“And now I’m the one asking questions.”
The fear finally cracked through her voice completely.
“Oh my God…”
She looked toward the dark ceiling of the building.
“They’re going to kill me.”
“No,” Cal said instantly.
“Yes, they are.”
“They are not going to kill you.”
“You don’t know that!”
Her voice echoed sharply off the metal walls.
Cal shifted forward hard against the ropes.
“Izzy, if I were part of this, why would I be tied up here too?”
That stopped her for half a second.
Because she didn’t have an answer.
But she still didn’t trust him.
Burke is investigating your father. Your father lied. The landing strip. The trucks. The cameras. Nothing about this was normal.
Izzy shook her head slowly. Emotion climbed hard into her throat as she looked at him, her eyes glassy. “They’re going to bury me somewhere in these mountains like Clara Vale.”
Tears finally spilled down her face.
Cal’s expression changed immediately.
Not defensive now.
Alarmed.
“Izzy, stop.”
She turned away from him, shoulders trembling.
“Hey.” His voice softened. “Look at me.”
She didn’t.
“They are not going to kill you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.” He exhaled hard. “But I can promise you my father wouldn’t allow it.”
The words snapped out of him on reflex, the way they always had when anyone questioned Wade Hollis. But even to his own ears, they didn’t sound as certain as they used to.
Izzy laughed bitterly through tears.
