Page 2 of Walking Away

She went still. “Joe!” she blurted. “You scared the life out of me.”

He lifted his hands in mock surrender, a half-smile on his lips. “Sorry. Wanted to see if you wanted a steak.”

“No, thanks.” Her words snapped out, lips barely moving as she retreated a step.

“Okay then. Have a good evening.” He lingered under the awning light before turning away. “If you need me tonight,” he said, “just yell real loud.”

Darcy forced a polite smile, though her thoughts snapped,Yeah, Joe. I need you to leave me alone.

Back inside, she checked the locks twice.

Later, as she tried to sleep, the awning creaked in an uneasy wind, its canvas flapping like distant footsteps circling the trailer.

She told herself it was nothing.

Then a shadow moved across the window shade.

She froze, every nerve straining.

A faint sound followed: the door handle. Testing.

Darcy gasped, air trapped in her lungs. The handle jiggled once.

“Hello?” she called softly.

It jiggled again.

“Joe,” she whispered.

Nothing.

“Joe?”

The silence stretched until her skin prickled. Then, soft and mocking through the door: “Just making sure you’re locked up tight.”

Cold spread through her limbs, her focus tunneling on the sound. She tightened her grip on the gun.

The trailer shuddered as footsteps retreated into the dark—slow, deliberate, as if he wanted her to hear every one.

When silence finally returned, it wasn’t relief she felt. It was the certainty he’d be back.

She sank onto the edge of the bed, the Glock in her hand. She just sat there, the trailer gone quiet around her.

Was this right?The answer wasyes.But yes didn’t make the loneliness easier.

The tears came quietly, slipping down before she could stop them.

It would all be better when she got there—the place her grandmother had called home.

She didn’t know what waited for her there—only that it was the one place she believed in.

Chapter 2

Betrayal

Caitlin

Jason was cheating on her—her husband of six years.