Page 91 of Battle Scars

She doesn’t answer, doesn’t answer… and then she does.

“Adrienne?” Eli breathes. “Are you there?”

“Yeah, Eli,” she says, her voice coming over the speakers, and she sounds groggy as hell. The icon for her phone on the app is still blinking like it doesn’t know where she is. If it doesn't come up, I’ll have to call Hacker back at base and get him to look into it, but I don’t want it to take too long and waste precious time.

“We’re on our way, honey,” he says.

“It’s going to be too late,” she replies, and I want to scream.

“It won’t,” Eli says. “We’ll find you. We’ll get there in time.”

“You won’t,” she assures. “Listen. I was wrong to tell you that it was a mistake to fall in love. I’ll never regret falling for Gabe, no matter how little time I have left. I love him, and I’m glad he knows, even if he doesn’t love me back.”

“He loves you, Addie.”

“I don’t think so, but that’s okay. Find August,” she says. “Promise me, Eli. Promise that you’ll find her and you’ll make things right.”

“We’ll talk about this when I get there.”

“Promise me.”

“I prom⁠—”

But the line goes dead.

And the screen of my own phone lights up. “I got her.”

THIRTY-FOUR

THE END

ADRIENNE

I’m not going to lie, even when I finally took the threats seriously, after Gabe blurted out how awful they really were, I never thought I’d wake up with a pounding headache, taped to a chair in a house in the suburbs of Henderson, Nevada.

Apparently, this is the end. Fin. No more. The end of the road.

I think the bump on the head Bobby gave me shook some screws loose. Or maybe I just don’t care anymore, because this has been the worst day of my life. Who knows though? It’s kind of freeing.

I knew the day of the explosion that something was wrong. I should have trusted my gut, I just didn’t. I wouldn’t know how much I’d regret that until today when he coldcocked me with a gun. Let’s all add that one to What are Things I Don’t Ever Want to Do Again for a thousand? My internal Jeopardy voice is killer.

I was out cold until someone slapped my face. I figured it was Bobby, and it was—sort of. I mean, he’s here too, standing in the background. What I did not expect was my stepmom, Candy, to be the mastermind behind all of this. Quite frankly, I didn’t think she was smart enough. She only ever gave off gold digger vibes, so this is honestly quite surprising. It would appear today is also my day to learn not to underestimate anyone. What’s the old saying about judging a book by its giant, fake booby cover?

“Time to talk to your friend,” she says as she slides her finger across my phone to answer it.

“Adrienne?” Eli says through the phone. “Are you there?”

“Yeah, Eli,” I reply as I blink against the sudden tears.

“We’re on our way, honey,” he tells me, but in my heart of hearts, I know it’s too late. He’s not going to find me, and if Candy and Bobby make good on their threats, I don’t want him or anyone to see me like that when it’s all said and done. They don’t need to carry that on their souls like God knows what else.

“It’s going to be too late.”

“It won’t,” Eli says. “We’ll find you. We’ll get there in time.”

“You won’t,” I tell him sadly. How I wish it weren’t true, but they will never find me out here. “Listen. I was wrong to tell you that it was a mistake to fall in love. I’ll never regret falling for Gabe, no matter how little time I have left. I love him, and I’m glad he knows, even if he doesn’t love me back.”

“He loves you, Addie.”