“Blake?” a little voice whimpered.
That voice leaked through the worst memories, forcing me back into the present. Blinking rapidly, I focused on that sweet voice, and as a minute passed, so did the trembling in my limbs.
I wasn’t in that cell. I was in a dilapidated cabin, which wasn’t a whole lot better, but at least I wasn’t about to be waterboarded again. That had to be a plus.
“You’re awake,” a deep voice muttered in the dark.
Shoving the rest of the way up, I searched in vain for my gun, realizing I must have dropped it at some point. There was nothing in this rickety shack to defend myself with. At least, not in arm’s reach.
Reaching back, I grasped Cassie’s hand as I shifted back on my butt.
“I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up,” the man said, finally stepping out of the shadows and into the light.
Gasping, I was shocked. I mean, I had known it was a possibility, but he was here in the flesh.
John Callahan stepped forward, his rifle tucked under his arm as it hung lazily from his grip.
“You,” I whispered.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he muttered, shoving his fingers through his graying hair.
“Why?” I asked, needing answers—and for him to keep talking until I could figure out a way out of this mess.
“You don’t understand,” he said, almost to himself, as he started pacing the length of the room. “No one does. But then, that’s how we planned it. It was never supposed to go this far.”
“You kidnapped a little girl,” I hissed. “Did you kidnap Dakota, too?”
That got his attention. His eyes flicked to mine, and if I wasn’t mistaken, hurt flashed in their depths. “I could never…”
“Why did you do it?” I asked when he drifted off.
I took advantage of what looked like him caught up in memories. Very carefully, I pulled out my phone, checking once again for a signal, but there was none. My eyes scanned the cabin for anything that might be useful as a weapon, but the only thing I could find was some splintered wood that Icould use as a stake, and I really didn’t relish the idea of staking the man like a vampire.
Though if I could get him close enough to the window, I might be able to shove him through it.
“She was so young,” he murmured. “It was tragic.”
“Dakota?”
Sighing, one shaky hand ran along his jaw. “She’d been through so much already. You have to understand, she didn’t mean it.”
Didn’t mean it? “Dakota didn’t mean it? What did she do?”
When he didn’t answer, I pressed on.
“She did something, and you killed her for it. What was it?”
The old man swallowed hard, the rifle slipping in his grasp. He was distracted, and this might be my only opportunity to attack. I squeezed Cassie’s hand again, then slowly pried my fingers away despite her trying to hold tight.
But just as I was about to spring forward, the door slammed open and Wes came charging in, my spare gun in his trembling hands. “Don’t move!” he shouted just as old man Callahan spun around, raising his rifle.
I didn’t hesitate as I jumped to my feet and ran at John, tackling him to the ground for fear he would fire a shot at the kid I was supposed to be protecting. We crashed to the ground, and I grabbed the rifle, tearing it from his grasp just as Wes rushed over, holding the gun over his boss’s prone form.
“Don’t move,” he hissed.
At that moment, I was proud of how strong he was, even if his hands were trembling in fear.
“Why? Why would you do this?” he hissed.
