Page 26 of Keep Me Safe
SHAWN
Kara’s facewas completely white and she trembled so hard, she vibrated in my arms. The man who’d cut her lay in a twitching heap, and when her gaze began to drop to the floor, I forced her to move toward the front door, not wanting her to see.
We couldn’t stay here—it wasn’t safe.
She was probably going into shock and didn’t hear the urgency in my voice, but it was there. “We have to go.” I gently pressed on the towel. “Can you hold this?”
She didn’t nod, but her fingers went to cover mine, taking over so my hands were free. She said nothing as I urged her out of the red coat she wore and it slid off, landing in a pile at her feet. There was a simple rain jacket in the entry closet, and I yanked it down so fast I slung the hanger noisily against the wall.
I hastily draped the dark jacket around her shoulders. The red coat was too bright, too noticeable.
I grabbed both handles of the bags we’d left just inside the front door, hurried her out into the hall, and guided her to the stairs. The constable had said someone would be here soon—but we wouldn’t be. The only thing I cared about right now was getting Kara away from the man we’d left on the floor.
I was grateful I’d opted to leave the crew on standby until I called. I’d felt confident in getting her invitation to stay the night, but then again, I’d made plenty of mistakes with her.
Like leaving her alone in her destroyed living room. Where the fuck had that man come from?
As soon as we were out of her building, our suitcase wheels clacking over the pavement, she began to return to life. She slipped her arms into the jacket and zipped it up, hiding her blood-soaked shirt. She grabbed the handle of her bag from me, making it so we could move faster and allowing me to pull out my phone.
“Register a flight plan to Munich,” I said as soon as the captain answered my call. “We’ll be on board in twenty minutes, and I want to be in the air immediately afterward.”
“I can’t go to Munich.” Kara sounded like a ghost. “I’ve got a meeting at nine.” A nervous laugh trickled out of her, like she only realized the ridiculousness of what she’d said at that moment.
I shoved my phone in my pocket. “Once we get in the air, we’ll figure out what to do.”
Because I wasn’t sure myself. Thoughts of Juric out in the open left my brain sluggish. This had to be him—but why?
“I thought he was going to kill you,” she said. “He had the knife, and you were coming at him so fast.”
The truth was I’d been coming for her. There had been a lot of blood, and my stomach twisted just thinking about it now. Seeing the knife and the man who’d hurt her had filled me with blinding rage. I was going to make sure the man couldn’t use that knife on her again.
“He cut your throat, and you were worried about me?” I said in disbelief.
She didn’t answer. She kept her head down and the dishtowel around her neck like a scarf, and we didn’t draw much attention since it was getting late and a weeknight.
I carried our bags straight into the cabin to save time, and Victoria startled when she noticed the blood-soaked towel held to the other woman’s throat.
“Bloody hell,” she gasped. “What’s happened?”
I ignored her dismay. “Close the cabin door so we can get airborne and bring me the first aid kit.”
She didn’t bristle at me barking out orders. She followed them without question, and her footsteps carried her swiftly away.
Kara sank into the same seat she’d used on the flight here. Her eyes were blank. Empty. It was horribly unsettling, but then she blinked and focused on me as she pulled the towel away.
“Is it still bleeding?” she asked.
My stomach was lined with lead. I took a knee in front of her and set a hand on each of her shoulders. She angled her chin to give me a good view. The cut didn’t look deep or like it was weeping blood anymore. “I don’t think so.”
Behind me, there was a booming thud as the hatch slammed shut with force, and then a bin was unlatched, followed by rustling.
My hand on the shoulder opposite her wound slid up to hold her cheek. “Scheiße,”I swore.“Please tell me you’re all right.”
The icy silver of her eyes was magnetic as she slowly nodded.
Victoria returned with a white medical box in one hand and used her other to brace herself on a seatback when the plane lurched into motion. I took the box from her, popped the lid open, and paused. Blood streaked down Kara’s neck, over her collarbone, and soaked her shirt.
“What is it?” she asked.
