Austin’s expression changed quickly. He moved away from my face and glared angrily at his friend.
“Seriously, Tom? Dad told us to scare her, not kill her,” barked Ethan at his accomplice.
They started arguing. Austin still held me firmly with his arm, so I put my free hand in the back pocket of my shorts to pull out my phone just as cautiously.
I still had to distract them.
“He said that he wanted to hurt me and that he’d do it even without you!” I accused Tom, making Ethan scowl angrily.
“Why do you always act like this? Can’t you ever follow two fucking orders?” Once they were engrossed in their argument, I typed in my pin number with my right hand to unlock my phone.
Shit. My Face ID was on. I had to scroll up twice and then enter my pin. I tried again, trying to duplicate the mechanical movements I did every day, but it was much harder to do without looking.
“Do we have to do what he says? Always? What if I wanted to have some fun with her?” The conversation made me want to unlock it even faster. I clicked on the first green icon. The last chat was with my mom, the second to last was with William. I had to call him. Or maybe it was better not to drag him into this?
“You’re the one who screwed everything up that time, not me!” I heard Tom scream.
Maybe I’d call James.
I was wasting time, so much so that Austin tightened his grip on my arm.
No, no way.
“Nobody’s stopping you from banging her, but we’re not here for that.”
“But he said he wanted to slit my throat! And he also said you don’t have the balls to do it. You can choose not to believe me, but you better know that he said that.”
My words triggered another argument that bought me a few more precious seconds. I craned my neck back to look at my phone screen. I had to call someone as soon as possible. This was my only chance. I scrolled through my messages.
I saw James’s profile out of the corner of my eye. I’ll be damned.
I called.
“I don’t have the balls to do it, Ethan?”
I looked behind me again.
The call started. I had to say something.
“Austin, why’d you come here?”
He looked at me befuddled.
“You’re here with . . . Tom, right?”
“What the fuck are you saying, little girl? Shut up. How do you know our names?”
That dialogue would’ve been enough. James would understand, so I put my phone back into my pocket.
“He said it.” I pointed at Tom. “He said ‘Ethan isn’t capable of doing something like that alone!’”
“No, it’s not. She’s a liar! I didn’t say shit!”
“I know you, Tom, and it isn’t the first time you’ve said something like that.”
“Look, Ethan, let’s put her in the car and bring her to the club,” the other said, grabbing my arm roughly.
Ethan Austin held my other arm. “No! We have to wait here.”
