Chapter 2
What the hell was she doing?
Taryn had been asking herself that since she returned from Jace’s house. She paced the small motel room while trying to think of a way out of her predicament. She was in so deep, she wasn’t sure there was a way out for her.
She sat on the bed and put a hand to her forehead. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her, but no matter how tired she was, she couldn’t sleep. That tended to happen when people’s lives were on the line. She’d been backed into a corner, and for a brief moment, she had lost her mind. And went to Jace.
Seeing him had made her think everything could be all right again.
Especially when he smiled at her. His face had lit up with such excitement that she had been overcome with emotion.
But it hadn’t taken her long to realize that he was drunk—and not alone.
The instant that dawned on her, Taryn knew she needed to leave.
She had needed someone to lean on, and she hadn’t even stopped to think that Jace might not be alone.
She had left the house through the side door and hurried to her car she had parked at the curb.
With every step, she chastised herself for going to Jace.
It was wrong to bring him into her problems, but she hadn’t been able to help herself.
Thankfully, she had come to her senses with enough time to get away.
And given how drunk he’d been, Jace likely wouldn’t remember the encounter.
At least, she hoped he wouldn’t. The very last thing she wanted was to have Jace confront her. He would demand answers that she simply couldn’t give.
Taryn fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
From the moment she met Jace at that party, she’d known he was something wonderful.
They could’ve had something special if given a chance, but too many obstacles had been in their way.
Her father had been the biggest one. If she would’ve had the guts to stand up to him and the rest of her family, she likely wouldn’t be in the situation she was in now.
But she couldn’t change the past, and it wouldn’t do to dwell on such things.
She drew in a deep breath and sat up. Her options had run out long ago, leaving her one last resort.
Why had she thought she could do this? But she knew the answer.
She was desperate, and desperate people did desperate things.
Taryn didn’t want to make the phone call, but she didn’t have any other choice.
Her time was running out. She had already wasted too much of it going to Jace’s house.
“Only because I don’t want to make the damn call,” she told herself and released a long sigh.
Still, there was no alternative, no other place she could turn.
That wasn’t entirely true. She could get in her car and drive south until she reached Mexico. She could start a new life there with a clean slate. As appealing as that sounded, she couldn’t do it. Her younger sister was counting on her, and Taryn wouldn’t put anyone else’s life in jeopardy.
She reached for her phone and pulled out the folded piece of paper her father had given her several years ago when their nightmare first began. On it was a name and a number. She had thrown the note aside at the time, causing her father to yell at her.
“You might need him one day.”
Taryn had sneered at the thought. “Never.”
“Don’t ever say never. It’ll come back to bite you in the ass.”
Her father’s words had never been truer than in that moment. Back then, she had sworn she’d never be in a place where she needed the people her father had called friends. And yet, here she was. She would have to do some major groveling—if Big Pete even spoke to her.
She could sit here for several more hours, trying to find another way, only to end up right back where she was.
There was no use putting it off any longer.
Taryn dialed the number but couldn’t make herself hit SEND.
The very thought of it made her stomach roil so violently that she tossed aside the cell phone and ran to the toilet.
She sat on the vinyl floor and leaned back against the tub as she drew her knees up to her chest and gave in to the tears that had been threatening since she drove into Clearview.
She was so tired of being the responsible one. The one always sorting things out.
The one everyone leaned on.
She’d had so many dreams, so many things she wanted to do. She never imagined herself little more than an indentured servant to one of the most feared drug kingpins in Texas. Her mother was probably rolling over in her grave.
Taryn couldn’t think about her mother. If she did, she would never be able to do what had to be done. Like it or not, this was her fate. She had accepted things as they were.
If she could carry out this plan, she would finally free herself and Payton. If Boyd kept to his promise, once Taryn returned with the money, her family’s debt would be repaid, and she could take Payton and get as far away as possible.
Taryn picked herself off the floor and splashed water on her face.
Then she got her phone and purse and left the motel room.
She walked down the stairs to her car and threw her bag onto the passenger seat next to her.
Once more, she held her phone in her hands and stared down at the numbers already displayed.
Just as she was about to hit SEND, something hit her car.
She jumped and turned in her seat to find a group of kids.
“Sorry!” one of them yelled as they held up a baseball.
No doubt it’d left a dent in the side, but why should that concern her when there were much bigger problems at hand?
Taryn dropped the phone into the cupholder and started the car.
She was famished, and while the thought of food made her slightly ill, she knew if she didn’t get something in her stomach, she really would be sick.
Besides, she had a couple of days. It would be better to get things over with as soon as possible, but this was the first time she had been free in . . . years. She planned to take advantage of it while she could.
She backed up and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.
It felt weird to be back in her hometown.
While many of her friends had hungered to get out and live somewhere else, she had always found Clearview charming.
And it was close enough to the big cities to get in some culture whenever she could.
Her family had taken advantage of that often when her mother was alive. Everything had gone downhill after that.
Taryn decided to drive around for a bit to relax.
She passed her high school, which made her smile at the memories.
She’d had a good life back then, even if her mother’s untimely death had disrupted it.
After graduation, she had gotten an associate degree in dental hygiene.
Teeth had always fascinated her, and if she had to work, she always figured she would do something she enjoyed.
After the two-year degree, she had found a job quickly enough and began bringing in decent money. Her future had been open, with so many opportunities. Not once had she ever counted on someone like Jace.
She drove past the rodeo grounds where she had first met him at a party. Taryn pulled into the parking lot and put her car in park as she thought about that night. It felt like a lifetime ago. And in many ways, it was because she was a completely different person now.
It had been a hot summer night, and her friends had talked her into going to the rodeo.
She hadn’t found out until after they arrived that one of her friends was interested in one of the bull riders.
Being from Texas and in a huge ranching community, Taryn had been aware of rodeos and everything involved with them from an early age.
She remembered wanting to leave and begging her friends to go instead of staying for the afterparty.
Then came the steer wrestling. The moment she saw Jace shoot from the gate atop his horse, she had been utterly enthralled.
He captivated her, mainly because of his bright smile.
He’d gotten the steer easily with a great time, winning the event. Taryn thought that would be the last time she saw him, but she found herself being introduced to him at the afterparty.
And the rest of the world had faded away to nothing.
They’d spent hours talking that night. It had been magical and ended with the most amazing kiss at dawn. She had been floating on air when she returned home. She didn’t think anything could put her in a bad mood. But her father had been waiting for her.
He had a particular hatred for the rodeo—and ranchers especially.
It all stemmed from when he was a teenager and had been fired from a ranch job.
Her father had never let it go. Her mother had been able to temper him, though.
She had been his anchor, for lack of a better word.
And when she died, her father hadn’t known what to do.
Taryn had hated him for a while, but after some time, she began to pity him.
Which, in his eyes, was even worse. Whatever relationship they had died with her mother.
Taryn had tried to keep her involvement with Jace from her father, but her brother had ratted her out.
That’s when their budding relationship nearly got derailed.
It would have, but Jace hadn’t given up on her.
And how had she repaid him? By leaving in the middle of the night with only a hastily written text right before her phone was destroyed.
A tear rolled down her cheek that she hastily swiped away. The time for crying was long gone. She was no longer the girl from before. She was someone who’d learned the world was a harsh place where only the strong survived.
If her father had taught her anything, it was how to survive—no matter what she had to do.
A sheriff’s car drove past. A part of her wished they would pull in and ask what she was doing. She could tell them everything. It would solve her current dilemma, and it would be so easy. But she wouldn’t do it for the very same reason she hadn’t spoken to Jace.
Her phone vibrated. She looked down to see a new text message. The number wasn’t one she recognized, but that didn’t matter. She knew it was from Boyd or one of his thugs.
Tick tock.
Taryn put the car into gear and drove away. She had given her word. What she had to do was a small price to pay for her and Payton’s freedom.