At All Costs Read Online Free Page A

“They’ve got me on some bullshit assault charge, but I think Lucas Banks is talking them into letting me go.”
    There was something in the measured pace of Jake’s words that ended the disastrous scenarios whirling through Carolyn’s head. He was trying to tell her something without telling her, but she’d missed it in her burst of panic. She wrestled with her mind to bring order to the random flurry of useless thoughts. They’d planned for this moment, practiced even, though not in a long while. Everything was in her head somewhere, but she was having trouble making it come back.
    “I—I’m sorry, Jake,” she said, steadily gaining control. “Say that again.”
    Now she could hear the smile in his voice. He knew now that she’d know what to do. “I said, I’m here on assault charges, but I think they’ll be letting me go.”
    An endless list of questions fought to paralyze Carolyn’s brain, but she pushed them aside. Only one thing mattered now. “Are you being charged with anything?” Now, that question turned some heads.
    “Yes. But only with the assault. They’ve already fingerprinted me, but Lucas Banks said they should be letting me go soon. Own recognizance, if he gets his way.”
    It didn’t make sense, but she knew that Jake would not misspeak under these circumstances. She had no idea who Lucas Banks was, or why he’d be helping Jake, but none of that mattered much right now. It was time to fight or flee.
    “So you should be home?” she asked. Suddenly, she was precisely aware of every word she uttered.
    “Why don’t you just go on with your usual day, and I’ll catch up with you.”
    “Usual?” Clearly, Jake couldn’t talk, but she still had to be sure.
    “Yeah, usual. You know, what you’ve always planned to do today.”
    Got it, she didn’t say. “And you?”
    “Do what you’ve got to do,” he urged. “And if I get hung up here and can’t meet you, then you might have to pick up some slack for me. You’ll know.”
    And that was it. The nightmare had begun. She felt ill, and for just a short moment, she wondered if she might throw up right there on the CSR’s burnt-orange suit. With nothing left to be said, she paused before hanging up. “Jake?” she said softly.
    “Yeah, I know,” he said. “I love you, too.”

    Everyone stared. Not just the customer service reps—and God knew they had a right—but everybody in the store. She’d see them looking away just as she turned to lock eyes with them. Somehow they all knew. Was that even possible?
    Of course not. You’re just being paranoid.
    She felt the panic welling up from somewhere deep in her gut, and she did her best to will it away. Suddenly, her mind was blank. There were a thousand things to do, but she couldn’t remember a single one of them.
    One step at a time, she told herself. Step one: get the hell out of here.
    Where was her purse? In her rush to answer the phone, she’d left it in the drawer under the cash register. She considered leaving it there, until she remembered that it held her car keys.
    Their plan started to come back to her. First she’d go get Travis out of school, then . . .
    “Oh, my God!” She said it at a whisper, but loudly enough to draw the attention of a shopper at the cosmetics counter.
    “Are you okay, dear?” the woman said.
    The field trip! Carolyn just looked at her, then quickened her pace. Oh, God . . . Oh, God . . .
    There was a way to do this; there had to be. Nothing was going per plan— nothing. But that was okay as long as no one panicked. She’d just have to change the order of things a bit. There was plenty of time to think. Plenty of time. Okay, so how come she couldn’t make her brain work?
    “Where have you been?” Phyllis snapped as Carolyn returned to her workstation. “I hope you told your husband that this is a place of business, not some—what are you doing?”
    Carolyn hip-nudged Phyllis from in front of the cash register and removed her purse