“It is. It hurts. Make it stop. Cut it. Just cut it and let it out! Please!”
“It’s not real, Mika. Play the story out in your head. Finish it. Let it work the way you need it to. Get control.”
Another cut.
“Her heartrate is too high. Someone call an ambulance,” a woman yells.
“No! She can do this. She just has to get control.”
“Dr. Kravitz, she needs a hospital!”
Another cut.
“Stop! No!”
“Tell me a time, Mika. Tell me a time to be here. I might show up early or I might show up late. You have to break past this barrier. It’s the biggest trigger.”
“No. No times. Please no. Please don’t. I can’t do it again. It gets worse.”
Another cut.
Another.
Another.
Another.
Chapter 38
CHASE
The second Blake told me he was having a drink with Moose Knuckle because he just got back into town, I knew it was time to get some answers. Yeah, it’s shady as shit, but I don’t care.
We’re at the bar in the bowling alley, and I’m staring over at the lone bald eagle near the entryway.
Hunter and Blake act like they’ve been best friends for years, but I have a reason for being here, and I’m impatient.
“What’s up with Mika?” I blurt out. In my head, it had more finesse than that.
Hunter’s drink pauses in front of his lips, and he slowly shifts his gaze toward me.
“What about her?” he asks warily, lowering his drink as he studies me.
Blake’s eyebrows knit together like he’s confused.
“When I knew Mika, she loved numbers. She kept a strict schedule, and she was a major control freak. Now… things are different. What happened?”
He shifts uncomfortably, and Blake studies him.
“Not my shit to tell. If Mika wants you to know, she’ll tell you herself.”
“I want to be with Mika, but she’s holding back,” I explain, trying not to feel like a prying bastard.
He looks down like he’s sad or something. Before he says anything else, I look up as something moving toward us quickly draws my attention.
Aidan.
Shit.
He looks furious, but he stops just in front of us, clenching and unclenching his fists.
“Should have known I’d find you at a bar. Just two in town to search for the James boy,” he growls.
It doesn’t even faze me. I’ve heard a hell of a lot worse.
“Look, I get why you hate me, but—”
“No, you don’t fucking get it!” he yells, drawing everyone’s attention.
Hunter jumps up and gets in front of me when it looks like Aidan is about to lunge. Blake looks wary, slowly standing off the stool. I stand up as well, trying to figure out why Aidan looks like a rabid beast right now.
“Then explain it to me,” I tell him coldly, ignoring all the nosy eyes on us.
“Stay the fuck away from her. She’s not some chick you can reel in and cast out. She doesn’t work like that. Mika is a full-time commitment. What the hell did you do to her today?”
He’s not making a damn bit of sense.
“Nothing. I kissed her bye and went to work.”
His brow furrows for a second, but he still looks like he’s ready to punch me.
“Something happened,” he snarls. “What did you do? She was upset.”
I grab my keys immediately from the counter and sprint outside, but Aidan is in front of me before I reach my truck, shoving me hard.
“Answer me!” he roars.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I warn him.
Hunter is back between us, and so is Blake, who is holding me back as Aidan seethes at me for no fucking reason.
“What did you say to her? Did you text her? Was that you? I know it was. I could tell by the way she immediately went to her laptop. What happened?”
“Nothing happened! All I said was that I was having some beers and I’d see her after. I was trying to get Hunter to give me some insight into Mika, because I can tell something is going on that she’s not telling me.”
More confusion crosses his features, and a bit of his color pales.
“Did you tell her you’d see her at a certain time?”
The hell?!
“No. She doesn’t like exact times or even real estimates.”
He visibly relaxes, confusing me more.
“After beers is a real estimate,” he states, pausing to study me. “Why did you text her?” he asks, looking at me like he’s trying to solve a puzzle.
“Because I told her this morning that I’d see her after work. Then I decided to speak to Hunter since he was back in town, so I was letting her know about the change in plans.”
More of his color pales… In fact, all the color drains from his face.
“You said you’d see her after work. Then told her you’d see her after drinks instead?”
I nod, and Hunter curses as the both of them take off running, racing away like something is seriously wrong.
“The fuck is going on?” I roar.
“I’ll get her!” Hunter yells to Aidan.
“She’s probably breaking shit. Watch your head,” Aidan yells back.
“Don’t worry about me,” Hunter calls back without even turning around.