Page 154 of Anton

If I’m right and his supplies are around the bend, to the left, I might be able to slip out of the rope, untie my feet, and run up the stairs before he reaches me. It’s a risk, but staying tied to this chair is worse.

He studies me, then gives a sharp nod. “Sure. Give me a minute.”

Take your damn time.

As he makes his way down the dirt path, I start to shimmy my hands out, twisting and yanking while I watch him grow smaller.

When he glances back, I freeze, my pulse pounding in my ears. I manage a smile, and he falls for it, facing forward again.

I work one wrist against the restraint, careful not to make any sudden movements. I’m almost free.

Come on, come on. Just a little more…

There. Oh God, yes.

I slip my other wrist loose, then bend down and untie my ankles just as he takes the left turn.

Fuck, I don’t have much time. I need to run.

My body trembles as I start to rise, and just as I do, I register voices above us. Men’s voices, muffled and hard to make out, but definitely there.

Adrenaline floods my veins just as Drew appears, his eyes filled with wrath.

“You bitch!” And he runs.

Oh God, no. He’s gonna kill me!

I rush for the exit, climbing the stairs as fast as my shaking legs will carry me.

“Help me!” I shout with everything I have. “Please, it’s Thora! Help! HELP! He⁠—”

Drew reaches me just as I make it halfway up and throws me on my back, the air knocking from my lungs as his fingers close around my throat.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” He snarls, sitting on top of my chest as he starts to choke the life out of me. “We could’ve been a family. You could’ve loved me.”

He squeezes until my vision blurs, and I kick up, trying to fight him off. My foot connects with his back, and he groans, loosening his grip. Then he fists my hair until my scalp burns, smashing the back of my head against the ground again and again, until stars burst across my vision.

“Please, Charlie. P-p-please stop. I’m sorry. I’m…”

The words drift away as my vision grows wobbly, everything slipping further from me while he keeps slamming me into the dirt until I feel lighter.

As the room disappears into darkness, a woman’s face appears. Her eyes are kind, and they remind me of his.

Of Anton’s.

She takes my hand and holds it. “It’s okay, Thora. Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

ANTON

By the time I reach the farm, Thora’s car isn’t there. But the tracker still shows her phone somewhere deeper on the property, past the barns and stalls, about a mile from the main house.

What would she be doing there? I cut the engine and start running.

I keep my eyes on the blinking dot on my phone while I cross the open land, following it until the distance closes and the signal says I should be standing right on top of her.

Except there is no Thora. There’s no fucking sign of her anywhere.

“Gde ty, detka?” Where are you, baby?