Page 60 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

ELLIE

An ache thrummed in my head, and I could feel where Jasper had clocked me in the temple with the butt of his gun.

I guessed I should’ve been grateful that he’d hit me on the side that didn’t already have a gash.

But the steady beat behind my eyes and nausea roiling through me made it hard to feel grateful for anything at the moment.

No. That wasn’t true. I was grateful I was breathing. That Keely had gotten away. That Trace was safe. I held on to all three things with everything I had.

Giving the zip ties binding my wrists together a testing tug, I winced. There was barely enough room to move at all, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was doing to the blood supply to my fingers. At least the rope binding my middle to the older wooden chair wasn’t tight. Small mercies.

I tried to steal glances around the room as Jasper typed furiously on his cell phone. Making a new getaway plan, perhaps? But it didn’t make any sense. Did he truly hate Trace enough to risk prison again?

I did a quick scan to my left. There wasn’t a lot to go on.

It was clear this was some sort of rustic hunting cabin—one room and a bathroom.

The kitchen only had a few cabinet fronts, the ones below simply covered with curtains.

But care had been put into the furnishings.

What looked like a handmade quilt rested on the bed, and a few paintings hung on the walls.

There was even an antique vase and pitcher on a sideboard.

Over the sideboard was a window peering out into a forest, complete with handmade curtains.

The only problem was that I had no idea where that forest was.

I had no clue how long Jasper had driven because I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious.

It could’ve been mere minutes or hours. But the fact that I hadn’t recognized a single thing when I came to wasn’t a good sign.

“Don’t think about doing anything stupid,” Jasper sneered.

I refused to show him any sort of fear. It was exactly what he wanted. Instead, I lifted my gaze and met his stare. “I was actually wondering where they got those antiques. They’re charming.”

Jasper scoffed. “Charming. Of course, my traitorous son ended up with some rich bitch.”

“Don’t worry. I’m definitely not rich.”

His gaze narrowed on me. He’d lost the fake beard, hat, and sunglasses he’d worn at the carnival, but the angry scar still ran down his cheek. It was something he’d never be able to disguise. I just hoped Keely had told Trace about it so he knew who he was dealing with.

“Don’t think you can pull a fast one on me. I’m not a fuckin’ idiot. I know aaaaaall about your prick of a father.”

I leaned back, feeling the wooden chair press into my spine. I wondered if there was a way to use it as a weapon. As my gaze dipped to the gun clutched firmly in Jasper’s hand, I reconsidered the wisdom in that. “You’re right. My dad is a huge prick.”

My agreement seemed to confuse Jasper at first, but then his face contorted with rage. “No loyalty. Just like my bastard son.”

I pulled the zip ties tight, using the flare of pain to keep from saying something stupid. Something that could trip Jasper’s hair trigger and have him emptying that gun right into me.

“What?” Jasper sneered. “Nothing to say now, Rich Bitch? ”

I inhaled through my nose, the stale air from a cabin that had been locked up for too many days or weeks choking me. “No. I don’t.”

Jasper smirked then, leaning back in his chair. “Won’t lie. I liked messin’ with you. Paying those stupid kids to egg you when you came out of the station.”

My body jerked slightly in surprise. “ You egged me?”

The smirk only grew. “Not me. Someone on my behalf. But you’d better believe I took those rainbow panties. Gonna tell that bastard son of mine I know exactly how you smell.”

My stomach roiled as I fought to keep from throwing up all over my shoes. “What do you want?”

That was the question. The only one I really needed an answer to. And with as egotistical as Jasper was, I thought he just might tell me.

He leaned back, manspreading like he was trying to take up all the space in an airplane seat, and grinned.

“I got everything I want. Got the bait to draw out my waste-of-space son. Got the means to serve him up aaaaalll the pain he deserves when I shoot you right in front of his eyes. And I got a cash cow. I’m riding off into the sunset the minute the job’s done. ”

All the calmness I’d managed to hold on to fled in that moment, along with the belief that I’d eventually make it out of this nightmare. Waves of heat replaced it. Burning panic that made my cheeks flame and my lungs constrict.

I’d naively thought that if Jasper wanted me dead, he would’ve done it already, never once considering that he had some sick, macabre play planned out.

Breathe. I gave myself the one-word order over and over until my heart no longer felt like it might fly right out of my chest.

But Jasper kept right on grinning like a Cheshire cat. He knew the effect his words had, the terror they instilled. And I was right; he got off on it.

That knowledge sparked a renewed fight in me. Kye’s warnings about never letting someone get you to a secondary location might be useless now, but the rest of his lessons weren’t. I replayed the different strikes and kicks in my head, silently reciting the points to aim for .

Eyes. Nose. Groin. Knees.

Eyes. Nose. Groin. Knees.

“What, are you having a stroke or somethin’?” Jasper barked. “You’re no good to me if you keel over before I get to see the pain on my bastard boy’s face.”

Trace’s face filled my mind. The tender way he looked at me that spoke of love, even before he’d given me the words. The gentle encouragement he gave that told me he believed I could do anything. The sense of belonging and acceptance he offered so easily, giving me something I’d never had before.

“He’s not your anything,” I ground out.

Jasper’s brows slammed together. “He came from me. I own him.”

The rage stewing inside me bubbled over then.

Because I knew what it was to have someone think they owned you.

But no one owned Trace. And no one owned me.

It meant the gift was that much greater when they gave themselves to you.

Not because of a manipulation or force, but simply because they wanted to. Because you were better together.

I stared back at the man who had tortured Trace, enacting untold pain and torment on him. I wouldn’t let Jasper hurt him anymore. “Trace is nothing like you. He’s good, kind, giving. He’s everything you aren’t, and your pathetic life—and his amazing one—shows it.”

Jasper leapt to his feet, charging the few steps toward me, just like I’d hoped. “You fucking cunt,” he snarled.

It took everything in me to stay seated as his hand rose to strike me.

I watched it, waiting until it reached its apex before springing up.

The back of the old chair cracked and splintered in half, sending the rope tumbling to the floor.

I used the force of the charge to bring my bound fists right into Jasper’s nose with a satisfying crunch.

He howled in pain as blood began gushing from his face, but I didn’t stop there. I brought my knee up to hit him right between the legs and then gave him a hard shove. Jasper crumpled to the floor, writhing in pain.

But I was already running.

Jasper screamed as I tore at the front door, trying to open it.

It took two tries to get a good grip on the knob where I could twist it.

But I managed to throw it open. I knew he’d have his gun back in a matter of seconds, and I needed to create all the distance I could between us in these precious moments.

I ran awkwardly with my hands still bound but pushed hard for the thickest of the trees.

My head thrummed as I heard cursing behind me. A shot sounded, but it went wide of where I was. I zigged and zagged, trying to make myself a tougher target.

“You little bitch. I’m gonna make it hurt when I kill you,” Jasper snarled.

My lungs burned, and my muscles ached, but I pushed harder. I thought about Trace and Keely, Linc, and the entire Colson crew. I fought for all of them, and I fought for me.

My foot caught on a root.

I slammed into the ground so hard light danced in front of my eyes and all the oxygen flew from my lungs. Pain radiated through me, but I struggled to roll over and get to my feet, needed to keep running.

“Don’t fucking move.”

I squeezed my eyes closed for a moment, not wanting to see.

“Look at me, Rich Bitch. Open your eyes and see me before I end you. It’ll be good enough just to have Trace find your mangled body.”

Pain rocked through me. Not the physical kind.

I was pretty sure I was in shock, and it kept that from setting in.

This was the kind of pain that spoke of a shattered heart.

Not getting to figure out who I wanted to be.

To build a life with Trace and Keely. To see my brother become a father. To live .

But I wouldn’t hide from my death either. I wouldn’t give Jasper the satisfaction.

I opened my eyes.

And the gun went off.