Page 10 of Return to Me Always

How the hell did I get myself into this mess?

We pulled up to the hotel, and I wasn't sure what to say. I realized I didn't even know his name. But maybe that was for the best.

"Well, thanks for helping me," I said, feeling kind of awkward. "I really appreciate it."

But he didn't answer, just wore a frown as his phone suddenly lit up. He stared at it, completely ignoring me.

"Um, sorry to interrupt whatever's going on," I said, getting kind of annoyed. "But thanks again."

I started to open the door when he said, "Bloody fucking hell."

That stopped me.

"Are you Kathryn Ryder?" he asked.

My heart stopped.What was going on now?

"Yes." He looked up at me with a stunned look on his face. "What? What is it?" I asked, my heart sprinting again.

"We're wanted for murder."

Chapter Three

"What?" I laughed because hehadto be kidding. "What kind of weird joke is that?"

"It's not a joke. I'm one-hundred percent serious," he said, his frown deepening.

"What? No." This was just beyond weird. "What are you even talking about?"

He showed me his phone then, and there was an emergency news alert that I struggled to read. But certain words popped out at me.

Kathryn Ryder. Tyler MacKay. Murder. Unidentified male stabbed multiple times. Body found in alley near pub.

"But that's impossible," I said. "Is this some kind of prank one of your friends is playing on you? I mean, who's the source?"

"The BBC," he said, his tone dead serious.

This was insane! What in the actual hell? As if I didn't have enough issues with anxiety. My heart could not take much more tonight. I just wanted to curl up in a comfy bed and sleep forever, make all this go away.

"But it has to just be a mistake, right?" I asked. "Right? I mean, obviously, we didn't just stab someone."

"Weknow that, but..." he said, still searching on his phone. "Fuck! This is crazy. It says, 'Police officer Malcolm Harris made the gruesome discovery—'"

"Malcolm! But that's the guy who was just chasing me!"

He continued to scroll on his cell, reading out loud, "It's believed that MacKay and Ryder worked in tandem... strong evidence on the scene that points to the suspects... armed and dangerous. It says there's a manhunt underway." He looked up at me then. "They even have our pictures."

"What? This has to be some kind of mistake!" I was on the verge of hyperventilating. "I think we should just find the nearest police station and figure this thing out. Clearly, we're not guilty. We can't get in trouble for something we didn't do, right?"

"Have you ever read the news?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Of course, I have."

"Have you ever noticed that people get locked up, even executed in your country, for crimes all the time that they didn't commit, only to find out years later that they were actually innocent?"

He did have a point. "Okay. So what do you suggest? We run? Go on the lam?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I suggest."

---