Anthony had to agree. He mentally kicked himself for the time they had spent driving to the other side of the state, following the wrong trail. They should have waited to get confirmation from Mickey about theaddress.
The last rays of sun peeked here and there between the lush trees. By now, the maps on their phones were useless, not tracking their location or the road they were on. For all Anthony knew, they may have driven past the house earlier, yet he hadn’t noticed anywhere he could have turned.
“I’m stopping at the next place I see,” he said. “We need directions. I’m driving blind.”
“Maybe you should stop now to rest. I can see you’re getting tired.”
“I’m not sure.” He was dying to shut his eyes and sleep for twenty minutes, but how could he do that when they were so close to their destination?
“I’m sorry I can’t drive sticks,” Ethan said. “Maybe I should watch a tutorial or something, but I can’t get the internet working.”
Anthony held back a smile. “I think you’ll need more than a tutorial.”
Ethan leaned forward. “Do you see that?”
Anthony squinted his eyes. “See what?”
“There. Over there!”
Anthony looked closer and noticed what Ethan meant. “Shit.”
No longer remotely tired, he accelerated.
28
CHRIS
Trevor bandaged the cut on Chris’s head, then pulled him up on his wobbly feet. The room became an amalgamation of shifting shapes and dancing shadows, making Chris wish to have stayed on the floor a little longer. Trevor supported him as they clumsily made their way upstairs, out of the basement’s chill, and into the living room’s warmth.
Jay lay naked on the floor, close enough to the fireplace to break into a sweat. Still unconscious, his hands were bound behind his back, but his legs were free.
“Jay?” Chris tried. “Jay!”
“Shut up. Best for him to stay unconscious.”
Trevor sat Chris on a chair, leaving him facing Jay’s limp body, but not close enough to reach out to him. From this angle, the dancing flames seemed to engulf Jay’s naked body.
“Trevor, please let him go.”
“Fat chance, and you know I don’t like your whining.”
“You idiot,the police are looking for us!”
“So? They’re looking for missing people all the time. And Idoneed them to find you eventually, but that doesn’t include your mechanic friend.”
He couldn’t remember ever feeling so helpless. Even when Tobias had held Anthony captive, Chris had been sure he was still alive.
Trevor picked up the last bottle of vodka. “Drink.”
“I’m not drinking anymore.”
“I’m letting you drink at your own pace. I can pour it down your throat instead.”
Chris reluctantly took the bottle but didn’t yet drink. His shoulder pulsed in pain, a nasty bruise already growing. But the pain helped keep him focused, his brain desperately searching for a way to save Jay.
Trevor went to check on the bags that Andy had put together before he’d gone to dig Jay’s grave.
“I might not need to kill him after all,” Trevor murmured to himself.
