Page 42 of Muzzled

“Don’t be,” Micah interrupted, setting the pillow back on the bed and getting to her feet. “That was probably the most pleasant conversation we’ve ever had, thanks to your credit card.”

Her phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with her mother’s banking details. He picked it up and grabbed his laptop. “I’ll send her an even eight thousand,” he said, working quickly to transfer the money from his savings. “Is that en—”

“More than enough, thank you,” she replied, swinging her purse over her shoulder. “I need to get out of here for a bit.”

“Let me finish up here and I’ll come with you,” he said, entering the bank account number. “I don’t want you wandering around alone.”

She pulled her shoes on and opened the door. “I really, truly don’t care what you want right now. I’ll be back when I get back.”

*

Micah reached theentrance to the train bridge and bent down to feel for vibrations on the tracks. “Watch your step around here,” she called over her shoulder. “There are a lot of spikes not fully pounded in.”

The enormous black dog emerged from the bend in the path, its head hung low.

“Yeah, I know you’re sorry,” she muttered, gripping the rail and stepping over a bar. “But I appreciate the effort you went through to make it look like you weren’t blatantly going against my wishes.” She held her hand out and waited for him to come to her, smiling when he nuzzled her hand and dropped his leash into it. “Look at you, obeying the laws.”

She’d known he was following her fifteen minutes into her numb march past the downtown and into the river valley, the faint clicking of his nails on the cement trailing at a steady distance.

She’d known, but she’d needed the illusion of being alone more than she’d needed to call him out.

For all I know, my dad could be married, dead, or here.

There was no guarantee this Eli guy she’d never met—whose name she’d never known—was her father, but it was the first time she’d been given any shred of information about the man who contributed to half her DNA.

She couldn’t help but cling to it while wondering if his disappearance and her subsequent sightings of the Window Man were connected. If so, her dad had been around in some way for most of her life. And she didn’t know how she felt about it.

“You have clothes in there?” she asked, patting the backpack he was carrying as he padded alongside her, his nose twitching with every gust of wind. The large head nodded, and she smiled, her fingers feeling the outline of a water bottle. “You are, without a doubt, the most prepared, meticulous guy I’ve ever met.”

They reached the halfway point and she stopped, leaning on the railing and resting her chin on her arms as she looked at the river. “I know you’re under a lot of pressure to get this wrapped up,” she said softly, looking over at him as he rose up on his hind legs and mimicked her position. “But I think I need to head home tonight. Alone. Take a few days to just deal with everything.”

He yipped and let out a low howl, his ears perking up when a coyote answered back.

Pushing off the railing, she chuckled as he barked into the trees and paused for a response. “Walk me home?”

Chapter Sixteen

Ryan rolled overand grasped for his ringing phone as it vibrated across the bedside table. “Hello?”

“Hey, Ryan?” a familiar voice inquired.

“Speaking,” he muttered, pulling the phone from his ear to check the number.

“Yeah, hi. It’s Logan.”

He sat up, blinking to focus his eyes on the time. “Micah’s Logan? Everything okay?”

Logan was breathing heavily into the speaker, his thumping footsteps punctuating every breath. “Yeah, no, not really, man.” There was a loud rustling, followed by a moment of silence. “She isn’t there with you by any chance, is she?”

He jumped out of bed, snatched his jeans from the back of the chair, and yanked them on. “I haven’t seen her in four days,” he replied, unzipping his suitcase and grabbing a clean shirt. “She texted me yesterday, though. How long has she been gone?”

“About three hours. I know that doesn’t seem like a big thing, but she’s been really off the past couple of days and now she’s just up and left while I was in the shower. She said she was going to the store for a snack and I don’t know, man. It’s probably nothing, but she’s not sleeping again, and with this stuff about her dad—”

“Where are you?” he demanded, shoving his wallet and keys into his back pocket as he slid his shoes on.

“Corner of Broadway and Eleventh.” Logan muttered a few curses under his breath. “Fuck, am I out of shape.”

Ryan sprinted down the hall, barreled through the doors and into the parking lot, then stopped long enough to look around and ensure she hadn’t made it there. “I’m on my way,” he said, starting the car. “Stay put and I’ll be there in five.”

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