Fight or Flight (15 page)

“What happened?” Em asked when he’d settled in beside her. “What were you thinking breaking into a pharmacy? Are you
crazy
?”

She smacked his chest almost hard enough for him to actually feel it, and Jay couldn’t hide his grin. She was obviously feeling better.

“Maybe. The cops picked me up and I’m sitting there thinking ‘how the hell am I going to get out of here’ and wouldn’t ya know it, some fancy looking lawyer comes in and tells me he’s taking my case pro bono. Apparently, his friend Sam called after some girl asked him for his help,” he accused playfully, but the ‘playful’ part was clearly lost on Em. Her face sank.

“I’m sorry, Jay. I just . . . I didn’t know what else to do, and you said—”

Jay couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing. She was just too damn cute.

“Are you seriously apologizing about this? Em, you save my ass back there. I’d definitely
still be sitting in that cell for who knows how much longer if you hadn’t gone to Sam. I know that wasn’t easy for you to do.”

This was the girl who had taken her uncle’s abuse for years because she was too afraid to ask for help, yet she had done it . . . for him.

“So, what happens now?” Em sucked her lower lip into her mouth and worried it with her teeth. Something he’d noticed she did when she was nervous. Something that was highly distracting.

“Greg got me released on my own recognizance. I’ve got a court date sometime next month, but he said since it was my first offense and considering the extenuating circumstances he thinks I’ll get off with a slap on the wrist. No big deal.”

“I was worried.”

He knew she must have been to have gone to Sam, but hearing her say it out loud warmed something in his heart.

“Well, no more worrying. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere. Now, we just need to work on getting you better.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Em

Three days later, things were finally starting to feel more normal. Em’s ankle definitely wasn’t broken, and she was even able to put some weight on it. With the help
of the crutches she was getting around half decent. Breathing wasn’t quite as painful anymore, and consciousness was becoming easier to maintain as she started weaning herself off the pain killers.

“How are you feeling today?” Jay handed her a cheese Danish. He’d gone back to providing for the both of them while she stayed holed up at the
squat. It was driving her crazy, but there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it. The way she was moving, she’d only slow him down.

“Better.” This time she meant it when she said it.

“Good, because I’d hate for you to waste a beautiful day like today.”

“What did you have in mind?” She found herself excited at the mere prospect of getting out of the house for even a little while.

“Are you up for a little walk? We’ll take it nice and slow.”

“Yes!” She didn’t even care where they were going.

When the park came into view she could hardly contain herself. It was picture perfect. Dogs ran around the open fields. Kids laughed and played on the playgrounds. Small stands lined the walkways. It looked like a grassy mirage set in a city of stone.

Jay’s hand covered hers on the crutch handle as she maneuvered it over the cobblestones, and together they strolled along enjoying the Indian
Summer temperatures until they heard someone shouting Jay’s name. He glanced over her shoulder and laughed. A group of guys were waving him over. They didn’t look like his other friends—if that’s what you’d call them. Their jeans were torn and t-shirts faded, but it looked like they’d paid for them to look that way.

Em’s self-esteem took a sudden nose dive. “You know those guys?”

“Yeah. They have a band that plays the downtown clubs. I help move their equipment sometimes. They’re nice enough, and they pay well. I’d better go say hi. You want to come?”

She really didn’t want anyone seeing her like that, especially someone like them.
Someone who wouldn’t understand. “No. I think . . .” she glanced around for a reasonable excuse. “I think I’m going to take a look at a couple of the stands.”

“All right.
I’ll be right back.” Jay strutted off towards the group of guys lounging in the sun, while Em made her way over to the tables displaying a variety of goods.

It had been so long since she’d gone shopping—even window shopping—she got a
sudden thrill. Wandering from table to table, listening to other shoppers choose their purchases, Em tried to decide what she would buy if she had any money to spend.

A pair of dark sunglasses caught her eye at the end of one table. Obviously knockoffs, they were still pretty with wide frames and a swirling design up both sides. Slipping them on, she glanced in the mirror sitting in the middle of the table. They even made her worn, hollowed face look nice.

“Hey!” The angry shout took her buy surprise, and Em glanced around to see who was being yelled at only to realize, it was her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

A large man with a thick accent was headed straight for her. Instinctively, she took a step back and he snatched her wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Her crutches dropped to the ground as she struggled to get away from him. His breath stunk of onion and garlic, but all she could smell was her uncle’s cologne as her mind brought her back to a place she tried so hard to avoid.

“You think you can steal from me?
All of you street kids. You’re all the same . . .” Em watched—horrified—as his face morphed into her uncle’s right before her eyes, and she fought harder to free herself. When he grip only tightened, she screamed.

A moment later, the man was gone—shoved fiercely away from her—and Jay was there. She could see his lips moving, but was having a hard time hearing what he was saying
over the roar of blood in her ears. Slowly, his words began to sink in and pull her back to reality, away from her waking nightmare.

“. .
.okay? Are you all right, Em?”

“No one steals from me!” The man roared over Jay and advanced on them again.

Em immediately shrank away from him, and Jay moved in front of her. “She wasn’t stealing anything. Leave her alone!”

The man’s fist connected with Jay’s jaw before Em even saw it coming. He reeled sideways, but only for a moment. Then, he was right back, putting himself between them.

“Bullshit! She still has my glasses on.”

Em’s brain finally caught up and she snatched the glasses off of her face and tossed them on the table like they were hot. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know . . . I didn’t mean . . . I just . . .”

“It’s all right, Em.” Jay took her hand before turning back to the man still glowering at them. “She wasn’t stealing them. She was trying them on. Don’t people have a right to try on your sunglasses?”

“
People
do,” the man snipped and the remark cut right through Em.

“You son of a . . . Who gave you the right to decide—”

“Who steals from me? The law, speaking of which, I’m calling them now. I’ve had it with you kids thinking you can help yourselves to whatever the hell you like.”

Coward.
Again she was letting Jay fight her battles for her.
Useless coward.
Not anymore. She wasn’t that girl anymore. “Don’t! Stop. Please.”

“Why the hell shouldn’t I?”

“Because . . .” Em had always been able to think on her feet. A necessity that came from living with secrets for so long. “Because then you’ll have to explain this.” She gestured to Jay’s bruised face. “You press charges for theft, then we’ll press charges for assault.”

“You really think they’ll take your word over mine?”

“Even if they don’t, they’ll still have to take a report and ask questions. Who knows how long that would take? Is that really how you want to spend the rest of your day? How much business would it cost you? Is it really worth it when we’re just going to leave?”

The man considered her threat for a few minutes, while Em waited anxiously beside Jay.
“Fine. Get the hell out of here, but if I ever see you around here again, I’m calling the cops.”

Jay scooped up her crutches, and they headed off further down the path before he could change his mind. Once the man and his shop were out of sight, Em released a pent up breath. Her entire body
shuddered with residual fear both from the encounter and the memories it had brought back. Her hands shook so badly, one of her crutches slipped into a crevice and she tripped over it.

“Hey.
You all right?” Jay steadied her.

“Yeah.
I’m fine. I just—”

“Here. Let’s take a little break.”

He led her off the path and under a large Oak tree that still had most of its leaves. They danced and swayed in the afternoon breeze allowing random rays of sparkling sunlight to break through the canopy. Jay settled in the grass against the trunk and helped her down beside him.

“What are we doing?”

“Nothing.” Jay brushed some stray hairs from her face, tucking them behind her ear. “We’re just relaxing for a little bit.”

She couldn’t remember Jay ever taking a break before, but the idea sounded wonderful. Between all of the walking they’d been doing and the scare she’d just had, Em was tired already and they still had a long walk back. Allowing her eyes to shut for just a minute, she felt her head dip onto Jay’s shoulder, but she hadn’t the energy or desire to do anything to change that.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Jay

They hadn’t been sitting more than five minutes before Em passed out. He knew she was exhausted. The walk alone had been too much, but the jackass back at the stand had scared the crap out of her. Jay had never heard her scream like that, and
that
had scared the crap out of him. He’d wanted to rip the guy’s head off for touching her like that, and he probably would have gotten himself into a lot more trouble if Em hadn’t stepped in when she did. Once again, she’d saved his ass.

She looked so peaceful sleeping on his shoulder. It meant something to him that she could look that way
while resting in his arms, when the touch of that other man had sent her into a screaming fit. It meant she trusted him. Something he was certain she didn’t do easily or often, maybe
ever
. He couldn’t figure how he’d earned that kind of trust, but he was sure as hell going to live up to it. Everyone in Em’s life that she trusted had left her or let her down. He wasn’t going to let his name get added to that list.

“Excuse me?” An older man stood over him, holding a cooler. “I’m sorry to bother you. I don’t want to wake her, but I was wondering . . . Well, I made a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my grandchildren.” He inclined his head towards two kids jumping around on the sidewalk near the parking lot. “It turns out they don’t like peanut butter and jelly. We’re headed out for burgers, but I have these sandwiches here that are just going to go to waste. Would you like them? Or do you think she might?” He glanced down at Em.

“Really?” Jay was stunned by the man’s generosity. It seemed every time they turned around they were facing the worst the world had to offer. It was easy to forget sometimes that good people existed, too.

“Of course.”
The man dug around in the cooler and produced a couple of wrapped sandwiches and juice boxes. He laid them on the grass and was on his way again without another word.

“Hey!” Jay called quietly after him, afraid of waking Em. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. Just take care of her.” He nodded towards Em, and Jay smiled.

“I plan to.”

After watching the man and his grandkids pile into their car and drive away, he debated whether or not to wake Em. She needed her rest, but she needed food more. The calories in peanut butter would do a lot to help her body heal and she hadn’t eaten anything but a Danish all day. Neither had he.

“Em.”
He nudged her with his shoulder and her head lolled to the side. “Hey, Em.” He tried again and this time she grumbled something in her sleep that made him laugh. “All right, Sleeping Beauty, up and at ‘em.”

He shook her again, this time succeeding in rousing her, and she blinked up at him.

“Mornin’, beautiful.” That made her smile. Score.

“Hardly,” she laughed. “I’ve had what, one shower in the past . . . two
weeks
?”

“Yeah, well, I think street chic works for you.”

Her face looked soft and sweet, peeking up at him through dark lashes from where her head laid on his chest. The dark rings under her eyes just made the blue look bluer somehow, and her lips? Well, he couldn’t even think about her lips without taking the whole thing way too far and risk driving her away completely. He’d only kissed her the once, briefly at the hospital, but he’d other things on his mind at the time. Like not getting caught stealing. If they were ever going to go there for real it would have to be her call.