“H-how old are you two?” I ask, realizing that I’m shivering right along with her.
“I just turned eighteen.”
“Nineteen.”
I nod, then Abigail and I shut the doors and hop in. I’ve got a million more questions, but my first priority is to get these kids out of here, so I start the engine. Just as I’m about to put the SUV in drive, a man comes running toward us, violently rocking the vehicle as he slams his body against the panel, screaming the girls’ names.
He runs up to the driver’s side window, glaring at me as he wields a bat. Seconds later, he’s swinging it at the back window, causing the kids to jump and start crying. I fumble with the shifter before getting it together enough to jam it into drive. We peel off, fishtailing in such a way that the SUV bumps him, hard. Trust me when I say I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, he’s getting up slowly, standing in the middle of the road, backlit by the meager streetlights, baseball bat firm in his grip. Silas Wayne Blake looks like the stuff of nightmares.
A shot rings out, pinging the bat in Blake’s hand and pulling it from his grip.Rafi. I can’t believe he found anything in this weather. Blake races off the side of the road, disappearing into the tree line. Thane and the twins bust out of the house and start running full out toward him, following him into the trees. God, it looks like it’s ten o’clock at night, not three in the afternoon. My heart drops into my stomach as muzzle flashes light up the woods as the scene gets tinier and tinier in my rearview mirror.
That guy was fucking insane, and following him into the woods with low visibility wasn’t going to end well for anyone. But, with the increasingly terrible weather, the darkening skies, and the precious cargo in this vehicle, I drag my focus back to the road.
My phone goes off and I gesture at Abigail to answer it.
“Speakerphone.”
She complies, and Thane’s deep voice filters across the line. “He had an ATV. We don’t know where he’s going, but we’re double-timing it back to our vehicle. Drive the speed limit; only speed up if you see him. Avoid contact at all costs, we don’t know if he had guns hidden within the vehicle. We’ll be caught up with you in just a few minutes. Copy?”
Come on, DB. Put me in the field. It’ll be good experience.
I’m Bruce Willis in the ventilation shaft right now, questioning my life choices. I thought I knew what the fuck I was doing in East Texas, but I didn’t have any choice then. Turns out, knowingly walking into a dangerous situation, rather than having one thrust upon you, is an entirely different kettle of corn.
Zero out of ten, do not recommend.
“Um, Ro? Were you saying something? Did you copy?”
Abigail side-eyes me and tilts her head at the phone.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry. Copy. Go the speed limit unless I need to aim this tank at his ass and take him off the map.”
“No. Aim your vehicle at the road and out run him. He can only hit maybe fifty on that engine.”
“Got it.”
Fine. But if he runs out in front of me, I’m hitting the gas.
I know they’ll circle back around to this guy, but we need to get these kids to a safe place, so I push aside everything and keep an eye on the road while Abigail watches out for Blake.
As promised, Thane’s SUV catches up with us, taking over the lead as we drive out to the resource center. There’s terrible traffic as we cross the I-35 bridge through downtown Austin, but we get through it with minimal cursing. I check the rearview mirror, and the young woman I spoke with is awake, stroking the little girl’s hair.
“That’s your daughter, right?”
“Yes.”
“And Silas Blake is the father?”
“Yes.”
“Did he kidnap you?”
She shakes her head. “He became my friend. Then said he wanted to be my boyfriend. I was so impressed by him. Turns out, he bought me from my mother.”
“How old were you?”
“Fourteen. He planned on re-selling me, but then I got pregnant.”
