Page 70 of Risk Assessment
“Where was I?” He turned back to face her. “Oh yes. How we met. Well, it was senior year, and we’d only moved to the area at the beginning of the year. You were in the upstairs hallway of the science wing, standing in front of your locker. I walked by and you smiled at me. You were trying to be coy, but I knew right away you liked me.”
Fuck. She was in twelfth grade by her locker. She and her folks fought like cats and dogs that year. She barely remembered what happened at school. If he was new that year, she didn’t have a hope of recalling meeting him. And at her locker. That was only every day that year. How was she supposed to remember him? “What was I wearing?”
Josh’s grin grew sly. “Are you trying to quiz me? See if I know my stuff?” He grinned. “You had on your cheerleader uniform. Now what was I wearing?”
What the hell had she been thinking, starting this? She had no clue what to say. “Um…” What did the geeky kids wear in high school? “You had on jeans.” She watched him closely. He started at her. His eyes started to narrow.Shit.He wanted more and he was going to be pissed if she didn’t get it right.
She glanced at his hands. Where the hell had that knife come from? He must have had it in a pocket or something. He was twirling it in his hand. She mentally crossed her fingers. “And a t-shirt with your backpack slung over your shoulder.”
Josh’s face lost all expression for a second and then he broke out in a big grin. “Yes! I knew you’d remember. It was such a magical moment. Of course the real moment, the crowning glory, didn’t happen until the end of the year.”
She blinked. What was she supposed to say to that? “That’s right. That was truly magical. What a great year.”
Josh frowned. “It was not a great year. How can you say that?” he demanded.
“I—I just meant that knowing you were there in school meant it was a great year for me.”
“Oh, of course. There was that. Us being together but not openly together, like now. Yes. It was nice to know I could lean on you for support when the worst happened.” He sighed and his shoulders drooped.
She didn’t want to say anything. She still had no clue how she knew him, and she didn’t want to set him off. If she said the wrong thing, he’d get mad. She knew she did not want him angry. There was just nothing about him that was familiar.
“You know, I never did get to say thank you for the flowers. You picked the Warm Embrace arrangement. It, of course, had red roses. I knew right then and there we were meant to be together and of course the bouquet at our crowning glory had red roses for both of us. It really couldn’t have been any better. Superb!”
Josh went back to looking out the window.
Flowers. What flowers? She wracked her brain but had no memory of sending anyone flowers. Her parents must have sent them. They sent flowers to everyone. That was not helpful at all.
The questions in her head screeched to a stop like needle on an old vinyl record.Wait, what had he said? The bouquet at their crowning glory. She’d been named Prom Queen and they’d given her flowers then. Her mother had been so pleased. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her mother arranged it somehow.
Who was the Prom King? What was his name? Robert… Quinn. His family had had a rough go of it. His dad had lost his job as a broker in a top financial firm in the city. Some bad business dealings. Then…hadn’t his sister had died in some freak accident? Something to do with gymnastics?
Robert was a total geek, if she remembered correctly. He wasn’t in any of her classes and they weren’t in any extracurricular activities together either. She didn’t think she’d ever even spoken to him. One of the other girls, Lani Devine used him as a tutor. She’d said he was nice and felt badly for him so she decided to rally everyone and make him Prom King.
She looked up at Josh. Could it be? She cocked her head sideways. “Robert?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Dylan poked his head around the corner again, and then ran back across to the other side of the hedge. “Gabe, thanks for coming.”
“Of course. You met Connor and that’s Jaxon.” He gestured to the two men crouched down along the hedge behind him. The men were all wearing tactical gear including bullet proof vests.
Dylan lifted his chin in greeting. “Raleigh is in the next cabin down. I saw Josh through the window.” Jaxon handed him a Kevlar vest which he immediately slipped over his head. “Where are the local LEO’s?’
“There was a major accident north of here. All available units heading this way but they’re still about twenty minutes out,” Gabe said.
Another twenty minutes. In a hostage situation, and that was exactly what this was, even five minutes was a lifetime.
Or enough time for a death.
Don’t think like that.
“What’s the plan?” Gabe asked as he handed Dylan another gun.
He paused. No one had ever asked him what he thought in a situation like this.
Gabe gave him a slight nod. “You were the first man on the ground, we follow your lead.”
Dylan glanced at the other two men. They were all waiting on him. He suddenly knew in his bones not only was this a life and death situation for Raleigh but it was also a test for him. Could he do it? Could he lead? After all the shit that went down with Georgie, did he trust his instincts enough to put it all on the line? To put Raleigh’s life on the line?
