Page 18 of Return to Me Always

Leaning over, I grasped onto my knees, trying to catch my breath. I really needed some water. And I really wished I never had to run again.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," I breathed. "Sure. Just another lovely day in the UK."

I stood up then, hoping to catch that half-smile of his. But his face was serious. And that's when I noticed the blood on his arm.

I gasped. "What's wrong with your arm? Were you shot?"

"Nah. Just grazed me."

I reached for his arm, but he pulled it back.

"It's fine, really." He looked around. "Let's go. We need to move on."

Chapter Six

He started walking, and I scrambled to keep up with his fast pace. But at least we weren't running. I was desperate to talk to him and ask questions, but I could barely breathe.

Before long, we came to a picturesque brick street filled with quaint shop fronts. Tyler stepped into the alley and headed toward a back door. Once again, he punched in a code and the door swung open.

"What is this place?" I asked.

We were in the back room of a shop, and I noticed a lot of hiking gear. Tyler didn't answer, just headed to the front of the store and grabbed two huge backpacks. He moved quickly and filled one up with food and other supplies, then tossed it at me.

"This one's yours."

I lifted it and found it wasn't as heavy as it looked. But still. What on earth did he have in mind? Were we actually going to hike right now?

"Can I ask what we're doing?" I said.

He seemed focused on packing the other one, which was quite a bit larger. I guessed he wasn't going to answer since he sure liked to ignore me a lot.

I walked over and stood right in front of him. "Could you please just tell me what's going on?"

Like I was an insignificant fly, he moved to another area and continued packing. "We don't have time to talk. We need to get the fuck out of here before he comes looking for you again and all hell breaks loose. Speaking of which..." He pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "Where's your mobile?"

I felt in my pocket, but it wasn't there. My wallet. My passport. My phone. Everything had been in my coat. Which was now on a counter in the house.

Oh, my God.I had nothing.

Closing my eyes, I sunk down to the floor against the wall, panic shooting through me. But a sudden loud banging noise distracted me from losing it completely.

I looked up to see Tyler stomping on his phone till it cracked apart. He smashed it a few more times after that, then picked up the pieces and threw them in a nearby trash can.

"We should have destroyed our phones a long time ago. Where's yours?" he asked, holding out his hand to me.

"Back at the house. Along with my wallet and passport." I took a shaky breath. "Do you really think that's how he tracked us?"

Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. "Aye. I'm really sorry. That's the first thing I should have thought of."

Tyler was apologizing to me? "That's okay. I should have thought of it too."

He glanced at me, guilt on his face, and I felt a flutter in my chest when our eyes met. Tyler was definitely starting to grow on me.

"We should carry on," he said, ending the moment.

A few minutes later, the other backpack was full too, and Tyler paused to look at me from head to toe, making me feel a little awkward.

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