Chapter 262
KASMINE.
We had to move. There was a tightening in my gut and a pull of dreal that refused to loosen.
I didn’t trust Kester. Perhaps he must have followed us last night without us knowing. Or he even had someone do the following. Maybe that was how he got to know our location.
We had left as soon as Jake returned from getting me some new clothes, a toothbrush, toiletries, and little thoughtful things he knew I’d be needing that made me want to cry because he knew without being told.
See why I had to love Jake? He was gentle in ways I didn’t know I craved. Attentive in moments most people would overlook. He was so kind, loving and caring.
The new motel was small, almost tucked away from the world, sitting quietly on the edge of nowhere, and it was really far from the previous one.
Since we moved here, I felt more at peace. It was almost seven PM, and there have been no calls or texts from Kester yet.
Good.
I shifted beneath the thin motel sheets and winced. My body no longer felt like my own. I was cold and achy. My limbs were heavy Hike I’d been stitched together with lead. The pressure in my head was building, and my stomach twisted with a cocktail of nausea and hunger.
God, I needed help. Real help. A doctor. A hospital. Something stronger than Jake’s kindness and this four–wall cocoon we were hiding in.
“Jake?” I murmured, propping myself up on my elbows. The room tilted slightly. My throat was dry, and my skin felt too tight for my bones.
He didn’t answer immediately.
“Uh… yeah, babe,” he finally said with his voice far off and his eyes still glued to the phone screen while his thumb froze mid–scroll.
He’d been like that since last night. Completely absorbed in whatever was on that phone–his body here, but his mind… somewhere else.
He hadn’t touched me. He barely even offered a smile. Hadn’t even looked me in the eye for more than a second.
And that hurt more than I was ready to admit.
And worst of it all, he seemed… Troubled?
I don’t know, but it seems my hormones are really messing with me. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe he just had some personal stuff to deal with. Maybe… Maybe I just need rest? Food? Medication? Warmth? God, the kind of warmth Jake wasn’t offering.
I felt like yelling and crying already. I was at the peak of my frustration.
“What are you doing You’ve been on your phone all night and all day,” I asked tiredly.
“Uh… It’s… It’s nothing, babe,” He dropped the phone on the bed beside him a little too quickly, like he was guilty. “It’s nothing. Just… personal stuff.” He tried to smile, but the corners of his mouth barely twitched. I saw a bead of sweat form at his temple.
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Chapter 262
He was tense, I could feel it.
“What is going on with you? You’ve not been yourself all day. Talk to me, I sat up and leaned forward, the room spinning just slightly again. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
His jaw was clenched, and his fingers curled tightly into the edge of the mattress.
He was hiding something. And it wasn’t small.
“It’s nothing, honey. Let’s just… What would you like to eat?” He changed the topic.
I didn’t respond to Jake’s change of subject. I just reached for my phone instead, my hands trembling a little. The screen lit up.
I saw one notification. A news headline.
I blinked. Read it again. Karina Wes Karmen was apprehended by the Crisis Intervention Team during a private raid.
I sat up straighter, ignoring the pounding in my skull.
“Jake… Karina,” I said slowly, “she was taken by the CIT.”
He finally turned to look at me with furrowed brows as he reached for the phone, “Shit,” he muttered under his breath. That’s… that’s bad. Really bad.”
There was something in his voice that wasn’t shock or curiosity. It was… resignation.
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