Page 12 of Two Favors Repaid

Blue eyes glinting, Ford stood up suddenly, reaching towards him as far as his shackles allowed. Emma’s instinct was to run, but she held her ground. He brought his face down towards her and whispered something. His face was close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her skin. “Next time we meet, I’ll expect you to ask how I’ve been, Emma.”

She reared back in alarm, but just then the cell door opened. The same guard from before signaled to her. She walked out without looking back, not wanting to give Ford the satisfaction.

Chapter 4

Rob

As he drove, Rob sneaked a look at Emma sitting beside him. He was getting worried. She’d barely said two words since leaving the prison. He knew it hadn’t been easy for her. It’d been hell on him, and he hadn’t even been inside the room with Ford.

He thought of Lorraine. They’d left her and her partner scrambling to mount a recovery operation for the bodies. Rob prayed the FBI agents were able to find them. Not that there’d be much to find after months buried in the ground, but it would give those families closure.

“How could he do those things?” Emma said softly. “That’s all I’ve been thinking about for a year, and he just laughed when I asked.”

“I’ve read the FBI reports, Emma. Stephen Ford is a textbook psychopath. You can’t take anything he says at face value.”

“But he was a doctor …”

“He hid it well from everyone.” He forced his voice to sound casual. “Emma, what did he whisper to you at the end?”

Emma shrugged as if the memory was painful. Rob felt his pulse skyrocket and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Did he threaten you?”

“He wanted me to come back and see him. He said next time we meet I should ask him how he’s doing.”

“Narcissistic asshole. Don’t worry, Emma, you’re not going back there.”

“No,” she agreed. “I won’t be coming back. I feel so … dirty.”

Rob stopped the car on the side of the road, activating his blinkers, before turning to her. “He’s the one who needs to feel that way. What you did today, Emma, was nothing short of amazing.”

“You think he told us the truth? Did he really bury those poor girls there?”

Rob thought back to the moment when Ford had spoken of the graves. The man’s ice-colored eyes had zeroed in on the mirror, as if he could see him and the FBI agents standing beside him.

“I hope so. We’ll know tomorrow for sure.”

“How about us? What do we do now?”

“We’ve got a couple rooms booked in the city. You can rest there tonight, and I’ll drive you back to Sharp’s Cove tomorrow morning.”

Emma shook her head, her curly hair bouncing. “I don’t want to spend the night in the city, Rob. Can’t we just drive back?”

“It’ll be midnight by the time we get back, and you need to eat something before then.”

“We can stop and eat along the way. I just want to get back home tonight. I don’t care what time it is. I can drive if you’re tired,” she offered.

Always trying to take care of others before yourself.

He swallowed his retort, knowing she wouldn’t take to it kindly if he were to mention her nurturing personality.

“It’s okay. I’ll get you home safely, Emma. Rest a bit now, and I’ll wake you up for dinner.” Without looking back, he felt for his black leather jacket in the backseat and handed it to her.

Emma looked as if she wanted to argue with him but finally settled in, placing the jacket between her head and the glass as a pillow. Rob turned the car around and started driving towards Sharp’s Cove. A few minutes later, her soft snoring told him she was asleep.

I even like the sound of her snoring. I’m so screwed.

At that moment Rob hated Stephen Ford with all his being. Rob wasn’t a violent man. In his youth he’d saved his energy for sports and had always prided himself on channeling it for good. It was that energy that had allowed him to lead his team in college water polo championships and earned him the nickname Lucky Rob, which still followed him now, long after he’d stopped feeling lucky.

He now found himself unable to channel that same energy. His arms shook with the urge to drive back to the prison and beat Ford with his bare fists. Given the chance, he knew he would gladly kill the man.