Page 15 of Chasing the Fall

A mile down theroad, I pluck Tally’s phone from where it sits in the console and toss it to her. “Call your cop friend and let him know what happened.”

She stares down at the phone in her lap like it’s a foreign object, then picks it up. Instead of dialing, her fingers graze the edges of the device with a featherlight touch. I can’t help but notice the fine tremble in them.

“He was going to kill us,” she says, voice low.

I do a double take. “Tally…”

She shakes her head a little. “It’s not that I didn’t know he wanted to kill me. His intent is obvious. It’s more…that bullet hit my arm. A few inches to the left, and that would’ve been…it. The last thing my brain would know was reaching for the doorknob. Being completely oblivious to the fact it was about to be over.” She shrugs, shoulders rising and falling. “Or I guess it could’ve lasted a little while. Death, I mean. It could hurt.” She focuses on me. “I’m not sure which I’d prefer. Immediate and relatively painless, or painful, but having the chance to say goodbye. AndI’m sorry.” Tears brim at the bottom of her eyes, one spilling over to trace the curve of her cheek. “I am sorry. I’m so sorry I took us there, that I didn’t consider your risk—”

“Stop it.” I curse the roughness of my tone and attempt to soften it. “Just…stop. This is not your fault, Tallulah. And we’re okay. We’re—”

“Tally.” She cuts me off with a shaky smile, and I lift an eyebrow. “I like Tally.”

Reaching over, I cover her left hand with my right, swallowing it up against her thigh. She twists it, turning it upward until our palms are aligned, and threads her fingers through mine.

Something settles, warm and full and aching, in my chest.

“I like Tallulah.” I clear my throat. “Now, call your friend Jack and give him an update. They need to get a team out there to search the area.”

Nodding, she thumbs the phone on and dials one-handed, placing the call on speaker. It rings once before a gruff male voice answers.

“Twiggy? Everything okay?”

She opens her mouth to speak, and then she shakes her head, pressing her lips tightly together. I answer. “Jack. This is Bran Kelly. We just had a run-in with your perp.”

“Is Twiggy okay?”

“I’m fine.” She finds her voice. “Just a little shaken up, which is stupid. I took Bran to the cabin—”

“You did what?”

The immediate outrage in Jack’s response makes me feel better. Even if Tally is clueless when it comes to her own safety, the people around her are not.

“I wanted to check for clues!” She exclaims. “See if he’d been there recently —”

“You need to leave that to us, Twiggy. You could’ve been killed if he had been there.”

“Well…”

“What the hell happened?”

“He was there, that’s what happened,” I reply. “He took a few shots, had us pinned on the porch. Fortunately, we got out, but…” I shake my head, recalling those moments where I was uncertain if he was still there, waiting for us to emerge from cover. “It could’ve been ugly, that’s all. You need to get someone out there, comb the area. There’s a chance he’s holed up somewhere in the vicinity.”

“Already on it. What about you? Where are you headed?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Tally. She’s staring out of the window, her free hand curled beneath her chin. She’s subdued in a way I’ve never seen before her before, and I don’t like it.

“Not back to her place, that’s for sure,” I answer. Tally’s head swivels in my direction.

“What? You can’t just take me off somewhere! I need my computers—”

“Where then?” Jack cuts in, silencing her protest.

I suck my lower lip between my teeth and consider my options. I could take her back to Philadelphia. That would be Kael’s preference, if I were to call him and ask. For some reason that I prefer not to examine too closely, though, I don’t want to take her to Philly.

The turn that will take us to the interstate approaches, and I take it.

“I’ve got a place,” I reply. “I’ll keep you looped in.” Lifting my hand from Tally’s, I cut the call.

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