Page 79 of Lethal Weakness

But what then?

What am I going to do?

My car is still at the mansion… I don’t have my phone or keys.

We have to disappear. We HAVE to.

“A little further, baby. We’re so close.” I snuggle against her cheek, and she squeezes me tightly as she cries softly in my ear.

My poor girl. She’s never going to forgive me for the hell I’ve put her through. What her grandparents put her through.

“Mommy’s going to go as fast as she can, just hold on tight.”

“I wanna go home.”

“I know, I know. Me too.” I kiss her head, and cry out in exhaustion as I rise to my feet. But once I’m up, I go.

I have no other choice but to keep going until she’s safe. It’s the only choice.

Each inclined step feels impossible, but I manage one staggering step in front of the other as I climb out of the tangled trees and into the taller grass.

A glimmer of hope in the distance ahead fills me as I catch my breath, and I think I might actually be able to do this. The floodlight on the back of Jack’s garage is a lighthouse on a stormy sea.

Jack. I need Jack.

But what if I can’t trust him?

Engines echo through the hills behind us, and I drop to the ground on instinct. They’re far, probably just leaving the mansion grounds, but I don’t have much time, and I’m losing my energy.

It takes every ounce of willpower to lunge forward, and then stand back to my feet. I can do this.

A grunt rocks my body with each inclined step, and I make it ten more feet to freedom, and then another five. One foot in front of anothe–

A strangled scream fills the air as my body is jerked to a stop, and Avery flies out of my arms.

Guttural cries tumble from my throat as I writhe around in pain on the ground until I can finally catch my breath long enough to peer down at my feet.

No… my ankle.

Hot tears roll down my cheeks as I look at the metal jaws biting deeply into my ankle, soaking my sock in blood.

“Ah, fuck, fuck,” I cry in searing pain as I test the trap, but it’s clamped tight.

There are bears in Virginia, but nothing deserves this torture.

My hands shake as I tug on the metal chain, but the radiating pain is so blinding that I can’t fucking breathe. I’m completely trapped.

And the engines are only getting louder.

I look at my perfect little girl and the alarm bells are blaring.

“Avery,” I utter painfully as she cries beside me. “Baby, you gotta run.”

“No, Mommy,” she sobs, grabbing my arm.

“Yes, baby. You gotta be brave now. You need to run.”

“No, no!” She screams, crying and tugging on my arm like it’ll get me to go with her.