“I’ll fucking kill him.Be careful, okay?Just do what he says for right now.He doesn’t know you have your phone, so that’ll work in our favor.”
The vehicle turned, making her body tilt.The tires rumbled over gravel.“Oh my god.He’s slowing down.”
“Hide your phone.Don’t let him find it.”
The vehicle lurched to a stop and her heart plummeted to her feet.She quickly patted the bottom of the trunk, looking for somewhere to stow her phone.“Brick, he’s going to kill me,” she whispered.Terror annihilated her senses.
She’d looked in Keetan’s eyes before he closed the trunk, had seen the deadness there—a distant loathing she’d never witnessed in him before.He might have cared for her once, in his own sick and twisted way, but he sure didn’t now.
“No, he’s not.Natalie, listen to me.”Each syllable was spoken carefully.Directly.“Turn off your ringer.I will come for you.Do you hear me?”
The car door opened and slammed shut.Determined footsteps crunched on the stones outside.Her fingers brushed the lip of the trunk mat.“Brick, he’s here,” she whispered.“I’m so sorry.Take care of my baby.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear.Her hand shook so badly she fumbled the device and missed the button to silence her phone.Keetan’s footsteps stopped.She hit the button and slid the device beneath the mat.
Her pulse roared in her head.Every beat of her heart threatened to send her into cardiac arrest.The trunk whooshed open, and she drew her hands in front of her chest with milliseconds to spare before his gaze landed on her.
The interior light illuminated his face.His nose was swollen and bore a cut, and purple streaks underscored his eyes.His lips slashed into an uneven grin.“I’ve been waiting for this.”He seized her biceps, tearing her out of the trunk.
She stumbled as he half dragged her over the loose rocks.She hit the ground, and the stones bit through her jeans.His foot nudged her thigh roughly.“Get up.Fucking clumsy bitch.”
Anger sharpened her senses, but she didn’t react.No need to give him a reason to kill her any sooner.She got to her feet and backed away, but he snagged her wrist in a death grip.He shut the trunk lid and she took in her surroundings.
They stood on a long gravel road surrounded by trees.A trail snaked off the road, leading through a forest.Great.Just what she needed.A quiet place where no one could hear her screams.“Where are we?”she demanded.
He reached behind his back and withdrew a gun.A duffel bag hung over his shoulder.“Don’t try anything stupid.I don’t want to shoot you right here and leave a fucking mess.”He waved the gun in her face.
She swallowed as he jerked her toward the trail, ushering her in front of him.
“Remember when we used to like each other?Before you cheated on me and got pregnant with another dude’s bastard?”
Tears of frustration stung her eyes.She wanted to hit him.To take that damn gun, shove it in his mouth, and pull the trigger.She’d never be able to overpower him, though.“I never cheated on you.I left you.There’s a difference.”
His fingertips chomped into her flesh and she cried out.“After all I did for you,” he spat.“Covering up Shelby’s death, risking my job.Risking my future.”
“What we did was wrong,” she choked out, wiping stray tears from her cheeks.“You never should’ve put those drugs in her.”
Though she’d blamed herself all these years, Keetan wasn’t innocent either.He hadn’t talked to her about covering up Shelby’s death.She’d sat on the floor holding his dead sister, praying over her lifeless form and yelling at Keetan to call 911.When he left the room, she’d assumed he was getting help.
But he’d rushed back with a needle and injected Shelby before Natalie could wrap her head around what was happening.
“Don’t you think I wish I’d done things differently?”he yelled.Birds flitted overhead and small critters darted through the trees.
Natalie scanned the woods hoping to find hikers or campers nearby.But the area was quiet.Not a soul in sight.The earth sloped downward and the scents of pine and dirt struck her.She turned her attention back to Keetan.
A firm scowl dented his brow.“If I had a do-over, your ass would be in jail.This is the best thing I can do to right things with Shelby.”He nodded as if agreeing with himself.“This will make everything okay.She’ll forgive me.”
Natalie dug her feet into the ground and faced him.“She won’t forgive you.You lied and covered up her death.If we’d moved quicker, if you’d called an ambulance like I’d told you, she might still be here today.”
His hand shot up and grasped her throat.His fingers closed around her windpipe.“Shut up,” he said, seething.His eyes were vicious black beads on white ice.“This was your fault.All of it.”
Pain bolted down her neck and her face heated as he cut off her circulation.Hate filled his expression, sending an earthquake of fear through her system.She couldn’t let him do this.She couldn’t die here in the woods where no one would find her.“S-Stop,” she managed.
He dragged her closer to his face, and his grip tightened until her vision flickered.“Useless cunt.”He flung her backward and she hit the ground, the air whooshing from her lungs.
CHAPTER 20
Brick fought theurge to chuck his phone out the window.The police car had driven off minutes ago, but he remained in his vehicle at the side of the road.The sound of Natalie’s wobbling voice had pierced his gut like a burning poker.He’d hung up long before he said everything he’d wanted to.He couldn’t risk Keetan finding her phone.
