Page 36 of Soft Flannel Hank

“Aren’t I innocent until proven guilty? Don’t I deserve to tell you my side of the story before you write me off?”

Hank opened his mouth and closed it just as quickly. Again. He clearly wanted to speak but… didn’t. Esther felt her bottom lip quiver wildly as the tears broke through, fresh and hot. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt the rough brush of his thumb under her eye, sweeping a falling tear away.

His warm, calloused palm cupped her cheek, and she opened her eyes to find him glaring down at her. He leaned in closer, and for a brief moment, Esther thought he was going to kiss her.

While her entire brain was in absolute rebellion, her body, head to toe, wanted him to do just that. Her body wanted him to bend her backwards over his arm and make her forget everything. She wanted that feeling back, the way she’d felt in his arms the other night.Held.

“Get your stuff,” he said, stepping away from her and dropping her arm. His body heat was gone, and her body shivered from its loss. “We’re leaving.”

“What?”

“Pack your stuff. We don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?” she asked. “I’m not leaving with you, Hank.”

“They’re gonna be here as soon as the sun sets which looks to be in about”—he leaned over, peeled back the sheer curtain, and checked outside—“twenty minutes. So get your shit and let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she shouted at him, her senses returning to her now that he wasn’t so near. “You said you’re working with him! How do I know that it’s not some trap?”

He stepped back into her space, crowding her with his big body, but never touching her. In a voice so low that it sounded like quiet thunder miles and miles across the ocean, he said, “Goddammit, Esther, thisisthe trap. Callum’s coming with a team. They’re going to surround this cabin and make sure that, one way or another, you go with them. So the way I see it, you have two choices. You can stay here and wait for them, or you can pack your stuff, get in the truck, and we’ll be gone before they get here.”

“And then what?” she whispered, her fury fizzling away in his close presence.

“Then you’re gonna tell me exactly what the fuck happened.”

“Why the hell should I believe that you won’t just leave me somewhere for them to get me?”

“Because I’m not the one who leaves people, Esther!” he shouted. He immediately clamped his mouth shut so tightly that Esther swore she heard his jaw creak.

She’d never heard him shout before, and the booming thunder in the otherwise silent space was thrilling. She wasn’t afraid of him. She never had been. But the sheer depth of his voice,of him, wasthrilling.Her body was absolutely tingling from that thrill, even as her terror of Callum had made her cold.

He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “I don’t leave people behind, and I don’t let innocent people be hurt if I can help it. So if you are innocent, as you claim, the best chance you’ve got is me. So pack. Your. Shit.”

With that, he turned and went to stand by the front door, peering out the glass and into the rapidly falling darkness.

“Esther,” he barked, when she stayed frozen where she stood. And that was it.

She flew around the cabin, shoving things into her backpack and duffle bag without really thinking. Phone charger, tarot cards, clothes, laptop—all of the belongings that she’d been able to stuff into her small trunk months before.

Within five minutes, she was packed and throwing on a puffy jacket, shoving her feet into her Doc Martins. Hank grabbed her bags from her and stalked out to the truck. She followed, not bothering to tie the laces on her boots.

As the truck roared to life, Esther locked the door to the cabin and ran to the truck, feeling as if she was being watched even though the sun wasn’t down yet. She slammed the truck door behind her, and before she’d even buckled in, Hank was peeling out of the gravel driveway.

Hank had been wrong before. He’d said that she had two choices: to stay and be found by Callum, or to go with him. But she could have left on her own. Packed her Prius and driven. She maybe could have outrun them again, if she’d been quick and clever.

And yet when they’d stood in the living room, his breath sawing out of those big lungs of his, his face looking absolutely distressed by the whole situation, she’d remembered what Shannon had said.“World’s End. You’ll be safe there.”

Esther believed Hank when he said it hadn’t been a lie. You couldn’t fake chemistry like that. Chemistry existed on its own, like gravity, and all you did was interact with it. You certainly couldn’t escape it. She’d been right about that. Maybe Shannon had been right too.

The truck was silent as they drove through the gloaming. Gone was the slow-driving, rule-anticipating man from the other night. This man drove like hell was on his heels.

Which it was.

As Esther looked at him, his features shadowed by the faint remaining light from the dying sun and the green glow of the truck dials, Esther did feel safer than she’d felt in a long time. And so she rested her head against the back of the seat, closed her eyes, and felt the road underneath them as they drove into the uncertain night.

8

MARCH 17, SEVEN MONTHS EARLIER