7. Chapter 7 - Rosalyn
Two factor identification is making me want to scream. Digging through notebooks, I finally find the password for the ancient email address I used to set up my bank account four years ago when I turned eighteen.
I can’t even remember the last time I logged into this thing. It’s not like I use it often.
But I’ve been slowly stashing money in since I opened it, and I want to see if I have enough to escape.
Three hundred emails? Oh my god.
Most are junk. Yet one catches my eye.
Why is Val reaching out to me? I barely knew her. She was married to a friend of John’s. It’s not like we hung out. Shit, I was just a teenager the last time I saw her.
Just touching base?
What does that even mean?
Even after sending off a polite response, it still sits with me as I head downstairs to get some coffee.
“Morning, Sal. What’s with the grumpy look?” John’s blond brows raise as he glances up from his phone.
“I got a weird email. Do you remember Val? I think she’s married to Chris?” Damn it. No clean cups in the dishwasher either.
Digging one out of the sink, I start funneling dirty dishes into the racks as I scrub.
“I do. She’s fine as fuck.” Eli steps next to me to refill his thermos, using all but a swallow’s worth of coffee.
Asshole.
“Why now?” I scowl at him as I rinse my soapy hands and start brewing a fresh pot. I swear most days I feel like they keep me here just to be their maid.
Eli glances at John, but neither of them say anything.
Fuck them and their secrets. They’re always locking me out of the office to discuss ‘business’, yet things around here rarely change.
“How about, when I head past Campton to pick up your new horse, I swing by and say ‘hi’?” Eli grins, straddling one of the chairs and tipping back his hat.
A knot settles in my stomach, tightening almost to the point I get a wave of nausea. “Wait, I thought I was going to?”
“We think it’d be best if you stayed close to home for a while.” John doesn’t look at me as he raises his own coffee to his lips.
“Why? What the hell did I do?” Frustration begins to spill over as tears that I can barely blink away. “I never leave as it is, and now you’re taking this away too?”
John’s brows drop when he finally turns to me. “You have no idea what’s going on, and I’m not going to explain it. Let’s just say that someone very dangerous has been found, and it isn’t safe.”
“Who? Like, an ax murderer? Seriously?” My hands fly over my head.
Fuck this. I need to go for a walk before I scream.
“It’s for your own good!” Eli yells as I stomp down the hall.
Grabbing my coat, I sling it over my shoulders after hitting the chill of outside. My breath billows around my face with every pant as I struggle to get a hold of my emotions.
I hate them both so much.
But I’m stuck. I don’t have enough money to leave, and where would I even go? I don’t have any friends except a few acquaintances I’ve met at horse events.
None of them would exactly welcome me to sleep on their couch, especially when the only grievance I have is that my brothers want to keep an eye on me.
Why does this feel so much like a prison?
My boots kick at the clumps of ice on the way to the barn.
Who would be so scary that it has them wanting me to stay close?
I have no clue. In a strange way, it’s exciting. A threat is something different. It’s better than just the existence I seem to be living now.
Petunia looks up with a mouth full of hay, then drops her head back into the feeder as I walk by. She’s almost completely healed, but lost a large range of motion on that leg. The vet told Eli it could take months to regain the full use, if ever.
Maybe I can turn her into a trail horse? I’ve been too worried about an injury to take her out on the range too much.
A little bite of freedom within the invisible walls of our property.
Huh. I’d sell them any stake I have in it if I could just get enough money to escape.
Moving through the barn, I head towards the rocky outcrop on the knoll overlooking the valley.
It’s my favorite spot on the entire ranch, where I can see the ridges running out on either side, with the foothills of the Bitterroots in the distance.
I can get a tiny sliver of peace nestled into the hollow near the top of the boulder. No one can see me from the house, and the stupid wifi on my smart watch doesn’t work here either.
So my brothers can’t track me.
But after a little while, my ass starts getting cold against the granite. Next time I’ll bring a blanket or something.
Maybe I’ll just pack a bag and hike out of here. I don’t know much about camping. Or hunting.
Shit. I’d starve to death.
“I’m so screwed,” I exhale to the universe. It’s hopeless.
I won’t bring a warm seat next time.
Just the rest of the bottle of the tranquilizer that the veterinarian used on Petunia.
That would be a nice way to go, watching the sunset on the perfect view.
Drifting my gaze along the timber line, a flash makes me look twice.
Is that a horse with a saddle? I thought all the helpers were on the south end of the ranch? They should be miles from here.
A flutter of panic laced with curiosity rushes through me. Is that the ax murderer?
I wish he’d come and put me out of my misery.
No, not me. But just imagine the freedom I’d have if he attacked John and Eli?
The fear shifts to excitement as a tinge of hope mixes in.
Until the guilt hits.
I’m a horrible person for even thinking it. What kind of monster wishes bad things on their own family?
One who’s slowly being strangled ‘for my own good’.
That’s who.