Page 250 of Beyond the Blue Horizon

“No. No, no, no.”

She wouldn’t let this happen.

She fumbled to get her phone, fingers quivering as she tried to dial 911.

A scream ripped out of her when she was suddenly slammed from behind. Her phone flew out of her hand, and she rammed on the brakes, her eyes frantic as she looked around for help.

Two cars passed coming in the opposite direction and another one that came up from her rear kept traveling.

None of them bothered to stop.

Panic surged through Piper when the girl jumped out of her car.

A frenzy was on her face. Her own panic. A storm as she rushed up to Piper’s door.

Frantic, she smacked her hands on the window, and Piper yelped, fumbling to get to the phone that had landed on the front passenger side floorboards.

“I’m here to help you. Please, open the door. You need to listen.” Hysteria spilled out of her as she shouted through the glass.

Pure desperation.

Piper warred.

Three more cars were coming up the other way.

She was right out in the open. Nothing was going to happen to her there.

Swallowing around the barbed wire in her throat, she slowly cracked open the door, terror still clattering through her bloodstream.

“You have to listen,” the girl rushed. Her attention whipped around like she was afraid that someone was following her, too. “He sent me to kill you. It’s a test for me. A test to find out if I’m loyal to him. But I won’t. I won’t hurt you.”

Horror seized Piper’s heart, and she reared back, struggling to get the air into her failing lungs.

Turbulence vibrated from the girl as she searched the area again before she angled back down. “He knows that you are going to go to the police. He set you up. Your face is on the camera at that man’s door. You have to get out of here. You have to get out of this city and never come back.”

Piper didn’t realize she had a duffel hung on her shoulder until she tossed it onto Piper’s lap. “Take this. Use it for good instead of whatever terrible things he has planned for it.”

Shock held Piper, and she stared blankly at the duffel on her lap.

It was the same one that Justin had come out of that house with.

“I…” Confusion clogged Piper’s throat.

“I was so stupid to trust him. To think he actually wanted me,” the girl wheezed, pain lancing through her features. “But I won’t do this. I don’t want this life.He was right. He was right.”

Pain bled into the last, the words meant only for herself.

A battle of fear and determination roiled through Piper. She needed to go to the police.

“I know you want to do what’s right. But he’s watching you. I’ve witnessed the things he does. If you report him, he’ll kill everyone you love. You have to get out of here. Right now. Go and don’t ever turn back.”

She gripped Piper’s arm. “Go. Try to save your life. Just like I’m going to try to save mine.”

Then the girl turned and ran back for her car. She jumped inside and the tires squealed as she peeled out, swerving left then right before she flew down the road.

Mania pumped through Piper’s veins, her brow pinched as she jerked the duffel’s zipper open to find what was inside.

It was stuffed with cash.