Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
SOFIE
Dustin slams over a bump in the dirt road, sending me flying. I crack my head on the cold truck bed. Pain spiders through my skull, and my stomach flutters with a nauseous tickle.
Dustin’s driving a rough road, fast. The engine is loud, with exhaust seeping through the seam in the tailgate.
Can I scoot to the back and jump out? Would Dustin come after me? How far would I get in this storm?
I’m shivering uncontrollably. Every part of me is cold. My clothes aren’t enough to keep me warm back here. I rack my brain for answers.
We hit another bump, and I land hard on my hip. I whimper in pain. What the hell is going on? One minute, I was trying to radio the base, so relieved Linnie was safe that I was fighting tears.
That gust hit, and everything went wrong.
None of this makes any sense. What does Dustin want with me?
Who did he call?
If I don’t get what I want, you won’t either.
“Dustin!” I cry out. “Please!”
I replay the look Zach and Dustin exchanged just before the news about Linnie.
What am I missing ?
I try to sit up, but my head swims. I gulp deep breaths, but the exhaust doesn’t quell my nausea. Please don’t let me barf in here.
I manage to roll to a sitting position. I turn and pound on the metal shell. “Dustin!”
He accelerates, rocking over a series of ruts that throw me off balance. I land on my cheekbone with a thud. We bump one more time, but I get my hands down before my face, and then the road smooths. Dustin drives faster. Through the truck shell’s side windows, all I see is white—snow and snow-covered landscape flying by in the muted half-light of the storm.
Where is Zach?
Did Dustin hurt him?
I should have tried to jump out when we were still on the access road and Dustin wasn’t driving so fast. If I tried now, I’d break my neck.
The truck slips sideways, then veers back. Memories of Jesse flying past that horse trailer with the lake glistening below us fill my mind. Those moments we went off the edge and tilted toward the lake become crystal clear.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Please no . Don’t let us crash.
“Dustin!” I cry out again, rolling to my knees so I can pound on the back of the shell with both fists. I start to cry.
This is all wrong.
Dustin takes a sudden turn, sending me slamming against the side of the truck shell again.
Hot pain sears up my arm. I start sobbing in great, heaving gulps because this is my nightmare. I’m alone with no control over what happens to me.
I curl into a ball in the corner of the truck bed, wedging myself tight, and close my eyes. It’s the only way to protect myself right now.
We drive on another dirt road, the truck bouncing over ruts that make my molars chatter. The hard metal ridges of the truck’s bed dig into my body.
Dustin stops the truck. It’s so abrupt that I crash into the back wall. Vomit lurches up my throat, but I roll to my knees and force in deep, slow breaths. In for two, out for two .
The back window of the shell opens, followed by the tailgate dropping.
“Dustin, what?—”
He grabs me by my ankle and drags me out. My body spins, making the sides of the truck go helter-skelter in my vision while the sudden cold assaults me. I flail and kick, trying to fight back. Fight my way free.
When the Jeep went underwater and Zach reached in to yank me out, I fought him hard because I didn’t understand. I was so focused on Jesse and not leaving him behind.
But Zach risked everything to save me and Jesse—his freedom, the safety of his little brother, his secrets.
This is different. Dustin is going to hurt me.
I land a kick to Dustin’s middle. “Bitch!” he growls while yanking me off the tailgate, his grip on my arm like a vice. The snowy wind howls in my ears, and the cold cuts into my bones. I just manage to get my feet under me to stand when Dustin cracks me across the face.
The hot sting burns up to my eyes, making me stumble backward. Before I fall, Dustin grabs me hard around my bicep. He’s breathing fast, and there’s a sour smell on his breath that makes my stomach turn.
“There’s more where that came from.” He bear hugs me from behind and yanks my hands together. I fight but he’s too strong, and in seconds he has a plastic tie cinched around my wrists. “Understand?”
Tears spill down my cheeks. As much as I don’t want him to see, I can’t hold them back.
Dustin gives me a crooked, cold smile. The swirling clouds part for an instant, revealing a dingy white trailer with a rickety staircase.
Terror floods into me. I jolt backward, digging into the hard ground with my heels. “No, no, no. Please, Dustin.” But my voice dies on the wind.
He tugs me in step with him alongside his truck. When we pass the front, something catches my attention.
Dustin’s headlight casing is cracked.
My mind somersaults. This is the truck.
Dustin attacked Zach?
Why?
Dustin flips through a keyring and jams a stubby key into a giant U-lock, then flicks the hasp and yanks open the door. Inside, it’s dark, the walls stained by mildew. I resist, getting my foot against the side, but Dustin gives a firm tug, and we break into the room. He throws me into the corner, where I bounce across a bare, damp mattress.
Fear hooks my spine. Breathing fast, my hair in my face, I watch him, steeling myself for whatever he plans to do next.
But he grabs the door and slams it shut.
I scramble to my feet and lunge for it in time to hear him clasp the lock. I pound on the door. “Dustin!”
Where is he going?
I kick and thump with my bound fists, but the thin metal walls just tremble. Gasping, I lean my back against the wall and blink at the moldy ceiling.
My rational mind slowly takes over. I’m being held captive here, but the threat of harm from Dustin is less than it was a minute ago. I’m alone, but I have shelter. It’s far from okay, but I’ve survived so far.
I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, or what Dustin will do to me when he returns, but I am not going to waste time panicking. Maybe I can figure out where I am and how far from help. Maybe there’s something useful in here that could free my wrists. What does Dustin use it for? Are there supplies?
The decrepit kitchen stinks like rotten eggs and old paint. Snow is blowing in through the cracks around the tiny window, which is too small to wriggle through. The tap doesn’t work, and there is no electricity. I’m shivering in my coat and jeans, and my fingers feel like ice.
The open shelf in the corner is bare. I stand and look around, my molars rattling.
The trailer is nothing but an empty, cold shell.
I need to conserve my heat and my strength to make it out of this alive.
Huddling on the edge of the mattress, I draw my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around my shins. I’m still shivering, but maybe curling up tight will help.
Outside, the wind whistles and roars, and gusts bring in more snow through the cracks. I bury my face into my knees and turn my thoughts back to those moments when we first saw Dustin.
It’s then I realize what I saw in Zach’s eyes.
Aggression. Loathing.
Like there’s a history there. But how can that be when just days ago we worked side by side pulling fence?
Shivering, I pull my knees tighter and start to rock. It’s helping me think. Or maybe it’s a distraction from the fear that’s slowly eating through me.
Between the day of fieldwork and the night Zach sent me that text message, something happened.
You work for me.
I close my eyes because I don’t want to believe what’s staring me in the face.
What if Zach knew what Dustin was really doing out there?
If I don’t get what I want, you won’t either.
What does Dustin want? Why did he take me?
It makes no sense. Unless…
No. Zach is a good person. Kind and strong and thoughtful. He wouldn’t be taking orders from someone who is obviously involved in something illegal.
Unless it’s all been a lie?