Dare You to Lie

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  I looked down at my phone; it was almost eleven o’clock, which meant it was even later than I’d hoped. I checked to see if I had any service, only to find out I didn’t. Whether it was the storm or the patchy service in the woods around Jasperville, I didn’t know. I just hoped it got better as I neared the house.

  Just as I was about to round the back of the truck and head back up toward the house, I heard the heavy fall of feet approaching. They grew louder as they neared. Garrett, being the reliable kid he was, had indeed doubled back to see what the holdup was.

  “I’m coming!” I shouted as I started toward him. “The road was shit.” Garrett said nothing in response. “Aw, c’mon … don’t be pissy. I didn’t keep you waiting that long.”

  “Long enough,” a man replied.

  By the time my mind registered whose voice it was, a blinding pain shot through the side of my head and I crashed to the ground. A ringing sound distorted his voice as he hovered over me, his massive silhouette shrouded in darkness. I turned my phone’s flashlight up toward him while I struggled to make my vision focus. As the two blurred forms converged, my fear was confirmed.

  Donovan Shipman was about to get his revenge.

  THIRTY-NINE

  “You really shouldn’t keep a man waiting. We don’t like it.”

  I said nothing while I tried to get my bearings, my head still ringing.

  “What’s that? Nothing clever to say, Danners? Finally at a loss for words?” Donovan taunted me as he loomed above me, a threat far greater than the storm raging down on us. “Maybe if you’d learn how to butt out, you wouldn’t find yourself in this position. But you can’t do that, can you, Danners?”

  As I tried to roll onto my forearms and push up onto my hands and knees, I opened my mouth to respond. But before I could, I was met with a crushing kick to my ribs, knocking me onto my back. I screamed in pain and instantly regretted it. He’d broken ribs with that blow. Breathing was officially a challenge.

  “I have to say, this is going to be a lot less fun than I expected if you’re just going to lay there and take the beating.” I clutched my side and tried to calm my breathing. My diaphragm was in spasm, and if I didn’t get it to chill out in a hot hurry, I was screwed. I’d have no shot at getting away from him. As it was, it wasn’t looking good for me. Garrett was my only hope of escape. “C’mon, Danners. Make me work for it,” he taunted, pushing at my limp legs with the toe of his boot. “At least Garrett put up a fight. I really expected more from you. Looks like you’re all bark and no bite.”

  Fear crept through my pain-racked body, dulling the effects of Donovan’s punishment. He’d already gotten to Garrett. God only knew how badly he’d hurt him. I needed to get away and get help. I needed to save Garrett and myself.

  With a clearer mind, I let my training take over. When Donovan took a step closer to me, I saw my chance. I back-swung my leg toward him, clipping his legs out from under him. He fell like a massive tree cut down at the base. The second I saw that he was headed for the ground, I scrambled to my feet—wincing in pain—and grabbed my phone. Then I was running up the road toward the Sinclair house and Garrett.

  “You bitch!” Donovan screamed after me. I hadn’t really hurt him, only bought myself some time. If I didn’t find a way to put more distance between us, I’d be in real trouble. Knowing he was after me, I crashed through the brush into the woods, hoping to lose him in there. My flashlight function was off, making it harder for me to navigate through the trees, but it kept him from easily knowing where I was.

  I slipped on the wet ground, almost falling several times. The pain in my ribs stabbed through me with every breath, but I continued to barrel my way through the woods, heading in the direction I thought I needed to. With every step I took, I could hear Donovan not far in the distance, closing in on me.

  “I’m going to kill you, Danners, just like I killed your little friend.”

  His words were indigestible. My mind refused to let them in, not allowing the weight of them to be processed. Garrett was dead? Nope. My brain wasn’t having any of that.

  Instead of letting Donovan’s claim paralyze me, like he’d intended, I let it drive me forward through the pain and the overgrown brush and the fear that if he caught me, I was screwed. My head was swimming from a mild concussion, which made navigating the woods more challenging than it already was. The only advantage I had over Donovan was my size. I could fit through things that he had to bulldoze his way through. I knew that if I could choose my path wisely, I would keep precious distance between us. Distance I needed to get to the house, cell reception, and Garrett.

  Hopefully, I’d find him alive.

  “There’s no way out of this one, Danners.” I bit my lip to keep from responding. He was baiting me and I knew it, but that knowledge didn’t make it much easier to keep my mouth shut.

  Thunder clapped around us following a bolt of lightning that must have struck the ground not far away. Maybe a mile or two at best. It seemed Donovan Shipman wasn’t the only deadly thing chasing me.

  I dared to slip my phone out of my pocket during the almost constant flash of lightning that refused to cease. I needed to see if I had reception yet. I needed to call for help. Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t the case.

  “Dammit!” I cursed under my breath.

  My side was seizing up with the injury to my ribs, making it almost impossible to run anymore. Hiding behind a massive tree trunk, I searched my surroundings as the sky erupted with more flashes of light. I could see a mound of rocks in the distance, and I decided that hiding there might be my best bet. With any luck, Donovan would pass me before he realized I had hidden from him. The storm was loud, the wind rustling the dying leaves in the trees. It was possible he wouldn’t notice the absence of my footsteps.

  It was possible that he would, too.

  I rolled the dice and took my chances, deciding that if I didn’t get a minute to rest, he’d catch me sooner rather than later. And even if he did find where I had chosen to hide away, at least I’d have the upper hand for a few seconds. I clutched a big rock in my hand; if I got a good swing at his head, it’d do some damage. The kind I needed to impair him enough to get away.

  Tucked down against the far side of the big rock jutting out of the ground, I tried to slow my breathing. In the nose, out the mouth, and repeat. I could practically hear Kru Tyson telling me that over and over again, just as he had when I trained under him—especially when we were sparring. “If you can’t control your breathing, you can’t control the fight,” he’d say while making me do burnout-punching rounds on the heavy bag until I could barely feel my shoulders or lift my arms. “Your opponent isn’t going to stop coming at you because you’re tired, Kylene. Work. Dig deeper. Try harder.” The memory of his tough love was just what I needed in that moment. Donovan wasn’t going to stop coming for me. I needed to dig deeper. Try harder.

  Live longer.

  Just then, I heard Donovan calling for me off in the distance—much farther away than he had been before. My plan had worked. He’d lost my trail. With determination coursing through me, I slipped around the rock and started back toward the road, cutting a new path along the way. One that aimed toward Mark’s house, or at least the direction I thought it was.

  I eventually reached a clearing of sorts, one that likely delineated the edge of the property. It was a welcome sight, but it left me without any cover. I decided to chance it, and ran across the field of knee-high grass as fast as I could. Lightning still cut through the sky around me, a jagged reminder of just how exposed I was. I was easily the tallest thing out there—a beacon for the lightning to strike. I reminded myself that at least a bolt of lightning would be a quick way to go. Donovan’s methods would be far less humanitarian.

  The land started to take a turn uphill, forcing me to bear-crawl up it. It was far too wet and unstable to climb it any other way. By the time I crested the top of it, I was caked in mud and grass. I must have looked like a nightmare,
which only seemed fitting given that I was living one.

  And that’s when I saw it. Somewhere off in the distance, a building whose exterior was brightly lit. I was almost there.

  With renewed strength, I held my broken ribs in place and ran, pumping my good arm wildly. I knew that Donovan had likely figured out that I’d tricked him, and that if he had, he’d be heading back here to cut me off. Time still wasn’t my friend.

  Cell service, however, would be, once I reached the house.

  It seemed like an eternity, but I eventually found myself standing in the long gravel driveway. I could see Donovan’s truck parked down at the bottom of it, where he’d tried to hide it behind a cluster of bushes. I ran there, hoping to find Garrett nearby—alive. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen. I opened the door to Donovan’s truck to find his keys dangling in the ignition. I snatched them, not trusting that Donovan wouldn’t do the same when he returned. A part of my brain was screaming for me to steal the truck and escape, but I couldn’t. Even if I had been willing to leave Garrett there, I wasn’t certain I’d return with help in time to save him.

  So I went to find Garrett.

  With my cell phone in hand, I headed toward the house, dialing Agent Dawson. He may have been a pain in my ass, but he was nearby and reliable, and not a big fan of Donovan. He was my best bet if I wanted to get out of this alive. I heard it ringing as I pressed it to my face like the lifeline it was. It rang and rang, and my heart raced with anticipation, awaiting his voice on the other end of the line. But that voice never came. Instead, a digital recording sent me to his voice mail.

  I nearly screamed in frustration.

  I left a message—a frantic, rambling message telling him where I was, who was after me, and that Garrett had been hurt, was possibly dead. I choked on those final words, then hung up. Wondering if I should dare call the sheriff. He may have been dirty, but dirty enough to let his own son fall victim to the people he was in bed with? I found that hard to swallow. With phone in hand, I ran toward the house, seeking shelter from the glow of the outside lights. I needed somewhere to hide and call the sheriff.

  Then I needed to find Garrett.

  I ducked in behind the far side of the front entry stairs. They were wide and flanked by evergreen shrubs of all sorts, which would hide me away from Donovan. As I dialed the phone, my heartbeat hammering in my ears, I heard something off in the distance. A cry of some sort. It was drowned out by the howling winds, but I could hear it nonetheless. It sounded like a wounded animal.

  “Sheriff’s department—”

  “My name is Kylene Danners. I’m up at the Sinclair residence with Garrett Higgins. We’ve been assaulted by Donovan Shipman; he’s at large. I think he’s coming back for us.”

  Again, while the dispatcher was firing questions at me, I heard that same cry in the distance, but stronger this time. More familiar. And clearly human.

  Garrett.

  Without thinking, I bolted from my hiding place out into the storm, headed in the direction I thought I’d heard his voice. I wanted to scream his name but couldn’t risk it. With the lightning still dancing across the sky above, I dared to turn on my flashlight for a short time, aiming it along the tree line on the back side of the property. At first, I saw nothing and was discouraged, knowing my friend was out there, possibly dying, and I couldn’t see him. But just as my frustration threatened to overtake me, I saw a flash of white.

  A white undershirt stained with blood.

  I took off in a sprint, turning off the light to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He wasn’t that far away, but it seemed to take ages to reach him. When I finally did, I slid on my knees to his side, rolling him over to face me.

  I gasped at the sight.

  His face had been beaten—badly. His eyes were so swollen they could barely open. His cheeks already bruising. And that’s just what I could see in the dark of night. Needing to know what other injuries he’d sustained, I turned on the flashlight and began searching his body. He moaned as I lifted his shirt, and I shushed him gently, trying to soothe him.

  His torso was one large mass of purple and black.

  Whatever Donovan had done to him, he’d done it well and thoroughly. He hadn’t left an inch of flesh unmarred. How Garrett wasn’t dead from internal bleeding was beyond me.

  “Garrett?” I cried, choking back a sob. He simply groaned in response. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay? You’re going to be all right. Do you hear me? You’re going to be fine.”

  I could feel my fear bleed to anger.

  Fear paralyzed.

  Anger motivated.

  The dispatcher was still talking to me on the line, but I ignored him, tucking my phone away in my jacket pocket, but I left the call going just in case. I looked down at my friend, who was most likely dying, and tried to figure out how to carry his massive body to Donovan’s truck. Then reason won out. There was no way I could get him to it, but I sure as hell could drive it to him. It was a hopped-up 4x4, with off-roading capabilities, not unlike Garrett’s. A soggy lawn wouldn’t stop it.

  “Listen to me. I’m going to get the truck. I need you to hang on for me. Okay? Just hang on. I’ll get you out of here.”

  He didn’t respond, which only heightened my anxiety about his condition. I took off running back around the front of the house to the driveway where Donovan’s truck was parked behind the bushes. I didn’t bother looking for him. I had a one-track mind in that moment, and it involved getting behind the wheel. I knew I’d use the truck as a weapon if I had to. Running Donovan over with it seemed an appealing idea, especially after seeing what he’d done to Garrett.

  I wouldn’t have thought twice, given the opportunity.

  Only feet away from the truck, I fumbled with the keys in my jacket pocket, trying to fish them out without breaking my stride. I managed to hold on to them while I pulled them out and hit the automatic start button. The truck roared to life, and I felt the tiny butterflies of victory flutter inside me. With it, I could get Garrett and get the hell out of there. Providing the bridge was intact, the truck would likely be able to cross it. And I was willing to take that chance either way.

  Staying trapped on this side of it with a psychotic Donovan Shipman just wasn’t an option.

  I ran up to the truck, yanking the door open to jump in. A boot to my chest welcomed me, knocking me back onto my ass on the wet lawn. I slid a few feet back, trying hard to force air back into my lungs. While I did, Donovan hopped out. He stalked toward me like a lion ready to pounce on his kill.

  Or soon-to-be kill.

  “It’s over, Donovan,” I wheezed, scrambling backward. “I called the sheriff’s office. They know we’re up here. They know you’re after me.”

  He looked down at me for a moment, then laughed. It was loud and booming, and illustrated exactly how unhinged he’d become.

  “You still don’t get it, do you, Danners? You don’t see that none of that matters.”

  “You think the sheriff isn’t going to rat you out when he sees what you’ve done to his son?”

  He shook his head no.

  “I’m not going to be here when they find the bodies.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach.

  “They already know it’s you that attacked us, Donovan. I told them. It’s on record.”

  “Really?” he replied, feigning surprise. “Because I have a feeling that when they go looking for this alleged call, they won’t find a thing.”

  “Bullshit!” I yelled, regretting it the second my diaphragm pulled on my ribs.

  “’Fraid not, Danners. The sheriff’s department will make this look however they need it to. That’s what they did when your tits ended up all over the internet.”

  His words settled on my addled brain, clearing it completely.

  “It wasn’t Mark.…”

  At that, he laughed.

  “You’re so predictable, Danners. You and Higgins both. At the slightest whiff of a lead, you a
ct first and think later. Setting Mark up didn’t take a whole lot of work. I thought using Amy would be a nice touch, though, since you two have something in common now.…”

  “You took those pictures of her.”

  His wicked smile widened.

  “I thought I might need leverage one day.”

  “But Jaime said you were in the basement that night … that it was the other three that went to the hot tub.”

  “Oh, they did … right after I finished taking those pictures of you on AJ’s camera.” His smile gleamed in the light of the moon. I watched helplessly as it came closer. “And you’ve blamed AJ for it all along.”

  I tried to sit up as he neared me, my ribs screaming in protest. I needed to look him in the eyes, even if it would be the last thing I ever saw.

  “Why? Why would you do it?”

  He shook his head, then reached for my face, running his finger along my jaw.

  “It’s a shame you don’t remember. You brought this on yourself, really. I tried to kiss you that night, and you pushed me away. You looked so repulsed by me.… Nobody disrespects me like that. Not ever.” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. “So I’m going to get that kiss now, Danners. And then I’m going to make you disappear.”

  His lips crashed into mine, and I struggled against him to no avail. His grip was like iron. Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. He shoved me down to the ground and got up, walking back to his truck.

  “How you feeling about your detective skills now?”

  “I may have failed to figure out what happened that night, but I shut your little drug operation down, didn’t I?”

  “For now…”

  My eyes went wide with realization.

  He nodded in response.

  “Who’s got that kind of power, Donovan? Nobody around here does.”