Sawyer Bennett - Off Chance

While his eyes seem to grow warmer as they look at me, his lips curl up when he says, “Don’t bend over and you’ll be fine.”

My face involuntarily reacts and I shoot him a grin as I shut the door. As I turn away to walk into the apartment building, I know his eyes are on my ass the entire time and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

Amy opens the door after I pound on it for about five minutes. I’ve clearly woken her up, even though it’s almost noon.

Her eyes are foggy as they try to focus on me but when recognition hits, she grabs my arm and pulls me in, slamming the door shut quickly.

“My God, Rowan... What are you doing here?”

“I came to get my money you were holding.”

She looks twitchy but says, “Sure... no problem. But then you have to leave.”

Her statement makes the hair on my neck stand up. “Has Juice been here?”

She nods as she reaches over to the counter for a pack of cigarettes. Pulling one out, she lights it, inhaling deeply and then letting a huge plume of smoke out. “Last night. He told me about the fire and that he’s been looking for you. He thought you were here and that I was hiding you.”

I can only imagine the intimidation tactics Juice would use and I feel terrible I put her in this situation, just by the mere fact we know each other. “Are you okay?”

She turns her back on me and walks into the kitchen. Reaching into a cupboard, she pulls out an old coffee can and pops the lid. “I’m fine. He scared the shit out of me though. Threatened me if I didn’t cough you up. He searched every inch of this rat-trap and when he didn’t find you, he left.”

Reaching into the can, she pulls out a roll of green and hands it to me. “It’s all there if you want to count it.”

Shaking my head, I stuff the wad into the pocket of my leather jacket. “Nah... I trust you.”

I really don’t trust her but I don’t want to stick around. The mere thought that Juice could be watching her place is giving me the willies.

“Thanks, Amy. I’m sorry he came here.”

I turn and head toward the door. As I reach for the knob, Amy touches my shoulder and I turn to look at her.

“Juice may not be looking too hard for you right now, so you might be okay.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was really bent out of shape about the fire. Said he knows who did it and they were going to pay. I’m thinking his energy is going to be focused on finding that person.”

“I doubt that. I’m pretty sure he set the fire himself.”

Amy looks at me in surprise. “No way!”

I grab the door handle and give her a hard look. “That shit kept me chained to the bed for three days. I don’t think he’s above taking me out. He’s fucking crazy, Amy.”

“I don’t know, Rowan,” she says, while shaking her head. She’s completely unfazed by my statement that Juice kept me chained up. “He was really pissed about the fire.”

Is it possible that Juice didn’t set the fire? I had just assumed that he was tired of keeping me chained to the bed, particularly because I was fighting him every step of the way. There wasn’t a time he came into that room that I didn’t curse at him for what he was doing to me. He had to have known, for sure, that I would never stay with him voluntarily.

“Give me some paper and a pen,” I tell Amy.

When she hands over the implements, I jot my cell number down and hand it to her. “Do me a favor... call me if Juice comes back or if you hear anything, okay? I should have a replacement phone this afternoon.”

“Sure. Take care of yourself,” she tells me, but I’m not sure she’d actually call me if she knew something. She’d be smart to stay far away from this, and that’s what I expect her to do.

Giving her a look of thanks, I leave Amy behind and head out to Flynn’s car. When I hit the sidewalk, I look left and right, expecting Juice to jump out at me. I half run to the car and throw myself in. When the door slams shut, I tell him, “We need to go... now.”

Flynn gives me just a cursory glance, then he starts the engine and swiftly pulls away from the curb. Turning in the seat, I watch to see if anyone pulls out behind us. After a few minutes, I feel like we’re in the clear and turn back around, latching my seatbelt on.

“Want to tell me what that was about?” Flynn asks.

I really don’t, but I feel like I owe him a heads up. Juice is out there looking for me and he’s pretty fucking resourceful.

“Juice was looking for me at Amy’s last night. I was afraid he might be around... watching her place.”

I watch as his jaw muscles clench and he looks in the rearview mirror. Pulling his gaze briefly away, he looks at me. “I’m not telling you to do this, but shouldn’t you consider going to the cops now?”

His words aren’t even entirely out before I’m shaking my head in the negative. “No way. I don’t trust them.”

“Rowan... he tried to kill you. You should take this a bit more seriously.”

Chewing on my lip, I consider what Amy said. “I’m not so sure he set the fire.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s just something Amy said. She said Juice was really freaked out by the fire and that he knew who set it.”

Flynn is quiet for a while and I stare blankly out the window while he drives. Finally, he says, “What do you believe?”

“I don’t know. Juice isn’t a nice guy... He’d probably kill someone in a heartbeat. But... I don’t think he wanted me dead. He just wanted me back.”

“He kidnapped you and chained you up,” he reminds me.

“I know... I mean... I don’t know. I have no clue what the hell is going on. I really just need to disappear and start over again.” I hate that my words have a whiny sound to them but I’m starting to feel the pressure of my situation.

Just this morning, I was thinking it would be cool to hang at Flynn’s for a few days, absolutely positive I’d figure a way out of this mess. Now I don’t know what to do. And now I have Flynn involved, and while I’ve known him for less than twenty-four hours, he’s done so much for me that I don’t want him to be at risk.

“It’s probably best if I move on, Flynn.”

I’m startled when Flynn moves one hand off the steering wheel and grabs ahold of mine. The warmth of his skin against mine immediately sets my pulse fluttering. “Absolutely not. I told you I’d help you out, and I will.”

Sighing, I squeeze his hand so I have his attention and his eyes flick to mine briefly. “No cops, though.”

He squeezes my hand back. “No cops. I promise.”

“I better go put some underwear on.”

Those words practically make me groan as I watch Rowan walk down the hall to the guest bedroom, her shopping bag filled with what I can only imagine is black lace.

When we got to Gateway Center, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a roll of cash. She peeled off a few bills to pay me back for her thrift store purchases, and then hopped out of the car, promising she’d be back soon.

While she was inside shopping, I tried to keep my mind off the fact that she was bare under that tiny mini-skirt and I tried not to imagine what she was buying. Instead, I tried to focus on the bigger issue... and that was what to do with Rowan. I’m bothered by the fact that she has a deranged ex-boyfriend searching for her, who may or may not have tried to murder her, but certainly was deviant enough to chain her to a bed so that he could keep her. That’s about as fucked up as you can get.