Page 105 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“I’m not running away,” Jill said, pausing by the bed to pull her shoes on.

“What would you call it?” Logan asked, stumbling into the room as he pulled his shoes on.

“Strategically avoiding a conversation that I’d rather not have,” Jill said as she finished pulling her shoes on and headed for the door.

“Then, tell me about the ID,” Logan said as he caught up with her.

“That would be part of the conversation that I’m trying to avoid having at the moment,” Jill said as she headed down the stairs, hoping like hell that he let it go.

None of it mattered anymore.

“Angel,” Logan said, grabbing her hand when they reached the foyer and-

“How did they find out about me?” Jill asked when he used his hold on her hand to turn her around to face him.

“I don’t know, Angel. We’re still trying to figure that out,” Logan said, releasing her hand so that he could reach up and cup her face in his hands as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He-

“Let this go, Logan,” she said, closing her eyes as she swallowed hard.

“I can’t,” he admitted.

“Why not?” Jill asked as she reached up and covered his hands with hers.

“Because someone hurt you.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Logan,” Jill said, pushing his hands away as she stepped back out of his reach.

“Is that why your heart feels like it’s breaking?” Logan said as he reached for her again.

“I don’t want to talk about this, Logan,” Jill said, shaking her head as she turned around and-

“Why were you so different at the compound, Angel?” he asked, making her close her eyes as she released a shaky breath.

“Let it go, Logan,” Jill pleaded.

“Why were you so different at the compound, Angel?” he asked more firmly.

She opened her mouth to tell him to drop it again only…

“I heard his voice.”

“It had been morethan ten years since I heard it, but I would recognize his voice anywhere,” Jill began as she moved around the foyer, taking in the tools and boxes he’d stacked against the wall.

“I walked into the living room one night and there he was being interviewed on the ten o’clock news,” Jill said, running her fingertips over the ladder he’d leaned against the wall as she made her way around the foyer.

“High School teacher teaches students the importance of conservation,” she said dryly while Logan stood there, watching her move as a wave of sadness washed over him. “That’s all it took,” she said with a sad shake of her head as she ran her fingertips along the wall while she moved. “In a flash, I was five years old again, scared out of my mind and barely hearing a word while Candy alternated between telling me just how lucky I was that Mr. Kitchener liked me so much and telling me everything that she was going to do to me if I didn’t make him happy so that he wouldn’t raise our rent.”

“Jesus Christ…” Logan said hoarsely as he felt her words like a physical blow.

“After he’d inherited the trailer park from his uncle, he decided to introduce himself and brought candy for all thechildren,” Jill said, shaking her head in wonder as she slowly made her way around the foyer, running her fingertips over the walls and the banister before dropping her hand away and crossing the short distance to the wall to do it all over again. “Candy quickly figured out what kind of man he was and started making sure that I was playing alone outside when he came to collect the rent every Friday.”

“She started calling him instead of the manager to complain about everything from the front door squeaking to the roof leaking and always made sure to step out of the trailer and leave him alone with me while he worked,” Jill explained, still fucking walking while rage slowly took over as his eyesight sharpened and his fangs ripped through his gums.

“It wasn’t long after that that she started dropping me off at his house after school. When she abandoned us a few years later, I thought the visits would stop, but he showed up one day while Madison was at work and let me know that he could only help us if I continued visiting him every day. We had no family and there was no one to help but Mr. Kitchener. I knew that Madison was struggling to take care of us and I didn’t want her to leave, so I kept going.”

“Angel…” Logan said hollowly as she kept moving.

“When I turned ten, he started noticing Joshua and made me a deal. When he came over after school when Madison was at work, he could either start spending time with Joshua or I-”

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