Page 59

Madison

I skip dessert, my appetite dead and gone.

Despite Lindsey and Rita’s protests, I excuse myself for the rest of the evening.

My nerves are frayed. Every thought I have sends me back to Jake and Julian.

The former is scarier than the latter, oddly enough.

At least Julian wears his emotions on his sleeve where I’m concerned.

He’s got a personal stake in this. Jake, though…

Jake is the monster for hire. He’s calculated.

Cold. Probably a functioning psychopath.

Considering how young he is, something tells me he has the potential required to become a man even worse than Julian.

Either way, trouble is afoot. Shadows poke and prod me from every corner. I don’t feel safe in my own skin anymore, and it takes every bit of effort I can muster to keep calm in front of my friends. Dammit, I can’t drag other people any farther into this mess.

“Are you sure you can’t stay a little while longer?” Cameron asks as I slip my phone in my clutch and double-check that I have my car keys.

“I’m sorry. You guys go ahead, have fun for me. I’m just not in the mood anymore. Maybe the food didn’t agree with me, even though it’s frickin’ delicious,” I reply, smiling awkwardly. A bad stomach is always a good excuse.

“You know, I didn’t drink at all,” Lindsey says, “and neither has Cameron. I can drive your car back to the dorms tonight if you stick around.”

“Oh, I’m okay, I barely had one glass,” I reply and get up.

One more minute here, and they might convince me to stay, after all.

Then, one thing will lead to another, and I’ll end up telling them about the fresh hell that’s evolved since the last time I spilled my guts.

As much as I want to get some of this off my chest, it’s a bad time.

“I’ll see you on Monday, bright and early.

” I give Rita a broad smile. “Bring back a slice of something sweet.”

“You bet.” She eyes me carefully as I leave.

Outside, I take a minute. Breathing deeply, I allow the cold November air to jolt me back to life.

I feel as though I’ve been asleep this whole time.

Maybe that moment earlier with Jake didn’t even happen.

Maybe I imagined it. Maybe… Screw that, no matter what I try to tell myself, I know for a fact I wasn’t daydreaming.

The goosebumps running up my arms are a stern reminder of Jake.

That bastard came all the way out here, to Ithaca, to deliver a message on behalf of Julian Echeveria. Rhue’s father will not go down easily, that much is clear.

My phone dings. With a trembling hand, I pull it out of my clutch as I make my way to the parking lot. It’s a message from Rhue. He wants to call me, so I text him back that I’m driving. He knows it means I’ll call him later.

My stomach feels heavy, but it’s not because of the food.

All I ever wanted was peace and quiet, along with the freedom to be with the people I want to be with.

Somehow, Julian inserted himself into my life.

He violated me. He defiled my very existence.

And now, he has the audacity to try to dictate what I can and cannot do.

If there is a hell, I know he’s got a first-class ticket already booked.

I find my Prius easily among the luxury sedans.

Robert’s isn’t exactly the most affordable of Ithaca venues.

For only a few weeks a year, the head chef brings certain highly coveted specialties straight from France—among them, white truffles and the still-illegal ortolan bunting.

People here keep the latter out of their discussions, though.

Getting to try such a thing is only possible if the chef personally knows you.

Otherwise, good luck. I get the chills just from thinking about those poor little birds.

“Damn. I’m a fucking ortolan bunting,” I mutter as I get behind the wheel.

And I know of at least one person who wants to eat me whole—bones, beak, and all. Unlike the French traditionalists, however, Julian won’t wear a napkin on his head to “hide his face from God”. No, he’ll crunch me between his teeth in front of his son, if he has to.

Driving out of the parking lot, I try to make a mental plan for what will happen next.

I told Jake—and Julian, by extension—to go fuck themselves.

Rhue will never allow us to be separated.

Not when we’ve only just found each other again.

Frankly, I don’t want to leave him, anyway.

My heart sings when he’s near. Rhue is the first thing on my mind when I wake up in the morning, and he’s the last thought I fall asleep to every night.

Who the hell is Julian to take that from me, too?

I’ll need a contingency plan. I’ll need a safety net. Legal counsel, maybe.

The road ahead is relatively clear. Robert’s is on the far south side of Ithaca.

Our dorms are all the way over to the north.

I’m not taking the downtown route, though.

The so-called belt road may be less traveled and a lot darker, but it’ll take me straight home in less than thirty minutes.

I turn on the radio. Indie rock floods my car, though it doesn’t do much to soothe my ragged soul.

Darkness surrounds me on both sides now as the road takes me through a strip of forest. Oak trees and chestnut trees rise like giants in the night, their crowns stretching overhead.

My headlights shine brightly enough to give me a clear view ahead.

To the left, occasional flickers of Ithaca’s lights can be seen through the thinning woods.

To the right, there are no more trees. A lake reaches all the way to the side of the road, separated only by a metal barrier and tufts of brambles and bushes.

Moonlight dances across the surface of the water—white flakes of diamond dust rippling in the night.

But it’s the light in my rearview mirror that flashes and draws my attention.

“What the…”

It’s a pair of bright white eyes, accompanied by the startling roar of an engine.

They’re getting bigger. Instinctively, my grip on the wheel tightens.

My foot pushes the pedal to the floor, but my body knows what’s going to happen before it happens. Behind me, the big SUV rumbles and accelerates, as if excited by my reaction. My blood runs cold as I realize it’s coming up on my left.

I can’t see the driver, but the vehicle is a mastodon. A big black thing with a loud engine designed to intimidate. It moves closer, pushing me to the right. But there’s nothing but water to the right.

He’s trying to drive me off the road.

“Son of a…”

I try to go faster, but he keeps up, always to my left, always inching closer.

Adrenaline rushes through my body. I can’t take my eyes off the road. I can’t even reach my phone to call Rhue or the police or anyone who could possibly help. Fuck, I’m on my own out here, and it doesn’t take long for me to put two and two together.

“Jake.” His name comes out through gritted teeth.

Fright is quickly replaced by fury. No one is driving me off the road tonight.

He’s trying to scare me. These tactics won’t work, though.

Not when I can see right through them. Determined not to let the devil win tonight, I glimpse a poorly lit sideroad ahead, stretching left and back into Ithaca—into the warehouse blocks that line the eastern side of town.

I can take the downtown route, still, if I manage to shake this bastard off.

I keep my car at its maximum speed, noticing that the SUV maintains a couple of inches at a steady and equal velocity.

When he least expects it, I slam on the brakes and hold the wheel tight as the Prius begins to wobble a bit, first left, then right.

I’m losing traction, but I’m also losing the SUV.

He’s still going fast. By the time he realizes what happened, I’ve turned a tight left onto the side road.

My knees are jelly, but I made it.

The rest of the journey back to the dorms doesn’t make me feel any better.

I feel like I’m still being followed. Whether it’s that SUV or some other car, it doesn’t matter.

I can’t tell, anyway. There’s a steady flow of traffic going through town and towards campus—as it should be on a Saturday night.

I’m shaking like a leaf but I manage to drive myself all the way up into the campus parking lot.

What the hell was that about? What was he trying to prove?

Or was it really just a blatant attempt to push me into a fucking lake?

If Julian thinks he’s going to scare me into submission, he’s got another think coming.

Oddly enough, despite being scared out of my mind, I’m also furious. The audacity on these people to come after me like this. How dare they? No, I have had enough. No more!

The bright white headlights come up in my rearview mirror again.

A black SUV.

“Motherfucker!” I shout and swerve right, then bolt towards the campus security offices. Whether it’s Jake or some other goon hired by Julian, they’re not going to torment me here. Not on campus. This is my turf! Cornell is sacred.

I practically jump out of my car just as the black SUV pulls up behind my car. I’m running, now. Someone else is running after me. Their footsteps are frantic taps on the hard asphalt. I am breathless, but campus security is within my reach. I can see their posters on the front door.

“Get away from me!” I cry out, tears stinging my eyes.

“Maddie, wait!” Rhue’s voice comes from behind, and the nightmare just—fizzles away.

I stop and take a few deep breaths. He reaches me in the blink of an eye, placing his hands on my shoulders.

One look at his face and I crumble. I fall apart, piece by piece.

Shaking and crying, I throw my arms around his waist and throw myself in an embrace.

Without saying anything for a while, Rhue holds me tightly, his heart beating against mine.

“Maddie.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was you,” I say. “Some guy with a black SUV tried to run me off the road earlier. I thought you were him.”

Rhue is speechless. I’m willing to bet he’s got a ton of questions and follow-up questions, but my frantic state doesn’t allow for much in terms of discourse. I’m a pitiful mess, and I need comfort and safety more than anything.

Gently, Rhue walks me back to the Prius.

“You’re staying at my place tonight,” he says, using my keys to lock up the car after he grabs my weekend bag from the backseat. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“I wasn’t going to refuse,” I reply with a faint mutter.

We get in his car, and he gives me a couple of minutes to just simmer down. There’s a small water bottle between us. He hands it over, and I empty it in two chugs. “Come on, let’s get you home,” he says.

It’s not my home. It’s his. Yet, it feels like a haven to me. I’m going somewhere warm and comfortable. A place where Julian’s evil claws won’t reach me. Where psychos like Jake What’s-His-Face can’t run me off the road.

Rhue looks angry. I bet he’s furious. But I’m thankful that he doesn’t pummel me with questions.

I’ll tell him everything he needs to know, but later.

Right now, I just soothe myself by admiring his profile as he drives us out of the campus parking lot, knowing that I’m not alone.

Not tonight, and not in this mess my life has become.