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He looks up. His eyes sharp. “If you say one more word, I swear I’m going to make you dig your own fucking grave, then I’ll bury you alive in it.”
I close my mouth, hands sweating. Head spinning. I’m going to die out here all alone, and Erick’s going to think I tried to stab him in the back.
Oh, god, Erick. The thought of him finding out about this hurts more than anything else.
Marina sighs. “Ren, don’t be dramatic.”
“She’s pissing me off.”
“You dangled this in front of her. Can you really be surprised?”
“Erick’s going to be.”
“So what?” Marina takes a drag of her cigarette. “He likes her. I like her too.”
“She tried to escape.” Ren paces back and forth. “Fuck. Fucking fuck. I really hoped you wouldn’t be so goddamn stupid.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice small.
“Don’t apologize to him, dear,” Marina says, but she doesn’t sound kind about it. “You’ll have to apologize plenty to Erick. But, Ren, you don’t have to bother, and it won’t help.”
“Oh.” I look down at my feet. “Oh, shit.”
Erick’s going to find out about this. Erick, the man that told me he has feelings for me, is going to find out that I tried to escape.
I tried to sneak out behind his back.
I lied to him.
And it’s going to kill both of us.
“Don’t act like you care,” Ren says, his voice cold. “How long were you playing him for? From the start?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ren sneers. “Play dumb all you want, it won’t help.”
“You tested me, didn’t you? Both of you.” I look from him to Marina. “Did Erick know?”
Ren snorts. “Of course not. You think he’d be okay with testing his precious artist girl? Fuck that. This was all me.”
“He roped me into it.” Marina shrugs. “Offered money. I said you weren’t so stupid and I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Guess I was wrong.”
“Shit.” I lean my head back against the car. The early morning desert sunlight burns into my skin. “What do we do from here?”
“I take you back to the house, throw you in your room, and lock the door from the outside.” Ren comes toward me, hands clenched.
“You’re not going to kill me?” A sick kind of hope fills me. I’m surprised this isn’t my final resting place, but now it means I have to face Erick and see the look of hurt in his eyes.
Marina laughs sharply and flicks away her cigarette. “No, he’s definitely not, because Erick would kill him next.”
“Thecookis correct,” Ren says. Marina flips him off. “I am not going to kill you because my boss and best friend would be upset. However, I am going to tell him you took my fucking bait like a starving little minnow. God, how stupid can you be? Marina just so happens to be going to the store? Her car is unlocked? The halls are all empty?”
I could cry. Now that he’s saying it, I can see how everything aligned perfectly. But one problem—
“You didn’t send me the email?” I blurt out, unable to stop myself.
He looks confused, head cocked to the side. “What fucking email? Jesus, Hellie, don’t tell me you’ve been getting online too. Erick’s going to lose his shit. You’ve been very, very bad. What fucking email?”
