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Luckilyfor me,Idon’t want to sneak in;Iwant to get the fuck out of here.

Thedownside is, there is a massive open space where the side of the house meets the edge of the manicured yard that extends all the way to the boundary of the greenery running parallel to the exterior fence,Ihave to make it across the yard without being seen to get to the fence.Fortunately, the sun is going down and my clothes are all dark.

Peeringaround, my eyes strain trying to ensureI’malone.Roberthas guards everywhere.Flippingmy hood up to cover my bright hair and pale skin,Imake sureI’mas unnoticeable as possible.Iknow there are several guards, butI’mnot sure what type of rotationRoberthas them on.Takinga deep breath,Imove as fast asIcan across the lawn, a constant silent prayer, a litany in my head.I’mterrified that any secondI’llhear someone shout and my escape will be foiled.

But.

Thatnever comes.

Reachingthe edge of the trees,Icheck the time on my phone.Onlytwo minutes have passed sinceIfirst checked it, soIhave roughly five more minutes beforeMarkgets suspicious and comes looking for me.Movingdeeper into the trees,Ilook for the maintenance gate.Nightis falling, and it’s getting difficult to see, soIuse the flashlight on my phone but turn it down to the lowest setting.

Afew seconds later, the dim rays of my cell phone shine on something metal to my left, andImove that way.

I’vefound the gate.

ChapterSix

ROWAN

Easingthrough the gate,Ifind myself amongst some large bushes.Ruby’soldCivicis literally right in front of me.Istart to step out of the shadowed edge of the shrubbery until the sound of the front gate opening halts me in my tracks.

Who’sleaving?

Ismirk whenRobert’stown car drives by as a tiny amount of triumph fills me.Hewas still in the house whenIsnuck out!

Victoryis quickly followed by terror.

Robertwas still in the house whenIsnuck out!

Mystomach starts churning asIthink about how closeIcame to death.Ifhe had caught me …IfMarkhad decided to go findRobert…

Iglance down at my phone.It’s6:14 and my time is almost up.Peekingaround the corner of the bushI’mhiding in,Isee the taillights of his car turn the corner and disappear from sight.

Steppingout of the shadows,Iquickly walk over toRuby’spassenger side door and just asI’mreaching for the handle, the door opens.Iquickly sit down in the seat and pull the door closed behind me.Myfingers haven’t even reached for my seatbelt when it takes off.

“DrivenormallyRuby.Noneof them knowI’vesnuck out yet.ItoldRobert’sbuddyMarkthatIneeded to use the bathroom.Hewill be looking for me whenIdon’t return in a few minutes.EspeciallysinceI’mthe unpaid entertainment for the evening.ThemomentRobertfinds out they can’t find me, he’ll rush back home, setting his dogs free to find us.”

Eye’ssoft with concern glance over at me andIcan see she’s trying to peek around the hoodIhave pulled over my face.

“Howdid you knowIwas out here?”

“AfterIsent you that text yesterday,Istarted tracking you; preparing the bestIcould to get the hell out of there.Robertseldom leaves me alone with his friends.Heenjoys watching too much, butIheard him tellMarkyesterday that he was going to have to leave for an hour or two and that he was free to play with me all he wanted.Istashed these clothes in the back of the commode and hid this bag in the toilet paper holder next to it.IknewIwould only have a brief window to get out of there.Ifyou hadn’t gotten here when you did,Iwas just going to keep walking until you got closer.Allday long,I’vebeen watching your location on my phone.Inever should have waited this long, butIwas scared to involve you.”

“Whataren’t you telling me,Rowan?”

Thesharp bark of her words makes me flinch a bit.

“Alot, but it’s not somethingIcan talk to you about yet.Ineed to work through this on my own.Imade a mess out of my life, andI’vedragged you into an impossible situation.Onethat could quite possibly get both of us buried in a shallow grave, butIknewIwas only a few more punches away from a nervous breakdown.Thesafe placeIhad created in my mind to escape the things he was doing and allowing to happen to me, was no longer enough.Ifelt my grip on reality slipping, andIknew you were my only escape.

Weneed to ditch this car as soon as possible.Youwon’t be the first person he looks at, but it won’t take long to connect the dots.”

Ireach over and pick upRuby’sphone, before asking, “Isthere anything on here you can’t live without, passwords, bank info?”

“Nope, wrote it all down whenItook a pee break earlier andIwithdrew all the money out of my bank yesterday before work.”

Noddingmy understanding at her snappy reply,Iroll my window down and toss both phones out of the car at the same time, and roll the window back up.Ihesitate for a second before reaching up and pushing the hood off my head.Atthe sight of my face,IhearRubygasp.Isee her open her mouth to start in on me butIcan’t handle an inquisition.Notright now maybe not ever.Iraise my hand in a ‘stop’ gesture before saying,

“Notright now,Ruby.IpromiseIwill tell you in time, but not now.Ineed you to be my big sister and get us the hell out of here.”