Page 96 of Blade

“Hey,” he said. “What do we have here?”

He waited a moment. Let Ana study him. His kind smile. Gentle demeanor.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking at her torn tights. Bloody feet.

Ana nodded, suddenly aware of how she must look. What he must think.

“Do you need a ride home?” he asked. “I’m headed to Wyoming, but I don’t mind stopping somewhere.”

He wore a brown coat and jeans. His boots were clean, his face shaved.

“Or I could call someone for you,” he said. “My phone’s just back in the truck.”

He reached out his hand to help her to her feet. And she took it.

Ana followed him to the cab of his semi, where he opened the passenger side door and lifted her up so she could climb inside. He gave her a soda and a bag of chips from the vending machine, and she ate and drank.

“What happened to you?” he asked.

Ana didn’t answer. She was in another world, some in-between place her mind had taken her.

“It’s okay,” he said, starting the engine. “It’s none of my business.”

He looked out the window, to the front and the back, then switched on the turn signal.

“You’re safe now, sweetheart,” he said. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

He took off his coat and handed it to her.

“Here, take this,” he said. “Get warm. Get some rest.”

As he steered the rig away from the curb, back onto the highway, Ana pulled the coat over her like a blanket. She leaned her head against the window and felt the soft hum of the engine as they gathered speed.

Music came from the radio, and he turned the volume down low.

Ana’s eyes were heavy and began to close. She didn’t fight it. Listening to the music, feeling the vibrations from the road, the warmth from his coat.

Smelling the pine from the air freshener that hung on the rearview mirror as she drifted off.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ana

Now

Artis is just outside the back entrance to the small rink. I send a text to Jolene.

Grace left The Palace.

She might be headed to you.

She replies.??Kayla’s here. We have her truck. We’re coming to look.??

I run to the car through the whipping wind, thinking she must have called Kayla the moment I left the condo. She didn’t trust me to find Grace. To keep her safe.

I reach Artis’s car and get inside.

“No sign?” he asks, but he already knows. If I’d found Grace, she would be with me.