“Where are we?”
“Detour,” she said. “There was someone on my tail.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. But then the vehicle stopped suddenly. Winnie put it in park and shut it off, jumping out, then wrenching my door open.
“Hurry,” she whispered, grabbing my arm.
It wasn’t easy getting out of the position I was in, but I did, and my feet hit dirt. I froze as Winnie tried to pull me with her.
“Forest, let’s go. I have to get you to safety.”
“This isn’t the safe house.”
“I know. It’s the only other place I could think to go. We were being followed. I didn’t want to lead them to Jordan’s place.” While that made sense, something in the back of my head told me not to go with her, to run in the opposite direction. There were no shoes on my feet though. I had no phone. I was barely clothed and had no idea where I was.
Instead, I looked into Winnie’s eyes, saw the tears shimmering there that I did before and the way they begged me to go with her. I did. I let her pull me deeper into the woods, where there was another vehicle waiting, a dark colored sedan.
I stopped, causing her to look back. “Forest, come on.”
“No, I’m not getting into that.”
The car was already running, the lights off. This had all the makings of how I finally left this planet.
A stick snapped behind me, but before I could turn around, the barrel of a gun was pressed to the back of my head. I didn’t need to look to understand what it was. I’d seen enough guns; I had witnessed Sheldon cleaning his. There was only one thing this could be. My arms were pulled hard behind my back before cool metal met them, and I was handcuffed.
“Listen to her, Forest,” a cold male voice said. “If you don’t, more than you will die today.”
My eyes held Winnie’s. She started to shake, visibly terrified as she begged me with a soft, “Please.”
What were my options? Death or go with them. I didn’t want to be killed. I had to stay alive. That was what Sheldon would want me to do if I couldn’t fight my way out of it, especially while handcuffed.
I put one foot in front of the other.
“Very nice,” that voice said. “In the back seat with him, Winnie.”
She opened the door and got in first. I slid in, not taking my eyes off her, even as the door closed and the man got behind the wheel. She did this to me. She made me leave the building. Who knew how many were killed to get me out?
“Why?” I asked. I didn’t care that the man would hear or that I sounded vulnerable. I had to know.
Before she could answer, the man did. “Her boyfriend is my hostage. And your boyfriend killed my husband. The only way for me to get back at him was to get someone on the inside. There’s no other way into that fucking building,” he growled. “So I took someone Winnie loves, so she could get a job and get you the fuck out of there to lure Sheldon right where I want him.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Shut the fuck up,” the man yelled. “You don’t get to say shit. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you yet. Your job is done. You did your part.”
“Let Stephen go.”
“Not until I have Sheldon and his blood runs over my hands.”
“You don’t even know for sure he killed Tripp.”
“I was there as they were leaving, as Sheldon wiped blood from his fingers. They didn’t see me, but I saw them. I watched as they put Tripp in a bag and loaded him into a truck. There was nothing I could have done. He was already gone, and I couldn’t fight them. I’ll get my revenge. One way or another, I’m going to kill someone. I hope you’re ready to die, Forest. Once I have Sheldon in my sights, you’re going first, so he knows what it feelslike to lose the person he loves. Then I’m going to do to him what he did to Tripp.”
My throat felt like it was swelling shut. This couldn’t be happening. Obviously, I knew Sheldon had killed people, but I thought they were always careful. How did they not notice someone watching them?
It didn’t matter. What did was keeping Sheldon away. I just didn’t know how.
31
