I never thought I would literally be right in the middle of this. But there’s no way I can let Ethan be there, too. Or Teeny.
“I understand.”
“Tyler, go get the car ready.”
Tyler obviously doesn’t want to leave the room with me still here, but eventually he does.
The second he’s gone from the room, Thomas takes a step closer to me and squats down to where I’m hovering at the floor. “I don’t trust you. At all. And just so we’re on the same page, you will deliver Ethan and Elena to your friend and come right back. To the best of my abilities, I will see that they get out of town unharmed.” He pulls a phone from his pocket and taps on the screen. “And just so we’re clear with one another, please take a look at this.”
He holds the phone in front of my face and I drop the rest of the way to the floor. It’s a picture of my mother. She’s sitting in a chair outside, head thrown back, soaking up the sun.
She looks beautiful.
I run my finger over the screen, “When was this taken?”
“Today. At the facility in Baton Rouge where she’s recovering. If you try to run, I will not only retrieve you, Ethan, and Elena, I’ll make a stop and pick your mother up as well. And I will make Mateo seem tender.”
Ethan is out of the shower and finishing the rest of the po’boy when I get back to the room.
“Where have you been?” he says with a mouthful of sandwich.
“Working on a way to get us out of here. Tyler is sneaking us out; do you think you’re up for that?” I hope they can’t see the panic I’m feeling inside. I can’t get the picture of Mom out of my head. She looks so good. And healthy. I’m sickened to think Thomas has someone there, watching her.
Ethan’s immediately suspicious and I don’t blame him. “Just like that, he’s going to help us?”
I hand him some clothes I got from Tyler since Ethan’s clothes are ruined. He eyes the T-shirt and hoodie but doesn’t say anything about them or ask where they came from.
“This has gone further than he thought it would. He thinks we’re better off to stay here, but he agrees that it should be our decision. And he feels especially bad about Teeny—he didn’t know she would be involved. If we want to leave he’ll help us, but we only have a short amount of time to do it.”
It’s weak but I’m hoping that, in his half-concussion state, he goes with it.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Teeny says, then moves toward the door. “But where are we going? That man is still out there.”
“He’s going to drop us off near the club where hopefully Will is still hanging out. Then we’re getting out of town.”
“No, I don’t buy it.”
I sit beside him on the bed. “I’m playing him. He thinks I trust him. He’s trying to act like a hero for me.”
And there is some truth to that, but Ethan will probably never speak to me when he realizes I’m lying to him, again. At least he will be alive. And hopefully out of this mess.
I help Ethan get his arm inside the hoodie and I can tell it hurts him. A lot.
Once he’s ready, I stare at the potted plant. I need the gun.
I grab it quickly and try to shove it in the pocket of my jacket, but it’s too long and sticks out.
“Unscrew the silencer,” Ethan says as he walks toward me. “If we need to fire this, we definitely want people to hear it.”
I do as he suggests and the gun fits perfectly in my pocket.
“You’ve come a long way with this. I’m really proud of you.”
I smile at him and pray he forgives me when this is all over.
We leave the room through the balcony doors and head down the outside steps.
“Where’s Thomas?” Ethan asks.
