“Plus he wanted to be with you…again.” She winked.
I rolled my eyes. “I doubt it. I think…” I stalled, thinking of something plausible. “I think he feels bad about his behavior last year and all the trouble he got into. He feels guilty, and I told him how great it was here and he wanted to see for himself.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Okay, it was mostly a lie.
Ava seemed to take that in for a moment. “So how did your date end last night?”
“It was good.” I focused on the boy in question. He wore double layers of T-shirts, gray over black, with the sleeves pushed to the elbows. I couldn’t help but notice the way his neck and jaw tensed as his eyes roamed the bulletin board, though. “What about you?”
Ava grinned. “Good.”
“Yeah?” I asked, wondering what good meant to Ava. I knew what it meant for me, but she and I may have a different level of measurement.
“Yeah, he already called me today, and texted me.” She pulled out her phone and checked the screen, turning and waving it in my direction and doing a little dance. “He wants to come over tonight.”
“Sounds like it did go well—for both of you.”
Ava didn’t even try to cover her grin. “How about that one?” She pointed to Connor.
“How about what?”
“I bet he’s a fantastic kisser. You can tell.”
“Ava!” I shouted but recovered, lowering my voice. “You cannot!”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. He’s all broody and artistic. Passionate. We already know he has a bad side.” She lifted an eyebrow. “So, how was it?”
I blushed furiously, hating how blunt Ava could be. Regardless, it was nice to have someone to talk to, someone who understood what it was like to be a seventeen year old girl. “He’s good. Too good. A total player. I’m doomed.”
Ava’s frowned. “He’s not playing you. He likes you. Even Christian was impressed, and he doesn’t notice much.”
“I know he likes me, it’s just…” I floundered for words. “He’s just so confident. When I’m around him, I feel all mushy and clumsy and like my tongue is too big or something. I don’t know. It’s ridiculous.”
She giggled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s not ridiculous and I can relate. I changed outfits six times yesterday before our date. Christian, of course, showed up in dirty jeans and a T-shirt. And looked amazing. They make us stupid.”
I groaned at the absurdity of it all.
“You guys ready to go in a minute?” Ava asked. “I have a paper due tomorrow that I need to work on if Christian comes over tonight.”
“I’ve got a bunch, too.” Connor should have had enough time to look around and check the photos out. “Let me throw this trash away and get him.”
I passed Jasmine and her mother on my way to the trashcan and winked at the little girl. She giggled and waved her spoon at me. I dumped my trash and Stephanie grabbed me by the arm and waved Ava over to the cake table.
“Girls, I want to take your picture before you go.”
Stephanie posed us near one of the large cards the kids made, and I saw Jasmine’s mother and the blonde woman she’d been sitting with earlier. They cleaned the table, stacking plates and napkins to carry back to the kitchen. The blonde turned and I saw the imprints of long fingers wrapped around her neck, deep reddish-purple bruises. Someone had tried to strangle this woman. I attempted to force my eyes away, but Evan’s story was stuck in my head. I’d never seen anything like this up close.
Stephanie’s voice pulled my attention away. “Ready, girls?”
“Yep!” Ava said, slipping her arms around my waist and crushing me into her side. Stephanie took the photo and I pretended my heart wasn’t breaking. How did these women do it? Once again, my visit here became overwhelming and I knew it was time to leave. I scanned the room for Connor but when I found him by the photo board I couldn’t help but notice a deep furrow on his forehead.
“I’ll be right back.”
I walked over to Connor and brushed the back of his hand with my finger. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I can’t find the picture.”
“No?” I asked, scanning the board. I moved my finger over the rows of pictures, trying to pinpoint where I had seen it last time. “It was around here.”
“I’ve been searching for Evan but he’s not here. You said he looked about the same?”
I nodded, “Yeah, he died just a little while later. He had on those pants and shoes he wears now.”
Connor rubbed his hand over his head in frustration. “It’s not here.”
“Wait—that one!” I said pointing to a picture. “That’s his…,” I trailed off. “Oh, no!” My hand flew to my mouth.
“What?”
I studied the photograph. “That’s his mother, Ellen, and sisters. This picture is new.” I spun and looked around the room. “I’m such an idiot. I was standing right next to them. Ava was talking to his sister!”
Connor’s hand rested on my arm. “Calm down. Where is she?”
I couldn’t see her. The girls played a game on the floor with some other kids, but Ellen was nowhere to be found. I reached for Connor’s arm and pulled him down so I could whisper. “She was bruised. Badly. I didn’t see her face but I know it was her. There were,” I swallowed and lowered my voice further, “horrible marks on her neck. He did this to her.”
My eyes scanned the room again and I found her walking out of the kitchen. My fingers tightened around the fabric of Connor’s shirt. “Oh, my God.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. Ellen’s face was bruised. One of her eyes swollen and discolored. It was definitely the woman I had seen in the doorway behind John, but she didn’t look like that then. He did this to her after my visit. I knew the truth. It happened because of the visit.
I did this to her.
A surge of vomit rushed up my throat and I tugged out of Connor’s grasp, running down the hall. I barely made it to the bathroom on time, pushing the door open and lunging for the toilet. Holding onto the cool tile walls, I retched twice more while gagging and blinking back tears. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop. My mind raced. I knew this was my fault. Those bruises were not there four days ago when I went to the house.
I unraveled some tissue from the roll and blew my nose. What a mess. Moving to the sink I turned on the water and looked in the mirror. I needed to go home, to find Evan. How was I going to get out of here without looking like a total idiot? I splashed water on my face and dried it off with the hem of the T-shirt I was wearing under my sweater. I grimaced at the reflection of my puffy, red eyes in the mirror.
A soft knock tapped against the door. “Jane?”
I pressed my head against the mirror. “I’m okay.”
I heard the door squeak open. “Are you sure?”
Connor’s reflection appeared in the mirror. His blue eyes were filled with worry and I shook my head. “No.”
Connor’s boots shuffled across the tile floor. He hesitated a moment before closing the distance, placing an arm on each side of me and resting his hands on the tile counter. I was effectively trapped between him and the sink. His face peered around my head and we locked eyes in the mirror.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is.”
His chest pressed into my back and he sighed into my hair. A thrill passed through me, which was wrong. All of this was wrong. How could I think about Connor in the middle of this mess? “What do you want to do? You want to talk to her?”
“No!” I looked over my shoulder at him. “I can’t. Can we just go? Ava’s ready.”
“Okay.” He lifted his hands and circled them around my waist. Dropping his mouth to my ear he said, “We’ll fix this.” He sounded so sure. So determined, as always, but how could we? What could we do?
I wiped my fingers under my eyes, trying to clean up the mess on my face. Connor tightened his arms. “I’m serious. We’ll make thi
s right.”
I turned and pressed my nose into his chest. “I hope we can.”
THE RIDE HOME WAS uncomfortable. Connor was tense and stressed, giving me sympathetic glances every minute or two. His attention made me nervous. Ava was oblivious, other than the fact she knew I felt queasy, so she filled the quiet of the car with chatter about art class and upcoming assignments. I just prayed I wouldn’t puke again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ava asked from the cramped back seat. “You’re a little green. Should we pull over?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m fine. But thanks for pointing it out.”
Connor’s tiny, but loud, car made my head hurt and all I wanted was to drop Ava off at home and go to bed. Luckily, Ava and her father lived in what used to be a high school that had been converted into lofts and it wasn’t too far away.
“Moron,” Connor said and banged his fist on the steering wheel. Other R-rated words followed.
I opened my eyes, “What?”
He looked into his rearview mirror and jerked a thumb at the back of the car. “This jackass is all up in my tailgate. I don’t know what his issue is.”
I sat up and leaned around the seat to get a better view, and Ava also turned to peek out the window.
“He is really close,” Ava said. All I could see was the front grill of a large truck.
Connor slowed the car at a traffic light and the truck pulled close behind us. His eyes flicked between his mirrors. I touched his arm. “Don’t let him get to you, and don’t drive too fast. Trust me.”
He slackened his grip on the steering wheel under my touch but his jaw remained tight while he waited out the light. When it finally changed, I exhaled, waiting for Connor to move. He didn’t move.
The truck revved its engine behind us and when I turned to question Connor, I saw the shades of a grin lingering on his mouth. Awesome. Connor the troublemaker decided to make an appearance. I sighed and rested my head on my hand. This day would never end. “You’ve got to be kidding me? Drop it.”
“Connor, go—this guy is freaking me out,” Ava said. “He looks pretty pissed.”
I turned again and ducked down to see through the back window. Again, I grabbed Connor by the arm. “Go. Now.”
The smirk faded. “What?”
“It’s him. Go.”
Connor released the brake and floored it, taking the corner faster than he should have. Ava gasped from the back seat, trying to maintain her balance after Connor’s sudden start. My nausea forgotten, I kept my eyes on the truck. The silver truck we’d seen in Ellen’s driveway—John followed us.
“Him? Who’s him?” Ava asked, her voice a little high.
Connor and I made eye contact. What should I tell her? I noticed the smallest shake of his head. “I cut this guy off the other day and he was angry,” he explained. “What’s the chance of me running into him again?”
Ava frowned. “Do you think he’s dangerous?”
I opened my mouth but Connor cut me off. “I don’t know. Tell me the best way to lose him and get to your house.”
Ava leaned up between the seats. “Turn left at the next street.”
Connor accelerated, his tiny car swerving into the turn. My fingers gripped around the edge of the seat and Ava spouted off directions to get us through the neighborhood. We flew past houses and businesses intermixed. Old homes converted into shops, and old warehouses transformed into apartments. I turned, hoping we’d lost him, only to find that he was still a few feet from the car.
“Okay, at the light turn left,” Ava directed, and we reached the light just as it turned yellow. Connor squeezed through the traffic light just as it turned red and we all sighed, thankful we’d made it. “Good.” Ava said, relaxing back in the seat.
“Dammit,” Connor said, banging a fist on the gearshift. Ava and I looked back and the truck had run the light and was making up the distance.
Ava sat up again. “Right! Here! Right!”
Connor barely made the turn, the back tire bounced off the curb, jostling the three of use in the car. I could see the school ahead. “Up there!”
“Okay, see that white mailbox? Turn into that driveway.”
“Ava…” Connor’s voice was wary.
“Trust me.”
Connor sighed but downshifted and turned at the mailbox. Ahead of us was a long, narrow driveway and he had to slow down to make the turn. The truck lurched as it followed us. It would definitely be a tight fit for the truck.
“What now?” Connor asked, his eyes on the road.
“See that break in the bushes over there? Your car should fit.”
Connor had no choice. He slowed further and slid through the overgrown brush. Vines and leaves scraped down the car as we passed through the narrow space. On the other side we found ourselves on a dirt road, littered with debris and trash.
“He won’t make it,” I realized, keeping an eye out the back window.
Ava nodded. “Okay, keep going and loop around to the right.” Connor followed her directions, his small car bobbed up and down the dirt path. When I looked back, the truck was nowhere to be found.
Connor did as Ava said and we found ourselves at her building—in the former back parking lot of the school. He edged the car to the curb and stopped. Facing Ava, he asked, “How did you know that?”
Ava adjusted her glasses and smiled smugly. “I have two brothers. I follow them around a lot. The houses in this neighborhood didn’t have driveways so they used these little alleys behind the houses. My brothers ride their bikes back there.” Her smile turned smug. “Among other things.”
Connor unlatched his door and hopped out, helping Ava from the low seat in the back. “Thanks,” he said.
Before she left she ducked down and cast a worried look me. “Be careful.”
“We will.” I promised.
Ava turned her back and Connor slid back his seat. Without speaking, he shifted in gear and drove out into the streets of the city.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, AFTER weaving back and forth through the neighborhood, Connor pulled his car into a brick lined driveway. From what I could see through the window, the house was old and huge. The front porch was wide and long, wrapping around the side. A landscaped yard, lush and pristine, surrounded the house and I could only think how it was a far cry from our eclectic wild flowers and yard art. Everything was immaculate, and I’d seen it all before in the painting Emma had displayed at the museum. Connor had taken me to his house. I cocked my head toward him in question as we parked in the back.
He killed the engine. “I’m worried about taking you home right now. I don’t want to risk him following us there.”
“It’s better to have him here? I don’t want to involve your family. It’s not your problem.” I felt sick to my stomach. Again.
Connor brushed a piece of hair over my shoulder, grazing my neck. His warm fingers caused my heart to flutter, which under the circumstances seemed inappropriate. “I’m not talking about this again,” he said, leaning over and opening my door. “Come on, you can meet my mom.”
My mouth dropped. “What?”
“My mom, she’s home.” He pointed to her car poking out of the carriage house across from us. He got out of the car and walked around to my side, offering me a hand.
“Connor, I just puked in a public bathroom and rode along in a high speed chase with an abuser and murderer and you think we should go meet your mom?”
“I think we need to calm down and figure out what we want to do. And we need to be safe. I’m not taking you home yet.” His fingers tightened around mine. “Plus, my mom’s nice.”
All the nerves from the shelter and then being followed by John amplified upon entering Connor’s gorgeous home, not to mention the idea of meeting his mother. I had a feeling he wanted to distract me from the larger issue at hand, and it worked. Had we progressed to the place to meet one another’s family? He had met mine, of course, but that wasn’t intentional.
Connor led me up the back steps and into the mudroom where he hung up his coat and took mine.
“Thanks,” I said in a low voice. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe no one was home.
His hand clasped mine and he tugged me into the next room. “You want something to drink?” He asked the minute we entered the kitchen. I nodded, needing something to get the bitter taste out of my mouth. I watched as he opened the large refrigerator door and pulled out two bottles of water.
My head reeled from the events of the afternoon.
“How do you think he found us?” I asked, unscrewing the cap.
Connor shook his head and leaned against the large granite counter top in the middle of the spacious kitchen. “I’m not sure. He may have been following us all along.”
I had a terrifying thought. “Do you think he knows where the shelter is?” Goosebumps rose and I ran my hands up and down my arms.
Worry creased his forehead. “I don’t know. I hope not.” He opened his mouth to speak again but we heard voices coming down the hallway and he stopped. Butterflies filled my stomach. I smoothed my hair and shirt. I could taste the bitterness from puking earlier and I really didn’t like to meet new people, especially adults.
“Connor, I didn’t hear you come in,” a woman’s voice said, and I saw Connor nod easily as a pretty, dark haired woman appeared around the corner. Her eyes swept between her son and me. “Oh, hello,” she greeted, but looked back at Connor expectantly.
“Um, this is Jane,” he said, a little shy. Oh. This was new, shy Connor.
I plastered a smile on my face and offered a hello. Emma was hiding behind her, and I gave her a small wave.
“Nice to meet you,” she said. She walked past Connor, tugging on the back of his hair before she put a stack of papers on the desk across the room, but he ducked and swatted her hand. “What have you been up to today?”
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