Page 89 of The Sound Of Us

But the more I think about it, the better it sounds. There are some jobs at the company that can be done without a high school education.

I’ll hire you at my company.

He laughs. “I’ll be fucking the boss?”

Yes. I laugh too. And then, Can you get away this week?

He nods. “Frank’s got two night shifts this week.

So you can spend the night?

He smiles shyly and nods again. “But I’ll have to leave before four a.m..

His phone lights up with a text. He turns the screen to me.

Frank: Where the fuck are you?

My teeth grind together, cutting into the flesh inside my cheek.

“We have to go,” Axel says.

No, we don’t. I can drive us to the airport right now.

Axel palms my cheek with a gentle smile on his lips. “Soon. Trust me,” he says.

If he hurts you again, I’ll kill him.

“I’ll stay out of the way. I won’t make him angry.” Then, after a pause, he says, “Will you call your lawyer?”

I nod. It’s the first thing I’m going to do.

He reaches for his clothes, and we dress without speaking again.

Axel opens the door to find a patient Pepper leaning against it. Her bone lies across the floor.

I help Axel straighten out his clothes and then we leave through the back door. When Axel turns in the opposite direction from my truck, I grab his wrist and look at him questioningly.

“It’s not safe. Frank will ask questions if you drop me off at home.”

I type on my phone. I’ll leave you close to home. I hate all of this sneaking around.

He thinks for a minute and then says, “Okay, there’s a dirt road this side—” he points behind me, “—if we take it, we’ll end up at the back of your place. I’ll walk back home through the woods.”

That’s better than walking all the way from here or dropping him off on the side of the road.

“But first, let me get Frank’s soda,” he says.

Chapter 49

Axel

The tick in Eli’s jaw tells me how upset he is that not only am I stopping at the store for sodas for Frank, but that I have to go back to Frank at all. I try to reassure him by slipping my fingers between his as he drives us through the back.

We don’t communicate much in the car. Pepper sits in the back quietly with two more treats than she’s allowed on one day, thanks to Eli spoiling her.

My hand remains inside his and on his lap the whole way home.

I direct him and soon we come upon the other side of the woods, headed toward Eli’s place. Eli rolls to a stop not far from the lake.

---