He doesn't have to finish, though. I know what he was going to say. I want to tell him that I wouldn't have jumped, but would I have? My entire body feels like it's shaking. "I don't know what I was doing."
Lars takes my hand in his and leads me out of the bathroom. When he pulls back the blanket on the bed, I lie down. Feeling myself sink into the mattress as I put together the puzzle in my head. I remember running into the bathroom. I sat on the floor by the door, and then I heard Rick.
Only, it wasn't Rick. My mind was playing tricks on me. It was Lars the entire time. Am I losing my mind?
As I lie there on my side, I watch Lars, thinking he's going to leave, so I can get some rest. I'm grateful that he didn't poke and prod, although there is no way he's going to let this go. If anyone did what I just did, I'd probably assume they needed to be committed. Now more than ever, I have to get out of this town. Maybe the miles between here and there will make me forget.
When the light goes out, I tug the blanket up over my shoulder. There is still a glimmer of light from the bathroom, which is good. I hate the pitch-black. But, Lars doesn't open the door to leave. He walks toward me and lifts the corner of the blanket, sliding his body underneath it.
"We'll talk tomorrow, ok?"
I'm not sure that he can see me, but I nod my head just so we can put this to rest for the night. Flipping over to my other side, I face the wall and close my eyes, hoping to chase away this night and go to a happy place in my dreams.
The mattress begins to shift and I feel his body pressed against mine. One arm wraps around me, and suddenly, I'm there. I'm still awake, but I found my happy place.
18
“I’m not fucking helping you assholes. I don’t care how much you try to convince me to come back. These games aren’t fun anymore. Figure this shit out with Josh, or don’t. Either way, I’m done.” I slam the phone down on the counter.
Willa comes walking in with her hair bunched in a ponytail on the top of her head and she looks much better than she did before she fell asleep last night. At some point, we have to talk about what happened, but I’m giving it some time and hoping to make her smile today.
“How about if we do something fun today?”
Setting the glass down, she looks at me with her fluffy black brows pinched together. “Really? Like what? Board games and a movie? Oooh, ice cream. With a huge fudge brownie under it. That sounds like heaven.”
My head shakes. “Nope. Something better. Pull your hood up, baby. We’re going out.” I snatch the keys off the counter and begin to arm the security system on my phone.
“Are you sure? What if someone sees us? We’re so close to the end, why risk it?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re hidden. We’re taking the backroads out of town and going someplace where no one knows who we are.”
She seems reluctant to get excited, but once she sees what we’re doing, I think her mood will change.
We get in the same vehicle we took yesterday and I make a mental note to fill the tank up before Anderson returns. "Buckle up and take a nap. We'll be there in about an hour." I toss a bag of cookies at her that I found in the cupboard. "In case you and the baby get hungry."
"Gee, thanks for the breakfast." She grimaces.
"Hey, it's something. Could have let you starve." I tease. "We'll get food later."
"Thank you." She holds up the bag. "This is actually really nice of you. I'm surprised."
"Surprised that I can be nice?"
"Well, yeah. You keep surprising me and I'm not sure what to think of it."
I flick the blinker at the four-way and take a left, heading out of town. "Are you thinking you might change your mind? Let me come with you? I'll give you cookies every day if it makes you happy.”
Pulling her phone out, she holds back whatever she's thinking. She doesn't have to say anything. I already know it would be along the lines of, please stop or don't do this.
"Anyone tried contacting you yet?"
"Yeah, they've called and texted, but I'm not ready to read any of it. I've turned off my location, but I'm still too nervous to keep my phone on for long periods of time."
"Once you're out of town, you should probably get a new one with a new number." I wanna tell her to text me the new number, but she'll likely argue it and this will turn into a big thing that will ruin the day. I never thought that I'd be the one walking on eggshells here.
"Oh my god." She gasps, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Pull over, Lars. Pull over right now." My foot slams on the brake in the middle of the road and I stretch my neck over to look at her phone. Her finger holds down the volume button, and the voice of a news anchor fills the empty space of the vehicle.
"Willa Jean Mack has been reported missing from the small town of Redwood. She was last seen by her stepfather, Pastor Rick Jeffries. Rick begins talking with just a headshot of him showing on the video. "Willa is a good girl. Wherever she is, I don't believe she left on her own free will." The news anchor appears again. "Friends and family of Willa are very concerned that her disappearance is in some way connected to that of Josh Moran, who went missing only three
