Page 1 of Protecting Vera

CHAPTER ONE

Vera Adams wiped the soot from her face, horrified that the fire could be her fault. She hadn’t set it or done anything to make something in her apartment catch fire, but this felt like something Logan would do.

She ran her thumb over the rough spot on her wrist, thinking back to a month ago when Logan had taken her out into the country, past the lake, and walked her into a wooded area. A shiver worked through her, thinking about how terrified she’d been. Bugs had crawled over her arms and legs and even her face. She’d cried and yelled out, praying Logan would come back to get her. He hadn’t.

At some point, maybe midnight, maybe later, she’d started pulling at the ropes tying her to the tree. The skin on her wrists had been rubbed raw during her escape. Walking back into town, she’d been cold, and then the rain started, chilling her to the bone. The only thing the rain had been good for was giving her water, taking away her dehydration.

Of course, no one believed that it had been Logan Conley who’d forced her into his car, then driven her out into the forest and tied her to the tree. She’d been lucky she hadn’t died. What made it worse was the police had stopped, not to help, but to arrest her. When she told her story, they’d threatened to press charges against her, and not Logan because his family was a pillar of the community.

The humiliation had been almost as piercing as the pain of freeing herself from the tree. Luckily, Frizz, her longtime friend from college whose name was really Caroline, had answered her phone and come to her rescue.

Now, sitting across from her building that had gone up in flames, she had little doubt this was Logan’s work. If she pressed that narrative, the cops just might arrest her since Logan could do no wrong.

She needed an escape. Logan had terrorized her too much over the last year. Staying with Justin and Frizz would be dangerous, even though Logan didn’t really know Frizz. Vera had to find somewhere far away from Logan. Someplace he would never look.

Her phone rang, and she glanced down, seeing it was Frizz. She wanted to be upbeat, but she couldn’t fake it.

“Vera, tell me you weren’t at home? I saw a post about it on social media.”

“Ugh. I was here. My computer is gone, all my clothes, but I’m only a little singed.” She ran her fingers through her short hair, thinking Logan had done her a favor when he’d whacked off her hair when he’d taken her captive last month. He’d meant to humiliate her, but after crying and throwing a fit, she’d gone to the salon to get it fixed. The woman who usually cut her hair did a marvelous job fixing it and pointed out all the positives, like her dead ends were gone, and they could take the time to really get it into a style she liked.

On the positive side, at least she hadn’t had to worry about her hair catching fire and going up in flames when Logan tried to burn her like the witch he said she was. She rolled her eyes, pushing away the anger simmering below the surface. She’d learned long ago that if she cared about the torture Logan inflicted on her, he would get even meaner.

“I’m coming to get you,” Frizz said.

“Better not. I know the asshole is out there watching. I’m going to go to a hotel, and then I have to figure out a place where I can hide.”

“Wait. I have an idea. But I wonder…”

“What?”

“Do you think Logan put a tracker on your phone and computers? He just always knows where you are.”

The thought hadn’t entered her mind, but maybe he had. It would explain so much. “I don’t know. He could have. It would have been easy for him to do it before we broke up. I trusted him back then. God, was I stupid.”

“Not stupid. You didn’t know.”

“Hell, I might as well toss this phone and pick up a new one. I just need this to stop. He’s going to push it too far and kill me one of these days.”

“Jesus, don’t say that. Get rid of your phone and when you get a new one, call me. I’ll give you my idea then. Start fresh with everything.”

She sighed as she watched the firemen try to put out the fire. She hoped people got their pets out. This was past ridiculous. “Starting fresh won’t be a problem now. My computer, my apartment, my clothes, all of it, even my car, are gone.”

“I’m sorry. It sucks, but maybe this is the clean break you need. If he put tracking devices on your stuff, he can’t track you now.”

“I hate it, but yeah, I think you’re right.”

She ended the call, then exported her contact list and emailed it to herself. Everything else was in the cloud. She would set up service with another carrier, wiping everything clean. Maybe she could escape Logan and start fresh somewhere else. It sucked that she had to leave the only place she’d ever lived outside of going to the university, but dramatic bastards required drastic actions, and this had gone way past dramatic.

CHAPTER TWO

Hop wasn’t jealous of Trip. The man deserved to find the love of his life. Love wasn’t in the cards for Hop. He’d tried, and it had turned sour before the honeymoon was even half over. His ex had been sleeping around, betraying him every single day of their relationship, and he hadn’t even known. When he found out, it had crushed him. He vowed to never get involved again.

Now, if he wanted something, he picked up women at bars. Being with someone once was enough. If a woman wanted a second date, he said no. He wasn’t a dick about it, but he never actually dated anyone. Some women didn’t believe him when he said he wasn’t into dating, but he never broke the vow he’d made to himself once the divorce was finalized. He would never get involved again. The price was too steep, and he couldn’t afford another broken heart.

He’d stayed out late after Trip’s wedding, making his way home close to four in the morning. His grandmother had passed away recently, leaving him her house that wasn’t too far away from where most of the SEALs lived in Riverton. His sister had received a house in Texas, which wasn’t too far from where she and her husband, Justin, lived. It had worked out well for both of them.

Every day, Hop lifted up thanks to his grandmother for keeping both houses to give to them. She’d been a spitfire ahead of her time and had never backed down. When he’d told her he was going into the Navy, she’d promised him her house if he stayed in for more than five years. Becoming a SEAL had made her so happy for him. She’d always been in his corner, the same for Frizz. They’d been lucky.

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