Now or Never

anything. How could she have been so stupid?
    I gave up so much of my life, what made me happy, for Josh. Grayson felt like such a fool.
    Maybe she was the one that needed counseling, she told herself as she slipped both frames in her backpack. Her psycho fiancé carried a gun, for crying out loud, and he had on more than one occasion threatened to kill her and then himself. Why hadn’t she listened to her grandmother? Nanny had told her Josh was no good. Grayson had a feeling she was watching down from heaven, rooting for her to run.
    One more stop in the kitchen, where she yanked a post-it note off the fridge and rummaged in the junk drawer for a pen.
    She bit her lip. What words did you use to say good-bye to a man who’d consistently threatened and abused you?
    Josh,
    I can’t do this anymore. Don’t look for me. We’re done. If you come near me again, I will have a restraining order on you so fast your head will spin.
    G
    Grayson slapped the note to the kitchen table next to a sticky circle of dried beer, took off the engagement ring, and set it on top of the note. He never really wanted to get married. The only reason he’d given her a ring was so everyone would know she was taken.
    Talk about a warning sign. Grayson seriously wanted to smack herself on the head for missing all of these signs.
    She shut off all the lights as she passed through the apartment, grabbed her bag and backpack, and opened the door.
    The moonless, starless night sky seemed to stretch forever beyond the balcony. Grayson took a deep breath of dry, hot air scented with her downstairs neighbor’s flowers.
    With one last look over her shoulder into the darkness she was leaving behind, Grayson pulled the door shut with a bang and didn’t bother to lock it—which would piss off Josh. He hated when she didn’t lock the doors, or clean the dishes right after eating, or…hell, just about anything she did was wrong. She’d never been able to please him—except in the bedroom. The only place they had ever seemed to get along, and even that had lost its appeal long ago.
    Grayson walked with purpose to the staircase. In 3C, she heard canned laughter from the television, and the usual smell of Thai food drifted through the door at 3E. If anyone heard her heavy footsteps on the shared balcony, no one came to the door or peeked through the curtains.
    Just as well. Grayson didn’t want long good-byes or sympathetic eyes from people she barely knew, but who knew what her life had been like in that apartment.
    Her beat-up old Jeep waited in her parking spot, dusty and sun-worn. Grayson tossed her bags in the back before sliding in the driver’s seat.
    A slow smile spread across her face as she pulled out of the lot, signaling to turn left on the highway.
    Goodbye, Arizona.
    She didn’t look back.

CHAPTER 3

    Ten miles down the road, the smile on Grayson’s face disappeared, replaced by absent-minded lip biting. Her eyes flicked between the road and the rearview mirror. Every glimpse she caught of her oval freckled face framed by unbrushed strawberry-blonde hair made her jump; she looked haunted. She looked like a crazy person.
    What if he was watching her now? What if the set of headlights behind her Jeep was his mustang? She wouldn’t put anything past him. He was going to freak when he found out she left him.
    Grayson’s heart seized. She clenched the steering wheel and forced herself to take three big breaths, letting them out slowly and counting the seconds. She was being paranoid. Josh was at work.
    Calm down , she willed herself. You can do this .
    As if right on cue, her phone rang. ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ by Bon Jovi— Josh’s ring tone. Her twin sister had swapped the ring tones on her last visit, over six months ago. She looked down at the illuminated screen and grimaced. Nothing out of the ordinary; he always called to check up on her. It didn’t mean he’d gone home early.
    He doesn’t know .
    She stared at the phone as it vibrated in the cup holder, dancing in a circle around the edge like a living thing. Should she answer it?
    Don’t answer. Her heart rate increased with every ring.
    He called three times, back to back. Halfway through the second time, Grayson switched on the radio and cranked up the music, not even caring what station it was on; some kind of loud, thrashing heavy-metal band. It soon reminded her of Josh, so she quickly changed it.
    When the screen went dark on her phone, she let out a