“I couldn’t take a chance he’d get free.”
He turned to the man on the floor with blood leaking from his nose. I didn’t feel a single bit sorry for what Ford had done to him.
“Who sent you?” Ford asked, voice commanding and deep and… well, it did things to me that were definitely not appropriate for the situation.
I leaned against the side of the barn, trying hard to catch my breath.
The man remained silent, face stoic as he stared at a nonexistent point above him.
“Who sent you?” Ford roared as he kicked the man hard in the stomach.
He grunted and tried to curl in on himself.
“I have nothing to say. Kill me,” was his response.
I walked to the back of the barn. The tarp was off the ATV and the key was now in the seat.
For a second, I let myself smile at the warm feeling in my chest. Ford came back for me. Even though I was mad at him for doing it, I still couldn’t help but fall for him a little harder.
I started up the ATV. The headlights were bright as I drove straight for the man. His eyes grew wide and I saw the panic lock up his whole body under those bindings.
I came to a halt right in front of him, skidding just enough that I bet he’d pissed his pants.
Ford’s eyes were on me as I slid out of the seat. I didn’t look at him, afraid of what I’d see on his face. This was a side of me I didn’t let out often, and I never enjoyed doing it. He said he didn’t see a monster in me, but would he after this?
I grabbed the section of rope looped around the guy’s ankles, turning his body around and dragging him to the back of the ATV. He was wiggling and grunting, but I had him beat. With all emotions and feelings tucked away, I looped the rope around the hitch on the back.
Without a word, I got into the seat again and started rolling forward.
“Fuck!” the man called out.
I hit the gas, going a little faster for a minute before easing off.
“Stop! Stop!” he screamed.
Ford jogged up behind the ATV.
“Who sent you?” he asked. His steps became eerily paced as he matched my super slow speed.
“I don’t know his name!” he yelled. I hit the brakes. “I never dealt with him. Clancy took the job, he’s the only one that’s been in contact with him.”
“What was the deal?” Ford asked.
I couldn’t really see what was going on, but I had my foot on the gas, ready to go when I felt it was the right time.
When he remained silent, I figured my services were needed.
I tapped the gas. His scream rang out into the night air.
“To kill you and leave you there for the FBI to find,” he nearly cried. “Clancy said he’s some big hotshot for the FBI and that if we do this job, we’ll be like fucking ghosts if they ever catch on to us. The guy said he could erase everything.”
All this shit I’d more or less figured out already. We were wasting time, and that was something we didn’t have given that our location had been compromised. Which reminded me…
“How did you know where to find us?” I yelled to the back of the ATV.
“He told us your location.” The guy spit. “He said he knew for sure you’d be there, that he had… uhh, an informant or something.” I hit the gas again. “Ah! Something about a location from a phone. That’s all I know!”
I caught Ford’s eyes. He looked like he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that Violet had sold him out.
