I pulled my jeans back on.

“Hollis,” I said, very quietly.

“Mmph?” he said, opening his eyes.

“I have to go.”

“What? Wait a minute. Where’s you car?”

“I ran from the motel to your house. I’ll walk back.”

“No, just wait a minute, I’ll run you to the motel. Or you can stay here. I know you don’t like to be alone.”

It wasn’t being alone that made me so antsy. It was being without my brother. But I didn’t want to explain that. “I need to go back to the motel,” I said, as regretfully as I could manage. “I think the lawyer may call me.” Okay, that was a lie, but I was trying to spare his feelings. I had a few things I needed to do, and I’d have free reign to do them when I wasn’t around Hollis, the lawman. He pulled on his uniform swiftly.

“Have you eaten?” Hollis asked practically, as we drove down Main.

“Ah . . . no, I guess not.” I hadn’t even finished the granola bar.

“Then at least let me take you to Subway to get something.”

“That would be good,” I agreed, suddenly aware that I was hungry.

The truck filled with the good smell of the hot chicken sub; my mouth was watering.

When Hollis pulled into the slot in front of my room I hopped out of the truck with the bag containing my sandwich; I wanted to use the glare of his headlights to help me fit the key in the lock. The motel was anything but well-lit. Hollis began backing up as I pushed the door open. I turned to wave at him with one hand while the other hand clutched my bag of food. I could vaguely see Hollis’s arm move as he switched gears to pull out of the lot.

Suddenly, from inside the room there was a grip on my upper arm that spun me around, then I was stumbling into the room and meeting the rug with a speed that was terrifying.

I rolled to my feet and launched myself at my attacker, pushing him right back out the open door. Never let yourself get cornered. You have to fight instantly, I’d found as a teenager, or your opponent has the upper hand; your injuries hurt too much, or you get scared. And you have to go with it with every fiber of your being. Pull, bite, strike, scratch, squeeze; let go completely. If you’re dedicated to hurting someone else, it doesn’t register so much when they hurt you. I hardly felt the two pounding blows the man got in on my ribs before I grabbed his testicles and clamped down, and then I bit him on the neck as hard as I could. He was shrieking and trying to pry me off when Hollis separated us.