Amy Bensen 01 Escaping Reality (28 page)

When I find the office closed again, I do not feel good about this. I decide to

walk to the back door and see if I can get into the building to look around.

Once I’m in the small alleyway, I knock on the door to be safe, and

receive no response. I try the door but it’s locked. There is a window that

has to be Luke’s office and I decide to try it, praying I don’t get myself

arrested. I peek in the window to find an empty office, without furniture or

even boxes. The window is locked, so I move to the window on the

opposite side of the building to find it’s vacant. Unease ripples through me.

Something is very wrong about this.

There could be another office, but from the lobby it looked very

small inside. I don’t know what to do.

As much as I dread it, I know I need to stop by the apartment and

look for any notes. I still have no mail key since I can’t connect with Meg,

but I’ll check my door.

I arrive to find nothing on my door or under it. Hesitating, I turn to

Jared’s door and decide to knock. He doesn’t answer. Figures.

Deciding it is Meg and Luke I need to be researching, I stop by INK

coffee shop near the hotel to splurge on a mocha to take with me to the

room. I’ve just ordered when I hear, “Amy.”

I turn and find Jared sitting in a corner chair with his computer in his

lap, his long, light brown hair loose around his shoulders, and that familiar

feeling roars through me more powerfully than ever. He motions for me to

join him and I hold up a finger, then grab my coffee and join him, claiming

the empty seat next to him. “I’ve been worried about you,” he insists.

“After that guy dragged you from Earl’s, I wasn’t sure what to think.”

“He’d had a family emergency and was worried about losing it in the

bar.”

His eyes narrow. “That’s your story and you’re sticking with it, right?”

“It’s my story because it’s true.”

He closes his laptop and sets it aside, and my gaze catches on his

University of Texas graduation ring. And I know now why Jared is familiar. I

must have seen the ring, and my subconscious registered it when I did not.

He has a connection to my brother and an image of Chad flashes in my

mind. My fingers dig into my leg. I see his face. I actually see his face.

“You look like you saw a ghost,” Jared comments, and I jerk my gaze

to his.

“You went to UT?” I ask, and I sound strange, but I feel strange, too.

Jared glances at his ring. “I did. Why do you ask?”

“Way back when, I considered attending.” Because I wanted to

follow in my brother’s footsteps and convince my father I was as good as

Chad.

“Why didn’t you?”

“New York was home so it made more sense.” It’s a lie I tell easily. I

don’t like this connection I have to Jared, but it seems he wouldn’t wear the

ring if he wanted to hide it.

“How long ago did you graduate?” I ask, trying to find out if he could

be linked to my brother.

“I’m twenty-eight if that’s what you want to know.”

Chad would be thirty now. “I’m twenty-four.”

“So, not long out of school,” he observes.

“A few years.”

“What did you study?”

“Nothing exciting. Business. How does someone get into hacking?”

“Generally by getting into trouble. I had a knack and did a few

high-profile hack jobs just to prove I could. A narrow miss with the law and

a close family friend shook me up.” He sips his coffee and I do the same.

“You don’t seem to be staying at the apartment.”

“You just keep missing me. I’ve been in and out early and late.” I

push to my feet. “I need to run. Good seeing you.”

“Good seeing you too, Amy. Maybe I’ll catch up to you again soon.”

I step onto the street, and all I can think is what looks like a goldfish

in the pond could be a shark swimming at my feet. Nothing is right and

everything is wrong. I think I need to leave before I pull Liam into the

quicksand that is swallowing me. But if I leave, I’m not sure he will look for

me, even if it’s only out of obligation, and he will put himself at risk. I don’t

know what to do. I need a plan, but my mind just keeps flashing an image

of the graduation ring on Jared’s hand, blocking out everything else. The

connection between him and my brother seems too coincidental. They

could have been in school together. But what about the empty offices at

Evernight?

The pinching sensation in my forehead begins. I speed up and head

for the hotel, certain I need to get out of public and fast. I manage to get to

the hotel elevator when I see a flash of my brother’s face. So clear. So

perfect, when I’ve not been able to picture him for years. That’s how

powerfully Jared’s ring has impacted me.

Leaning on the wall, I will away the image of my brother I’d

otherwise welcome, praying I make it to the room without collapsing. My

hand shakes as I swipe the key across the security panel and then shove

open the door. I make a beeline to the safety of the bed and lie down. My

cell phone rings but the spots are before my eyes and I see only darkness.

“Where’s your mother?”

Lying on the bed on my belly, a book in front of me, I jump at the

unexpected, unfamiliar
harshness of my father’s voice and find him in my

doorway. “I don’t know. She left a while ago.”

“How long ago?”

“A few hours.”

“Be more specific, Amy. You know I like details.”

The sound of an engine and tires on gravel signals her arrival and he

is already gone,
stomping down the stairs. I rush to the window, parting the

curtains to see him yank her out of
the car and shove her against the door. I

gasp and press my hand to my mouth. My father has
never touched any of

us. Their voices lift, loud enough to echo through the air, and be heard by

neighbors, but I cannot understand the words no matter how hard I try.

I blink against black and white dots, and a wave of nausea overcomes

me. Throwing

away the blankets, I rush to the bathroom and go down on my knees

in front of the toilet. A pinching sensation pierces my head and everything

goes black again.

I cough against the smoke, flames licking at my doorway, and there is

nowhere to go.

“Amy!

“Mom! I’m in my room!”

“Stay there. We’re coming for you.”

I wait, and the sounds of the fire eating away at wood have my bones

rattling. “Mom?”

Nothing.

“Mom?”

She screams and I suck in smoke at the horrific, blood-curdling sound,

coughing with the
impact and trying to cry her name.

“Mom!” I finally manage. “Mom!”

She’s still screaming. And screaming. “Mom!”

“Amy!”

My brother’s voice rips through the hallway and the hell I am living,

bringing with it
hope. “Chad! Get Mom! Help Mom!”

“Listen to me, Amy,” he shouts, but all I hear is my mother, still

screaming.

“Mom! You have to help her. Chad, help her!”

“Listen the fuck up, Amy. I can’t get to you. Go to the window.”

“Mom!” I shout.

“Amy, damn it, go to the window or you are going to die.”

Die. My mother is dying. I want to go to her but the flames climb

closer, inside my room.

On wobbling legs, I go to the window.

“Are you at the window?” Chad shouts.

“Yes. Yes.”

“Open the window and jump.”

I do it. I open the window and look down into the darkness below.

“It’s too high.”

“You were a gymnast for years.”

“Who quit because I was afraid of heights!”

“Jump, Amy, and make it count. Do it.”

My mother is no longer screaming. My mother is—

“No!” I shout. She can’t be dead. “I can’t jump. I can’t jump.”

“Jump, Amy. Jump now or I will come through the flames and die

trying to get to you.”

I gasp. “I’ll jump. I’ll jump.” I climb out of the window and I look back

toward the
flames and then forward. I hold my breath and jump.

Chapter Twenty

“Amy. Amy. Wake up. Please, baby. Wake up.”

I blink through a sticky sensation on my face. “Liam?”

“Yes. Thank God. You scared the hell out of me.” He grabs a towel

and presses it to my head.

I focus on the red stains on his light gray t-shirt. “I’m bleeding?”

“You hit your head and cut it open. We need to get you to the ER.”

I grab his arm. “You’re here. How are you here?”

“Yeah, baby, I’m here and I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

Any reply I might have had is lost to the roll of my stomach. “Oh,” I

gasp. “I’m going to be sick.” I grab for the toilet and Liam holds my hair

back and manages to keep the cloth on my head as I embarrassingly throw

up. “I really don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Nonsense. Can you hold the towel to your head so I can get you

some clothes?”

“Yes.” I take it from him. “I’m good. You’re sure I need stitches?”

“One hundred percent.”

I squeeze my eyes shut against the sound of my mother’s screams

echoing in my mind.

And I hear Chad calling my name. Amy. Amy. But I wasn’t Amy then. I

was Lara. Why was he calling me Amy? Is my mind trying to tell me

something, or am I so removed from my past that there is nothing but Amy

left?
Jump. Jump now.

“Amy.” I jump at Liam’s hand stroking down my hair. “Easy. Are you

okay?”

“Yes.” But I’m not. I want to tell him everything. I want to tell him

more than I want my next breath, but that nightmare has reminded me

how very real the danger I am in is, and I am not clearheaded enough to

decide what that means for him. For us. “I’m dizzy.”

“I’m guessing you have a concussion. Can you stand up so we can get

you dressed?”

“Yes.” He helps me to my feet and I feel pathetic when he has to

practically put my shorts on me and then tie his shirt at my waist. He drops

sandals at my feet and I slide into them. He puts the toilet seat down. “Sit.

Let me call for a car service before we head downstairs.”

Ten minutes later we exit the hotel and the doorman pulls open the

passenger door of a black sedan for me. My head is spinning and my

stomach is queasy and Liam helps me into the car.

“Amy. What the hell?”

Liam and I both turn to find Jared standing there. “Did he touch

you?” He glares at Liam.

“You son of a bitch, did you hit her?”

“No!” I exclaim. “No. Jared, I fell.”

“Back the fuck off,” Liam growls. “I would never touch her, but I will

you.”

“Amy?” Jared asks, and he seems sincerely worried. “Did he touch

you?”

“No. I told you no. He wasn’t even here when it happened. He just

flew into town and found me passed out.”

“Let’s go,” Liam orders me. “Blood is seeping through the towel. You

need those stitches.”

“I’m fine, Jared, but thank you.” I slide into the car and Liam follows,

shutting us inside.

He taps the seat and gives the driver directions. I have never wanted

to block out the rest of the world as I do right now. He turns to me and his

eyes are dark shadows and turbulence. I expect him to ask about Jared but

he doesn’t.

“You aren’t going to ask about him?”

“You’re hurt. It’s not time for fifty questions.”

“I thought the game was twenty questions.”

“I have fifty but I won’t ask tonight.”

But he wants to, and now that the miles are no longer between us,

I’m not letting Jared get there instead. “I ran into him at the coffee shop

today, but other than that this is the first I’ve seen of him since that night at

Earl’s.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“You wanted to.”

“Yes. I wanted to.”

“I’m glad you’re here. You didn’t tell me you were coming back.”

“I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t make happen. I

wrapped everything up as I’d hoped early today. The woman my father put

in the intensive care unit was moved to a regular room and I took care of all

of her medical expenses and set up a trust fund for her daughter.” He

grimaces. “My father also moved, from jail to rehab.”

“You’re a good man, Liam. I don’t know why you doubt that.”

He leans in and kisses me, his voice softening, rough like gravel. “I

couldn’t sleep last night thinking I’d get back here and you’d be gone.”

“I promised I’d be here.”

“And I promised I’d hurry back.” He reaches up and holds the towel

for me. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Yes,” I agree. “Yes, we do.” And not for the first time, I wonder if

Liam knows more than I think he does.

“Right now, I just want to get you healthy.” He pulls me close and my