Her cell phone rang. Sara didn’t answer. She passed the closed gift shop. Mylar balloons were pressed against the ceiling. The cooler was chained shut. Sara’s phone stopped ringing. Almost immediately, it started back up again. She let it ring out, go to voicemail. There were a few seconds of silence, then the ringing started up again.
Sara checked the caller ID.
JASPER, GA.
Will.
A few hours ago, his phone said he was on the coast. Now, it said he was in the mountains.
Sara answered the call. She fought to keep her tone even. “I can’t talk right now.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital.”
“Upstairs?”
“No.” She wiped away tears. The main entrance was up ahead. The lights from the parking lot gave the lobby an ethereal luminescence. “I’m leaving.”
“To go to the hotel?”
“To go home.” Sara didn’t realize until she’d said the words that they were true. Her purse was locked in the back of her car. The keyfob was in her pocket. The rest of her stuff was at the hotel. She’d brought a change of clothes and some toiletries she kept in her locker at Grady. None of it was worth postponing her escape. The hotel cleaning staff could throw it out or keep it. Sara didn’t care. She would call the front desk on her way out of town.
“Sara?” Will asked.
“I can’t talk.” Her hand was clenching and unclenching. Her teeth ached from grinding them together. “I’ll call you later.”
“Don’t hang up.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do this now.”
“I need you to just stop. Right now.”
“Will, I—”
“Sara, stop walking.”
Sara stopped.
“I need to talk to you.”
Sara looked down at the phone. Then she looked up. How had Will known she was walking? She scanned the empty lobby. “Where are you?”
“I need to tell you what happened.” He sounded desperate. “Not just before, but tonight. Last night.”
She saw him then. He was standing outside the glass entrance doors. He was wearing dark pants and a gray shirt. Sara had seen the uniform before. The hospital maintenance staff wore it.
His hand went up to the glass.
She gave him an out. Insanely, she gave him an out. “You’re working with Faith.”
Will didn’t answer, and Sara finally understood. The rolling phone calls. The undercover assignment he wouldn’t talk about. The guilty look on his face this morning. His refusal to tell her what he was hiding. There was only one reason he would lie to her.
Sara said, “You’re investigating Lena again.”
“No, but she knows I’m here.” Will said, “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”
Sara’s eyes burned with tears. Lena didn’t just know that Will was here. She knew that he’d left Sara completely in the dark.
You always think you’re so damn smart, but you can’t even see what’s right in front of you.
“You asshole,” Sara hissed into the phone. She could still hear Lena’s laughter ringing in her ears. “You let her make a fool of me.”
“I’m sorry.” Will’s hand went up again. He pressed his palm to the glass door. “I didn’t think that far ahead. I didn’t—” He stopped. “I need you to go easy on me, Sara. Please.”
“You lied to me.” Her voice was shaking again. Everything was shaking. She’d blamed herself for pushing him away when all the time Will was the one keeping her at arm’s length. “You looked me right in the face and you lied to me.”
“I didn’t tell you because I thought you would leave me.”
She felt something snap inside of her. “You were right.”
“Sara—”
The pain was too much. She clutched the phone in her hand, wishing she could break it into pieces. And then she realized she could. Sara smashed the phone against the wall. Chunks of plastic and glass popped back into her face. She picked up the pieces and threw them back at the wall.
“Sara!” Will shouted. He was still outside, pulling on the closed glass doors. “Sara!”
What an idiot she’d been. She’d opened her heart to this man. She’d shared her bed with him. She’d told him things she’d never even told her husband.
And he’d given Lena Adams a knife to stab into Sara’s back.
“Sara!” The locks rattled on the closed doors.
She turned away from him, heading back toward the stairs.
“Wait!”
Sara kept walking. She wasn’t going to wait on him. She would never wait on him again. She had to get out of this building. Out of this town. Away from Lena. Away from Will and his lies. There was nothing else Sara could do but run away. She’d been stupid and blind. He’d betrayed her. She had given him everything, and Will had betrayed her.
“Sara!” Will’s voice was louder. He was inside the building.
She quickened her pace. Will’s footsteps pounded through the empty lobby, echoed down the hall. He was coming after her.
Sara started running. She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing his face again. She pumped her arms, lifted her knees. Will’s footsteps grew louder. The door smacked against the wall as she ran into the stairwell. Instead of going up, she went down. The staff locker room would be in the basement. Maintenance. Storage. The morgue. There would be a loading dock or an exit she could use to get the hell out of here.
“Sara!”
She was on the landing when the door banged open above her.
Will yelled, “Wait!”
She tripped, grabbing the handrail as she slid down the last few stairs. Sara pulled open the door. Another hallway. The bright lights were like needles in her eyes.
“Stop!”
Will was already on the landing. He was faster than Sara. She would never make it to the exit without him catching her. Her shoes skidded on the floor as she darted into an open doorway.
“Let me explain! Sara!”
She slammed the door shut, furiously checked for a way to lock it.
The door pushed open. She fell backward. Will grabbed her arm. He jerked her toward him. Sara slapped at him as hard as she could. He caught one of her hands. She punched him with the other one. She hated him. She wanted to scratch out his eyes. To tear his heart out of his chest the way he had torn out hers.
“Sara, please—”
She punched him again. She couldn’t stop. Hitting him felt too good. She slapped his face. Her fingernails drew blood. He caught both of her hands in one of his own. Sara couldn’t break free. He pushed her back against the wall. Her head banged against the cinder block. She brought up her knee, but Will was too close for her to do any damage.
He kissed her. Their teeth clashed. His fingers gripped open her jaw. His tongue filled her mouth. Sara slammed her fist into his chest. He ripped open her jeans. Sara didn’t stop him. She helped him. She felt numb. Every emotion had drained away but one. She was sick of taking care of people. She was sick of being the good friend, of doing the right thing, of letting things go.
Will spit in his hand. It wasn’t enough. Sara gasped as he pushed inside of her. He went deep. Too deep. It took her breath away. Still, she gripped his shoulders, holding tight, meeting each thrust until her body took over and she felt herself give.