“Yeah.” He watched me intently. “Where would that be? What about your sister? You care more for her than you do me.”
“No, I don’t,” she cooed to her son. “I love you.” She touched his face. “Please, let them go. I’ll take the blame.”
“Not a chance, Mom. You can’t grow a pair now. It’s too late. Drew will cut off my balls, and he won’t hesitate to slice out your heart.”
I hadn’t given Sabine enough credit because her next move was shocking. She yanked the gun from his hip—or tried to.
Harris fought off his mother, giving Fran and me enough time to flee.
34
GRACE
Fran and I flew down the porch steps, both of us huffing and puffing.
We dodged a For Sale sign as we circled the porch then leaned against the house to duck out of sight. I held my hand over my heart, breathing in and out, as Fran squeezed my hand.
“If we get out of this,” she said between breaths, “I’ll never trust another human being again.”
I knew that feeling so well.
I searched as far as I could—through the trees, rain, and darkness. The weather wasn’t our friend, and neither was the night. It was darker than the inside of a closed wooden box. I should know. John had used one for the girls who disobeyed him. I won that luxury a time or two.
The box was six feet by three feet. No light filtered in from the dank cellar, just air through the small holes in the wood. John would leave me in there for better than a day, with only splinters, darkness, and the sound of my own breathing for company.
My chest constricted. The rain-soaked forest blurred, replaced by wooden walls closing in. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’tmove. Girls had been trapped then. Girls were trapped now, and then there was me, always trapped, always failing to save?—
Thunder cracked, the sound jolting me like an electric current.
Rain dripped down my face. Trees swayed in the wind. Open space. I could move. I could breathe.
“Listen to me, Fran. I want you to go for help. Follow the directions Sabine gave us.”
“I can’t leave you.” She flicked rain from her face.
“You can. You will. You’re strong. You are your father’s daughter. You have fight in you. Find a phone then call the authorities. I need to free the girls in the barn.”
Since I knew Josh was like his father, he would do something drastic to the girls to punish me.
“Grace, you can’t do this alone,” Fran said. “Where will you get the keys? There are ten girls in there.”
I peered around the corner of the house. With the rain coming down and the wind blowing, it was hard to see much, but the coast was clear. No human figures were in sight, and I heard no breathing or voices.
“Fran, I will do my best to free them. If I can’t, I’ll be right behind you.”
I could hear Brian’s raspy voice in my head—“you’re strong and resilient.”I latched on to those words as the encouragement I needed to push forward.
“Grace, I won’t lie,” Fran said. “I’m scared.”
I turned around to face her. “I know.” I kissed her on the forehead. “I am, too, but we have to do this.”
Out in these woods, we had so many odds against us. Men were about to hunt us. Sex-starved men who were far more dangerous than the storm and the darkness.
“Go, please, Fran. It won’t be long before Josh learns we’re not in that room.”
The barn was down a path east of the house, and Fran had to head north. She hugged me tightly, finally giving in to my demand. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Tell your dad I’m sorry.”
