Page 41 of Nowhere To Hide
Twenty-Six
Charlie
We finished our showerand got dressed.The day had been so much fun, but I was beyond exhausted.I put on my favorite pajamas and brushed my hair, thankful for the hot shower and delicious sex.Axel had been just as good as I had imagined he would be, and I couldn’t wait to be with him again.
I brushed my hair and put on lotion, setting the bottle on the cramped table Axel had given me to store my stuff, when I bumped my purse and knocked it to the floor.I bent down to pick it up, tossing stuff inside when I noticed several notifications on my phone.
My brow scrunched as I stared at it as Axel walked over, tilting his head as he studied me.
“What’s wrong?”
“I dropped my purse, and my phone fell out.It shows I have several missed calls and text messages,” I replied, swallowing hard when I noticed the features change drastically on his face.
“Did you have your phone with you today when we went to Timber Falls?”
I nodded, trying to keep my lip from trembling when he closed his eyes and tipped his head back in frustration.
“I’m sorry.I didn’t know it was a big deal.I just took it in case we needed it.Like if we had an emergency and got stuck on the side of the ride or something.”I threw my hands in the air helplessly as I struggled to figure out what had happened.“What did I do wrong?”
“Nothing,” he assured me as he opened his eyes and rubbed his hands soothingly up and down my arms.“You didn’t do anything wrong.Your husband did.I did.”
He shook his head as he pulled away and looked at the phone still in my hands.
“What are you talking about?How didyoudo something wrong?All you’ve done since I got here is protect me and take care of me.”
“Because I got distracted, just like Jo warned me not to.I was so caught up in taking you to get the stuff we needed that I didn’t think about the dangers involved.The cell service here sucks, so I haven’t been too worried about them tracking you here.But Timber Falls is a bigger town with great reception, which means we gave them a prime window to track your location.”
My heart sank as I listened, realizing how grave my mistake was.
“Shit.”
He nodded and pressed his lips together as he paced in front of me with his hands on his hips.
“Who are the missed calls from?”he asked.
I lifted my phone and stared at it, fear keeping me from unlocking the screen and finding out what was waiting for me on the other side.
“Do you want me to look?”he offered softly.
