Chapter 7 Ledger
LEDGER
Exhaustion clings to my face as I swipe at the haze blurring my vision. I tilt my neck, scanning every corner of the room until my eyes land on the empty bed.
Fuck.
How the hell did she untie herself?
Unease coils in my stomach as my mind spins, questions piling up until panic heightens, prickling down my arms and tapping at my side.
I never should’ve shut my eyes. Not even for a damn second.
I was too far gone from everything that happened, so drained I must’ve slipped into a corpse-like slumber. Not a creak or shift could’ve woken me.
Awareness crashes over me, the full weight of my carelessness slamming into my skull in a raging headache. She’s gone. And if I don’t find her soon, I might as well crawl back to the world of the dead, because that’s exactly what I’ll be.
I’m so fucked.
She must’ve been planning this the second I tied her up. Maybe even earlier. Who knows when she slipped out, or if it’s too late to catch up to her?
If I’m lucky, she might still be out there, wandering the dense, stygian woods, circling the same trees, lost, driven by nothing but panic and desperation.
Early sunlight slants off the dusty windowpane. Time’s already slipping through my hands.
A jolt of panic drives me to the bed. I snatch up the ropes still lying there, inspecting them like they can tell me how far she’s gone. I should’ve tied them behind her back; that way, she would’ve never been able to reach them. But no. I had to be fucking decent for once.
This is exactly why there’s no room for sympathy. One slip, one soft thought, and everything falls apart.
I press a hand against the front of my jeans, feeling the bulge of my keys through the denim. Still there. She didn’t get to them.
Relief barely settles before my phone buzzes in my back pocket. I reach around and yank it out, already bracing myself.
“Tanner,” I growl into the speaker. My free hand digs out my keys. There’s still a chance I can reach her. I won’t let her get far.
His voice oozes sarcasm through the line. “Rough night in the great outdoors? Miss electricity yet?”
“Don’t start,” I snap, throwing open the cabin door. My stride is clipped and fast, the slam behind me loud enough to echo off the surrounding trees.
When I find her, I’m never letting her out of my sight again.
“Rough night?” he keeps going, clearly unphased by the frazzled outbreak. “Did your little plaything put up too much of a fight?”
I jab the keys into the ignition, twisting hard until the car rumbles to life. “I’m serious, cut the shit. We’re in big trouble.”
“Oh, that’s a major understatement,” he drawls, the obvious sarcasm in his voice making me grit my teeth. “Did I not warn you that if you went through with this, she’d find a chance to get away? That this entire thing would be our downfall?”
“Who the fuck told you she got away?”
“Relax, I got her already.”
I slam my brakes right before I reverse into a downed tree branch. “You what?”
“Yeah, she’s right next to me,” he confirms. “In fact, we’re pulling up right behind you.”
My eyes snap to the rearview mirror, adjusting it higher and away from the branch that still juts over the frosted ground.
Relief sweeps through me almost immediately when I find her slouched beside him. We’ve avoided a bigger mess for now, but any solace I feel is quickly squandered by a far more troubling emotion as I take in her unconscious form.
There’s no telling what went down before he managed to transport her back here, but I imagine it was far from a joyride.
I step outside, unsettled by my inability to silence the doubts that insistently climb through the fractured parts of my firm exterior. I shouldn’t feel anything toward her besides contempt after this failed stunt she’s managed to pull off, but can I really fault her for trying to escape?
I’ve only been pinning my failures on an innocent girl who’s done nothing but react like the victim I turned her into. This is all on me.
The sharp snaps of the twigs beneath Tanner’s tires abruptly fade as he comes to a complete stop, leaving an inch or two between our bumpers.
We both hang up.
I promptly stalk over to him as he shifts to rise from his seat, the gap between us closing rapidly, the silent accusation resting on the edge of his curled tongue. “You’re lucky I caught her in time before she made it out in the open. She was pretty damn close, too.”
“How’d you knock her out?” I ask, evading more scrutiny from him.
He smoothes out his tongue so it sweeps across his top row of perfectly straight teeth as he slowly regards me with narrowing eyes. “Just some chloroform.”
“That could’ve killed her,” I snap before reining my tone back. “It doesn’t matter. Forget it.”
My eyes skim past him and settle on the girl in his car. Her head lolls against the seatbelt, loose strands of long, damp hair plastered across her face, obscuring it from view, but despite that, her hunched, fragile frame pulls at something raw inside of me. Something I had left to die years ago.
It’s long been replaced with callous ruthlessness and a pang of hunger to hurt more than cherish, but looking at her sparks a distant flicker of remorse for my actions, for everything I’ve done.
It clings to me like a stain I can’t wash away.
I’m stuck between being grateful she didn’t make it out of the woods and pitying her failure, though she’s still blissfully unaware of it for now.
My attention flicks back to Tanner when he shifts on his feet. “If it did kill her, it’d definitely solve our problem.”
Gritting my teeth, I angle my jaw, twisting my neck until it cracks, then channel the rest of my energy into tugging at the thickest part of my hair near the roots. “We can’t just kill off an innocent girl. No matter how bad the situation is. That’s not who we are.”
“Hey, I never said that.” He lifts a brow. “I said it wouldn’t hurt if the drugs did the work for us. That’s different.” He smirks in that obnoxious way that makes me want to connect my fist to his jaw, but I abstain.
“Funny,” I deadpan.
Shrugging his shoulder, he ventures slightly further with his line of questions, as if baiting me. “You put us in a tough spot, Ledge. One way or another, this matter needs to be solved. If you refuse to handle it, then I will.”
“I told you already, I am handling it.”
“Are you?” he fires back.
“I am.” My molars grind together, and I have to actively remind myself to loosen the tension. “Nobody even knows we have her.”
“But they will.” His eyes narrow. “What happens when she makes it across news headlines and Antonio gets a whiff of it? What then, huh? You think he’ll take kindly to us withholding sensitive information from the rest of The Ringer?
Get your head out of the sand. He’s not going to let her go back, and she can’t be trusted, anyway.
Believe me. I already heard an earful from little Aria over there. ”
My mind freezes at the small piece of detail that slipped between his verbal onslaught.
Aria.
The name sinks heavily in my stomach, another piece of her anchoring itself to me, a reminder that she isn’t some unknown figure that I can casually wipe my hands clean from, but a person. An entire identity that I can’t look away from, at least not in the rate I’m already headed in.
Her humanity is undeniably growing on me, and even Tanner has sensed it quicker than I can attempt to refute it.
His next words, however, sting more than anything else he could possibly throw at me. “Take both of us out of the equation entirely for a sec. Did you ever pause to consider how this would affect your sister’s safety? Is saving one random girl worth jeopardizing hers?”
“Don’t drag Frankie into this,” I snap.
“Oh, I’m not the one roping her in, Wilson. That’s all you.”
Both of our chests heave in unison. The tension still planted between us. Thick. Too stubborn. Too complicated. I know it’s begun to escalate too far once he starts tossing my last name around. That usually means we’ve peaked in the argument, and it’s time to dial it down.
“Fine. You’re right to be wary. But I’ll say it again, I’ve got this under control.” Or, at least, I will. I just need time to think of something.
Everything can be salvaged with time.
Doubtful, he releases a low sigh, head yanked back to stare at the sky as if the clouds will part and a miracle will ascend to free us from our current dilemma. “You know what needs to be done, don’t you?”
“I know,” I say, defeated, pushing myself through the dread gnawing inside of me, knowing I’ll have to walk over and take the collapsed girl from his car, bringing her inside.
Tanner passes me a duffel bag as he climbs back into the driver’s seat, his expression resigned when he cocks his head. “So you keep saying.” A moment later, he adds, “Oh, right, before I forget, there’s a case of water bottles and some non-perishables inside. It’s in the fridge.”
I arch a brow. “A fridge that doesn’t work?”
“So what? It doubles as a pantry. Besides, it’s not much, but it’s not like I expected us to be here.”
“Okay, I get it.”
We fall into silence.
With nothing else left to say, I glance down at the girl lying limp between us. I hook the duffle bag over my shoulder, then gently brush a few messy strands from her face, revealing her gaunt, chalk-like complexion.
My chest constricts at the sight. Already gone are the rosy undertones that once lit up her youthful skin. The guilt continues to fester.
Lowering my gaze, I slip an arm beneath her chilled thighs, which, despite the cold, are clammy and dotted with perspiration, effects from the chloroform. I carry her out before we each tip our chins, and he pulls out of the gravel path without another word.
He doesn’t need to tell me anything else.
We both know what has to be done.
Inside, I gently lay her down on the twin mattress. Her clothes are tarnished, muddied, and damp, clinging to her curves so tightly she looks unnatural, like a figure carved straight from stone. She’s stiff beneath my hands, as if she really is more statue than human.
My pulse quickens as my eyes trace the length of her body, heat rushing through me in a way that I instantly resent.
Forcing my gaze lower, my eyes catch on her blistered knee before I can look away.
More dirt circles the angry red wound, caked thick into the torn skin, a sign of a future infection brewing if left untreated.
I slip the bag off my shoulder, letting it drop at my side. Maybe Tanner packed spare clothes inside I can change her into, though I hesitate at the thought.
Still, I can’t shake away the bothersome feeling that’s weighing me down, the sensation of being responsible for her pitying condition. I can’t leave her sleeping in her own filth.
So, I finally give in to the pressure and decide to dress her myself—but not before tending to her injury.
Exhaling another deep breath, I force myself to look away from her vulnerable body, cursing myself for staring longer than I need to.
Christ. What the fuck is wrong with me?
Sprawled on the grime-smeared floor are the picked-apart ropes. I bend down to reach for them, impressed by her ability to break free of the knots I tied.
I momentarily consider their use, but eventually decide she’ll be far too disoriented after she wakes to require any restraining, so I tuck them above the pillow her head’s resting on.
At least with her knocked out, I have time to devise a plan, and I’ll have to do it fast.
She’s going to wake up ready to fight, looking for any chance to resist and push back. It won’t count for much, not with the sedatives still in her system.
That kind of fire she possesses drives her to keep going no matter the odds, and it’s what makes her particularly dangerous.
In this case, though, too much force will only serve to burn her to the ground until there’s no trace of her left behind.
And if I’m not careful enough, she’ll drag me straight into the flames with her.
I refuse to let that happen.
Tanner is right. Innocent as she may be, she’s not worth sacrificing everything else. If she wants to survive, she’ll have to stop biting the hand that feeds her. Because, like it or not, I’m all she’s got.
If she’s lucky, she’ll figure that out before it gets her killed.