“We need to go,” I whisper near her ear as I loosen her hold on me.
She pulls her hands around to cup my face. “Are you okay, Jasper?”
“I’m fine,” I assure her.
Her brows knit together. I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking that a decent person would be devastated right now. “But . . .”
“But nothing. She’s gone. She’s dead. Nothing I do will bring her back. This part is over. Someone will pay a price for her death, but that has to wait. Right now, you’re more important. I need to get you out of here.”
She nods. “Okay.” She reaches for my hand, curling her fingers tightly around mine. This is who she is. She is the kind who gives comfort, the kind who shares in grief, the kind who gives of herself. The kind who will only be hurt by getting involved with someone like me. The best thing I can do for her once I get her to safety is to let her go. Because once I do, she’ll never be able to find me. I’ll be in the wind. A ghost. A nightmare best forgotten.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Muse
I catch myself glancing repeatedly at Jasper as he steers the car back to his cabin. He’s stoic. Calm. Eerily calm. He just saw his childhood home in fiery pieces scattered all over the place, probably along with his mother’s remains, and he’s acting as though everything is fine.
Well not fine, really. He seems in a hurry to get me away, but other than that, he’s quiet. No tears. No roaring like a lion, no howling like a coyote. No nothing. Just . . . calm.
When he rolls into his driveway, he slams the gearshift into park and turns to me, fierceness on his face. “Lock the doors. Stay put. I’ll be right back.”
It’s not a request, nor does he pause to see if I agree to comply. He simply turns and crawls out of the car, knowing that I surely can’t be crazy enough not to do what he says.
And he’s right. I’m not. I’m just not as quick as he is.
I’m watching Jasper mount the steps in two long leaps when my door is wrenched open and a hand covers my mouth. I start to scream when something is jammed into my ribs. It’s cold and unyielding. Instinctively I know it’s a gun.
My heart is slamming around inside my chest, but I remain absolutely still.
“Scream and I’ll shoot you. Try to get away and I’ll shoot you.”
I listen to the words, which are alarming in and of themselves, but it’s the voice with which they’re spoken that I find most disturbing of all.
I roll my eyes to the right and get a glimpse of Matt’s face in the glow of the headlights reflecting off the side of the cabin.
He catches my wide eyes staring and grins in that half-cocked way that used to melt my heart. Right now it merely freezes it.
“Matt?” I mutter against his hand.
“It’s good to see you, too, little girl,” he says, using his old pet name for me. I’m sure it’s supposed to put me at ease, but it doesn’t. If anything, it puts me on guard.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Shhh,” he says, clamping his hand over my mouth again. “Come on. I’ll take you to your dad.”
“Dad’s here?”
“Yeah. We came for you. Now come on. And be quiet about it unless you want your bodyguard to get shot.”
My lungs tighten at just the suggestion of Jasper getting hurt. I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’m sure my father will explain it. And in the meantime, there’s no reason to risk Jasper getting shot over a misunderstanding just because he’s on high alert.
“Where is he?” I ask in a hushed voice.
“This way. Come on.”
Matt takes my hand and tugs me from the car. He doesn’t let go as he starts off around the front of the cabin, sticking to the edge of the trees where the darkness creeps in. He leads me down to the lake and to the dock, but I pull back before stepping on the first plank.
Matt tugs, but I resist. “Where is he, Matt?” I’m digging in my heels.
“We came by boat so no one would see us. Now shut up before you get somebody killed.” With a sharp jerk, he pulls me forward again, and this time I let him.
We walk all the way to the end of the dock and Matt urges me into Jasper’s little flat-bottom boat. He hops in after me and unties us. Tucking his gun into his waistband, my ex begins to row us away from the dock. When he gets to the middle of the cove, he stops.
My eyes have adjusted to the moonlight, which is full and bright tonight, allowing me to see the lake and Matt quite clearly. It’s the smile Matt is wearing that sends a shiver of apprehension skittering down my spine.
“Why did you stop?”
“I’m waiting.”