Page 14 of Catch Me When I Fall

Short.

Blonde.

Of course, I’d seen those before.

It was her wild coils that threw me off, popping out of her head in a chaotic assortment of unhinged beauty that made even a man like me stare.

Carrie Hale looked like she’d jumped out of a fairytale, and it annoyed the fuck out of me.

My eyes dropped further, taking in her body as Jake gave me her flight details. Amara had mentioned something about her being tiny before—perhaps she was referring to Carrie being slender.

The Carrie in this video was anything but—and it also infuriated the fuck out of me. She didn’t do a good job of hiding her curves underneath that hoodie, and the leggings she wore clung to her legs like a second fucking skin.

Grinding my teeth, I pressed play on the video and watched her purchase her ticket. She pulled out a small wallet and handed over a credit card.

“I want the details on the card,” I told Jake, interrupting him.

“It’s going to take me a bit, but I’m working on it. I have to hack into their computer system and then go into…” He continued explaining all the hoops he’d have to jump through as I continued to stare at the video of Hale.

When she turned and walked away from the counter, I paused the video and sat back, exhaling through my nose.

“Dominic and Hayes still going over the file?” I asked once Jake was done.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. You do what you have to do and tell Ash to send me every hotel within twenty-five miles of the Portland airport,” I ordered just as Amara Harrison stepped into Sullie’s.

“Roger that,” he muttered before ending the call.

Amara came directly to my table, holding two files.

“Top one is from the hospital, and the second is from her rehab,” she told me.

I nodded, taking the files from her. “Appreciate it,” I said gruffly.

She nodded. “Anything else you need from me?”

“Nope,” I said, opening the file.

“Right. Well, good luck, Mr. Grayson.”

“Never needed it,” I returned.

Seconds later, she walked away, and I heard Sullie’s booming voice as he said goodbye to her. I read the reports over the next half hour, and when I was done, the last place I wanted to go was to Portland, because I reached the conclusion that none of her friends ever would.

Carrie Hale wasn’t running away.

She was starting over.

By the time I left Sullie’s, I was in a worse mood than when I arrived in St. Louis.

I went to the airport, boarded my plane, and headed for Oregon, not knowing that I was about to hit a dead end…

Chapter 4

Carrie

I stared at the red and blue lights in the rear-view mirror of the small, used car I’d just purchased not even three hours ago as my stomach tightened with fear. My hands were at ten and two on the steering wheel, clutching it for dear life as my chest heaved, panic settling in and getting comfortable.

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