Chapter Sixty-Two
Sin
Landmine
Ozwald Annan stands in front of me like my worst nightmare.
“What are you doing here?” he repeats.
“I was looking for the bathroom,” I lie.
“In the woods?” He looks past me to the door that I just came out of and then turns narrowed eyes on me. “Were you in the lodge?”
“No.” I press my back against the door. “I mean yes. But only long enough to know it wasn’t the bathroom.”
“Get out of my way.” He grabs my arm and yanks me forward so hard I stumble.
He steps around me and my heartbeat sounds like the thunder of horse hooves. It takes all my strength not to scream for him to stop when he grabs the door handle and yanks it open.
I hold my breath as he steps through the door and brace for him to see this girl who is clearly not supposed to be in here.
He doesn’t say a word, so I follow him in. I scan the room twice before I believe my eyes. She’s not here. She couldn’t have vanished into thin air.
What the hell is going on?
I make my expression as remorseful as possible. “I didn’t mean to cause any problem. I’ll just be on my way back to Kwame.”
“I’ll walk you back. Give me a minute to lock up.” He gives me a cold smile.
I nod my agreement and try to breathe normally while every cell is screaming for me to run.
I should run. But then he’ll know I know something. And he won’t let me get away without a fight. I’m lightheaded with fear when the door closes behind me. I lift my phone up to the sky and watch for my signal to return.
Who am I even calling? I don’t know if I can trust Kwame.
The thought makes my heart ache, but I can’t deny what I’ve seen and heard this week and tonight.
These are his people.
This is happening in his father’s house.
Behind me a loud crack scares a scream from me. It’s coming from inside the lodge. Alarmed, I run back, but before I can take two steps the night explodes.
My body jerks forward and then I slam into something jagged and hard, I open my mouth to scream and inhale a thick, acrid, gritty smoke before the world goes dark.
I open my eyes and groan at the throb of pain in my head. I hear screams from somewhere nearby. It’s only when I put my hand to my throat that I realize the sounds are coming from my mouth. A man’s shape looms over me, and I’m seized by panic like I’ve never known and then there’s nothing.