I was down to my last forty dollars.

I know if I'm going to get very far, I need gas, but there's also something more pressing that I need to address as well. Last night, Hook and I had sex without a condom. The last thing I need right now is to get pregnant. I made sure that Lance was never able to knock me up, but there's a good chance that my luck has changed.

I say a silent prayer as I pull my car into a large truck stop and hope that no one is inside searching for me. I don't see any bikes around, and I don't see any of Lance's men. Feeling good aboutmy ability to stay hidden, I park my car in the closest spot and walk into the truck stop.

I'm grateful it's one of the larger ones with a variety of stores because I don't know where the nearest pharmacy is. I walk over to the contraception aisle and sigh as I reach for the Plan B. It's twenty-five dollars, which means I'm not going to be able to get much gas—maybe enough to get me out of town, but definitely not enough to get me out of the state.

I have to make sure I take care of this, though. I don’t want to chance getting pregnant, especially not by someone like Hook. Keeping the small cardboard tag I need to bring up to the front counter hidden in my hand, I stand in line.

There's a couple standing in front of me. They giggle and touch each other. I'm envious. How is it that I have messed up my life so completely? I could have found my soulmate if I wasn't so busy trying to keep Lance from killing me. Don't I deserve to be happy too?

The line moves swiftly, but I keep my head down as I make it to the cashier.

"Bea?"

Fear seizes my heart, and I gulp hard as I hear someone call my name from the side. The surprising part is, it's not a man. When I look to see who it is, I nearly collapse in relief to see Luna.

"You still need this, miss?" the cashier says, and I nod my head as I wave at Luna, who is now stopped and waiting for me to finish my transaction. I cringe when the lady takes my money and slides the bright pink and purple package of Plan B in my direction. There's no hiding that. Luna looks down and gives me a tight smile as I slip the product into my pocket.

I walk away from the line and let the next customers take my place.

"Hey, I'm so glad I saw you." Luna reaches forward and gives me a hug. It's a very familiar gesture, but I don't push her away. It's nice to have someone safe touch me.

"Yeah, I'm just on my way out of town," I tell her as we walk out of the small general store.

"Oh, I guess that's for the best, right? Nothing but a bad time here." Luna chuckles and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What about you? You guys leaving now?" I ask, looking around for her sister. I didn't know what happened after she went to the hospital, but I'm hoping since I'm seeing her here, it must mean her sister is okay.

"No, I'm stuck here. I just came to get some snacks for Wendy. She's home now. I don't want her to have to go outside." Luna offers up, and I can read between the lines. She doesn't want her to go out and overdose again.

"I'm happy she was able to get some help."

"She would've died had it not been for your friends."

"They're not my friends," I answer too quickly. I don't want to be associated with Hook—not after what I just found out.

Luna narrows her eyes at me. "Why do you say it like that?"