Page 22 of The Eleventh Hour

I level her with my best big sister glare. “Don’t make me tickle you into submission.”

She giggles, but I can feel her bending.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before it gets too dark.”

Cherise waits while I pack up my locker for the last time. I heft the bag, and we make our way towards the front of the store. The phone rings. I pause, torn, and then turn around and answer it.

“Hey, mouth-breather, you there?”

I wait and hear breathing.

“I don’t work here anymore, so stop hassling them.”

The phone clicks, and I hear the dial tone. I look at the receiver for a long moment. That’s new. He always waits for me to hang up first.

On the street, I hug Cherise tight for a long time and watch as she climbs on the bus. Once I know she’s safe, I turn and make my way down the street, in the opposite direction. I find the perfect car sitting a block away. It takes me a minute to break into the car and a half a minute to get it started and pull away from the curb.

No one’s going to ring the cops for car theft, not down here. The cops are too busy chasing much bigger problems. But if I don’t get a move on, I’m going to be late. I swing past the park and hide my bag in the long grass, then jump back in the car and drive the fifteen minutes to Dr Sparrow's office.

I park on a different street and stare at the building. For a minute, I just stand, breathing. I have to compose myself. I close my eyes and think of those empty nights alone. The promises I made.

I think of Gideon by my side, and I imagine his touch. When I’m calm and my mask is firmly in place, I open the car door and step out.

I pause and look around. The hair on my neck raises slowly, and I feel like I’m being watched. The street is empty of people, but there are lots of places to hide. I shiver and start walking, reaching in my pocket to palm my knife. I scan every corner and window as I walk, but I don’t see a sign of anyone.

But it felt like there was someone there.

Jax

Sparrow crosses his legs and studies me in silence. It feels like he’s trying to break down my walls by sheer willpower alone. I hate to break it to him, but he’s going to need a stronger glare than that.

“Let's get straight into this, shall we?”

I incline my head and lace my fingers over my stomach and sit back, perfectly calm.

“Louis was an extremely intelligent man, was he not?”

“He was.”

“Was that what attracted you to him?”

“Partly. Looks, his mind, the fact that he was charming, could carry a conversation. It was a package thing.”

“What was it about you that attracted him? I’ve seen the photos. Louis was a fit and, dare I say, extremely attractive man, and you are a chunky, passive aggressive…” He rolls his hand, looking expectantly in my direction for me to fill it in.

“Bitch, you can say it,” I say after a long pause.

“Fine, bitch.” He almost smiles.

Oh, yeah, such a big shot, manipulating your client into allowing you to call her bitch. Woo. Big man.

I chew on my bottom lip. “Maybe I was good in bed?” I blink my eyes a few times, trying for innocence.

Sparrow glares and picks up his notebook.

“I asked him once,” I interrupt, frustrated that he just won that point. “He said that it was because we were the same where it mattered. I wasn’t always surly like this, Dr Sparrow. There was a time I used to be outgoing and fun. I had friends.” I can’t help the pique in my tone. He’s managed to scrape the edges of some of my inner wounds.

He considers this. “Do you think Louis would approve of this change in you? The way you’ve let yourself go?”

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