Page 85 of Montana Memory
Kelly shoved me into one of the dining chairs and held me there with a hand on my shoulder.
“Write a note,” Johnson said, slapping the pad and pen on the table in front of me. “Tell your boyfriend you’ve decided not to stay. Say it was all a mistake.”
I stared at him. “No.”
Wrong answer.
His backhand cracked across my cheek so fast I didn’t see it coming. My head snapped sideways. My eyes watered.
“Try again,” he said, voice cold.
I kept my mouth shut.
Kelly leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. “Don’t make this worse than it has to be.”
I shook my head, jaw clenched. Another hit. This one to the other cheek. I gasped and tasted blood. My lip split.
“I’m not writing that,” I rasped.
Johnson sighed like I was a headache he’d gotten used to. “Fine.”
He stepped over to the kittens’ corner. They’d hidden under the couch again, their tiny bodies trembling.
My stomach dropped.
“No,” I said again, voice cracking. “Don’t touch them.”
He crouched, reached under, and pulled out the smallest one—Sir Pounce.
“Last chance,” Johnson said, holding the kitten by the scruff with one hand and raising his boot with the other. “Write it. Or I stomp.”
Tears blurred my vision. “Please don’t?—”
“Write.”
I picked up the pen with a shaking hand.
Kelly stood over me. “Write this exactly: I couldn’t stay. I’ve decided this isn’t what I want. And sign your name.”
I wrote it. Every word felt like swallowing glass. My hand trembled so badly I could barely get the letters straight.
I stared at the signature when it was done.Jada. Was that what my signature even looked like? I’d been looking forward to matching it against my passport when Hunter got back.
Would Hunter believe the note when he saw it?
Why wouldn’t he?
When I made one last break for it—racing for the front door the second Johnson set Sir Pounce down—I almost made it.
Almost.
But Kelly caught me at the threshold. Something cold and wet pressed over my face, chemical and sickeningly sweet. I fought, arms flailing, trying not to breathe in whatever he was holding over my face, but finally, I couldn’t help myself.
Then everything tilted.
Darkened.
Vanished.
