Chapter 8
~ Braden ~
Sammie doesn’t stand a chance as far as running away goes. With Eloise in the car, we follow her down the road to the outskirts of town. She tries to hitch another ride, but the rain is coming down harder, and the fact that I’m stalking her with the Benz means no one else has a chance to see her and pull over.
Eloise lowers the window. “Don’t be a doofus. Get in here.”
She walks faster, but her thin white dress with the bright-red spots is getting soaked to the point I can tell she’s not wearing a bra or panties.
“You’re soaked, and you will catch your death of cold,” Eloise shouts. “Why are you acting like a big baby? Get into the car.”
Sammie shakes her head and crosses the street in behind me, going back toward town.
This game has gone too far. Sure, she’s upset because I made her look bad, but why should she care? We have a business deal. It’s not like she’s really my daughter and I’m disappointed in her or anything.
She’s scum. I know it, and she’ll serve my purposes while I provide her with seed money to get back on her feet.
The road’s not busy, so I easily make a U-turn and pull to her side. She wiggles underneath a split-rail fence and darts into the forest.
I pull over and run after her. No way am I losing her over something this stupid. I jump the fence and stretch out my long legs, catching her in a matter of seconds.
“Get away from me.” She struggles when I grab her arm.
“You’re going to get lost. You have no idea where you’re going.”
“Anywhere but with you.” She kicks my shins, but her shoes are so flimsy, one falls off. “You’re a liar.”
“And you’re an ex-con. Who the hell cares? We had a deal,” I yell in her face. “And you’re coming with me to Wyoming.”
“How do I know you’re not human trafficking me?”
“You don’t.” I loop my arm around her torso and fling her over my shoulder. “But if I were one, I’m a pretty shitty one because I took you to a public restaurant and got ourselves videoed.”
Her struggles feel half-hearted. A wiggle here, a slap on the back there, a flutter of her feet when I shove her into the car. I get it. She has no better option than to work with me. Too bad for her.
I slide into the back seat with her and dislodge her backpack. Eloise turns around and rolls her eyes. “Young love. Every little thing means so much. The highs are higher, and the lows are lower.”
I let my old friend think what she wants. She’s going to stare anyway.
I remove my jacket and drape it over Sammie’s shoulders. “You don’t want to be catching a cold so close to Christmas. Now, I’m going to ask you straight out, no games. Do you want to come with me to Wyoming? You can give me an answer when we get to Reno. I’m buying you the clothes I promised, but I’m not paying you a dime.”
Sammie’s teeth are chattering, and her lips are turning blue. She huddles miserably underneath my jacket and looks at me like she’s a wounded animal.
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” she grumbles.
“I’m giving you the choice.” I cup her cheek so she has to face me. “If you want to leave, I’ll drop you off at the bus station and buy you a ticket to wherever you want to go.”
“That’s it?” she asks, shivering underneath my jacket. “You’ll just let me go? No questions asked?”
“Pretty much. There are other ways to catch Mitch, now that I know he’s in California. It won’t be easy for him to leave the country. Everyone’s alerted, especially with the videos taken by all the people at the restaurant.”
“Are you saying you won’t need me?” Now she’s sounding forlorn and deflated.
“I would like you to help me with my family, but that’s up to you.” I rifle in her backpack and pull out the sweatshirt and baggy jeans. “Put these on. At least they’re dry.”
I know she needs time to think, and her pride won’t let her accept my offer right away. I get out of the back seat and into the driver’s seat.
Eloise gives me a thumbs-up and smiles. I can tell she’s proud of the way I handled the situation.
