Page 105 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

It was dark outside, so no one could see them as they left the house if they were looking. They headed to the car Kurt had been driving. The night air was icy enough to slice through a person, and Nina was glad of her scarf and gloves.

“Hello, Nina and friends!” She found Jonathan and Caleb jogging by, breath fogging in the streetlight, but they didn’t stop, just lifted their hands in greeting and carried on past, thankfully.

Nina forced her face into a normal expression that wouldn’t make them turn around and felt Amber’s hand close briefly around her elbow, a warning disguised as a touch.

“Get in the back and put your head down between your knees,” Kurt said, climbing into the driver’s side. Amber sat with her, and Dale Falcon settled into the passenger seat.

“Are you sure he’s your son? Because he’s a real asshole. Oh wait, but then, so are you,” she said to Amber.

“I did what I had to,” the woman said, and there was something almost like an apology buried in the words, though Nina refused to acknowledge it as one.

“Is my daddy holding all the purse strings?”

No one answered Nina’s question, and soon they were heading out of town, the streetlights thinning behind them until there was only the dark road ahead and the four of them inside the car. Nina kept her head down like they’d told her and gave directions, watching the floor mat between her knees, running through everything she knew about the Murrays’ farm and how far it actually was from anywhere Finch might think to look.

She had time. That was the one thing she was sure of. Whatever else happened tonight, she still had time to think her way out of this. Nina also didn’t imagine her father wanted her dead, but then, she didn’t really know him, so there was that to consider too.

Her mother slid into her head then. The woman who’d raised her alone in a house with the porch light always left on if she was out late and who’d never once mentioned this man’s name.

Nina understood now, in a way she never had before, exactly how much her mother must have done to keep them safe. Running from a powerful man like Dale Falcon couldn’t have been easy and took courage, but she’d done that. Covered her tracks and changed their names for freedom.

Kurt took a turn too fast, and Amber’s shoulder pressed into Nina’s. She used the moment to steady her breathing, counting the seconds the way she’d taught herself to do back when the big feelings threatened to spill over into something she couldn’t control. In, hold, out. In, hold, out. Whatever happened, she’d deal with it, and Finch would come for her—she knew that. The man she’d just hurt, but cared deeply for would find her, and then she’d apologize and tell him that maybe, just maybe, he was her future.

Chapter 29

Looking at his watch, Finch saw Nina had been gone for thirty minutes. It was dark and cold, and she hadn’t returned. He was getting worried, even if he was pissed off with her.

“What?” Sawyer asked from beside him.

“Nothing.”

“Something,” Lynx said from his other side. “You’ve been emitting grumpy vibes since Nina left. What happened between you two?”

“Nothing.”

“Something.”

“She told me to back off,” Finch snapped, still hurting from Nina’s words.

“And what?” Sawyer asked.

“She hurt your feelings, bro?” Lynx asked.

“No.” He sounded like a sulky five-year-old.

“With all the shit going on in her life right now, don’t you think lashing out at someone because she’s confused, and scared is a normal reaction? That for whatever reason, she’s chosen you to be the one closest to her, so you get it when she blows,” Sawyer said.

“Blows?” Lynx asked.

“The pressure valve finally goes,” Sawyer explained. “Nina’s been dealing with plenty of crap, and maybe it got too much for her.”

“When did you get all insightful and shit?” Lynx asked, while Finch’s mind worked through what his brother-in-law said. He should have seen it coming. Nina had been holding stuff together. She’d shed a few tears, yes, but something had to give, and he’d been there when it had.

“I’m an idiot,” he muttered. “I’m going to find Nina.”

Pushing his way through the crowd, he reached his sisters.

“Have you seen Nina?”