Page 68 of What I've Tasted of Desire

I held Alex down as he began to squirm around. “It’s okay, baby boy… I’ve got you,” I told him tenderly as I grabbed his chin and tilted his head back. He let out a choked sob as the needle pierced his skin, and within 15 seconds of administering the medication, he fell slack in my arms. I tossed the syringe aside and scooped Alex up and tossed him over my shoulder.

I ran into his room and grabbed his backpack and his phone. I frantically stuffed a few tops and a pair of jeans into the bag, along with his phone. I hurried down the hallway and snagged his toothbrush off the sink before flying down the back staircase as thick, billowing black smoke began to envelop the second floor.

The fire may have started in the center of the house, but as I came around the side from the back door, the flames were starting to flicker in the front windows. It would only be a matter of minutes before the alarm company dispatched the fire department. Whether you could see the flames or not, I needed tonotbe here when the fire department showed up. As far as I was concerned, we spent last night atmyhouse. Alex wouldn’t remember either way.

I flung the back door open and trotted to the car. I carefully laid Alex down across the backseat and jumped in the front. I tossed his bag into the passenger’s seat and tore out of the driveway.

There’s no going back now.

My heart was racing painfully from adrenaline, and from the physical workout of having just carted Alex around the whole house. My hands shook on the steering wheel, and my vision was starry at the edges. I was convinced that, at any second, I would see the flashing lights in my rearview that let me know the authorities had finally caught up with me. Terror, base and overwhelming, gripped my spine. But there was something else, too. Exhilaration.

This is it. We did it. We’re going to be free. Together.

Forever.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alex jerked awake in my arms and cried out, startling me out of the light slumber I’d fallen into while I was holding him.

I instinctively reached for him, but he pulled out of my reach. I sat up and looked around the room. “What? What’s wrong?”

“The house is on fire! Mike’s dead! He k-killed h-him!”

Should have given him the whole dose…

“Shhh, baby. Relax. What are you talking about?”

“The h-house! I was in it! It w-was b-burning. He t-t-to he t-took m-me!”

Alex started to hyperventilate. I walked over to him slowly and put my arms around him.

“Baby, everything’s fine. It was just a bad dream. You’re safe.”

He pulled out of my grasp and got up off the bed. He looked down the length of his body and then around the room.

“Where are w-we?”

I raised an eyebrow. “We’re at my house? We came back here last night after the police station. You told me you didn’t want to go back to Westing House, so I brought you here.”

Just keep your tone nice and even, show obvious concern. He’s still really groggy.

Alex shook his head, and my pulse rate felt like it suddenly doubled. “N-no! We went b-back to the h-house and you w-went to w-work!”

I slowly got off the bed and took small steps across the room, not wanting to spook him.

“Alex, I didn’t go to work. I called my captain right in front of you.”

Alex looked around the room again and then shook his head. “It was a d-dream?”

“We’ve been here all night, Alex,” I said, trying to keep my tone as soft and comforting as possible. “We stopped at Westing House to get my car, and you packed a bag. We got here and I made you some soup. You drank about half of it and then passed out.”

I gestured towards the half-empty bowl of chicken noodle soup that was lying on the nightstand next to his cell phone.

Alex stared at the bowl for what felt like an endless minute before rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. He took another long look around the room as his eyes began to water.

“Alex?”

He closed his eyes tight and shook his head back-and-forth slightly. When he opened them again, he looked up at me and tears began to fall. I held my arms open and he rushed into them, burning his face against my chest as he sobbed, and sobbed.

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