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“She’s not really graspin’ the situation,” Tommy said softly.
“Please stop talking about me like I’m not here,” I snapped.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Tommy replied.
“Can you guys please just leave? Or wait out here until you figure out whatever you need to figure out?” I asked tiredly, finally losing my patience. “I want to go back inside. I’m cold and I’m hungry, and I’ve got a perfectly good fire and breakfast waiting for me.”
“Can I have a word?” Tommy asked Otto, putting his hand on Otto’s shoulder.
As they walked away, the ringing in my ears that I’d been able to ignore since I opened the cabin door got just a little bit louder. I clenched my hands in my lap as I tried to keep my breathing slow and regular. I could tell that Otto’s brothers and uncle were watching me and I didn’t want them to see how scared I was.
By that point, I no longer feared the men. They seemed like they were nice enough and if they were going to hurt me they would’ve already—plus, I didn’t think Otto would let them. I wasmore afraid of what was going to happen next, once they took the guns. I didn’t know why my dad had them, it must’ve been some mistake. My dad co-owned a nursery. He went to church every Sunday and Wednesday. He was a deacon for Pete’s sake. What would he do with a bunch of rifles? But part of me, deep down, knew that if he’d taken so much care to hide them he would be really angry they were gone.
I’d screwed up big time. This was probably the type of emergency that constituted using that phone I’d left inside. Now, they would never let me come home.
Chapter 6
Otto
“Iwant youto take Esther back to town,” my dad said, stopping me by the tailgate of Rumi’s truck. “Don’t take her to your house. Go to the clubhouse. I’ll call ahead and let them know you’re comin’.”
“Why?”
“She doesn’t need to be here for this part,” he replied calmly, glancing at the back of Esther’s head in the back window. “She seems real confused, bud.”
“She’s gonna freak if I try to make her leave.”
Dad looked at me for a long moment. “You get a good look at that cabin, son?”
“Not really,” I replied. I’d glanced around, but most of my attention had been on Esther and her round belly.
“There’s no electricity,” Dad said. He paused. “I also didn’t see a generator anywhere, Otto. So, no runnin’ water either.”
I don’t know how I hadn’t put it together. I guess I was just as fucking shell-shocked as Esther seemed to be. I’d been surprised and furious that she was living in the middle of nowhere with no electricity but I hadn’t even thought about the water situation. I was from the country, Iknewthat you needed electricity for a well to pump water inside. I’d just been too distracted to really see the situation for what it was. No well meant no toilet. No sink. No shower. She couldn’t even wash her fucking hands.
Rage pulsed through me.
“You think they left her out here to guard the shipment?” I asked, glancing at the cab of the truck.
“Unlikely,” my dad replied with a sigh. “All we had to do was ask nicely and she showed us where the damn things were.”
“This is a fuckin’ nightmare,” I muttered. “What the fuck is even happening right now?”
“Did you know she was pregnant?” he asked flatly. “The way you’re lookin’ at her, I’m assumin’ it could be yours.”
I jerked my head up to look at him. “I had no fuckin’ clue. I used a condom.”
“Well that’s somethin’ at least.” He watched me closely. “You think it’s yours?”
My laughter was hoarse and painful. “She hasn’t slept with anyone else.”
“You sure about that?”
“Did you see her?” I asked dubiously. “That dress is a little more extreme than what she usually wears, but not much. She’s a church girl. I’m not even sure howIfuckin’ slept with her.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Dad said ominously as Uncle Will strode toward us.
“Mouth’s bringin’ Forrest out with him.”
