Escaping Reality

brown hair loose around his shoulders, and that familiar
    feeling roars through me more powerfully than ever. He motions for me to
    join him and I hold up a finger, then grab my coffee and join him, claiming
    the empty seat next to him. “I’ve been worried about you,” he insists.
    “After that guy dragged you from Earl’s, I wasn’t sure what to think.”
    “He’d had a family emergency and was worried about losing it in the
    bar.”
    His eyes narrow. “That’s your story and you’re sticking with it, right?”
    “It’s my story because it’s true.”
    He closes his laptop and sets it aside, and my gaze catches on his
    University of Texas graduation ring. And I know now why Jared is familiar. I
    must have seen the ring, and my subconscious registered it when I did not.
    He has a connection to my brother and an image of Chad flashes in my
    mind. My fingers dig into my leg. I see his face. I actually see his face.
    “You look like you saw a ghost,” Jared comments, and I jerk my gaze
    to his.
    “You went to UT?” I ask, and I sound strange, but I feel strange, too.
    Jared glances at his ring. “I did. Why do you ask?”
    “Way back when, I considered attending.” Because I wanted to
    follow in my brother’s footsteps and convince my father I was as good as
    Chad.
    “Why didn’t you?”
    “New York was home so it made more sense.” It’s a lie I tell easily. I
    don’t like this connection I have to Jared, but it seems he wouldn’t wear the
    ring if he wanted to hide it.
    “How long ago did you graduate?” I ask, trying to find out if he could
    be linked to my brother.
    “I’m twenty-eight if that’s what you want to know.”
    Chad would be thirty now. “I’m twenty-four.”
    “So, not long out of school,” he observes.
    “A few years.”
    “What did you study?”
    “Nothing exciting. Business. How does someone get into hacking?”
    “Generally by getting into trouble. I had a knack and did a few
    high-profile hack jobs just to prove I could. A narrow miss with the law and
    a close family friend shook me up.” He sips his coffee and I do the same.
    “You don’t seem to be staying at the apartment.”
    “You just keep missing me. I’ve been in and out early and late.” I
    push to my feet. “I need to run. Good seeing you.”
    “Good seeing you too, Amy. Maybe I’ll catch up to you again soon.”
    I step onto the street, and all I can think is what looks like a goldfish
    in the pond could be a shark swimming at my feet. Nothing is right and
    everything is wrong. I think I need to leave before I pull Liam into the
    quicksand that is swallowing me. But if I leave, I’m not sure he will look for
    me, even if it’s only out of obligation, and he will put himself at risk. I don’t
    know what to do. I need a plan, but my mind just keeps flashing an image
    of the graduation ring on Jared’s hand, blocking out everything else. The
    connection between him and my brother seems too coincidental. They
    could have been in school together. But what about the empty offices at
    Evernight?
    The pinching sensation in my forehead begins. I speed up and head
    for the hotel, certain I need to get out of public and fast. I manage to get to
    the hotel elevator when I see a flash of my brother’s face. So clear. So
    perfect, when I’ve not been able to picture him for years. That’s how
    powerfully Jared’s ring has impacted me.
    Leaning on the wall, I will away the image of my brother I’d
    otherwise welcome, praying I make it to the room without collapsing. My
    hand shakes as I swipe the key across the security panel and then shove
    open the door. I make a beeline to the safety of the bed and lie down. My
    cell phone rings but the spots are before my eyes and I see only darkness.
    “Where’s your mother?”
    Lying on the bed on my belly, a book in front of me, I jump at the
    unexpected, unfamiliar harshness of my father’s voice and find him in my
    doorway. “I don’t know. She left a while ago.”
    “How long ago?”
    “A few hours.”
    “Be more specific, Amy. You know I like details.”
    The sound of an engine and tires on gravel signals her arrival and he
    is already gone, stomping down the stairs. I rush to the window, parting the
    curtains to see him yank her out of the car and shove her against the door. I
    gasp and press my hand to my mouth. My father has never touched any of
    us. Their voices lift, loud enough to echo through the air, and be heard by
    neighbors, but