“You have no idea who I am anymore!” Patrick snarled. His eyes filled with wild desperation, like a trapped animal ready to lash out at the first sign of a threat. “You ruined me! And your boyfriend...” the word was full of contempt, “attacked me and put me in jail. I was incarcerated for an entire week. Trapped like a common criminal with a filthy psychotic drug addict.”
Patrick still hadn’t learned to take responsibility for his actions. Everything that had gone wrong in his life was always someone else’s fault.
“You hurt me, Patrick. Again and again, you beat me.” Jessie fought to keep the emotion out of her voice. If Patrick knew how terrified she was, he’d used it to beat her down.
Patrick sneered. “Only because you couldn’t learn your place. You brought your punishment upon yourself. Just like a dog who disobeys his master.”
Jessie couldn’t believe the words she was hearing. There had been many times when Patrick had been irrational, but he’d never sounded this deranged.
She squared her shoulders. “I am not a dog, and you are not my master.”
With lightning speed, Patrick darted around the desk.
Jessie bolted for the door, but he grabbed her arm and jerked her back, nearly pulling her off her feet.
“You’re coming with me.” He shoved the barrel of the gun into her ribs. “Or else.”
Jessie gasped. “Okay. Calm down, please. I’ll go with you.” She didn’t have a choice. Did she?
No. Not if I want to protect my mother and Robert.Her heart broke at the thought of never seeing Robert again. Her disappearance would crush him.
“This is calm, honey. If you don’t believe me, I dare you to try me.” Patrick shoved her toward the back door.
Jessie fought the tears that sprang to her eyes. She’d finally found where she belonged, found fulfillment in her life. And now it was all being taken away.
Why would God do this to her? Was she still being punished for walking away from everything He’d given her five years ago?
When Patrick pushed open the door to the back parking lot, her gaze darted around, searching for help. But the lot was nearly empty, with only a smattering of cars. Two lone boys stood in the far corner watching the secondary fire engine with the volunteer firefighters drive past, sirens wailing.
If she screamed, no one would hear her.
Patrick opened the back door of a white Nissan. “Get in!” When Jessie resisted, he grabbed a handful of hair and jerked her head back. “You get in the back seat and lay down, or I’ll shove you into the trunk.”
Not daring to fight him, but knowing going with him meant she’d never see Robert or Providence again, she climbed in the car and lay on the back seat. She squeezed her eyes closed to keep the tears at bay and pressed her hands to her chest.
Her fists met the hard plastic of her cell phone between her breasts. When she’d dressed in her leggings this morning and found herself without pockets, she’d slipped her cell phone down her bra. She normally left it on her desk during school, but she’d forgotten to take it out after lunch.
“Keep location sharing on.”Robert’s words filled her head.
Hope shot through her like an electric shock.
She kept a close eye on Patrick as he pulled onto Main Street and turned south. As soon as she was sure he was focused on his driving, she pulled the cell phone from under her shirt. Keeping her right hand pressed to her chest, she moved her left hand with the cell phone down by her hip, out of Patrick’s line of sight, should he look back.
Robert was the last person she’d texted, so it didn’t take long to find his name. Her thumb swiped across the keyboard in a frantic motion:He found me
She hit send with an urgency that mounted with every passing second.
If Robert was dealing with a fire, would he even get her text?
Desperate, she sent a second text:He has a gun
Chapter 38
Robert’s phone vibrated in his pocket as he directed the fire truck driven by the volunteer firefighters closer to the burning barn while he kept the onlookers at bay. He didn’t have time to answer any calls or texts right now.
It vibrated again, and the persistent feeling that drove him to the cabin the night Pendleton came after Jessie hit him like an ice-cold wave that warred with the heat coming off the barn behind him.
Check your phone.
