No Shelter Left novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: You Haven't Done It Yet

Jude was awake and dressed when she came in, sitting on the edge of the mattress with his shoes in his hand.

"I heard the door," he said. "I heard a woman's voice. I didn't know if I should come out."

"You shouldn't have."

"I know." He set the shoes down. "Where have you been?"

She held out her phone with the post on the screen.

He read it standing up. His mouth went hard, and then he looked at her face, and the hardness went out of his.

"That's Kaitlyn," he said. "She was here."

"She was here for two hours."

"What did she want?"

Aisling sat on the floor with her back against the wall, because her legs had decided for her.

"I have to tell you something," she said. "And you won't believe it, and then I'm going to tell you how I know it's true."

"Tell me."

She told him.

She started with the interstate and kept going, because stopping would have meant starting over.

She told him about the dark place, and the voice, and the numbers under her left sleeve.

She told him about the rule, the list in her notebook, and the chord chart that had cost her eleven days.

She told him what Kaitlyn had said on the landing.

He did not interrupt once.

When she got to the road, her voice thinned out.

"There was a man in the car behind ours," she said. "He got out, and he ran. He ran straight to Kaitlyn. I put my hand up and he never looked back."

Jude had gone very still.

"Who?"

"You."

The room was quiet.

"That wasn't me," he said.

"It was."

"I haven't done anything like that."

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