I didn’t know where we were going, how much longer we’d be driving, or what would happen when we arrived at our destination. What was worse, I had no idea if Blake had made it out alive, because the man beside me refused to answer my questions.
He’d fuckingkidnappedme. I should have been terrified, but more than anything, I waspissed.
I sighed and pretended to shift in my seat, turning my head away from “Theo,” my eyes slitted just enough to see. The glove box didn’t have a lock on it, and the car’s registration might be in there. With his real-ass name on it. I’d have one chance at this, so I had to make it work, had to fight back my fear of what might happen and do what I had to.
I took a deep breath through my nose, steeling myself, and then another.
“Watch out!” I yelled, jerking upright and pointing left.
He slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel right to avoid the nonexistent obstacle. My instinct was to freeze, to curl up, to brace myself for the scream that would follow, but I pushed myself through it and shot forward in my seat. The car swerved, and my fingers missed the glove box latch, but I got it on the second try, yanking it open and grabbing as much as I could.
He reacted faster than I expected, straightening us out and ripping the papers away. But it was too late. I’d already seen it. I knew who he was.
“Tyler Neumann,” I said, my voice shaking with adrenaline.
He made an angry noise and threw the papers back into the glove box, having to lean into my space to slam it shut again.
I inspected him with fresh eyes. The name Tyler fit him well, seeing as it was one of the douchier ones in existence. The only thing worse would be a J name.
He sat back and said nothing, but I could tell from the way his jaw jumped that he was furious. Good, I’d finally scored one against him, and since he hadn’t hit me or threatened me with the gun again, maybe he wasn’t as homicidal as I feared back in the tunnels, when his rage had been visceral.
I looked him over, wondering where the gun even was. We were still in our party clothes, and he was coated in yuck from our trek through the city’s underground, his white tuxedo shirt smeared and torn, a pant leg ripped from snagging it on a pipe. He’d used a cleaning wipe on his hands before touching the steering wheel, but did he give me one for my soon-to-be-infected-wounds? No. Proving how much he didn’t care about me and never had.
God, I’d been so stupid. I hadn’t ever fully trusted him, but I’d let him in enough to help him.To fuck him. Which I would never forgive myself for. Runa was going to start charging me by the hour after I unloaded all this on her.
If I got the chance to see her again.
Shit, Runa. If I died, who would pay her medical bills?
My thoughts went back to Aunt Cordy’s fundraiser and the way Dad had pleaded to cover some of the cost for Runa’s TMR surgery. Was that just because he wanted to help his struggling daughter? Or out of the pure goodness of his heart? Would he step up and do the right thing even without me there?
I wanted to say yes, but after all these ugly revelations with Theo—no,Tyler—I was questioning my own judgement. I knew Maddie was bad, but murder? And Keith committing elder abuse? I never would have seen that coming. Jessica, however... I mean, she’d always rubbed me the wrong way, but I’d assumed it was because of her type A personality mixed with being an insufferable kiss-ass.
At least Tyler had allowed me a brief phone call to Derrick (on speaker because he didn’t trust me not to talk in code or something) to make sure Amos was taken care of. So, he wasn’tan animal killer, at the very least, but all other bets were off. And sure, he’dsaidhe was taking me to someone who could prove Richard was a shitty person, but did I trust him?
Never again.
My stomach growled. Loud enough to be heard over the road noise. I’d already eaten the emergency crackers in my clutch, but they were running thin, and the acid was starting to build. Just when I’d started to make some progress and get a little relief, my life went to shit again and my stomach right along with it.
“There are snacks in the back,” Tyler said.
“I can’t eat them.”
“The ones on the right are gastritis-friendly.”
I stared at his profile. He had food I could eat.Why?“Been planning my kidnapping for long?”
He made a dismissive sound. “Now who has a big ego?”
“Then explain the facts, man formerly known as Theo.”
He shot me an annoyed look and kept his mouth shut, just like he had this entire four-hour ride. I had never wanted to kick someone in the face more, but the cramped quarters meant there wasn’t enough room.
Carefully, I turned in my seat, cautious of any sudden movement from him because there was nothing to say this wasn’t some sort of trap, and glanced in the back. At first, I didn’t see what he was talking about, because his gym bag was covering it and it was still mostly dark, but a passing streetlight revealed a row of boxes peeking out from behind the bag.
I slid it away and stared. Plain, unsweetened, squeezable applesauce. Rice crackers. Raw almonds. Single-serving packages of dried bananas. Unseasoned potato chips fried in light olive oil.
“How long have these been here?” I asked.
