The only search results were about Charlotte's Hope, which said nothing new. Where was everything about the fire? Scrolling through page after page, nothing came up. She nibbled her lip.
Maybe looking up Pete would somehow lead to a backdoor about Jason. Peter Stevens. The results focused on other random people, except for one newspaper headline hit from four years ago about an apartment fire. She clicked and scrolled through the article. It talked about how Pete and some other people's apartment had been burned down, and how some guys named Andrew O'Malley and Charles Mason had helped get people out. A large hand slammed shut the laptop. She jumped and looked up, her heart racing.
Jason leaned a hand down on the laptop and looked furious. "What the hell are you doing?" he snarled, his eye glittering with rage.
She shot up and stepped back, her heart thundering with just as much anger. "Then tell me the truth! You weren't on the speaker phone, it was you! Who were you talking with about me?" The truth. She needed the truth from him, needed to trust him. No secrets or lies. He wasn't who he said. Her hands shook with fear.
He straightened and pointed down at the laptop. Then he roared in fury, "You gave your word!"
Her ears rang, and she backed up another step, her heart beating so fast it hurt. Fear made it hard to breathe. She obviously didn't know Jason, and she probably didn't know what he was capable of.
Her backing away only seemed to make him more furious. He stormed over in two strides, and she stumbled back, pinned between him and the wall. She flung out her hands to push on his chest to keep him away. Oh god, he was so angry he'd react without thinking. A hit from a man his size would kill her. He snatched her wrists and jerked them down, holding them tight without bruising.
"Stop it!" Her voice shook. Tears of fear welled, and her knees trembled.
He released her wrists and leaned his hands on the wall on each side of her. "You gave your word," he hissed.
She met his enraged gaze. "You lied," she whispered. Tears ran down her face for both the betrayal and fear. But she wouldn't cower.
He slammed a hand against the wall, making her jump and turn her head away. He bowed his head for a moment. "There are things I can't tell you," he growled. Then his head slowly rose and an eye filled with darkness met hers. "Things that would get you killed."
Her blood ran cold. She darted out under his arm and backed up toward the door.
He spun around and flipped open the computer to scan the article she'd read. His eye flashed to her. "What have you figured out?" His voice shook with anger.
She backed up a step. Prince got up and trotted over to lick her shaking hand.
"Emma!" he roared.
The safety of the door. She inched back to it, her voice stronger as she said, "You're a liar, Andrew O'Malley."
"Goddammit!" he roared and flung a book off the desk at the wall behind him. Then he shot around the desk.
"Stop!" she cried and flung out a trembling hand, panic ripping through her. But his rapid strides didn't break pace. His eye narrowed on her. She backed up toward the door, afraid to turn her back to him. His face didn't flicker to Gaston this time. This time, the face she feared was his. "No!" she screamed, so horrifically terrified.
He slammed to a halt five feet away, his eye wide.
"No," she whispered with tears streaming down her face. Then she backed up into the doorway.
"Emma." He took a step.
Prince shot in front of her and growled, blocking him.
She turned and ran to the front door, snatching up her purse and car keys from the hook. Prince came running after her.
"Emma!" Jason's footsteps clicked across the foyer.
She whipped open the door and ran out to the car. Prince jumped in with her, and she locked the doors. Her shaking hands fumbled to fit the key in the ignition. Prince growled when Pete and Jason ran out of the house. "Shit," she whimpered, with tears blurring her vision. She jammed in the key and threw it in drive. Pete banged on the passenger window and pulled out keys from his pocket. Prince barked at him. She floored it just as Pete reached to unlock the door.
She clutched the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip and glanced in the rearview mirror, her heart racing. Jason sank to his knees in the middle of the drive. Tearing her eyes away, she focused on the road. The fear faded a little. In it's place, the heartache and betrayal surfaced, but she shoved it down and brushed at her eyes.
She and Prince would drive to a town and rent a car, leaving behind this one with Jason's cell number for the company to call him just to be sure she didn't get arrested for auto theft. She'd get a new phone so he couldn't track her, and call her mom to say don't let Jason in if he showed up. She couldn't go to her apartment because Jason would probably be waiting there, expecting her to return for her things. If she sold the Thunderbird, she'd have enough cash to just leave all her things behind and start over. She and Prince would drive and drive. They'd find a nice little town and start over. That's what she'd do.
The End