I searched my memories. Flipping back and then forward and then back again. I’d been at the Kettle. I remembered the fight with Tuck. My heart gave a phantom spasm. I remembered walking across the street, tears streaming down my face and then…just nothing.
I squinted my eyes as though doing so would help me see my memories more clearly. All it did was cause my head to throb worse than before. There was a gaping black hole when it came to where I was and how I’d gotten here.
I eased back onto my side, taking in the room around me. I strained to see through the cloudy window. Trees. Ponderosa pines. A lot of them. Hopefully, that meant I wasn’t too terribly far from home.
My gaze tracked over the space, and a memory flickered. A day when I was thirteen and Tuck had taken me to see the mustangs. There’d been a terrible thunderstorm, and Tuck had guided us towards one of the many Forest Service cabins scattered throughout the forest to wait it out.
Hope flared. Maybe I’d been with Tuck and had gotten injured. He could’ve stowed me here while he went for help. Had we made things right? God, I hoped so.
A voice sounded from somewhere. Then two voices.
“Dammit, Bill. This isn’t what I signed up for.” That voice, something about it tickled the back of my brain.
“Stop being such a pussy. I thought you cared about the cause.”
“I do, but it’s one thing to kill a few horses, it’s a whole ‘nother to kidnap the daughter of a family like the Coles. They’re too connected. You do whatever you want, but I’m getting the fuck out of here.”
A shot cracked through the air. My body jolted, and I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out. The sound of a heavy weight hitting the floor brought tears to my eyes.
Bill. It was as if the world had sped up and slowed down at the same time. Memories flipped through my mind, coming in short bursts and out of order until it all came together. Bill. The horses. Phoenix. The punch.
I forced my breathing to stay even, no matter how badly they wanted to come in quick, short pants. Bill had taken me. And he had a gun.
The price I paid for ignoring that voice that told me that something wasn’t quite right. When would I learn to trust my intuition? Because when I thought back, there’d been similar instances with Cody and Bryce. Flickering doubts that I’d ignored.
When you silenced that voice within yourself enough, it stopped speaking. And just as I was coaxing it out again, I had to go and doubt it. Never again. I would get out of this, and when I did, I’d never mute that voice again.
Floorboards creaked. “Fuck!” Something crashed into a wall.
I jolted into a seated position, and the room around me swam, ripples of blurred shapes and colors. That was not good. I wasn’t sure I could walk, let alone run. I needed a plan. A way out of here.
As my vision returned, I scanned the space. I needed something. Anything I could make into a weapon.
There was nothing. Unless you counted the mattress above me, and a desk and chair bolted to the floor. My heart picked up its pace once again as tears burned the back of my throat. Noah. My family. Tuck.
I had to find a way out. I couldn’t lose them. Couldn’t lose my shot at a perfectly imperfect life with them. Messy. Loud. Full of love. And color. And care. I’d fight tooth and nail for that life.
The door swung open, crashing into the wall. “Oh, good, you’re awake.”
There was a feral gleam in Bill’s eyes. The kind you saw in a rabid animal’s. The kind of beast you had no choice but to put down.
“What’s going on? Did I fall?” I figured ignorance might buy me some time. Some answers.
He grinned at me, white teeth seeming to bite at the air. “Don’t play dumb with me, Jensen. I’m not Tuck, you can’t lead me around by my dick.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to think of a response.
Bill kept right on going. “Come on.” He gestured with his gun for me to rise. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
I stayed put. “Where are we going?”
“Just the perfect little spot I have picked out.” He gestured with the gun again. “Get up.” I stayed still. “NOW!”
I scrambled to my feet, and the world swam again. I reached out and grabbed hold of the top bunk to keep myself upright. “I’m not sure I can walk.”
Bill muttered a curse. “You’re going to have to.” He jammed the gun against the small of my back. “Walk.”
My first steps were wobbly. As I reached the doorway, the sight of blood pooling under Tom’s body had my stomach threatening to heave. “They’ll catch you. If you leave him here, they’ll catch you.”
