I stood over here, studying her face for any sign of discomfort. She hadn’t wanted to tell me, but after I noticed for the third time that she was walking a little gingerly still, I pushed her to tell me what was going on with her.
I wasn’t too jazzed to learn that I’d hurt her when I took her innocence, I don’t know why anyone would be. It made me feel more like a wretch than a macho man. “You need more pills?”
“Shane, you just gave me some like half an hour ago, you trying to make me OD or something?” I’m in love with that grin of hers, it does something strange to my insides. “You’re so gorgeous babe.” At least her eyes told me that she was closer to believing that than she’d been even a day ago.
With a soft touch to her cheek with my palm, and a light kiss on her lips, no sense risking temptation, I turned and walked back to my chair.
???
So she’s alive still, damn. I was really hoping that she’d be gone from here. It was such a good plan too. No one would’ve ever suspected me. I doubt I’d ever get another opportunity. At least he’s no longer acting like a lovesick puppy, and he’s been home a lot more lately, which is good.
There was a lot to think about in the next few days. Now that the dust had settled and the cops were searching, my mind went over every step I had taken that night, to make sure that I hadn’t left any clues behind. It’s funny, but had she died I wouldn’t have given it much thought, but with her survival I was more than a little worried. There’s no way that she could’ve seen me though, but then again, who knows.
I went back to life around me like nothing happened. No one seemed to notice any changes in me, which was good because inside I was a nervous wreck. There were points in the last few days when I thought I might tell on myself. The pressure was so much I was almost afraid of making a compulsive confession. Thank goodness my survival instinct was a lot stronger than that.
JACE
I don’t like her worrying about this shit. That ass is laid up in the hospital, which has nothing to do with us, and yet she’s causing trouble. Both dad and Si seem to be a lot more worried than is warranted, but I guess that’s to be expected when the cops are involved. As to them I could give a fuck, the clowns don’t scare me. Besides, I had nothing to fear, unless they were complete bungling idiots.
I let my mind leave one issue and head to another. I still wasn’t any closer to figuring out who had attacked my girl, and all this nonsense had sidetracked me a little, now it was time to get back on it. If the idiot cops were as dumb as to finger me for the attempt on Mandy, I’m not sure that I could trust them with this. But where should I start?
I watched her to make sure she was okay and not obsessively worrying, before leaning my head back against my chair to let my mind do its thing. I find that sometimes it’s best to let it wander around on its own.
Something or someone got her off that bus. It wasn’t me, so the question was who. Since we’d been away from home, the choices were limited. There were only a few people who could’ve lured her off, her brother or I. It wasn’t either of us so that was a dead end.
But what if someone had pretended to be me? I shook my head as if to clear it. Way too many cop shows, but what if? That was a new angle to investigate if nothing else. I turned my mind to ways that someone could’ve pulled that off and had to admit that with technology being what it was, there were many.
The other fear that I have been careful to keep hidden from everyone was, what if they tried again? That’s the main reason I’d begged to have her here with me. I didn’t trust anyone else to keep her safe. One thing is for sure, if I find who did this before the cops did, there was a good chance they wouldn’t live much longer.