"A gut feeling is like a drill, a simple instrument whose force lies in the quality of its material." — Gerd Gigerenzer, Gut Feelings
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Chapter 32
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Maggie

"Now open your eyes," my grandmother said, pulling my fingers apart from my clenched fist. "Voila."

My eyes fell to the palm of my hand. A strawberry candy was inside.

I looked up to her, faking shock around a grin. "How?"

Granny shrugged, snatching it from my hand. "A magician never reveals her tricks, sunshine."

It wasn't a trick, though. Ever since Jax and I were children, she'd always do this with all sorts of candy and claim it as magic. All she'd do was demand we close our eyes, and place the candy in our hands.

I'd bought her a packet of strawberry candies, and Jax supplied the strawberry wafers. We both had to sneak it into the hospital, but we managed to get it to her.

Jax wiped the crumbs from either side of his mouth, leaning forward. He clapped his hands on his knees with a grin. "Okay, me next."

"Give it up, Jax. This is your fifth time." I rolled my eyes, taking my piece of candy back from granny. "Don't fall for it, granny."

Jax shot daggers into my soul, tossing a wrapper at me. "Mind your business, Mags." He directed a sweet smile to our grandmother. "I'm simply appreciating a brilliant craft."

Her expression softened at him, as it always did. Jax's smirk went to me before he let it morph back into innocence. I had to stop from scoffing aloud. Poser.

"You two need to settle down," Granny chuckled at us. "My Jack and Jill."

My heart warmed at her name for us. It was what she always called the two of us whenever we would argue.

I pulled my legs under me, passing over the ache in my back. Hospital furniture was a menace, but they were what was here so I dealt with it.

While Jax and granny talked, I took the opportunity to check my phone. My eyes skipped over the other notifications, and instead went for the ones in the lead.

For someone who had an entire business to work on, Lukes' responses came even quicker than my own did. Often, I sucked at texting back, but apparently when I was with him, that same rule didn't apply.

After several exchanges, we both decided to start our new 'friendship' by changing the other's contact name to something less indecorous. Nicest we could come up with was 'Hate You.'

I hadn't told Raven or Kimberly, and I was sure he made no mention of it to Levi or Kade. One, because it wasn't any of their business, and two, because they would try to make it more than it was, when it was nothing more than a peace offering.

Well...our version of peace offering. Over the past couple days, I'd tackled him a couple times, and he had swung me over his shoulder twice that amount. I thought it was pretty good compared to the homicidal acts that could have transpired between the both of us.

We'd gotten into the act of something else, as well. After we'd leave his building, we would stop, get food, then come to my apartment, and find a movie series to watch together. Right now, we were on The Hunger Games.

I always fall asleep before we got too far, and the next morning, I would be in my bed, blankets over me, and tucked in comfortably. It had to be Luke that did it, because when I brought it up to Jax, he was just as confused.

I didn't exactly understand why. Instead of being balls deep in another girl, or going out and partying, like he was supposed to, like he used to...he was with me every single night, watching movies, eating, and playing card and board games. I hadn't bothered to ask him why.

There was something else that only furthered my bafflement.

The nights that he weren't there, or if he left before I fell asleep, he would call me. At exactly ten o'clock every night, his contact would pop up on my phone. He would ask me about my day, or we would talk about anything that came to mind; sometimes, we wouldn't even talk at all.

I had gotten to the point of staying up, even when I was already sleepy just to wait on his call, or to keep the conversation going even longer between us. I was always the first to fall asleep, and the call log would say that the call had hung up on its own. Which meant that he never hung up, even after I fell asleep.

Then, we would repeat.

I stopped asking why, but more for myself than anything. I was more than curious, but I noticed something. Every single morning when I woke up after those calls, I realized...

My nightmares had stopped.

Over the past fifteen years, I had never, not once, gotten a peaceful night of sleep. Even if the nightmare were small and stale, they would still occur. Until Luke started the calls.

Did he know?

Of course he knew, he had to. That had to be the reason why he continued on with them.

But, why did he?

I'd never felt as ignorant as I did right now; my mind was a cloud of questions and doubt. The same one was circling me at every turn: Why? What did he want?

We agreed to be friends, but he was still Luke. He had made the clarification hisself that he was the most selfish prick I'd ever meet, and even with friendship, people didn't change. Especially for me.

Maybe he wasn't exactly changing, though. Maybe he was just trying to keep his employee in check long enough to finish the work on the building. I couldn't expect anything else, and he couldn't from me, either.

Honestly, I was probably the only one was making it difficult to construe when I shouldn't. There was nothing to it, us, except business.

Retreating from my thoughts, I tugged at the bottom of my tank for relief at the overwhelming sweep of heat over my skin. Shit. Why did it feel like a sauna in here?

I didn't even recognize my own name until Jax was shouting it in my ear. I jerked my head to face him, blinking. "Shit...what is it?"

"Language, Maggie," grandma warned, casting a glare of scold. "Watch it before I watch it for you, girl."

I raised my hands in surrender, mouthing a sorry. Jax was studying me so closely, I had no choice but to face him.

"What?" I shot at him, annoyed.

His green eyes shook with amusement as he turned them to our grandmother, who was wearing a smirk, as well. "I was just telling granny about the mayor's—"

I nearly kicked myself out of the chair. "Finish that sentence disrespectfully against him, and I'll smack your ass so hard, you'll spend the night next to granny's room, Jax."

"Maggie," grandma called past a chuckle.

Jax wrung out a shit-eating grin. "I was going to say the mayor's son." He looked back to granny. "Him and Mags have gotten real comfortable, you know."

"How so?"

"He's been at our house every single night for the past two weeks."

My skin reached its warmest point. "You've been at Tony's all week, so what's the difference?" Neither of them looked convinced. "I was bored at home on my days off. He kept me company. That's the only reason."

"Okay, okay we get it," Jax mused, reaching over granny to pat my hand. "You've been getting real defensive lately, Mags, you know that?"

"No, because I have nothing to defend." I held my posture despite the pinch in my skin. "You just love your little fantasies—"

Granny waved a hand between us, meeting my gaze. "Luke Vaudest, isn't it? Ryan and Beatrice Vaudest's youngest boy?"

I nodded, continuing to hold my glare at Jax. "He likes to go by Luke Palce, though."

A couple of days back, I remembered him mentioning that he was thinking of taking his mother's maiden name one day. I couldn't blame him, since his father's carried nothing but hatred to it.

Granny opened then shut her mouth before nodding in understanding. She didn't like the Vaudest's, since like me, she could read straight through other bullshit, but I knew her. She didn't place her grievances on anyone else other than who her dislike was aimed at, and she wouldn't do it to Luke, either.

She left a hand on Jaxs, the other on top of mine, and turned them over to grasp it. "Well," she said with a smile. "You know I'd love to meet him while I can. Be sure to make it happen, baby."

I nodded, attempting to keep my smile in tact despite every reason not to. Not in the Luke meeting her part, but in the 'while I can' part of her statement.

Jax and I met eyes, our expressions falling. Pain crawled down my spine until it was covered.

I wasn't sure if granny caught up to our grief, but she kept her smile in tact, nonetheless. She lifted my hand, being careful of the IVs as she kissed the back.

"How have you been, though, baby? With the breakup?" she asked, concern stringing along her words. "What was that son of bitch's name, again? Ah...no good for nothing, sorry excuse of wasted air—"

"His name was Xander, granny, not that I don't agree with the rest of that statement," I chuckled, patting her hand softly. "I've been fine, though."

"Mhm," she hummed, pursing her lips before they lifted at me. "I knew you would be; you always have been."

I nearly wanted to laugh at that statement, but I nodded in agreement, anyway. In all reality though, I was the poster child for coward.

Jax nodded in agreement, his eyes shifting to our grandmother. "Actually, Mags and her little friend ran around town all last week and caused so much havoc, I could barely keep up."

Grandma turned to me, raising a brow. "Like what?"

I offered a small chuckle, scratching at the back of my warm neck. "Just a couple minor things."

Jaxs' eyes popped with disbelief. "Minor? Let's see..." he raised his hand, looking to the ceiling as a reach of his memory. "Sugar and anti-freeze in Xander and Quinn's tanks, eggs on their cars to mess with the paint job, black-listing the both of them and getting them fired, even more vandalizing." His eyes fell to mine, spilling with humor. "You and your vandalizing, Mags. Jesus."

"And," he added. The bastard was on a roll tonight, it seemed. "Luke beat Xander up before I could. Barged right into his house, and didn't stop until Xander was crying. I got my hits in the next morning, but it wasn't the same." The disappointment in his tone made me chuckle.

Grandma didn't look the least surprised. "As your grandmother, I should be scolding you, but as the woman who raised you...I can't. Those sons of bitches deserve it for hurting my baby." She chuckled. "And, I like this young man, Luke, already."

Jax laughed, nodding in agreement. He was about to add something else to the conversation, but his phone buzzed before he could.

"Is that Tony?" Grandma voiced her nosiness . "If so, you tell him I'd like another round of Jenga soon. And, subtly, but not too subtly mention to bring some of those brownie bites, as well. With sprinkles on top."

With a thin-lipped smile, Jax placed the phone down on its screen, alert dug into his eyes. I scanned him over carefully, but he paid me no mind. His expression played off natural to others, but he was my twin. Something in that text fucked with him.

"It wasn't Tony, just work," he told us, clearing his throat. "I have to get going in a few minutes, though."

I squinted my eyes carefully at his shift. He parted his legs, his hands clasping together so tightly, the skin went ghost white. He only did that when he was nervous.

Grandma nodded with a sigh. "You work yourself to death, Jax. You know that, right?"

Jax chuckled, the sound quick. "Money makes the world spin, grinny. Taking extra shifts is the only way to get it, right now. Well...legally."

I snorted at that. True.

"But," he started to add, letting his hands fall to hers. The sweetest smile lifted his lips. "Tony did tell me to send his hellos to you."

Grandma smiled as her eyes bounced the two of us. "I'm so happy that you two have found—"

I cut her off, right there and then. "Hold on. I haven't found anything." Other than a newfound set of headaches.

Her and Jax rolled their eyes in union, crossing glances before Granny snorted, "Whatever you say, sunshine."

I didn't like that look between them, not at all.

People usually guessed that it was granny and I who did the scheming, but that wasn't true. It was her and Jax who were hazardous in a room together.

"Well, either way life goes..." Granny crinkled the candy wrapper in her hand. "Make sure you always go for the fellow who screams inheritance," she joked, a raspy laugh following. "Remember—"

"Always plant evidence of an affair," Jax and I said at the same time, laughing afterward. I followed up with, "I know, I know."

Grandma laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "I don't care what anyone says. I've raised the best set of twins there is." We both laughed along with her before we sat back for her story. I knew this one by heart already, but listened in, nonetheless.

It was the mid 1900s, and her friend had fallen for a man with buckets for pockets. They married that same season. He spoiled her, charmed her, and everything in between, and she'd returned it with all she could give. Until he wanted more. He beat her right in the streets of London when she didn't give it. All she could do was survive until she was able to fight back.

I liked to hear that every single time we heard this story. Survive until you're able to fight back. Survive for those who didn't; fight for those who can't.

This lady sure as hell did. I wasn't exactly too sure if she were exaggerating, but with grandma, it was hard to decipher between tales and truths.

It was early winter when it happened. With a couple drops of rat poison in his tea that she had brewed for him every single morning, he was out of the picture. His death was ruled as accidental. The woman was granted every penny in his name, and didn't hesitate to get the hell out of London. My grandmother helped her do so.

Nothing in her story had ever changed or shifted around, so over the years, I believed it to be true. Granny had said that the woman paid her for her help, and it made sense, since when Jax and I added her largest purchases and the time frame, it all added up correctly.

So, either we had a deadly black widow on our hands, or a vivid story-teller. Either way, I cheered her on for having the courage.

After a while, granny's words began to tangle. By the time I looked up, she was long gone, her routinely snores soft and bumpy.

Jax stood up from his chair. "Ready to get going?"

I nodded hurriedly, standing from the hard wooden chair. I stretched out my tight limbs to my best ability before we both tucked her in, hid the leftover snacks, then left.

The elevator ride to the bottom was quiet with Jax's attention only anchored to his phone. When he started to press the corners of his fingers in, I finally turned to him.

"What's up with you?" I asked directly.

He blinked at me. "Nothing. What's up with you?"

Crossing my arms, I flicked my head at his phone. "Ever since you got that text, you've been off. What's up?"

His emerald eyes widened for a moment before he shoved the phone away from my view. "I have no idea what you're talking about. You're tired, and just imagining—"

"Don't even try that reverse psychology shit on me, Jax. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," he said in a voice that told me otherwise.

The elevator doors opened, providing the perfect escape for him. I cursed myself at the stupidity before falling into step with him.

It was a taxing job with his speed, though. His legs bounced with an extra stride to them.

"Jax," I called out, aggravated.

Not much bothered my brother. It usually reached me first before it did him. So if something did fuck with him, it had to be a big problem.

As I closed in on him, I contemplated kicking his legs in. "Seriously? I know you can hear me."

"Jax," I snapped as he walked through the doors. "Can you just talk to me?"

Jax paused just as I locked in on him, jerking around. His expression was sour with annoyance, and I was sure my own matched it.

"Listen," he huffed, dragging a hand through raven curls. "I have a lot going on, okay?"

"Then why not just say that instead of storming away?" I raked my gaze over his nervous figure before finally settling on his face. "You remember our pact? No lies, and no pushing each other away. We don't do that, okay? We don't, and we won't start today."

Even saying the words aloud doomed me. I'd went back on it so much, yet had the nerve to preach about it right now. It was nearly laughable.

I tried to hide the guilt from my expression, but it was a taxing task. I just told him not to gaslight me, yet here I was, doing exactly that to him.

Hypocrite, that small voice in the back of my head called out. You're nothing, but a hypocrite.

I shielded it from my conscience, nonetheless. It wasn't true. I was only trying to protect my brother, my family, my friends, me, in the best way I knew how.

Jax searched my eyes, a sigh coming through. "I know," he said in a softer tone. "I know, okay? We don't do it, not to each other."

I nodded, swallowing past the lump in my throat. "We don't." I always have.

"Listen," he said, lowering his eyes. "I have to get going for my shift, but I'll talk to you later, okay?" Before I could object, he was kissing the side of my head, and stepping away. "Text me to let me know you made it home, okay? I love you."

I couldn't even respond before he was leaving, and I was watching his back with a frown. "I hate you more," I said around a sigh.

After a couple longing seconds, I managed to drag myself to my car. I slammed the door with more force than necessary, starting it up. I kept the music to a minimum to allow myself a moment to think.

I wondered what was going on, and the fact that I didn't know, worried me. Jax didn't lie, nor did he restrain from voicing every thought on his sleeve.

Which was probably why the first thought made my stomach turn so bad.

Our dad.

Did he know? Had Harry had contacted him, despite my very demand not to?

Shit.

Harry, that son of a sensitive bitch. He was a great lawyer, but way too fucking personal. Ever since he called me, he had continued to voice his concern about Jax not knowing. In case my father or his goons reached me, Harry claimed that I needed someone to help look out for me.

But, I didn't.

I could handle this on my own. I always had, and that wouldn't change now. I didn't need to bring anyone else into my shit. It was mine, and mine alone to handle.

My father would come, I knew it. Not after Jax, but after me.

That was why I kept Jax away from it. I couldn't let him ruin the life he'd built here over me. For me. I'd ruined enough for him already, but no more.

He would live, and blossom. He would follow his dreams. Whichever career he chose, wherever he traveled, whatever life he'd live, he'd be successful in it. That was who he was, and I would cheer him on every step of the way. He could do it, with or without me.

As damaging as it was, a part of me feared the truth. That I might not make it out of this shit alive, and I was okay with that. I had no other choice but to be okay with that.

I'd made peace with the fact that I might be the temporary, the lesson, and the moral of the story in someone's mind afterwards.

I had fought all of my life, and I would continue to fight until my last breath came. But, I'd do it alone.

Just as my foot tapped at the brake to come down the exit, something in the background caught my attention. Blue lights, loud and echoing through the small space of my car.

I glanced down at my dash, but there was no real reason to. The car didn't go over sixty miles per hour without shaking and sputtering. I had insurance. The tag was renewed not too long ago, so none of that was it.

Past the dark, I didn't see any other vehicle that the cop could be after, so it had to be me. With a sigh, I turned my signal on to indicate that I was pulling over.

The car behind me was unmarked. I knew that most unmarked cops obviously didn't have the top lights, but that wasn't what got me.

Perhaps it was my uneasiness, but the siren didn't sound so...real?

I'd been pulled over, arrested, all of that shit plenty of times to know the sound like it was a melody. This wasn't it. It was choppy as shit, and sometimes skipping over itself.

My stomach fell with something so daunting, I thought I was close to emptying out. Instead of turning the car off, I put it in park instead. Just in case the situation called for me to drift this bitch out of here.

I heard a door slam, then the crunch of gravel to follow. My sight attempted to adjust around the large silhouette, but I got nothing except that. It was too dark.

Finally, the figure stepped up to my window, rapping his knuckles against the glass. Despite watching him, I felt my soul nearly jump from my body at the sound.

I tried to get a better look at him, stretching my neck until it pained me to do so. He was a rather thick man, the police uniform jutting over his round belly.

Okay. I'm hallucinating.

My mind was just fucked from tonight with Jax, that was all. Everything was fine.

I rolled down my window, daring my face to remain natural. The officer stepped closer. His dark eyes studied over the inside of my car rather closely, before finally returning to me.

He straightened his back, his fingers looping around his belt loops. Pale lips jutted out as he pursed them at me. "Ma'am, are your aware of how fast you were going?"

I nodded in close resemblance to a robot. "Yes," I answered. "Sixty miles per hour."

"Mhm." His mustache twitched around his hum. "I'm going to need your license and registration." He took a step back, his intrusive gaze running over the length of my car.

I swallowed past the fear to clear my throat, "Okay..." My hand went to the passenger seat, despite my plan to not give him shit. "Could you help me with something, though? I'm just a little confused here."

"On?" His voice was snippy.

"I drive this road every single day," I explained, keeping my voice still as my hand swept through my passenger side compartment. "The speed limit is sixty-five miles per hour, and I was only going sixty, if even that."

The officer cocked his head. "You trying to smart me, girl?"

My shoulders rose in a shrug. "I'm simply stating a fact."

"Step out of the car," he demanded before I even had time to argue. "Now. Hands to your front, and no—"

I shook my head, pleading for the confidence to still long enough for use. "Can I have your badge number, first? Officer..." My eyes nearly closed shut as I tried to find sign of a name on the shirt, but there was none.

"No," he answered with much less patience.

"Then I'm not getting out," fell from my quivering lips.

That same drop in my stomach came with a shiver to follow. Icy shards stung through me until my vision blurred. My gut was screaming, pleading with me that something was off. That this was off.

The officer's hand came oddly close to his belt, which held many things but the thing that I could decipher first, was the glint of a gun. "I won't say it again, Maggie. Exit the vehicle."

My blood stilled.

I never gave him my name.

I whipped my head at him. His eyes were wide now, the echo of his mistake ringing through either angle.

His finger came closer to his belt. "Maggie," he said my name so slowly, it didn't feel like my own. "I ran your plate, and that's—"

Fuck that. My hand went for the gear.

His own went for my handle, but was proven a loss. The doors were locked. Before I could roll the window back up, though, it was too late.

He was quick. One minute I'd been on my way out of here, and the next, he had his hand around my throat.

His face had grown closer in a matter of seconds, the sickly pale tint of his skin reddening. Spittle fell from dry lips as his fingers dug into my skin, so ruthlessly painful that I feared it'd be my last time feeling.

The air I had just swallowed was no longer there. His hand was squeezing down so hard, I had no other option but to tear and rip at his skin with my nails.

His crazed eyes danced with frenzy. "You know, Owen told me that you'd be a slippery little cunt," he hissed, his hand tightening. "But, I told him you wouldn't be with me. I told him I'd get the job done. I told him—"

I couldn't focus on his rambles. My mind was going blank from trying to understand and trying to stop the pain.

What I needed the most though, was that fight or flight mode. Particularly the fight, but with the way I was positioned, it wasn't possible. Flight was my only option.

He was so immersed on his rambles about my father that he hadn't noticed my hand fall back to the gear shaft. Just as my fingers grazed it, he yanked me closer to him, his nails digging into my skin until blood slipped out.

"Owen does send his kindest regards," he said, his eyes full of misplaced anger. "I'll make sure to tell him that—"

My hand tightened around the gear until it hurt, but once I had it, I didn't let go until I shifted it into drive.

With the other hand, my fingers jammed at the buttons until the window began to rise. In his ramblings, the man hadn't noticed it until the glass finally caught up to his hand.

His blood curling scream bounced through the air as he attempted to yank it back. After a couple tries, he managed to rip it away, the skin purple and bruised.

My fingers pressed at my neck as I willed the oxygen back in. After having it ripped from me so easily, I suddenly couldn't get enough.

My eyes jerked over him as I panted out my breaths. He was too busy with his hand to notice me.

I yanked the car into reverse before I could think of much else. Since he was so focused on his pain, he didn't notice the car coming until it was too late.

The tires swept over either foot, the bones cracking and popping under the car as he tumbled. My foot didn't lift from the gas until I reversed again, the car shaking and stuttering under one of his legs. I heard his scream, then a curse for me, my father, and probably everything in between.

Nothing else mattered. My mind was in the flight stage now. I needed to get the fuck out of here.

Despite the urge to run him over until there was nothing left, but a corpse, I kept on. I couldn't afford anything else but to right now.

In my mirror, I saw him squirming along the gravel, his painful screeches piercing through the air. I didn't know if I'd crippled him entirely, but he wasn't making an attempt at getting up. Okay. He couldn't follow me.

My vision blurred around the corners the longer I drove. I heard several honks behind me as I jumped lanes, but paid them no mind. They were the last of my worries.

I needed to think. Think, Maggie, think.

Jax.

I needed to tell him, I needed to have him know what could possibly happen if I went missing, I needed to—

My mind recovered the memories of that day in the kitchen. How happy he was about his recipes, about Tony and his job, about his life. He was happy.

The breath stopped in my chest so abruptly, it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't take that away from him. Not anymore.

I was on my own.

Shit.

My dad knew where I was. He knew what car I drove, what road I'd be on. He'd been watching me. Not directly, but with his goons, he basically had had his own two eyes on me the entire time.

Run.

I needed to run. Put as much distance between him and I as humanly possible. I could change my name, close my bank accounts, travel with only cash, and move as far as I could from this life, and these people.

If he'd been watching me, there was a possibility that he'd been watching my friends. Granny, Jax, Tony. He wouldn't touch a hair on Jax's head, but he had no problem with the others.

My heart went stone cold at the thought. I wouldn't let him. This was between him and I, and it would end between him and I.

The logical side of me, as small as it was, thought about running straight to the police station. I could call Harry, and he could report it.

But, I was a woman. I didn't trust a system that laughed in the face of cases like mine. The law only worked for a select few, and that same group had a section that was favored above all else. I was on my own.

I had given myself time to get a small fraction of my mind in order, but I didn't know how long I had for the rest. Whoever that man was was probably one of many.

I'd leave a note for Jax. He would share it to granny, Luke, Kimberly, and Raven. They'd be sad, and probably more pissed that I said gooodbye in a note, but that was the best I could do. I was trying to protect them the best way I knew how.

Running.

No one else was parked in the driveway, so that helped reassure me just a bit. That was for a reason. Someone could be inside, or the place could be bugged.

I dared myself to just breathe. I couldn't get lost in the 'maybes' right now, I needed to get shit done.

I was careful of every step made from the moment I stepped out of the car. It was as quiet as Jax and I left it. I didn't see any signs of danger, so I carried on.

I searched the room with blurry eyes. My home. Our home.

I shook my head, pushing out a trembling sigh. I couldn't let any other action except flight rule over me, right now.

My feet swept across the floor with a quickness that I hadn't needed in years. I tried to train my attention to my bedroom only because if I didn't, I'd get too hung up.

Falling to my knees, I swept an arm under the space of my bed until I found the suitcase. It'd always been there for a reason. For this reason.

Just as I straightened my back up, my phone buzzed. A part of me contemplated turning it off but I think, the other half of me wanted something to hold me back. To string me here, and to stop me from leaving one of the best places and the best people I'd ever encountered.

I swept the back of my hand over my tears, my eyes falling to the screen. Pain tore through my entire figure as I started at the name. Hate You.

Luke: You home, yet?

That text had been sent at least twenty minutes ago. I never took too long to respond either, so he decided to text, again. 

Luke: I got you those burritos you were saying were good, too. It was more for me because I wanted to try it myself, so don't think too much about it, brat. It should last us a good bit of the movie.

Shit. I'd forgotten that we were supposed to watch another movie tonight.

I couldn't worry him, or throw him off guard. I couldn't just ignore him, either, though. He would either come here himself, or get Jax to.

Me: Raincheck?

Luke: Fuck no.

I drew out a bumpy sigh, my shaky fingers hovering above the screen for a response. Before I could, he sent another one in.

Luke: Why?

Me: I'm not feeling it. Stomach ache.

Luke didn't respond this time. After a while of staring at the screen, I assumed that to be the end of the conversion. I went to put the phone away before it buzzed, again.

My eyes widened in shock as I glanced down. Shit.

Luke was trying to call me.

I nearly answered out of pure habit, but refrained. There was no way in hell I could play the part of being 'fine' around him. He knew when I was lying, as annoying as it was, and the possible bruises and blood around my neck wouldn't help my facade.

I didn't reject. Instead, I let the phone ring on its own until it stopped. He didn't try again, nor did he send in another text.

My heart fell in both relief and sadness, but one was taking the run home. This would possibly be the last time I spoke to him. That might have been the thing to render me so ill more than anything else.

There were so many things I would miss, that it was impossible to keep up with without breaking. I couldn't dwell, though. If I did...

Sighing so heavily, it hurt my frail throat, I stood, tucking the phone away, and lifting the suitcase. It was full of necessities already, but I needed to add a couple things before I left.

I made a mental note of a couple things as I packed. I needed to stop by the bank and withdraw as much as the ATM would allow, but since it was night, I'd have to wait until tomorrow to close the account and to withdraw the full amount of my savings account. I'd have to call my school, and resign from the classes—

A knock sounded out at my window. It was so hard, it made the glass tremble.

My eyes jerked over to the curtains, my heart in my throat.

I made no move toward it. A part of me even contemplated falling to the ground just in case it was a shootout. It wasn't above my father, not at all. He would get me down just enough to make the final strike for hisself—

"Norris," came from the other side. The voice was so loud, I thought it to be inside for a second. "Open this window, right now."

That was it. My lungs couldn't take any more. The moment the voice rung through the air, I knew that for a fact.

Luke was here.