My face fell again. “She was in love. With Grant, and she never told him.”
Jared frowned. “I’m sorry for Sasha. I’m sorry for her family when they learn of her death, but we have a bigger problem here. We’re leaving in one week, and you won’t be allowed to leave the country if you’re involved in an investigation. We have to explain why she was in your car, and why your car was there and you weren’t. That’s after they declare it wasn’t you in the car. That could be a while.”
“Stop.”
He thought for a moment. “We’ll have to go away. Write a note to Beth explaining that we went on a short getaway and that you left your car keys on the desk in case she needs it, and I’ll have Bex put it on the floor under your desk in your office so that it looks like it fell.”
“Stop, Jared.”
“We’ll go away for a few days. Figure out our next move.”
I squeezed my eyes tight. “Just stop it!”
“What?”
“It won’t matter.”
Jared grabbed each side of my face and looked into my eyes. “Don’t do that. You’re not going to give up.” One hand left my cheek and touched my stomach. “We have a reason to fight more now than ever.”
His cell phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. “Ryel. She’s fine, but it was her car. No, her car exploded. They wired explosives to it. I’m not sure, yet. She let Sasha take it for coffee. No,” Jared said, his voice low. “We’re going to leave town for a few days; buy us some time. Send Bex. I need him to run a note to Nina’s office. Bye.”
Sirens sounded in the distance. Jared put his phone away and cupped his hands over my shoulders. “You with me?”
I nodded. “I need paper and a pen.”
Jared patted his jacket and pulled out a pen, and then he blurred out of sight. A few moments later he returned with a pink memo pad. I scribbled a few lines to Beth explaining my impromptu vacation and the location of my keys in case she needed to move my car, and then signed it. Five minutes later, a motorcycle pulled into the alley.
Bex planted his feet on the ground and pushed the visor of his helmet up. “Whatcha got?”
“Put this in Nina’s office, under her desk as if it fell. We need to explain this away.”
Bex pulled off his helmet and grabbed the paper. “You guys staying here or…?”
“No. We’re leaving town for a few days. I’ll call you when we get there.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know, yet,” Jared said. “Stay out of sight, and go straight home to Mom.”
Bex nodded once, and then sprinted down the alley toward Titan. The sirens grew closer. Jared squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek. He opened the passenger door, and brushed the broken glass from the seat, and then repeated the process on his side. We drove south, stopping just outside of town. Claire and Ryan were waiting in Ryan’s Tundra truck.
“I figured you would need a vehicle with windows for your road trip,” Ryan smiled, tossing Jared the keys.
“Thanks,” Jared said.
Claire pointed to the bed of the truck. “We brought your luggage. Good thing you were going on a trip, anyway.” I nodded, feeling a little lost. Claire offered a sympathetic expression and a hug. “Sorry about Sasha. You’ll be soaking up the sun on vacation, and I’ll be here finding out who tried to kill you. Whether they’re human or not, they won’t bother you again.”
I frowned, and then tears pushed over my eyes and fell down my cheeks. I squeezed her tight.
“Don’t worry,” she said, making a point to look into my eyes. “This will all be over soon.”
Chapter Twelve
Road Trip
South on Interstate 95. With my head rested against the passenger side window, I kept the beat in my head with the white lines as they zoomed past and out of sight. My body felt empty and numb; I didn’t know if I was awake or asleep. Traumatic events should have been second nature to me. Maybe that was why I wasn’t a crying, shaking mess. I wasn’t coping—or maybe I was. Maybe I was simply feeling acceptance, but it was hard to know without feeling anything.
Jared moved a piece of hair from my face. “Why don’t you try to sleep?”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Try,” Jared said, rubbing my arm. It was just a comforting gesture; we both knew I wasn’t cold. Bean coming sooner rather than later suddenly seemed a relief. Summer was unbearable for any pregnant woman, but considering my heightened temperature, it could mean trouble. Jared’s hand left my arm and rested on my stomach.
My eyes finally shut sometime soon after entering the Bronx, and didn’t open again until we were just south of Philadelphia’s City limits. It was still dark when I awoke, my hair plastered against my cheek, warm and moist between my face and the console. Jared had made the distance in half the time it should have taken.