Page 40 of Perfect Liar

I knew two things. Josh wouldn’t lay a finger on me, and it didn’t matter who came near me, because Will would always fiercely protect me.

After Will closed the door, Josh and I sat on the top step.

Josh stared at the clouds drifting over the Atlantic while listening to me talk.

Hearing my own crazy words struck me as so surreal, like I’d fallen down a rabbit hole.

“So there it is. Now you know everything I know, Josh. And I’m asking you to let me take Lissie and go with him.”

He dropped his forehead into his hands for just a second before responding.

“Jesus, I’ve been so afraid for you. I thought you were dead. Was Lissie hurt in any way?”

“She wasn’t touched…they never found her, and now she’s safe. Josh, I’m really sorry that I’ve put you in this position. I know you don’t have to help me because we’re no longer?—”

“—don’t you say it, Ellie. You don’t need to remind me that I’ve lost you.”

“In my heart, in my gut, I know I won’t survive without him. If I stay here, the authorities will never believe me…and I’ll lose my life just like Isabel. Lissie will have no one.”

Josh shut his eyes.

“Go to the UK. If you leave now, I won’t stop you.”

“After I’m gone, do what you need to do. I won’t blame you for anything.”

“I’ll wait a few hours to make my report and alert the chief, but I can’t offer you any more than this. And I want you to understand that my superiors will work to bring you back to the US.”

“But don’t they need an indictment to get me back?”

“Yeah, but the State Department could revoke your passport, which might cause your deportation.”

With a heavy sigh, I accepted the situation for what it was. We didn’t have much else to say after that, nothing comforting in any case. So we sat there quietly with his arm around my shoulders, and my head resting against his.

But the moment passed, and he pulled away, leaving without saying another word.

He had warned me before…if we weren’t lovers, then we weren’t friends either. I really had lost so much. And now my home as well.

I went inside, and Will waited by the door for me. His eyes explored mine, probing, searching.

I could only guess that in that moment, he discovered the depth of my sorrow, because he opened his strong arms and waited for me to step inside them.

He interrupted the pain before it took me down.

“We’re free to leave,” I whispered.

CHAPTER 12

Will’s hand rested on my back as we stood on the tarmac, waiting for Ben to review customs reports with the pilots and watching John lead Lissie past the windows inside the airplane.

“Are you ready, Elle?”

I bit my lip and avoided his eyes.

“Yes, I’m ready to go.”

Flying was a nightmare for me, and I hadn’t told him how sick I might get if my meds didn’t knock me out. I’d seen multiple doctors for it, and they all said the same thing…

Severe aviophobia, compounded by my anxiety disorder. The fact that my parents had died in a plane crash was reason enough, or at the very least it aggravated the condition.

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