Page 164 of It Runs in the Family

“Why would she lie about the Ranger?” the human-vise man asked.

“To stir up shit,” Voss said, seething. I was surprised he hadn’t already pulled his gun out to shoot me.

“If she’s telling the truth, then we need to move all this product out tonight,” vise-man said. “Because if we get raided and you survive, the boss is gonna kill you.”

Voss had a boss?

Voss shifted his gaze to the guy and let out a string of imaginative curse words. “Start loading the vans.”

Vise-man shouted, “Code Red! Code Red!” then ran off toward the offices. Seconds later, an alarm went off in the warehouse, and in less than a minute, men poured out of doors onto a metal landing attached to a lot above the warehouse. The men looked half-asleep as they descended the metal staircase. Did they sleep here? That made sense if they were keeping kids like Cody against their will.

Surprisingly, some of my fear had subsided. Maybe I’d been afraid of the unknown, and realizing my fate was set had taken that fear away.

I didn’t see my life flash before my eyes like an internal slide show. Instead, I thought about how disappointed Granny would be that I’d never amounted to anything after all.

Within ten minutes, the warehouse was in mass chaos, and I could see the background of my visions coming to life before me. About a dozen men loaded the vans with thick plastic bricks. One of them looked like Cody, only rougher than the photo from the Rebecca’s fridge. He approached the shelves close to me and paused when he saw me, regret in his eyes.

“Cody?” I said softly.

He did a double take. “How do you know my name?”

I leaned closer, lowering my voice. “Boone’s in Chaffney. He’s here undercover with the Rangers. He’s lookin’ for you.”

His eyes widened. “Boone’s here?”

I nodded.

He chuckled. “He told you he was with the Texas Rangers?”

The blood rushed from my head, leaving me dizzy. He took my non-answer as confirmation.

He let out a bitter laugh. “Boone left the Rangers about three months ago. He may be lookin’ for me, but he’s not with the Rangers or any other agency. He’s here on his own.”

He scooped up an armload of bags, then stopped next to me. “Don’t feel bad. You’re not the first person he’s fooled, and you won’t be the last.” He gave me a wry smile. “He’s pretty damn convincin’.” Then he walked toward the vans.

I was so stunned it took my brain a good ten seconds to process what Cody had said.

Boone had lied to me. Did he even have a DEA contact? What was he really planning to do with the flash drive? I thought it was bad when he’d turned his back on me after finding out about my visions, but this was a hundred times worse.

He’d convinced me to trust him, but all along he’d been playing me for a fool.

I swore I wasn’t going to break for Voss.

Turned out I’d been saving that for Boone’s betrayal.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

As I watched the men load the vans, I wondered how many millions of dollars they had in those trucks.

But as the shelves began to empty, I realized my time was running out. What was I going to do when I saw Selena? Would I let her watch me die and live with the guilt?

Suddenly, there was muffled shouting on the other side of the warehouse, growing louder. Voss appeared around the corner, dragging my crying cousin with him. Terror covered her face.

Funny, I’d seen versions of this vision five separate times, but this was the first time I’d seen it as me.

Voss approached, his body vibrating with hate and violence. Selena was dragging her heels, screaming, “You promised! You promised!”

“It’s okay, Selena!” I shouted, hoping she heard me over the roar of noise. “It’s okay! I love you!”