“I thought he said you had dinner plans. Since you missed dinner, I thought maybe you’d just stay here tonight.”
“Still none of your business,” I murmured, scanning the words on the pages. Any divulging of my sleeping arrangements would only end in another argument that I wasn’t in the mood for.
Beginning the third subject, I looked up at the clock.
“Is that clock right?” I asked the group. Everyone looked in unison at the large round clock on the wall, and then peered at their watches or cell phones. In different tones, they all murmured confirmations.
“What?” Ryan asked, stretching as he watched me shove my things into my bag.
“It’s late, I have to go.”
I pulled out my phone and pressed the speed dial for Jared’s cell. He didn’t answer, so I rushed out the door. I stood there a moment, looking around, and then hurried down the stairs, banging the rollers of my bag against every step. The Escalade wasn’t there.
I tried not to panic, convincing myself that he was just in a well secluded spot. After ten minutes, I walked down the sidewalk a little over a block each way. My search was futile. Jared wouldn’t let me walk around in the dark; he wasn’t there.
My bag barely touched the ground as I sprinted across campus, glad that Claire had parked my car in the middle lot to be spiteful. I thought of all the possibilities for his sudden disappearance, but my mind kept returning to the hell I’d gone through just a week before. Jared didn’t have a history of warning me that he was going to end our relationship.
By the time I reached my car my lungs were frozen and aching. I fumbled with my keys and ripped the door open, heaving my bag to the passenger side. The tires squealed as I pulled out into the street, cursing every stoplight that cost me precious time.
I pulled up to Jared’s loft and took a deep breath. His Escalade wasn’t parked in front, but I tried the door, anyway. I kept my eyes on the doorknob as I waited, willing it to twist open. Dogs barked down the dark street and I suddenly felt uneasy. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how safe I felt with Jared; the alley had never seemed frightening before.
I walked back to the Beemer, defeated. He would have called if it was anything other than the worst scenario. He had either broken his promise not to leave me, or he was in danger. After twenty minutes and still no call from Jared, my lungs began to feel less satisfied with every breath and my eyes welled over with tears.
A knock resounded on my window and I jumped. Claire’s flawless face was on the other side.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop. Something came up. I’m here to let you in.”
I stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Her explanation didn’t make sense, but the knowledge that he had sent her to let me in the loft extinguished half of my fears.
“Is he okay?” I asked, following her down the alley.
“Uh…yeah. You worry too much,” she said, her annoyed expression obvious even in the dark.
She led me up the iron stairs of the entry way, and then opened the door to let me inside. I ran up the stairs to the loft and collapsed into the bed. An overwhelming feeling of relief tore through me, and I did my best to weep quietly to avoid further ridicule from Claire.
I dried my eyes as I heard her light footsteps climb the stairs and stop beside the bed.
“Wow,” she deadpanned, chomping on a wad of gum too big for her petite mouth. “Why don’t you take a shower?” she asked.
I ignored her.
Claire sighed and sat down on Jared’s side of the bed.
I froze for a moment, bracing for an obnoxious comment from her. She sat quietly.
I shot a confused glance her way. “W…What are you doing?” I asked, sniffing.
“I’m supposed to sit with you,” she said, sounding bored.
“Sit with me? Why?”
“I just am. Go take a shower, will you? You’re a mess.”
I sniffed again and ambled to the shower, too baffled to argue. Claire never missed an opportunity to make me feel like an idiot, but surely she could understand my tears. I hurried through my nightly routine, anxious that every noise outside the bathroom was Jared returning home.
When I finished, Claire was downstairs. I slipped on one of Jared’s t-shirts. It was a poor substitute, but it would have to do until he came home. With impeccable timing, she returned as I slipped under the covers.
She looked away from me, suddenly uncomfortable. “That’s Jared’s favorite shirt.”
I looked down and noticed the dead giveaway: It was ratty and worn. The dark grey heather cotton was thin, and I smiled as I made out the faded words across the front; it was from a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert four years ago. I looked up at Claire who showed signs of a slight grin.
“My dad took him to that concert,” she mused, sitting on the bed beside me.
“You look like him,” I said. Gabe had light blonde hair as well, and Claire had inherited his ice blue eyes.
Those eyes instantly glazed over with anger. “Don’t talk about him. You…,” she stopped herself, “just go to sleep, Nina.”
Falling asleep with Claire sitting over me like a prison guard wasn’t likely, so I turned my back to her, focusing on Jared. I wondered what it was that he was doing, and wondered why he hadn’t called. I opened my mouth to ask Claire, but given her mood I thought better of it.
The clock switched from P.M. to A.M. as the numbers changed to midnight. Jared still hadn’t called, and I was almost worried enough to ask Claire to call him. At that moment, Claire stood up and walked over to the railing. The outside door slammed, footsteps echoed up the iron steps, and then the front door opened and closed quietly. Claire’s eyes followed the footsteps up the stairs until Jared came into view.
The sight of him shocked me. His face was smudged with dirt and blood, along with his shirt, jacket and jeans. His knuckles were swollen and bloody. I noticed that on a few of them the hide had ripped away and hung by just a few centimeters of skin.
“Jared?” I said, ripping the covers off to run to him.
“I’m okay,” he said, holding me away. “I’m dirty. Let me jump in the shower.”
Without a word, Claire retreated downstairs.
I paced the room, chewing on my nails until he reappeared. He was dressed and clean shaven, the only remnants of his earlier disheveled appearance was his already healing knuckles.
“What happened?” I asked in firm tone.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Something came up,” he said, eyeing my bandage free hand.
“Obviously,” I said, crossing my arms. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Dawson stopped by The Rock to pay you a visit. I had to act quickly.” He walked by me to pull the first aid kit from under the bed.
“Mr. Dawson?” I asked, shocked.
“He was armed, and he also had…,” Jared’s jaw tensed, “he had paraphernalia.”
“What kind of paraphernalia?” I said, sitting on the bed.
“The kind you use to tie someone up and torture them. He was planning on getting that package tonight.”
I swallowed loudly. If Jared hadn’t been there to protect me, I didn’t want to think where I would be.
He didn’t look up when he spoke, “He won’t bother you again.”
“You….”
I watched as he worked silently, dabbing antibiotic ointment across my hand. The cut was now the beginning of a bright pink scar, the infection had dissipated days ago.
After a long pause Jared answered me. “I didn’t kill him. Not that I didn’t have to exercise restraint. He gave up information, but not nearly enough. I let my emotions get in the way,” he sighed and shook his head, “he was never conscious long enough to tell me everything I needed.”
“You tortured him,” I said, watching Jared fasten the last piece of tape on the flawlessly wrapped gauze. I braced for his answer; the Jared I knew couldn’t be capable of the horror that I imagined.
“I wanted to snap his spine and throw him in the Narragansett to drown, Nina. He’s lucky he ended up with his life.”
His job was to protect me by any means necessary; I just hadn’t stopped to think what that would be. “What
