Page 64 of Keel

A few moments later, the motion of the car slowed. Could she escape? What did the bastard have planned for her?

No question, Forest would kill her if he thought he could get away with it. She would have to be cunning and play it smart to escape him again.

The car sped up and then slowed down a few more times before it started moving at a consistent speed for what seemed like forever, but it could have been twenty minutes. She had no idea because her sense of time was off. Being tied up in the trunk of his car was very disorienting.

When the vehicle finally stopped, she heard a car door slam. She waited for him to open the trunk, but seconds ticked by and stretched into what had to be minutes. She wasn’t sure how long she waited, but it seemed interminable.

The car door slammed again, making her jump. Waiting for him to pop the lid of the trunk was nearly painful, but him popping the lid and pulling her out would only lead to more pain, she was sure of it.

Would he do that thing gangsters did in movies, where they shot up the trunk, killing her? That seemed like the coward’s way to kill another person.

Her body shook, whether from fear or cold, she didn’t know. Her mind was clearing, and she remembered what had happened after escaping the fire. Forest had Sonja in a headlock. That had stopped her in her tracks. She didn’t want Forest to hurt Sonja. She hoped he hadn’t killed her friend.

The amount of hate she had for Forest was like a volcano. She wanted him to suffer. If he died today, she would be thrilled. Maybe it was wrong to wish for his death, but she had little hope he would ever reform.

And if he actually killed Sonja, she would track him down and…what? She hadn’t been able to do anything to him when they’d been together.

The car door slammed again. Her muscles tightened as she waited for him to pull her from the trunk, but nothing happened. She let go of a heavy sigh. All this tension and worry, and nothing was happening.

She had to pee, so she hoped he would get her out of the trunk soon. Maybe he wasn’t ever going to let her out. She didn’t want to die here.

Having her eyes open or closed didn’t make a difference, but closing her eyes made her feel more at peace. This wasn’t the way she thought she would die.

For years, she believed she would die at Forest’s hands, but not without extreme violence. Suffocating in the trunk of a car wasn’t how she thought she would go.

She’d just about given up when the trunk popped open, light splashing into the small space. She blinked against the brightness, trying to make out the figure blocking the light.

Then another person walked over, and he turned so she could see it was Stone. Just great, Forest’s insane brother was here. This wasn’t going to end well.

Chapter 39

They gathered at Keel’s kitchen table. Chase had called the other guys, so all seven of them were there, preparing to go to war against Forest.

He found out the jerk had been released from custody last week. They told him to stay away from Frankie, but Forest wasn’t going to listen to some cop in North Carolina. He figured Stone was close, too. That meant they would have to deal with both Stone and Forest.

Scott was typing furiously on his laptop. “I’m searching car rental places, seeing if I can find out if they rented a vehicle.”

“I’m looking at flights,” Stanley said.

Mick pumped his fist. “I’m in the credit card system looking for activity.”

Chase squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll find him, and then we’ll find Frankie.”

“God help me, if he harms one hair on her head, we’re going to need shovels.”

Stanley patted his back. “Brother, you didn’t even have to say anything. We’ve got you.”

It took them about twenty minutes of digging to figure out which company Forest had rented the car from and that he’d used a credit card to book a B&B at a cabin in the country about thirty minutes outside the city.

“Let’s go,” Chase said.

They loaded up into two cars and took off, heading to the location of the B&B. On the drive over, Keel had to force himself to be calm. He didn’t want to overthink anything, but he was sure Forest was doing something terrible to Frankie.

Anger and fear twisted through him. At least Frankie knew he loved her. Maybe that would help her hang on. She just had to survive until they got there. Then, he would make sure those guys never took her again.

Frankie tried to scoot away from their hands, but Forest and Stone had her out of the car. The bright lights were coming from Stone’s vehicle, which was parked behind the car she’d been dumped in.

If she got away from these assholes, it wasn’t like she could do anything other than just lie on the ground and wiggle. It wasn’t an effective escape plan, so she saved her strength and stopped fighting their hold.