The thin detective nods. “We’ve issued an APB here and in other states. We’re planning to post a surveillance team to keep watch on your home.”
Sal shoots a pleading look at Luke. The last thing she wants is cops swarming her little place of peace and paradise.
“No,” Sal says, adamant.
Luke’s lips thin out.
“No, Luke.” She squeezes his arm, looks at the detectives. “You’ll find him before he gets here, right?”
Silence.
“What?” she asks, her heart hammering. Both detectives’ eyes have fallen to the floor. “What is it?”
“We, uh, have reason to believe he’s already here,” the fat detective says in a brusque tone. “A stolen car with Florida plates was found deserted ten miles from your farm.”
Sal’s heart plummets. Here. Already here.
Her mind veers to an hour earlier. Holy shit, the woods. The snapping of twigs. The shuffle of footsteps. That was Roy. He was after her, so close he could’ve caught her. He could’ve taken her back to her awful life. He could’ve killed her.
Her stomach lurches, and so does Sal.
“I’m gonna be sick,” she says, slapping a hand across her mouth.
Luke leaps up, letting her pass as she rushes for the bathroom.
She barely has enough time to slam the bathroom door shut before she collapses.
A wave of dizziness washes over her as she doubles over and wretches into the toilet. Cold scrambled eggs and black coffee. Groaning, Sal dips her head to wretch one last time.
As she hangs on to cold porcelain, her memory stretches, long, backtracking. Vaguely, it comes to her: this same position, Sal gripping tight to the toilet bowl, violently heaving. Luke, at her side, brushing her hair back, holding her strong and tight and protected.
Sal frowns, trying to process the memory, but her attention’s taken. Luke’s voice cuts through the closed bathroom door.
With a groan, Sal uncurls herself from the toilet. She flops back against the tub, wiping her mouth. Outside the door, hushed whispers float. There’s a soft tap and then the door’s opening.
Luke’s worried face appears. “Darlin’, you okay?” he asks, scooting into the bathroom to sit beside her.
She can’t even lift her eyes to look at Luke. Hopelessness fills her like a balloon.
She had barely begun to get over Roy. She had just gotten her life back. With the start of therapy. With Luke. And now ... now what chance does she have?
None.
She’ll never be free. Not as long as Roy is out there.
Sal takes a shuddery breath, forcing herself to admit what she already knows.
“It was him. In the woods today.”
Luke’s jaw flexes, his eyes blazing with rage. “What?”
When all she can do is shake her head, Luke pulls her body toward him. He clutches her close as she sags in his arms. Her entire body is trembling. “Sal.” His voice is powerful. Fury filled and determined to protect her. “Tell me what happened.”
“Someone followed me when I was running,” she whispers. “It was Roy. I know it was. He wanted to—”
The thought’s so awful, tears well up in her eyes and she lets out a desperate sob.
Luke gathers Sal to him, cursing viciously.