56. Permanent Displacement
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT
Ethan
“You need to leave.” Claire’s voice carries clearly from upstairs.
“I just want to talk to her,” says an unfamiliar sharp male voice.
I’m suddenly out of my chair taking the basement stairs two at a time. As I reach the first floor the voices get louder.
Rounding the corner, I spot who I assume is Jake. I’ve never met him, but I recognize him from descriptions. He’s taller than I expected, muscular, with dark hair and expensive clothes.
He starts laughing and then his expression changes so quickly I can’t follow it.
Angry.
Heartbroken.
Then smiling.
The smile is the worst part.
Claire steps into his path before he can move another inch toward the residential hallway. She’s standing perfectly still, but I know her too well. Her shoulders are higher than usual. Her right hand is curled so tightly at her side her knuckles have gone white.
She’s scared.
She’s just refusing to let him see it.
The kid points at Claire. “This is your fault.”
She doesn’t back down. “You need to leave, or I’m calling the authorities.”
“You turned her against me.” His voice rises.
“Jake—”
“You filled her head with lies.”
“Go upstairs,” Claire says to the girls standing in the hallway behind her. One girl starts crying. Heidi finally takes a cautious step backward. Then another. The others begin following her.
Jake watches every one of them leave without blinking. He takes another step forward. “I love her.”
Claire folds her arms, crisp and defiant. “No, you want to control her.”
His face twists with rage. “She belongs with me.”
Nobody speaks.
His statement makes my skin crawl. The building feels impossibly quiet. Even the old radiator I’d complained about all week has stopped clanking. Somewhere upstairs, a door closes.
Jake’s breathing sounds unnaturally loud.
Something shifts and I can’t explain it. Every muscle in my body tightens before my brain catches up. Jake isn’t listening anymore. He’s looking through Claire. Like he’s already made a decision.
His right hand disappears into his jacket, and my eyes follow it automatically.
Wallet?
Phone?
He’s leaving.
Thank—
Metal catches the hallway lights. Claire’s eyes flick downward, and for the first time since this started... she loses all color. She takes one instinctive step backward, and says something but I never hear it.
Jake shifts his weight, and my body is already moving before the knife does.
I don’t remember deciding. I only remember the sound of my shoes hitting the tile.
I don’t remember crossing the room. One second, I’m at the end of the hallway.
The next, I’m throwing myself at him. My shoulder slams into his chest, sending us crashing sideways into the wall. The knife flashes again.
Jake fights harder than I expect. Something slams into my shoulder.
Hard.
Like I’d been hit with a baseball bat.
My arm suddenly won’t cooperate. I look down and the knife is buried in my shoulder. The bastard stabbed me. Blood soaks through my shirt. The pain is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and the room tilts violently.
Claire is kneeling beside me. She’s pressing a shaking hand against my shoulder while the other grips my wrist like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go. She has a terrified expression.
“Stay with me,” she says, her voice trembling.
“That seems… dramatic.” My voice sounds foreign.
Tears stream down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you. I love you so much,” I tell her, the words a desperate whisper.
Opening my eyes is like swimming through wet concrete.
I’m vaguely aware of movement beneath me: a stretcher with squeaky wheels.
Paramedics. Someone asks my name, someone else tells me to stay awake.
I try to concentrate but it’s impossible.
The hallway spins and the last thing I remember is Claire’s face.
The next time I wake, machines beep steadily around me, and my shoulder feels like a burning cinder block. I lie there, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember. Then it all rushes back.
Panic floods through me, and I try to sit up. The sudden movement sends a fresh wave of blinding pain.
A familiar voice cuts through the silence. “Sit back before you rip something.”
I turn my head to find Reid. He looks tired but relieved.
“Claire?”
“She’s okay. She’ll be back. We made her take a break.”