“Thank you for calling 9-1-1. All of our operators are busy right now—”

Were they kidding me? I ended the call and tried again.

Same message.

I wanted to scream and throw the phone, but that would give away where I was.

As an introvert, I didn’t know my neighbors or their numbers. Who could I call?

Jonah Steel. He would help me. So I dialed his number. It rang once, twice, three times… The intruder was in my room now, still shuffling around. The phone was still ringing in my ear. Jonah hadn’t picked up, and I dared not leave a message on his voice mail. The intruder might hear me. At least he would see I had called. Maybe he would try to call me back. I put the ringer on silent just in case.

I tried 9-1-1 once more and got the same message. No one was going to help me. I was truly alone.

I would have to help myself. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I looked around my closet. There was nothing to use as a weapon except for my shoes. Right then, I wished I were a shoe whore and that I had some sharp stilettos that I could use to gouge an intruder’s eye out.

But not me. Not frugal Melanie Carmichael, who wore cotton bras and panties and who thought six hundred and seventy-five dollars was too much to pay for an emerald-green nightgown. Of course I had no sharp stilettos. They were too expensive and nonfunctional.

I grabbed a brown suede pump with a kitten heel. It would have to do. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself not to cry.

I had to be strong. I longed to stand and shed the towel that covered my body, to put on some clothes, but I didn’t dare move.

I felt exposed, open to violation.

Nine-one-one had deserted me. Jonah had deserted me. Valleycrest Hospital had deserted me.

And now—

The doorknob on my closet door turned ever so slightly.

Chapter Thirty–One

Jonah

Talon and I were ready to go before dinner. I drove over to the main house in my BMW. He was packed and ready to go and was giving his dog, Roger, a pat on the head when I walked in the door.

“Don’t you guys want to stay and eat something first?” Jade asked.

“No,” Talon said. “We just want to get going.”

I nodded. “Yeah, now that I know where to go to get some information, I can’t wait to get started. We’ll pick up something on the way.”

“I understand.” She gave Talon a quick kiss on the lips. “Drive carefully, okay?”

“We will, blue eyes,” Talon said.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I pulled it out.

Melanie.

I was no longer interested in what she had to say. She was no doubt calling to apologize for freaking out and leaving without saying good-bye earlier today. I wasn’t in the mood to accept her apology. She didn’t want to be here with me, and I had no use for her at the moment. Right now, my brother needed me, and I would always have my brother’s back. It was the least I could do after failing him that one fateful day.

“You need to take a call?” Talon asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing important. Let’s get on the road.”

Talon took the first driving shift while I made a call to a hotel in Denver and got a reservation. We would arrive there around midnight. We’d have plenty of time to sleep before we met Wendy at ten o’clock the next morning at her mother’s house in Denver.

“Joe?”

I looked up at my brother. He was staring straight at the road. “Yeah?”

“Seriously, what was Dr. Carmichael doing naked in the pool with you?”

I wasn’t in the mood to beat around the bush. “What do you think she was doing?”

Talon grinned. “So you and the doc are an item?”

I cleared my throat. “No. I’m not ready for anything like that, and neither is she.” Clearly, since she hadn’t been able to leave my home fast enough.

“Jonah—” my brother said.

He never called me Jonah. Always Joe. Something serious was about to go down.

“You always try to do what’s best for everybody else. Don’t you think it’s time to do something for yourself?”

“And banging Melanie Carmichael is supposed to be for me?” I rolled my eyes.

“No, I’m not talking about ‘banging.’ I’m talking about something more. I never thought I was capable of having a relationship, but then Jade arrived in my life like a hurricane. She whirled around me and wouldn’t let me go, and she’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I know. I’m really happy for you.” And I was. My brother’s happiness meant everything to me.

“Good. Be happy for me. And part of being happy for me means you can stop worrying about me. I’m healing. I have Jade. I have a relationship that makes me happy—so happy it’s sickening, really. So stop feeling like you have to be responsible for me.”

If only it were that easy. Trying to see Melanie Carmichael as a therapist hadn’t worked. I hadn’t been able to keep my mind on anything other than her.

But maybe I could see another therapist.

And maybe not.

The truth of the matter was, I didn’t want to talk to anyone except Melanie, but I feared she had her own issues now. And her behavior today had made it clear exactly what she thought of me. I thought again about the phone call she had made to me earlier. Maybe I should’ve picked it up. But I was a little too angry with her to deal with her right now.

She didn’t want to deal with me when I was angry. No one did.

“It’s not that easy, Talon.”

“Don’t you think I know that? If anyone knows that things aren’t always easy, it’s me. Believe me, if I can get through this shit, you can.”

“If I had been doing my job, you wouldn’t have gone through any of it.”

“Oh, for God’s sake. When was it your job to keep your eyes on me every minute? I had my own mind, you know.”

“You were ten. You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“And you were twelve.”

“A few days from my thirteenth birthday.”

“So fucking what? You were a kid, Joe. A kid. Get that through that thick skull of yours.”

“I was the oldest. I was supposed to keep my eye on you two.”