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I shift down and reluctantly reduce my speed when I spot the exit. “The police have been after Eric for a year. They know who he is and what he’s capable of. The moment you say drag racing and threatened, they’ll put the pieces together. They’ll protect you in ways I can’t. ”
She draws in several quick breaths. “He threatened you, too. Why aren’t you going to come with me?”
I flex my fingers then grip the wheel again. “Because I’m not a snitch. ”
Rachel straightens in her seat and the spark of attitude that I remember from the night we met flashes. “And I am?”
Off the freeway, I turn the wheel sharply to the left, coast into an abandoned parking lot and cut the engine. “You don’t have to live by the rules I live by. Those streets you played in one time are my home. I don’t get to go back to a gated community when I decide I’m done slumming. You street raced and you got burned. I’m trying to make sure you don’t die from your mistakes. So what if you don’t get to go to a dance because you’re grounded. You’ll be safe. ”
Her eyes brim with tears. “You don’t understand. This will crush my mom. It’s my job to make everything in her life all right. She can’t know. This would destroy her. ”
“Dammit, Rachel,” I yell. “You can’t be this fucking dense!”
Her door opens and she darts out of the car. I slam my hand on the steering wheel and bolt after her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“School!” she shouts. With one foot in front of the other, she heads across the lot—in the wrong direction.
“Get back in the fucking car!”
“No! I’ll figure this out. It’s not your debt, it’s mine. Leave me alone!”
I stalk after her, grab her arm and swing her around. My face lowers to her. “Do you think this is a game? Do you think that you can ignore this and it will go away? It won’t, Rachel. He knows who you are and where you go to school. Eric will never stop tracking you until he gets what he wants. ”
“Stop swearing at me!” Her entire body trembles. Back is the terrified girl from the bar after she got pegged by the beer. Maybe her life is more complicated than I thought.
Rachel jerks her arm in a pathetic attempt at freedom, but I hold tight. She has to understand the dangers of this situation.
“Take your hands off of me,” she yells. “No, I don’t live near you, but that doesn’t make me stupid. He threatened me. Not you. You want me to go the police and I can’t. I’ll do this on my own. ”
On her own? She’ll get herself killed, and that’ll take my already-serious problems with Eric into the realm of lethal. If he hurts her, he’ll die. And then his boys will hunt me like a dog and take me down. My goal is to get us the fuck out of this situation without all that Romeo and Juliet bullshit.
Both of my hands slide up to her shoulders. “Do you know what some of the gangs in town do for initiation?”
“What?” The hysteria leaves for a second as she tries to understand my question.
“They have to rape someone. ”
Her eyes study my face. “What does that have to do with Eric? With me?”
I hesitate, the words frozen on my tongue. His boys could rape you, Rachel. I brought this up on purpose—so that she’ll understand the lethal reality of Eric. To push her away from me, toward the cops. But the innocence and terror in her eyes stop me. Is it possible to spook an angel to death?
I should resist, but it’s like I’m physically drawn to her. I loosen my grip and allow one hand to caress her cheek. Her skin burns under my touch. “You’re in danger, and without five thousand dollars, I can’t protect you from my world. ”
Beneath me, Rachel’s body crumples in defeat. She sways, and I wrap an arm around her to keep her from collapsing.
“We’ll give him my car,” she whispers. “It’s worth three times that amount. ”
My thumb traces the path of her cheekbone. I’ve missed her. I’ll miss her again when she sees I’m right about the police. “If Eric wanted your car, he would have taken your car. ”
“But he said. . . ” she starts with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration.
She’s searching for hope, and I have none to offer. There’s no pot at the end of the rainbow. No spell that will undo what’s been done. This isn’t a fairy tale, but a nightmare. “He said he’d take your car if you don’t pay the debt. He meant after he beats the life out of me and—” rapes “—hurts you. This isn’t about the money. This is about control. ”
Her body presses against my arm for release, and I let her go. She stumbles back and I silently curse myself. I gave her the truth, but it’s a truth a girl like her should’ve never heard. Her chest moves rapidly, and she claws at the material of her sweater as if she’s choking. I understand. With each passing second, I feel the noose Eric placed on me tightening.
Rachel’s lower lip quivers and the words tumble out. “I can’t go to the police. ” Her eyes snap shut and the way she fights to keep tears from falling rips me in half. “My family will hate me and I’ll destroy her. Making her happy is the only reason I’m alive. ”
Her words make no sense, but the pure agony underlying her tone tells me she means them. She yanks again at her sweater, threatening to tear it. “Why is this happening?”
