“No,” he says, trying to speak through a bubble of blood. “My dad said we couldn’t let you go. He said you’d eventually find out what we did. He … said you’re …” He swallows, and his Adam’s apple inches up his neck. “A liability.”
“Where did they go, Sean?”
His eyes flutter. He doesn’t answer. I’m losing him. I reach for his chin and give it a shake. “Sean! Where is your father and Avery?”
He smacks his lips and squints. “At a … a cabin.”
“What about your vehicle?”
His eyelids flutter, his gaze drifting over my shoulder. “That way—a half mile down the road. There’s a pullout near an old barn. Please … don’t let me die. I don’t want to die.”
His eyes roll into his head, and I give his chin another shake. “Sean, give me the address to the cabin.”
“14 … 54 County—County Road 213.”
It’s the last thing he says.
I stare at him with everything inside of me twisting into knots. This didn’t need to happen.Noneof it. A hollow weight forms in my gut. I did what I had to do. I defended myself and fought back. So why do I feel so guilty?
Maybe it’s because Sean is so young. Maybe it’s the fear I heard trembling in his voice with every word. Or maybe it’s because he never should have been put in this position in the first place. Whatever the reason, I can’t help but feel like his death is my fault—an echo across the years coming from my old life. A life I was donewith. A life I now know will never be done with me.
A liability. The word smokes through my head, hot and blistering. I wasn’t one.
But I am now.
Chapter 46
BAILEY
Zane orders me into the cabin, gun still in hand, and directs me toward the living room where the bust of a twelve-point buck hangs over the fireplace, mounted next to a pair of stuffed pheasants.
“Sit,” he says, nodding at a heavy oak chair stationed in the middle of the room. There is a thick length of chain wrapped around the left arm. Secured to the chain are steel handcuffs. The sight makes me shiver.
“Put them on.”
Run.The thought hits like a firework. I need torun.
Except I can’t run. Not after what he said about Ben. I won’t place him in danger. And even if I do run, even if I somehow manage to escape before Zane stops me, it won’t matter. This is a man who, when I asked him to, procured a human finger from a cadaver without so much as raising an eyebrow. This is a man who effectively erased my old life online and created a new one in its place—one that almost feels more real than the last. More importantly, this is a man who finds people for a living. People who can’t be found like Reed. He’ll find me, too.
So, I do what I’m told, and I sit. The handcuff is cold as I latch it shut around my wrist, my gaze lingering on the handgun Zane hasstrapped to his waist. It’s the same gun he told me he was bringing to Judge White’s property for our protection.It’s only for self-defense. You can’t be too careful when dealing with someone like Reed. We need to be safe.
Safe.The word feels ironic because, until Sean shot Reed in the back, that’s exactly how I felt: Protected. In control. Safe.
Which I now realize I’m not.
I’m anythingbutsafe. That much is glaringly clear, as is the fact that I made a mistake. I missed something. I still don’t understand what. This isn’t like Zane. Or at least that’s what I thought until he and Sean murdered Reed instead of turning him in to the authorities like we’d planned to. No, likeI’dplanned to. Zane was never going to go through with this.
The image of Reed crumpling to the ground fills my head, of Sean standing above him a moment later and raising the gun.
Crack! Crack!
I’m hit with a sudden swell of sorrow. Reed deserved a lot of things, but he didn’t deserve that.
Zane pulls a chair over and takes a seat directly across from me. He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me with an intensity that’s unnerving. Not that I’ve ever felt particularly comfortable with his eyes on me, but right now they’re like cold chips of ice.
“Why are you doing this?” I finally manage.
He crosses his arms. “I need the money.”
