Page 67 of Traces of Her
“Griffin?” she whispers, staring at me suspiciously. Striding across the tiny room, I throw my arms around her, pulling her close to me. I can feel her hesitation as she touches me with stiff movements.
“It’s me, Ro,” I breathe into her hair. “Everything’s okay now. I got you.”
She nods against my chest but remains silent and frigid.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, releasing her and taking her hand to lead her from the caves. She follows behind, lightly holding onto me as we leave the caves and make our way through the woods. We stop when we reach my car and she slowly surveys the area as I open the door to the backseat. Reaching in, I pull out a blanket and drape it over her shoulders, wrapping it around her.
“Where is he?” she asks in a hushed voice.
“You don’t have to worry about him anymore. Ryder is taking care of him,” I tell her, pulling her toward the backseat. “Get in and lock the doors, just in case, while I go see where Ryder is.”
She climbs in and moves to the center, staring straight ahead. I wait for her to say something, anything, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t look at me as I shut the door, but I can feel her eyes follow me as I walk back to the cabin.
Ryder walks out of the cabin, picking pieces of brain matter from his shirt as I stand on the front porch. “Everything taken care of?” I ask, looking out into the woods.
He gives me a curt nod.
“Good. With all the bears around here, he’ll be gone by sunrise,” I say, letting go of the railing and walking down the stairs.
“What about you?” he asks.
I nod toward the car at Rowena wrapped up in the back seat. “We’re good to go.” I walk toward the car with Ryder on my heels. Opening up my door, he walks to the passenger’s side and does the same. “There’s clothes and a towel on the seat. Go back inside, wash up, and change into those. I’ll come back tomorrow to turn everything off and make sure he’s gone.”
Ryder nods, grabbing the pile of clothes and heads back into the house.
Slowly, I ease down into my seat and sit in the heavy silence. My heart is finally back and she’s covered in the thickest coating of ice.
“We’ll stop and get you some food and drop him off.” I turn to her, finding her blank, emotionless stare. “We can go home if you’d like or anywhere you want to go.”
Swiftly, she nods and makes no attempt to talk.
Home is no place for her right now, hell, she doesn’t even know what home is anymore. Pulling out my phone, I start my search for international flights and places to stay. I’m taking her far away from here.
It doesn’t take long before Ryder climbs back into the car looking like a disheveled mess. If we’re pulled over, he better hope no one notices him. I stare at him, making my displeasure apparent. “I guess that will do.” I shrug after a moment and turn on the car.
“I’m sorry, I forgot to bring my nicest three-piece suit to put on for the after party,” Ryder mumbles, glaring at me.
Ignoring him, I let out a sigh. “I’m just glad that this is over.” I pause, looking back at Rowena. “And that you’re safe now.”
Ryder turns around to look at her as I watch her in the rearview mirror, sitting in silence.
Rowena isn’t a stranger to psychopaths, not after everything she went through growing up, but two years with someone like Jared is enough to fuck anyone up.
She stares back at me with crystal eyes and a ghost of a smile. She’s safe with me now, she’ll be okay.