Page 73 of Catch Me When I Fall

I looked up from the stack of books in my arms to find Sarah studying me, a worried expression painted on her face. I nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

After Michael squeezed the life out of me, he told me Sarah wasn’t to know about the notes. This was officially police business, and Sarah had to stay out of it. He left me in her office, heading straight for the station to question Mr. Winters.

I’d lied to him.

Did I think Mr. Winters was trying to scare me? No, but there was something about these notes that seemed off to me.

I knew it wasn’t anyone from my past. It couldn’t be. My father was spending the rest of his life in prison, and Jeremy had taken care of everything else that went along with that shit show. My father’s associates had gone into hiding after everything came to the light, according to Detective Harris…

Shaking those thoughts away, I gave a forced smile to Sarah and turned to put the books away. Once that was done, I headed up to the front to clock out.

“Did Michael say anything…” Sarah trailed off as I turned around to face her.

“He was just checking in on me, that’s all,” I told her.

A shadow of doubt fell over her features. “He confronted you about the bounty hunter, didn’t he?”

I didn’t want to talk about the bounty hunter.

I didn’t want to think about his dark eyes and the heat within them as they lingered on me. I didn’t want to think about his rough voice saying my name or his hands holding me captive against his body. I didn’t even want to think about the pleasure he gave me, about how he knew exactly how to make me see stars. I didn’t want to think about his arms around me or the taste of his lips.

I couldn’t.

I’d spent months crying over him, waiting for him to come back, and he never did. I couldn’t spend another second of my life wondering why I wasn’t good enough for him when I could be good enough for someone else.

I needed to move on.

Swallowing the pain, I looked at her. “He was just checking in on me, Sarah.” I took a step closer to whisper, “Please stop bringing the bounty hunter up. I don’t want to ever think about him again.”

“Carrie—”

“Please.”

She nodded before pulling me into her arms. “I’m sorry.”

I told her it was okay, and truly, it was. I just had to get him out of my head. I needed to move on, and I knew the best way to do that.

It was reckless.

It was stupid.

I just hoped to God I wasn’t too late.

I clocked out, grabbed my coat, and told her I would see her tomorrow. Then, I was gone.

Once I stepped outside into the cold air, instead of going left towards my car, I went right. The snow crunched under my boots, the wind howling and hitting my face. Astoria was about to get hit with another winter storm, and this was just the beginning signs of it. I kept my head down, passing by the shops and restaurants before crossing the road.

In the distance, I heard a car door slam, and I looked over my shoulder—

My heart stopped.

It was the woman.

She was fumbling over her coat, an unlit cigarette hanging from her lips. She was dressed in dark jeans and boots, and the coat she wore looked expensive. This was the first time I’d seen her in decent clothing. She still hadn’t spotted me when she finally righted her coat. In fact, she didn’t even bother looking around as she pulled out her phone and started tapping on the screen.

I watched her for a few more moments, waiting for her to notice me and stare, but she didn’t.

Because you’re overreacting, Carrie. She’s just a local, running errands.

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