Bonus Chapter
He couldn’t tell you how he got there. One minute he was standing outside the door of the military psychologist, next he was back in Autumn Falls. AWOL. His chest so tight he could barely draw breath.
He tilted his head up, found himself blinded by the glare of a street lamp. It was cold, he was shaking. No, it wasn’t cold—it was summer, there were leaves on the trees. The night air clung to him, humid and close.
Breathe, Ethan.
He was immune to this, trained not to fall apart.
He dragged a hand down his face, felt the rough scrape of days-old growth against his palm.
Looked down at the cracks in the sidewalk, the curling bark on the trunk of a birch, the white picket fence that he’d vaulted more times than he could remember.
He frowned, head aching. So this was where he came when there was nowhere else he could be? He almost laughed. 11 Riverside Drive, Autumn Falls. Home of one Piper Adams.
The mind was a crazy thing. Took you to crazy places. And his head was a dark, dark place right then.
He looked around him at sights so familiar he saw them in his dreams. He could close his eyes and find his way to the ranch. But he couldn’t go home.
He couldn’t go back.
He thought about crossing the street. A few seconds’ walk, yet a million miles away.
He wondered if Piper still lived there. Thought about her bedroom window, second floor. Whether she was sleeping.
Cross the street, Ethan, and find out…
But what would he do then?
His years of training were supposed to have taught him not to hesitate. Yet there he was, frozen in indecision.
Bang, you’re dead.
The thought jolted him back to reality. Made him remember who he was, where he was. Made him look around and realize he had to get out of there.
There was nothing left for him now.
He stepped out of the light, started back the way he came. If he wasn’t careful there’d be a warrant out for Ethan Carter’s arrest before daybreak.