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Shaking uncontrollably, I fumbled to get the key into the ignition, but as soon as I slid the key home, I started the Jeep. Mr. X was at my door when I shifted into reverse. Using the butt of his knife, he shattered my window. I slammed on the gas as shards of glass rained over me, cutting across my cheek, neck, arm, and thigh. The Jeep zoomed backward through the parking lot and when there was a good distance between us and Mr. X, I turned the wheel, whipping the front of the Jeep to the right. Facing the main road, I hit the brake, shifted into drive, and sped out of there.
I only glanced back for a second to make sure Derek had made it out. His car wasn’t in the lot, but Mr. X stood in the center of it, eyes tracking us as we drove away.
For a while as I headed toward the interstate, all that could be heard was our heavy breathing until Colt reached for my hand closest to him, which was currently white-knuckling the steering wheel. It almost hurt to unlock my tight grip and give him my hand. Trembling profusely, I laced my fingers with his to help me stop.
Feeling it, he squeezed my hand tightly. “What’s the plan?”
“Before I explain, can you get the burner phone from my purse?” I asked him as I nodded toward the backseat.
Colt twisted in his seat to reach back to grab it. He searched inside until he found the basic phone.
“Can you call your brothers on each of their phones? If they don’t answer, then we’ll know they listened to me and they’re headed where we’re headed.”
Colt dialed a number and brought the phone up to his ear. It wasn’t long before he hung up. “Creed’s phone went straight to voicemail.”
I nodded and waited silently as he called Knox and then Keelan next. Both of their phones were turned off as well.
I let out a heavy, relief-filled sigh and relaxed against the headrest. “They’re headed to my safe house in Colorado. I have a property in the mountains there.”
“The other one is in Alaska, right?”
“Yeah,” I said and began telling him how the night had unfolded, starting with Creed and I discovering all of my underwear at my house missing. When I got to the part where we’d found Isabelle, my voice broke. Colt grabbed my hand again and held it tightly. As I focused on the road, I blinked a bunch of times to try and stop the burning in my eyes. I held my composure as I continued, finishing with finding him and the sheriff at Desert Stone Fitness.
“I didn’t feel my phone vibrating in my pocket when Creed and Knox called,” Colt explained. “And when I finally did and saw I had a bunch of missed calls from them, I had a feeling something was wrong. That’s why I went outside where it was quiet. So I could hear. When I was far enough away from the music playing at the party, Creed was calling me again and before I could answer…” He let go of my hand to touch the back of his head. He winced a little and brought his hand out in front of him. The tips of his fingers had blood on them.
I reached behind his head. “Let me see.”
He turned a little in his seat to show me. A small spot of blond hair was red. Gently, I moved his hair out of the way so I could see how badly he was hurt. He had an inch-long cut on his scalp, near the bottom of his skull.
“I don’t think you’ll need stitches,” I said as I stared back at the road.
“You do.” He gestured to my arm where I had been shot. “Is it still bleeding?”
I didn’t bother glancing at it. I could feel the blood dripping off me and to the floor between the driver’s seat and the door.
I caught Colt looking me over and staring down at my lap. He said, “You’re covered in glass. You should find somewhere to pull over.”
“I’m too scared to pull over right now,” I said honestly.
He nodded.
I got us on the interstate, heading north. We were both quiet and lost in our thoughts for at least an hour, until I needed to shift in my seat to be more comfortable. The glass shards in my lap spilled between my thighs. I read over the signs on the side of the road, looking for the nearest gas station.
As I took the next exit, I was reminded of something vital. “Shit!”
Startled by my outburst, Colt’s head whipped to face me. “What?”
“Can you check to see if I have cash in my wallet, please?”
Colt took my wallet from my purse and looked through it. He pulled out two twenties.
It took a tremendous amount of restraint to calmly pull into the gas station and park in the farthest, darkest corner of the lot. Turning off the Jeep, I climbed out. Glass fell off of me and onto the ground.
We wouldn’t make it to the safe house with forty dollars. It was too long of a drive. We’d run out of gas before then. I let a little bit of rage out by slamming the Jeep’s door. With my hands on my hips, I moved toward the back of the car and tried to think.
I heard Colt climb out. “Hey,” he said softly as he rounded the car. “Talk to me.”
When he was close enough, I leaned my forehead against his chest. “We have to drive nearly eight hundred miles. We don’t have enough money to make it there and we can’t risk using a credit card or pulling more money from an ATM. There are cameras around everywhere. If we’re traced somewhere pulling out cash…” I let out a sigh. “We can’t do anything that would show what direction we are headed in. Especially now that Mr. X is working with the sheriff.”
