Chapter 51
It was growing dark.And it was cold. The temps dropped as the sun did, and Rory didn’t have a coat. Simon had hustled them out of her house and into a small SUV without letting Rory get anything warmer. She was dressed as she must have been dressed this morning, in yoga pants and a sweatshirt with tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
They’d both been crying over Theo, wondering if he was dead, if someone would come to the house and find him, save him.
Blaze.
He was her hope. But it had been hours now, and she didn’t know if he even knew she’d left the apartment.
Simon had taken her phone away. She didn’t know if he’d tossed it or simply turned it off.
He’d slapped duct tape over her mouth when he’d put her in the truck. Then he drove them into the woods that bordered the Tennessee River. It was technically a part of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, which meant there were no houses or buildings anywhere.
There was a tent, however. It was off the track, a camouflage structure that Simon had obviously been staying in judging by the number of food wrappers and plastic bottles littering the area. It also explained why they hadn’t found him.
He’d shoved them inside, chained their legs together so they couldn’t walk, then left again. Because their hands were cuffed in front of them instead of behind, they’d been able to carefully peel the tape off their mouths. They hadn’t done it immediately, but the longer Simon stayed away, the braver they got.
Now they huddled together for warmth and talked.
“I’m sorry,” Emma said. “So damn sorry. I didn’t know he would involve you and Theo. I thought he was after me.”
Her voice broke, but she swallowed it back and reached for her friend’s hand, squeezing.
“It’s not your fault,” Rory said. Was she slurring? Fear rolled down Emma’s spine. If Rory went into DKA, the window to help her would shrink fast. Simon hadn’t brought the medical kit to the tent. It was still in the truck with him, wherever he’d gone.
A sense of helplessness and anger roared through her.
“How do you feel, honey?”
“Tired.”
Emma sniffed back tears. “Blaze will come looking for us. We’re going to be okay, Ror.”
She wished she believed that was true, but she didn’t know how Blaze would find them out here. She’d grown up in Sutton’s Creek and had a good idea where they were, but he wouldn’t know where to look. There were lots of paths into the refuge, lots of unspoiled wetlands. It could take days to find them.
And that would be too late for Rory. She’d be dead by then. Assuming Simon didn’t come back and kill them both first.
“I hope he finds Theo first. Do you think he’s still alive, Idgy?”
Emma swallowed. If Simon hadn’t gone back to finish him, then it was possible. Not that she was saying that to Rory. “He was breathing when I picked up the bag. He could have an internal injury, but if it’s a slow bleeder, he’ll still be alive. They’ll find him, Ror. Blaze will go there first because that’s where I told him I was going. Theo might need surgery—probably will—but he’s young and strong and tough.”
“Casey was so nice to me. He didn’t look a thing like you described Simon. And he was shy, too. Sweet. I had no idea.”
“What happened?” Her throat ached as she asked the question.
“I was getting ready to go meet Theo. And then he was there, inside my living room. I was surprised, but I still didn’t figure it out. He was holding roses.”
She’d seen those on the dining room table. They’d still been in the plastic.
“I asked what he was doing there. He said he couldn’t wait to see me, that he wanted to surprise me. It was weird, but I didn’t listen to the creepy feeling I had. What kind of guy wants to surprise you and then walks into your house like he owns the place? Plus I was sure I locked the door, but he said it wasn’t locked. Said he’d knocked and I hadn’t answered so he’d come inside. I hadn’t even told him where I lived, but I know that kind of thing is easy to find. It felt wrong, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I hesitated too long. Then he grabbed me and put the cuffs on. I still didn’t know he was Simon then. I started to scream, and he taped my mouth. Then he told me all about you and how he was going to make you pay.”
Emma shuddered. “He’s a psychopath. I wish I’d realized it before I ever went out with him.” She lifted her hands, curled them beneath her chin, and rocked back and forth. “How did I let him kiss me? Touch me? How did I sleep with him and not know he’d murdered someone?”
“Not your fault, Idgy. He’s very good at being what he wants to be. He had me fooled, too. I thought he was a sweet, shy, engineer type who loved rockets and had a bad breakup.”
“How did you meet him?” Because she had to know the approach Simon had taken. She wanted to know.
“He came in the Dawg one night, a bit late, and sat at the bar. He seemed kinda sad, so we talked. He said it was the one-year anniversary of his girlfriend leaving him for another guy. And, you know, since the same thing happened to me, I had a lot of sympathy. I told him about Mark in a vague way, he told me about Grace—” Rory looked horrified. “Oh shit, he said her name was Grace! And I still didn’t figure it out.”
“There’s no reason you should have. There are a lot of women named Grace.”
“Maybe not, but I feel like I should have known it was wrong. I should have stopped listening to my head and went with my gut and just grabbed Chance’s ass, like you told me to. I can’t stand him, but it would have been hot for a while. But I was so sure I needed a guy completely opposite of what I usually go for. A nice, quiet guy. Not a loud-mouthed, muscled, irritating, rugged meathead who makes butterflies dance in my belly.”
“When we get out of here, you need to stop avoiding Chance and just go for it.”
Rory shook her head sadly. “If we get out of here.”
“Don’t talk that way. We’re going to get out. Simon wants access to my accounts. Until he gets my laptop, we’re safe. And that means Blaze has time to find us.”
She didn’t really know they were safe until Simon had her laptop and access to her accounts, but she had to believe it for now. Had to have hope to hold onto.
For all she knew, he’d gone to get the computer now. He had her keys. He could figure out which one opened what. He also knew which laptop was hers. The one with the stickers all over the case. He could find it and bring it back. She doubted there was internet access out here, much less phone access, but he could take them somewhere until he had a signal, breach the accounts, and dump their bodies.
Emma shivered.
“I hope you’re right.” Rory shivered, too. “I don’t know how Blaze or his guys can find us, but I hope they do. I’m thirsty, Idgy. And my stomach hurts. It’s been hours without insulin.”
“A few,” Emma said, trying not to let any hint of panic creep into her voice. “But we have time.”
“Not as much as I’d like. Trauma can accelerate DKA. I think we’ve had a bit of that today.”
“We have, but it hasn’t even been twelve hours. Most signs of DKA occur within twelve to twenty-four hours of your last insulin injection. We have loads of time, Ror.”
Rory huddled closer. “You’re right. Fuck stress. I need to be okay so I can lay one on Chance the next time I see him.”
Emma laughed. It was either that or cry. “Absolutely. Kiss the stuffing out of him.”
Rory sighed. The light was almost gone now, and it was hard to see anything in the confines of the tent. Emma tried not to think about crawly things in the swampy wetland nearby.
“Are there things you wish you’d done before, you know, the end?”
Emma thought about deliberately misunderstanding what Rory meant, but she didn’t have the energy to pretend. “I wish I’d told Blaze I love him.”
“Oh my God, really? You’re in love?”
“Yes.” Her voice was very small. Not from shame or embarrassment, but from fear.
Fear of all the things she’d never get to say to him if he didn’t find them. Even if he didn’t return her feelings, it would have been nice to get them out in the open.
“I’m happy for you. Do you think he feels the same?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you gotta get out of here so you can find out.”
In the distance, she heard an engine. Rory went still, too. Emma willed her heart to stop pounding so hard so the blood wouldn’t throb in her ears, but it didn’t happen. The vehicle came closer.
“It’s him,” Rory whispered. “I recognize the sound. Dammit, we should have made a plan for how to jump on him or something. We could strangle him with these chains.”
Emma hoped Rory was wrong about the sound, but she didn’t think her friend was. If Rory hadn’t been tending bar and running the Dawg with Theo, she’d have probably worked on cars. She had an old Chevy truck she’d kept running well past what others had thought was its time.
“We aren’t fast enough, Ror. We’re too tangled. He thought about that, believe me.”
“Where is Blaze? Or Chance? What good are those One Shot guys if all they do is teach classes but can’t actually rescue people who need it?”
“A joke? Really?”
Rory nudged her shoulder. “Did it make you laugh?”
Tears filled Emma’s eyes as the engine shut off. “You always make me laugh, Aurora Harper. And though I didn’t say it enough the past few years, or show it, I love you. I’m so sorry I got you into this.”
“Love you, too, Emma Grace Sutton. And you didn’t get me into anything. That’d be the sicko psycho out there. I’d love it if a cottonmouth bit him before he reaches the tent. It would be nice to watch him gyrate on the ground as he dies.”
“We can hope.”
A door slammed. Then Simon whistled a tune as if he had no cares in the world, branches crunching beneath his feet as he walked toward the tent.