CHAPTER TWENTY
TARA HARDLY NOTICED the scenery outside the window on the drive to Wilmington. She was too busy worrying about Jeff and Evan, Robbie and his parents, and even her own family. At least if she died, her parents would still have Lauren. The favorite.
And she knew that wasn’t totally fair, but there it was.
Besides, Jeff was her chief concern. And by extension, Evan.
About an hour into the drive, she was still trying to figure out a way to crash the car, or get the notice of someone who could call the police, when Ball Cap made a phone call. “You got him?”
Tara sat up, startled by his voice after the lengthy silence, her ears straining to hear everything. She couldn’t understand the reply, only its affirmative tone in a deep voice.
She swallowed hard.Was it Hulk from the parking garage? Did that mean he had Jeff? Shit. Escape would have to wait. Maybe once she and Jeff—assuming it was him—were together, they could figure out how to escape together.
BC glanced at her in the rearview mirror, his dark eyes giving away nothing. “Yep. No trouble.”
He listened for a second and then said, “We should be there in about twenty minutes.”
Twentyminutes. What could she do to prepare in that time, besides psych herself up to face whatever was coming? BC hadn’t killed her immediately, so he needed her alive for some reason. To make her death look like an accident? Or…what? And if that were the case, why hadn’t he done it before now? There had been plenty of stretches along the highway that would’ve been perfect for a single-car accident.
But if they wanted her and Jeff to die together…
Her lungs seized up. How she wished she’d refused his offer of protection from the very beginning. She wouldn’t have fallen in love, but he wouldn’t be in danger because of her either.
She’d take the trade without question. He and Evan had been through enough.
Before she was ready, BC exited the freeway and soon turned into the back parkinglot of a dingy chain motel along the river. Driving around the back, they parked beside a camper. Jeff sat in the passenger seat, looking through the window, his expression unreadable.
Their gazes connected and her stomach fell, even as her heart bounced with joy. She blinked back tears, her pulse tapping painfully at her throat.
She tore away her gaze as BC turned off the engine and circledto her side to open the door. “Try anything and we’ll kill him,” he said, his voice flat. Fucking business as usual.
Tara wanted to kick him in the head. Instead, she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
He motioned her to unlatch her seatbelt and move toward him. Once her legs were through the door, he used a sharp pocketknife to slice cleanly through the tape around her ankles. “Stand.”
He reached for her as if expecting her to falter, but she locked her knees and raised her chin.
Giving her a dead stare, he studied her for a beat before pointing to the RV. “Walk.”
He glanced around the near-empty parking lot and then followed her. Before she reached it, the door opened to reveal Hulk.
Shit. The odds had been high, but still, she’d held out hope that he’d somehow diedin a fiery crash.
“Don’t worry,” Hulk said, his voice rough as sand and ripe with cruelty. “This won’t take long.”
Her limbs turned cold. If she entered the camper would she come out alive? She looked toward the hotel. There was no one nearby, no one paying any attention to this deadly march.
“Get inside.” BC nudged her in the spine with something hard.
Wincing, she mounted the steps andentered the RV near the back, trudging forward as he prodded her toward the cab, shutting the door behind them.
“How do you want to do this?” he asked Hulk.
Tara struggled to breathe, her brain racing. Was there anything in the kitchenette she could use? It appeared to be just the four of them in the motor home, but her hands were literally tied. Well, taped. In front of her, but still bound.
The massive goon grabbed Jeff’s arm and jerked him to his feet. “Get on the couch.”
Not meeting her gaze, Jeff bent low to avoid hitting his head on the overhead loft. Stepping into the narrow walkway, he straightened to his full height and shuffled toward the sofa where they’d made love just last night. His ankles were loosely roped together with heavy-duty zip ties that allowed barely enoughroom for him to take short steps. His hands were bound behind his back. In the tight space, his body brushed against hers as he passed. He slowed imperceptibly at the contact.
