Page 22 of Run to Ground
A heavy fist landed on the wood of the door, pounding several times, startling Jules and sending her skittering backward. Her heels hit the bottom stair, knocking her off balance so she sat heavily on one of the steps. As her heart pounded in her ears, Jules gripped the banister spindle and tried to think.
Should she reveal herself, walk outside and accept her fate, allowing Sam and the kids time to escape? Or should she not answer, delaying the inevitable? If she was arrested, Jules doubted the kids would run. Well, they probablywouldrun—right toward her, trying to defend their sister.
She’d keep quiet then, ignoring the knocking and the doorbell. It might not give them much time, but maybe Dennis could find them somewhere else, somewhere that was actually safe, somewhere the cops weren’t at her door within minutes of her and the kids’ arrival.
The thumps on the door stopped, and Jules held her breath. Was the cop leaving, or was he just going to get reinforcements? The shadow behind the glass shrank and then disappeared altogether. Jules stayed frozen, waiting for the next step—more footsteps on the porch, a voice from a megaphone telling her to surrender, the door splintering after a hit from a battering ram.
Instead, there was silence. For several long, long moments, all Jules could hear was the rasp of her anxious breaths. Then, there was the rough roar of a diesel engine turning over.
Confusion knotted her eyebrows. That didn’t sound like a squad car, or even a squad SUV. That was a truck—a big one. Pushing off the stairs, she took quiet, cautious steps to the door. The figure was gone, but a large object remained on the porch. Squinting, she tried to make it out, but the peephole didn’t give her a good-enough view.
Biting the inside of her lip, she slowly, soundlessly turned the lock and opened the door a crack. Jules peered out just in time to see the rear of a florist’s box truck trundling down the driveway. Her gaze dropped to the object on the porch. It was a potted plant, wrapped in a bow with a card attached.
Her laugh rang out, and she clapped her hand over her mouth to mute the sound. Flowers. What she’d thought was a cop had actually been a delivery driver, complete with dark-blue uniform. Her heart drummed against her ribs with residual adrenaline, and she couldn’t stop laughing into her muffling hand.
The delivery truck rounded a bend and disappeared from view. Still feeling spooked, Jules opened the door just wide enough to grab the pot. Once she’d secured the front door behind her, she brought the plant into the kitchen and opened the attached card with shaking fingers. Irrationally, she half-expected the flowers to be from Courtney, a sort ofI’ve-got-youkind of mind game. When she saw what was written in the card, Jules’s lungs finally relaxed enough for her to take a breath.
Welcome to your new life. —Dennis
Chapter 9
Present Day
Theo stared at the package of steaks in his hand. He didn’t know why he was even considering them. It wasn’t like he’d suddenly have the initiative to dust off the grill, fill his propane tank, and actually cook anything. He’d grab something from the diner like he always did, or he’d just wait until tomorrow at breakfast. It wasn’t like he felt hungry, anyway.
Impatiently, he returned the package to the cooler. The only reason he was at the grocery store was because he wanted to delay going home. The quietness made it harder to keep from dwelling on everything. His cart had exactly one item in it—a chew toy for Viggy that Theo had picked up from the sale display by the door. He quickly looked away. It’d be a waste of money. Viggy wouldn’t touch it.
The aisle suddenly seemed too small, making it hard for Theo to breathe. Needing to get out of the store, he turned his cart abruptly before jerking to a sudden stop. He’d almost crashed into another cart—a cart steered by a certain startled-looking, squirrelly waitress.
They studied each other, his claustrophobia fading as curiosity took its place. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but she intrigued him in a way nothing had for a long time. All the questions she’d evaded or answered with lies filled his head, and he was suddenly glad he’d stopped at the grocery store. A conversation with Jules, as frustrating and unilluminating as it promised to be, was so much better than the gut-wrenching emptiness of his house.
“Hello.” She broke the silence first as her gaze darted around, searching for the closest escape route.
“Jules.”
Her nervous gaze bounced off him and landed on the lone dog chew in his cart. “Not very hungry, I’m guessing?”
He liked her Southern drawl. It was almost relaxing. “No.” Her cart, by contrast, was heaped with food, more than one woman could eat in a month.Interesting.
Although she must have noticed the direction of his gaze, she just shifted her weight and changed the subject. “Are you done for the day or just starting?”
“Done.” He looked pointedly at her cart and then back at Jules. “Feeding an army?”
He didn’t expect her to laugh. It startled him how it transformed her. Theo had thought she was beautiful before, but when she laughed… It took his breath away and made him forget his next question.
“You could say that.”
He blinked, looking down for a moment so he could get his thoughts in some sort of order again. What was he doing? He was interested in her as a cop would be interested in a suspicious stranger. There was nothing personal about it. Even as the thought passed through his head, he knew it was a lie. Self-directed irritation made his next question come out more harshly than he’d intended. “Who lives with you?”
She flinched, her fingers turning white as they tightened around the cart handle.
“Sorry,” he grumbled, rubbing a hand over his closely shorn head. He could be an asshole. Theo fully accepted that. He’d never been a bully, though.
Jules blinked, her grip on the cart easing. “Did you just…apologize?” Her accent gave “apologize” a few extra syllables, making the corner of Theo’s mouth twitch. She really was cute. Then her shocked tone penetrated, and he scowled again.
“Yeah.” He was capable of basic courtesies. At least, heusedto be. “Why’s that so surprising?”
She studied him again, but it seemed different this time, more…thoughtful. “You just didn’t seem like a huge apologizer.”
