Chapter 55
“Tori . . .”
She couldn’t look away from the gun. “Why are you doing this?”
“Hand over what you found.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Jenny said she mailed you a data drive.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s what I figured. Jenny was pretty smart. This house made a perfect place—no one would think to look for it here. So if she didn’t send it to you, she either gave it to your nephew to hide or hid it herself. That’s what you found, right?”
“I didn’t find anything—”
“Stop lying. I know it was there—Drew admitted as much.”
“Drew told you he had a data drive?”
“Not exactly. He told me he found money Jenny had hidden—I figure she hid the data drive with the money.”
“You figured wrong. I thought maybe it was here too, but it wasn’t.”
“You’re lying!”
Her cell rang. Scott. Tori tried to answer, but Eli knocked the phone from her hands. She lunged for it, but it skittered down the gravel drive. He jerked her back. “I don’t want to hurt you, so don’t make me. Now give me your hands.”
“No!”
He twisted her arm behind her back, and pain shot through her shoulder. “Give me your other hand, or I’ll break your arm.”
When she didn’t immediately respond, he pulled her hand higher, bringing more pain. Tori quickly complied.
Once her hands were secured in ties, he said, “Now we’re going inside and getting that drive.”
A faint wee-oo-wee-oo raised her hopes that the police would get here before he killed her or took her somewhere else. He jerked his head toward the siren and swore. Then he opened the passenger door. “Get in.”
Seconds later Eli climbed in on the driver’s side and gunned the motor. Tori slammed against the door when he did a U-turn and barreled down the drive.
Even though she’d hit the side of her face that wasn’t bruised, it’d been hard enough to send pain shooting to the left eye. Tori righted herself. “You sure you want to do this? Scott will hunt you down.”
“Shut up.” He gripped the steering wheel. “You just couldn’t keep your nose out of it, could you? You had to mess everything up.”
“I only wanted to get my nephew back. Why did you take him?”
“It was supposed to be you.” Eli raised his hand, and she thought he was going to hit her. “Just shut up.”
When he turned away from town at the end of the road, her stomach twisted. If he’d turned toward Logan Point, there would’ve been at least a chance of someone seeing them. This direction led to secondary roads that would allow him to disappear into the countryside.
Eli hit a pothole, and a sharp pain knifed her shoulder, bringing tears to her eyes. She gritted her teeth. Crying was not an option.
“Can you at least put my hands in front of me? My arm is killing me,” she said, her voice breaking.
Eli didn’t respond, and in spite of her vow, tears ran down her face. After a while, he sighed and pulled over. “Turn toward the door.”
Was that remorse in his voice? She’d meant something to him once, at least Tori thought she had. Maybe Eli was remembering those times. She turned and lifted her hands away from her body, and pain shot through her shoulder again. The binding tightened, then released.
“Put your hands in front of you.”
“Give me a second to get the blood moving again.” Tori massaged her arm, barely feeling her fingers work the muscles.
“Hurry up.”
“I’m sorry—I can’t move my arm.” She cried out as he pulled her hands out in front of her. “You don’t have to be so rough—”
“Enough!” Eli jerked her hands together and secured them with another zip tie.
Tori took a deep breath and waited for the pain to subside. She’d managed to cross her hands when he tied them, but was it enough? Was this how her life would end? She wasn’t ready to die. She needed to make things right with her dad. Erin. And Drew . . .
It’s not your time. Tori stilled. She didn’t hear the words as much as she felt them.
Her mom had always said Jesus would never leave her.
Was he reassuring her? Hope filled Tori, clearing her head and giving her strength.
Maybe if she connected with Eli, she could still reach that boy she remembered.
He had tried to make her more comfortable.
And if they sat here long enough on the side of the road, maybe someone would come along and see them.
He must have had the same thought because he suddenly gunned the motor. The SUV shot forward back on the road, slamming her against the seat. With a groan, she straightened back up.
“I wish you’d warn me next time.”
Eli didn’t respond and she glanced at him. The glow from the dashboard cast enough light to see that he was coiled tighter than a spring ready to snap. “You don’t have to do this.” Tori kept her words soft.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m in too deep to stop now.”
“Too deep into what?” Not that she really expected him to tell her, but if she could get him to talk, she could figure out what he had planned. Maybe even the why. Evidently his silence meant he wasn’t cooperating.
“What happened to you?” She held up her arms. “This isn’t you.”
That got a response, but not what she was hoping for as he shot a withering glare at her. “You have no idea who I am.”
“Then tell me who you are. And why are you doing this? Why have you been trying to kill me? Can’t be for the money. You’re a Livingston—you’re set for life.”
He barked a laugh. “You’d think. And actually I am, but not from anything dear old Dad gives me. Nothing I ever did was good enough for him, no matter how hard I tried.”
“Okay. I get it. You and your dad don’t get along, but why are you involving me? And my nephew?”
He exhaled sharply. “Because you got caught in an unfortunate set of circumstances. Jenny said she mailed you a data drive. Couldn’t take a chance she was bluffing.”
Why would Jenny say something like that . . . unless she was bargaining for her life. Tori gasped. “You killed her.”
He shook his head. “Not me.”
She didn’t believe him. “Just like you’re not going to kill me.”
Eli ignored her and made a sharp right turn onto a gravel road. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as she fell into the door again. “Where are you taking me?”
“You wanted to see your nephew.” He gave her a sarcastic smile.
Wait . . . if Eli was with her . . . “Who’s with Drew?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
At least he didn’t say Drew was dead. But that meant there were at least two of them. She should’ve known Eli wasn’t the brains behind all of this.
The jarring beams of the headlights revealed nothing but a dense forest. She slumped against the seat. Her phone was gone. Scott would never find her this deep in the woods. The hope she’d clung to just minutes ago was slipping away.
No. I’m not dying tonight.
Tori dropped her gaze to her wrists. She’d crossed her hands when Eli cuffed her, but did she create enough space to escape from the restraints? She tried to straighten her hands, but the ties dug into her skin. Wiggling free would be impossible without Eli noticing.
Her gaze landed on her watch, and she caught her breath. It was synced to her phone. Tori closed her eyes, praying Scott would think to check her watch location. She opened her eyes. Could he even do that? If there was a way, Scott would find it.
They reached a Y in the road, and Eli followed the right side and then turned on a crooked lane a few hundred yards from the split. She pressed back into the seat and leaned toward the console, trying not to lose her balance again.
The SUV lights swept across a dark wooden structure with a half-opened door and windows that looked like vacant eyes. A strong wind could blow it down.
Her eyes widened. Another vehicle was parked to the side. A white Escalade. One she’d seen just this week.
“Why is your father’s SUV here?”
“It’s not his.” He pulled next to the Escalade and killed the motor. Eli turned to her, his eyes dead. “And he’s not my father.”