If You Hear Her

R WAS STILL SIT

s later. M

at little slip of paper

ori

called her a

ause he had come out here

e needed to be do

date wouldn’t interf

ay from him after that on

ck—close. So close. The m

still hear the e

p to more than just a

p for anything more than

any nights, he woke up wi

is hands covered with the h

ng he needed to be doing w

ma

after the

didn’t

hrowing her num

more to pun

more to rem

ittle bit of bot

he just couldn’t bring h

he hasn’t called?” Lena muttered to her

nter in her kitchen, drink

f his own, thirstily guzz

y’d just gotten back from

o take the woods path, bu

t, although she could u

e’d sat down and

e relative shade the trees

un beating down on them. S

she needed to do was push

g to find a me

Roz at the Inn, one from

l but kissed her sens

pushed the button again

problems with some of th

she’d have to alter it.

fic menu and Roz needed to

o

and then headed out of t

as sweaty, and if she want

e couldn’t stay in the kit

ever calle

e hell did

had o

wonderf

t add up

med about him quite a

ew dreams? A few really,

ea

ea

d him. He could drown them out with liquo

em. He might change his

ght. This one

in the alley. Back in th

er, “Mac” Stov

his friend

s a dirty cop involved

t a statewide theft ring an

. It was a cop—in hi

t would be her. Hadn’t

. Sooner or later, we’

, listening. Dark, it was

something. Know something

t v

wa

was

ing here. One more big

e more g

wed by a rough, husky ch

I am done. One more roun

e. That

ulted him as he stood in

de by side wit

One more. We ca

pretty boy. One more, a

nn

It wa

Shit, fuck that. Got to

ac … aw

o

Got to

legs, though. Damn it. Lik

t to work. Mac … his pa

ad he held that woman in

lain awak

his pa

fri

ve

ll

gotta be rational

hell, as voices raged

t

he nightmare, ragged breat

ream twisting in

s over his face, but he f

blood. Ma

himself. “Need the damn

until it came on and then

bed, staring

And clean. There wa

d he stil

was a mess. Indistinct.

d loss, and a bunch of p

e’d recall more of that ni

is grave not knowing

e most—Mac was dead. He

r lifeless body had been f

l in

rs working to save his le

artery. Another had

died. Maybe

live. Sh

wanted him dead, he wou

Had she spared him? If s

? He’d killed her. Levele

life, just

here thinking about

could ch

ispered. All that time

de him look. Made him

e true, had insisted it

r. To prove

them right … he had pr

mself. She had been his be

he wa

eep, Ezra glanced over at

ven eleven. Shit. Not eve

crashed and burned just a

t, probably sleepless

eally want to sleep anyw

hours … after

of bed. The shorts he’d

d and he grabbed them. A

wnstairs. The muscles in

hought, he detoured by th

case. That ache could go f

e f

The plan was to watch s

shut his brain down. A

do that, he’d make it

e made it downstairs, h

ouldn’t be making it thro

e could, he tried to just d

shed the pill down with a Diet Coke and remained on

thi

easier when he

s before he was floating comf

e even made

or the damned

in time to see the back e

into the

med outside, the first ed

leepy

rbeds. Reckless, idiotic

operty off and on for the

otten this close to his hous

any d

damn it

t, he stared down at the

ainbow of petals littere

ng

nd himself oddly mesmer

nd ruine

as Jolene

-nine, engaged

on top of the world, livi

t level of hell, and she’

she thought she should f

d want to fight for her li

é, but she hurt so badl

be an esca

pray for death, when Jole

hen she managed to free herself, she crouched in the

er mind tried to shut dow

e with t

idn’t matter that it had b

pon in her hands and s

e was

e swung it at his head.

ew she hadn’t hi

, she

away, or d

nly h

thought and now that

s mocking laughter infur

, struggling to g

bastard was l

t her whil

ghi

back of her mind,

rverted fuck

trol, but the fear wouldn’

she had to get away, get

… I’m not going to ge

and cloying. She tried to s

outside, right?

abused throat, threateni

g behind her, chu

en hear the sound of his

e her own breaths, harsh

d through the ni

t was just