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“Pull off about four miles up the road. We’ll drive into the mines and hide there.” No one really knew the entrances were there. Just someplace he and Hector had liked to hang out as kids. It would do for now.
Until Vaughn couldthink.
That bitch had shot him. He was probably going to die. But he didn’t want Hector to go down with him. Hector would be toast in jail.
Hector was family, after all. And Vaughn loved him.
That was the last thought he remembered. Before he passed out right there. And Hector just kept driving.
Leaving Gregory’s legacy behind them forever.
Familywas everything. And he’d have given that to Crispin Maria.
129
Pen caught her breath.Relief filled her but only for a moment. They were still in a burning building—a madman’s lair. “We have got to get out of here!”
“Zoey’s here. The bastard nabbed her, too. She found a little boy. I got him out of here. He’s your baby brother. Around three. Found another one of your sisters, too. I sent the kid off with her. Pen—I have something to tell you about that sister—”
“Just tell me later!” Pen held her hands out. Ice coated her spine. Zoey was here. “Is Zoey hurt? Is she ok?”
“A bit beat up, like we all are. But she’s looking for you. And another little kid. I don’t know details. I just know the girl is older than four and probably under ten. She’s in here somewhere.” Sydney wasn’t gentle about it, but they didn’t have time for gentle. She ripped the tape from Pen’s hands with a curse.
“Come on. We have to get out of here.” Sydney took off down the hall. “There’s another set of stairs in the basement. The garage is that way. It’s probably the best way out. The fastest from here.”
“We’ll have to hurry. The smoke! What about Zoey?”
“We’re getting outside. Zoey is a smart woman, she’ll get herself out when the time comes.”
“I need to find my sister!”
“You are getting out of this place, no matter what, Penelope.” Sydney got right up in her face. Her eyes practically glowed. Her hands wrapped around Pen’s upper arms. Pen just stared. “Even if I have to carry you out of here myself. I am not losing another one of my best friends today. I just can’t. I won’t. I am getting you out of here, no matter what!Youare getting out and goinghome.Back to your sisters, where you belong.”
Sydney grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her down the hallway.
Toward the stairs.
That led right back down into the evil man’s basement.
130
They had ruined everything!Gregory stood there—staring at Zoey. She blocked him from the Lincoln.
Oakley had run. She was probably hiding in the garage now. Gregory’s hand pressed against his cheek.
He couldn’t believe Oakley had dared to do that. He would most likely scar.
How had Denita's daughters done this? Why? Why had they done this tohim? He deserved awe, deserved praise. Reverence. Not this willful hateful disobedience.
They wouldn’t even bealive,if it wasn’t forhimand what he had done. None of them. He had created them. Did they not understand what that meant?
Bonitahad done this. Made them this way.
Bonita had taken them, split them up, thrown Denita's daughters away like common trash.
Until they had just grown up broken and imperfect. Every last one of them. Even Oakley was imperfect now. She was too flawed. Just too flawed now.
He had done something wrong with her, too. Perhaps he had loved Oakley just far too much. And the little girl—willful, spoiled, just plain bad and broken—that girl had overheard too much.
