Acts of Desperation(35)

“Whoa whoa, it’s ok, it’s just me,” he said, and thankfully scooted away a little. “Do you want me to call someone? Liz or your parents?”

“No.” I turned to him. “Why are you here?”

He sighed and frowned a little. “I woke up and you were gone. Where’d you think I’d be?”

I looked at him and my eyes began to well with tears. I covered my face and finally broke down. When he put his arm around me this time, I let myself melt into him. Whatever reason he had to explain what I’d seen on his phone didn’t matter. He was no murderer, and I needed to be held.

“Just breathe baby,” he whispered. “Just breathe. You’re safe now.”

I took comfort in the smell of him, his warmth, his familiarity. And, at that moment, nothing else mattered. Then, I must have closed my eyes and drifted off. When I woke up, the house was dark except for what remained of the daylight streaming in through the blinds. Jax had drawn them all, and when I sat up, I saw him sitting at the island with his head in his hands.

“What time is it?” I asked.

He raised his head and looked at me. “Just after six. How you doin’?”

“Fine, I guess, aside from feeling like I’ve been slammed with a baseball bat.”

He grinned a little. “You need anything? I had some Chinese food delivered if you’re hungry.”

“Yeah, that actually sounds pretty good.” I sat up and uncovered myself from my cocoon of blankets. I slowly stood on wobbly legs then my underwear almost fell down. I quickly grabbed for them and plopped down as images of the scene flashed in my mind. My chest began to heave, and I started to cry.

He rushed up to my side. “Why don’t we go upstairs and get you into some fresh clothes.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” I said, nodding my head.

As we walked upstairs, I held my underwear on my body. I sat on the edge of the bed rubbing the creases from the soft silk of my lavender quilt, and Jax left the room to start the shower. He took me by the hand and led me across the hall and into the bathroom. I stared at the green glass tile walls and the white porcelain sink. Normally, I felt like I was in a spa when I stepped into this room, but not today. I stood on the light green shag rug and squished the fluffy fibers between my toes, feeling like I’d been punched in the stomach.

“I don’t want to leave you,” he said over the waterfall in the shower, and he reached up to caress my cheek.

“I don’t want you to leave,” I said, looking into his eyes.

“Can I help you get undressed?”

“No. I can do it,” I said. I let go of my underwear, and it fell to the floor. He took his clothes off down to his underwear and watched me as I took my shirt off. I rubbed my hip and stared at the bruise that was starting to develop. That was the spot that seemed to hurt the most.

“Don’t look at it,” he said and opened the shower door. He stepped in then held his hand out for me to join him. He shut the door and I stood, letting the water slowly wash over my skin. I tilted my head back, and the second the water made contact with my scalp, it felt like a thousand tiny hammers were pounding away. Any other day, I loved that shower head. I winced and Jax took over. He washed my hair and was gentle everywhere he needed to be. When we were finished, he shut the water off and grabbed a towel off the door.

“I’ll go grab you some clothes,” he said.

“No, I can do it,” I said and wrapped myself up and walked into my room. As we both got dressed, the mystery woman’s picture from the book flashed in my mind.

“Who is she Jax?” I asked.

“Who?”

“The girl in the picture. The one you snatched out of my hand,” I said.

His face fell. “We can talk about it later…after you’ve had some food. We need to go to the police station too and give your statement.”

“No. Who is she?”

He closed his eyes and exhaled. “My girlfriend.”





Chapter Fifteen


“Girlfriend?” I said and stood up.

“Sember, she’s dead—and has been for a long time,” he said.

“What?” I said.

“You actually remind me a lot of her.” He laughed nervously. “I’m sorry. We can talk about this later. I’m sure you’ve had enough today.”

“I’ll decide when I’ve had enough. I have too many questions in my life right now, and I need answers so you better start talking. Now.”

“Ok,” he said. “Sit down and I’ll explain.”

“No. I’ll stand thank you.”

“Just sit down, please. You need to rest.”

“Fine,” I said. My hip did hurt, so I sat down and crossed my arms. “Talk.”

He glanced up to the ceiling and ran his hand through his hair, searching for an explanation. Finally he took a deep breath and said, “She died in a car accident that was my fault.”

“Ok…” I said. “What happened?”

He sighed. “She was my girlfriend in college and one night we got high in her dorm room. We got hungry and hopped in the car—I drove. When we were on the road, a cab crossed the yellow line and hit us head on. She didn’t have on her seat belt, and she flew through the windshield,” he said.