Understood by Maya Banks Page A

and dry heaved as her stomach rolled and protested.
    There had been plenty of speculation surrounding Ellie’s divorce from the local golden boy. Lots of stares and whispers but the locals had never had anything to back up their idle murmurings. Until now.
    She forgot about a bath. Breakfast. Jake. Nothing mattered but getting out of the house. The walls were closing around her, stifling her, smothering her.
    She stumbled to the sink and threw cold water on her face. She hastily pulled her hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a rubber band. Then she went into the bedroom to yank on some clothing.
    Ray still stared at her from the TV. She picked up a vase from her dresser and hurled it at the offending image. The vase and the TV screen shattered on impact, and she had the satisfaction of seeing Ray’s face disappear.
    She shoved her feet into a pair of loafers, grabbed her purse from the dresser and headed out to her car. The cool air rushed over her cheeks as she stepped outside. She shivered slightly. She hadn’t stopped to get a jacket.
    Her hands wrapped around the steering wheel. She had no memory of getting into the car or starting it. She backed from her driveway with no sense of direction or purpose. She needed to escape. And so she ran.
    eee
    “He said what?” Jake all but yelled into his cell phone. “You’ve got to be shitting me. If this is some sort of joke, Luke, it ain’t funny.”
    “I wouldn’t fuck with you or Ellie over something like this,” Luke said. “Ellie wasn’t in this morning when I hit the office. I’m hoping you have something to do with that and not Ray.”
    Jake dragged a hand through his hair and started for his truck. “Goddamn. I hope she hasn’t seen it. Not that it fucking matters. It’ll be all over town by tonight.”
    Luke sighed over the phone. “I didn’t see the show, but Gracie did. She called me awhile ago. She said he really did a number on Ellie.”
    “Fuck! That slimy little bastard. I’d like nothing better than to kick his ass right now.”
    “Calm down, Jake. I didn’t call to piss you off. I was hoping you knew where Ellie was and if she was okay.”
    “I’m heading over there now. I told her to take the day off. She was home when I left this morning. Hopefully she’s still there sleeping in.”
    “Okay, man. Let me know if there’s something I can do.”
    “Thanks, Luke.”
    Jake slapped the cell phone shut and shoved it back into his pocket. He closed his eyes and swore. Why now? Why when he was so close to making Ellie happy again did Ray have to wreck everything?
    Even if Ellie hadn’t seen the show, how the hell could he possibly keep her from finding out? They lived in small town, Texas, for God’s sake. It was the small town motto. Know thy neighbor as thy self.
    He got behind the wheel of his truck and drove as fast as he could to Ellie’s. Halfway there, he spotted Wes Hoffman’s squad car. Wes flashed his lights at him as he tore by and Jake flipped him the bird. Luckily it wasn’t a different cop or he’d have been pulled over.
    His cell phone rang a few seconds later. He dug it out of his pocket keeping one hand on the wheel and looked at the LCD screen. Wes.
    “Yeah,” Jake said as he put the phone to his ear.
    “Where you going in such a hurry?” Wes asked. “Be damned glad I met my quota of tickets this month or I’d write your ass up.”
    Usually Jake would have grinned and given him hell right back, but he wasn’t in the mood.
    “It’s Ellie,” he said. “I don’t have time to get into it. If you want the story, holler at Luke.”
    There was a short pause. “Is there anything I can do?”
    “No, but I appreciate it. I’ll talk at you later.”
    Jake hung up and tossed the phone aside. He knew Wes felt a lot of responsibility for what had gone on with Ellie. But it was hardly Wes’ fault. It was the dumbass cop on duty the night Ellie had asked for help. Jeremy and Wes both had been torn up when