For fuck’s sake.
The moment he turned out of his driveway and onto the road, an unwelcome anxiety settled into his gut. He didn’t like leaving Jess alone. But he’d only be gone for an hour. Even Jess could keep herself out of trouble for that long.
Chapter 3
Jess watched Ike walk out the door, all the while keeping her Fine, fine, I’m totally fine expression plastered on her face. The moment he was gone, her shoulders sagged under the weight of being alone in a strange place not that many hours after strange men had proven that not even familiar places were safe.
Stop it, Jess. You are fine. Or, at least, you can fake it until you make it.
She nodded to herself. Had plenty of experience doing that, didn’t she?
Step one was locking herself in nice and tight, so Jess crossed the room and threw all three locks.
Standing with her back to the door, she surveyed the cabin, wondering what to do with herself next. She sank into the couch and turned on the TV. Daytime television pretty much sucked ass, though, and it was amazing that so many channels existed and yet almost all of them were filled with crap. She paused on a house hunting show she liked but the husband wanted absolutely ridiculous things including a skateboarding park in the backyard. Like, an actual skateboarding park. So she turned the idiot box off and dropped the remote onto the cushion next to her.
At a loss for what to do, she wandered into the kitchen and got a glass of water. The breeze coming through the windows was fresh and fragrant, like flowers and pine needles. Clearly, she wasn’t in downtown Baltimore anymore.
Turning, her gaze fell on the duffle she’d quickly packed in the middle of the night. She’d been so shaken and anxious to hurry, she wasn’t even sure what the hell she’d thrown in the bag. For all she knew she had twenty panties and no pants. Which would make things really interesting around here if it were true…
Jess smirked and put her glass in the sink.
She carried the duffle to the bathroom and unpacked her toiletries and makeup, and then she went up to the loft to put away her clothes. Ah, damn, she had in fact brought pants. And shirts, too. No parading around naked to drive Ike crazy, after all.
Warm air hung in the loft like a wool blanket, so Jess turned on the ceiling fan and opened the room’s only window, which overlooked a small backyard that sloped downward toward the woods. Not too far off, she could see the lake she’d noticed when they’d first turned on to Ike’s property. It was weird to think of Ike in a place like this when almost all of Jess’s associations of him were at Hard Ink, a tattoo parlor in a gritty and largely abandoned industrial area in Baltimore.
Turning away from the window, she couldn’t help but focus on the bed—the most prominent piece in the room. A hunter-green comforter covered it, and four pillows with green-and-blue-striped cases sat piled at the top of the bed. The idea of Ike sacking out on the couch still didn’t sit right with Jess, who wasn’t sure how much more sacrifice on her behalf she could take from the guy. But the feeling of being a burden was a dear old frenemy she didn’t have a prayer of shaking any time soon.
Sighing, she emptied her bag onto the bed. Among the pants, shirts, sleep shorts, tank tops, and underthings, she found a strappy little red dress. Why she’d brought a dress, she had no idea. In her haste to grab and go, she’d mostly pulled things out of a basket of folded laundry sitting on her bedroom floor, not realizing it was among them. The closet was pretty full of Ike’s clothing, but Jess managed to find a free hanger for the dress. She stared at it sandwiched between a steel gray button-down and an old, frayed sweatshirt. It was stupid, but she liked seeing her clothes comingled with Ike’s…
Ugh, Jess. Now you’re the one being ridiculous. Only, unlike the TV, she couldn’t simply press a button to get away from all the crap in her own head.
The sound of kids screaming and laughing echoed up from the lake and pulled her out of the inane thoughts. It was a sound of such pure innocence that it simultaneously made Jess smile and tear up. Despite the fact that her mother had run off when she was eight, Jess’s dad had been awesome. He’d been busy as hell as a Baltimore police detective, but he was always attentive and funny and loving. He’d bought her first hair dye kit and gotten his fingers all stained purple helping her do it. He’d taken her dress shopping for proms and homecomings, and never said a word that her fashion choices trended toward combat boots and skulls. He’d given her an amazing childhood, and the laughter made her think of him. And miss him. And feel guilty all over again. Because he’d been killed four years ago. Protecting her.
Just like Ike was doing now. And the situation was equally—if not more—dangerous. Jess shivered.