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She stepped up, hoping like hell Reid would come out of the building and knock this bastard out. But they were in a loading zone, and all that surrounded them was the silence of the night. She lifted her leg and hoisted herself into the van, looking around for any sort of weapon or out.
The guy jumped in behind her, spinning her around and shoving her to the floor. Honestly, if he rough-housed her one more time, she didn’t care if he shot her; she was clawing his face.
He whipped out a pair of handcuffs and slapped it on her wrist, securing the other end to a hook on the van’s floor.
“Now this is what’s going to happen.” He bent down, his beady eyes meeting hers. “You’re going to log on to your social media, and you’re going to post a video rescinding your nomination.”
“Excuse me?” She didn’t care if he had a gun trained on her. She earned that award, and she wasn’t going to let some punk take that away from her. “And why the hell would I do that?”
“Because it’s all bullshit. You winning an award for a story about bullying whenyouare the bully.”
“Me?” Allison exclaimed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was minding my own damn business when you forced me into the back of this van.”
His body stiffened and his dark eyes turned black as death. “You are going to rescind your nomination and withdraw from the award.”
“Why do you care so much about my award?”
“Because you don’t deserve it!”
“Says you.”
“Says every person’s life you’ve destroyed with your mouth and all that bullshit that comes out of it.”
What the hell was he even talking about? She didn’t destroy lives. She reported the news.
“I’ve never destroyed anyone’s life. You must have me mistaken for someone else. I report facts.”
“Bullshit!” His voice boomed in the small space. “You destroyed my life. My family.” He pointed the gun at her, hand shaking, finger way too damn close to the trigger. She needed to keep him talking. If he was talking, he’d be too distracted.
“I’m sorry, but I have never met you, so how can I have destroyed your family?”
“Your stupid story. My life was great. My mom was a star on the internet. People loved her, adored her, until you turned everyone against her.”
She stared at him, slack-jawed, trying to find the missing piece that would make this all make sense. Then it clicked fast and hard. The award. The story. Allison exposed a woman who had been attacking one of Willow Coves’ own. Harley had gotten entangled in a love affair with a rich and powerful older man. She thought she found the one only to discover he was married with a kid. The wife, a fitness influencer, found out and turned against Harley, sending her entire fanbase to destroy the innocent woman, all while pretending her husband was the victim. It was disgusting and downright cruel.
If anyone destroyed the woman’s life, it was her good for nothing husband. Not Harley and definitely not Allison. This kid was as misguided as his own mother. Guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“Your mom, she’s the woman who was going after Harley?”
“My mom was the woman whose life was destroyed because of that slut!”
She wanted to correct him, tell him Harley was far from a slut. She was a good human being that was manipulated and lied to by his father. But to do that would upset him further, and since he was the one with the gun, she chose, for once, to keep her mouth shut.
“So you are going to withdraw your nomination. Tell the world the truth.”
“And what’s the truth?”
“That you made that story up, embellished the details to make yourself look like the fucking hero. That the villain in all of this is you, and my mom and dad are innocent bystanders. Just collateral damage in your attempt to be recognized beyond your sad, pathetic little town.”
Words bubbled to the surface, but she bit her cheek to keep from letting her anger say something that might worsen the situation. If he wanted her to make a video. Fine, she would do it. But only on one condition.
“I’ll make your video. I’ll withdraw my nomination, but only if you leave my family out of this.”
His lip curled in a snarl, nose scrunching as he glared at her with angry eyes. “Deal.”
Chapter 25
Reid hung up with Angel. He was calling in every favor they had. Reid didn’t have hard facts yet, but his gut told him Allison wasn’t just casually making her rounds. She was missing.
