Page 29 of Beneath the Scars

My hopes are dashed when she slips into the small, barren room with me and keeps the door open behind her.

"There are no secrets between us," she says, winking at me. I have to suppress a shiver of repulsion. Turning my back on her, I try to figure out the best way to make this work.

There's nothing around the toilet—not even a toilet paper holder. She's been planning this for a while, and that scares me more than anything else.

Unable to picture myself using the bathroom in front of her, no matter how desperate I am, I turn back to face her, prepared to make my case, when I see her looking down at her phone.

Her moment of distraction will be my chance.

Like something from a movie scene, I rush her, my shoulder hitting her midriff. The loud ‘oomph’ noise she makes satisfies my bruised ego. I use the momentum to continue pushing until her back hits the wall behind us. Her head snaps back with a loud thump, and a burst of air wooshes from her lungs.

Unwilling to see if I'd knocked her out, I take my chance and rush for the bedroom door. No noises are coming from the bathroom behind me, so I hope she won't follow me out.

The bedroom door leads into Jayne's walk-in closet, and my brain tries to figure out where the hell she was hiding it all this time.

I find my bag on her kitchen counter and grab it as I rush out and down the stairs, unwilling to wait for the elevator. As I run for my life, I dig through my bag and push the speed dial I'd set up for Byron.

"Lily!" His relieved voice is the most beautiful sound in the world.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Byron

WhenIfinallyseeLily's name pop up on my phone the most intense relief courses through me.

"Byron, I..." Her voice breaks, and it sounds like she's trying to hold in a sob, and I'm instantly alert. "Byron... She, she had me tied to a bed."

What the actual fuck? She?

"Lily, baby? Where are you? Are you safe?" I try to keep my voice even, knowing she needs me to be her steady foundation.

"I'm at Jayne's building. I'm making my way down the stairs now." She takes a deep breath before continuing; this time, she sounds much steadier. My strong girl. "There's a coffee shop across the street. I'm going to wait there. Byron, I need you to come. She'sinsane!"

I'm struggling to make sense of the mess of information she's giving me. On my way out the door, I grab the keys to my rental and my jacket. I remember she told me Jayne's building looked out over some fancy park in the middle of the city.

"You're so brave, Lily. I'm on my way. Can you keep me on the phone with you and send me your location at the same time?"

I hear the sound of a door opening and the blessed sound of traffic and people in the background. Lily has made it out onto the street. Strangers aren't likely to help her, but she's also less likely to be attacked in broad daylight.

"Yes. I'm sending it now. Byron." She clears her throat, but a hiccuping sob escapes anyway. "Jayne was my stalker. She's crazy."

"It's okay, baby." I soothe. "I'm on my way now. Where is she? Does she know you got away?"

A hysterical giggle bubbles up before Lily replies. "If she doesn't yet, she will soon. I tackled her like a linebacker."

"Good girl," I praise her. I send a quick nine-one-one text to Jones, telling him where to meet me as I pull into traffic, connecting the phone to the Bluetooth system. "I'm on my way, Lily. Get into that coffee shop, head to the back, and wait for me. I'll be there before you know it, okay?"

"You won't put the phone down, right?" She still sounds like she's crying, and I take a quick look at my phone screen.

"GPS says I'm ten minutes away. Maybe fifteen if I hit traffic. And I'll be here the whole time, baby. Tell me, are you in the coffee shop?" I ask, even though I know she is, by the sounds around her changing. I need to keep her talking and focused on me because I don't want her to break down when I'm not there to catch all the pieces and hold her up.

"Yeah."

"Is it busy?" I ask to keep the conversation going. Her adrenaline is going to crash soon.

"Yeah. The morning crowd. There's a line almost to the door."

"Perfect. Now find a seat and tell me about the people you see," I urge her. Did you know that people-watching is one of my favorite things to do? It's how I got into profiling."

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