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"You’ve got to be" I want to launch my phone at the wall Instead, I type out:
He orried about you so he hit you?
No He wanted his pinstripe suit laid out for a breakfastand he expected his wife to be hoh quickly after:
You can’t say anything, Jesse It won’t end well for either of us
Tossing my phone on the far end of the bed, I stor Boone’s door open "Do you know that the fker beats his wife?"
Boone, on the floor in nothing but shorts, pauses mid-crunch He never ym I’ve seen him come home from the bar annihilated and drop for a hundred reps "Who?"
"Your man crush, Viktor Fuckhead Petrova"
He flops to the floor and reaches back to give Licks a belly rub By the ainst his abdoht "Are you surprised? You saw him slap her at the bar"
"Sowhat? You think it’s okay?"
"Of course I don’t, but what the hell am I supposed to do?" He scowls at ht"
Boone just stares at me
I throw my hands in the air "What?"
"Nothin’, et heated about anyone before You usually don’t give a fk" He starts in on his crunches again "Why doesn’t she leave him?"
"She’s twenty-two, Boone She thinks she’s trapped"
"Trapped with a whole lot of fancy shit," he puffs out
"The guy treats her like a servant and he hits her Sheon his elbows, regardingan even biggerwith Viktor Petrova’s ill not end well for you, my friend" He shakes his head, his"Justwith Alex," I lie
His brow pops up "She goes by Alex now?"
"Alex, Alexandria Whatever The point is" What is the point? Viktor beats his wife andwhat? "The point is don’t ever repeat any of this to Rust or anyone else because he will probably hurt her for it"
"Repeat what? I didn’t hear shit" He rolls over onto his stohtly ain and I don’t kno to respond to her just yet, other than to say, "Call the police and leave the assle" My gut tellshi off round for h I figure I’ll just keep going until I can work this shit out in ht, facedown on the floor besideno answer
TWENTY
Water
now
The old Chevy truck co halt on the now familiar dirt road
I check the dashboard All needles point down
This isn’t good
A glance in the rearview mirror confirms that I’m alone I’m not surprised I’m about seven miles from home, surrounded by fields and trees I rarely ever pass anyone out here
Reaching down, I turn the key to "off" and then try to crank the engine again All I get in return is a clicking sound I flop back against the bench with a heavy sigh
Ginny’s truck is dead
And I’ve got the week’s groceries sitting in the back It’s too far to carry the has been better lately I check et hoet dinner in front of Ginny in time, and I can’t even call her to warn her, because she doesn’t have a phone Thank God for neighbors
I dig my cell phone out of my purse to call Amber It isn’t until I see the blank screen that I ree it at work earlier "Da wheel in frustration I’ve been so good about plugging it in for the afternoon
Until today
Because today, all I could focus on was that low, hypnotic rhyth in my stomach
It’s a clue I know it
I lied to Dakota I told her I loved trance I pleaded with her to keep it playing all day, desperate for a bigger sliver of insight--a flashback, a clearer feeling
But all the incessant er, nore
And now I’m stuck on an old dirt road with a broken truck and no phone
I restto freak When she says she wants dinner at six o’clock sharp, it’s not just an expression It took lued to the minute hand of her watch and if heras dinner without meat in Ginny’s eyes--doesn’t hit the table on ti
It’s notwas running by the grace of God and nothinga rattling sound, like soine I ot oing to get to work tomorrow? Dakota needs me there It’s the first Saturday that the farmers’ oing to get home?