by Gardner, A.
I finally have the courage to sprint to the door. My heart is beating a million miles a minute. My chest feels tight. I don’t have time to breathe. I leap over my bed and pray that I make it to the door. I feel a hand clasp around my ankle. It pulls me to the floor. I hit the carpet with a loud thud. A burning sensation shoots up my ribcage, making my eyes water.
I yelp from the pain.
The sound of my voice breaks the night’s silence. I scream, this time as loud as I can manage. It forces all the air out my lungs and I cough. The man pulls me across the carpet. My ribs are still burning. I kick my legs as hard I can. The man is a lot stronger than his thin frame reveals.
“Stupid girl,” I hear him laugh. I turn to see the shiny edge of a blade near my face. My entire body freezes again. “This won’t take long.”
Chapter Fourty One
“Kade.”
I feel the cold blade against my skin and I’m scared to move an inch. This can’t be it. I can’t be going out this way. All my muscles tighten as I feel his arms flex. The blade begins to put pressure on my neck. It happens so fast I don’t have to time flinch. A loud noise blasts past my ears.
The blade falls to the floor.
I’m breathing so fast I can hardly lift my head and concentrate. A hand touches my shoulder. I look up to piercing eyes - stern yet comforting. Mr. Haskell has a straight look on his face as always.
“It’s over,” he says quietly. “Forget what you saw back in Colorado, and forget what you saw tonight.” He pauses and waits for me to answer.
“Yes sir,” I gulp. He helps me up. I’m tempted to turn around and look at the man on the floor.
“I’d advise you to not,” Mr. Haskell says before I have the chance.
How does he know what I’m thinking?
“Not to what?” My voice is shaky. I hear footsteps thundering down the hall.
“Don’t turn around,” he advises. “No matter how much you want to, some things can never be unseen.”
My mind is haunted all the time by Bristlecone. Dane almost died that day.
Mr. Haskell leads me out of the room and shuts the door just as my aunt Scarlett wraps her arms around me. I see Dane, Paige, and Lucy lingering behind her. I catch a glimpse of the bewildered look on Dane’s face.
“Matt,” Scarlett says through her teeth. “What the hell were you-“
“It’s over now,” he responds calmly. “Leave it in the past.”
“You used her as bait!” She tries to keep her voice down but she ends up yelling. I can hear her heart beating almost as fast as mine.
“Not here Scarlett,” Mr. Haskell continues. “Back to bed. All of you.” Lucy and Paige obey his command. Dane doesn’t move.
“You too son,” he adds. “Now.” Dane reluctantly obeys.
“Come on.” Aunt Scarlett pulls me away. “You’re sleeping in my room.” She glares at Mr. Haskell.
I feel myself shaking as Scarlett takes me to her room. Her arm is still around me. My head is spinning from all the excitement. How am I supposed to explain this to . . . anyone?
“Take a deep breath,” she whispers. “It’s all over honey. Just breathe.”
I sit on her bed as she shuts and locks her bedroom door. Scarlett chose a bigger room with a king size bed and sitting area.
I sit on the sofa and rub my shaking arms. Scarlett sits gently next to me. She strokes a strand of my hair and continues telling me to take deep breaths. My eyes are blurry from the tears. I wipe them away and rub the raw spot of skin on my neck.
“I’m so sorry,” Scarlett says quietly. “I had no idea this was going to happen.” I glance at her, thinking back to what she said to Mr. Haskell only minutes ago.
“But . . . you thought something might happen?”
Her gaze settles across the room for a minute before she answers.
“Possibly,” she admits. “But nothing like this.”
“What?” I gasp.
“Mikki . . .” She nods reassuringly. “I know what happened back in Colorado. Matt told me everything.”
“Of course he did,” I mutter. Even after my nightmares had come true I still feel uneasy about the relationship between Scarlett and Mr. Haskell. It makes me sick to my stomach.
“Mikki,” she says sternly. “There is nothing going on between us. At least not in the way you think.” She sighs. “Our relationship is purely business.”
I sit up straighter.
“I . . .” She stops herself and presses her hand to her head. “I deliver things for him. I’m not proud of it.”
“What kind of things?” I raise my eyebrows. My heart continues pounding. I never would have pegged my own aunt as a drug dealer.
“I don’t know,” she responds. “But that’s how I get the majority of my catering gigs. I show up, set up, and pass along what I’m told.”
“You’re joking.” I pause but she slowly shakes her head.
“I told you.” She puts her head down. “I’m not proud of it.”
I gulp.
“Mr. Haskell isn’t just a wealthy businessman, is he?” The things I’ve seen him do don’t add up. The spying, the tracking, the . . . killing.
Yet another thing Dane lied about.
“No honey.” She glances around the room with a worried look on her face. She scoots closer to me. “I think it would be best for both of us if we distanced ourselves from them.”
A sinking feeling fills my chest. A part of me refuses and a part of me knows she’s right.
“You mean-“
“I mean,” she continues. “Now that the psycho guy has been caught I’ve been thinking. You and I need a fresh start. Somewhere else.”
“You want to leave Seaside?”
“I think we should consider it.”
I don’t know how to respond. I want to be near Dane but what he said to me shattered my heart. I still don’t understand how he could get with Lucy if he really loved me so much. But I love him back, and when we’re apart he’s never far from my mind. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move on.
“What about work?”
“You let me worry about that okay,” she answers. “My business with Matt is over. I’ve been telling him that for a while but he keeps insisting.”
“Where will we go?”
She shrugs.
“Well I do have a friend that we could stay with for a while until we figure things out. How do you feel about Colorado?”
My eyes go wide.
“Don’t worry,” she quickly adds, reading my expression. “I’m talking about city living, not a mountain town.”
Because of what happened at Bristlecone she misunderstands my reaction. Going back towards the mountains wouldn’t just remind me every day of what I witnessed, but it would put me closer to another thing I’ve been avoiding for a long time.
Kade.
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