Page 72 of Deceiver

“Oh, let me guess, what I just saw was entirely wrong. You didn’t hand over cash for a fucking innocent boy!”

Truck lights flash as Fury comes speeding back in.

He saw my car.

He knows Western isn’t alone.

The truck comes to a stop, the lights stay on, and the door opens. Fury gets out, and I spin on him, directing my rage and him, too.

“And you,” I bellow, “you’re as disgusting as he is. How could you?”

Fury’s eyes move to Western.

“Don’t look at him,” I yell, my voice scratchy as it breaks off into broken rasps. “Do not look at him. Look at me.”

The sound of the truck door swinging open has us all turning in that direction. The boy tumbles out and begins running. Fury barks a curse, Western roars something at him, and then the two of them start running. Chasing him down like he is some sort of animal. For a minute, I can’t move. My legs are entirely numb as I stand, sobbing, horrified.

I’m going to Nathan.

Right now.

I’m going to have them all stopped.

I turn and somehow manage to get my body to break out into a jog, panting and gasping, back to my car. I get in, shaky fingers turning the key. I have to get out of here before they stop me, because if they manage to get hold of me then I’m never going to get the chance to stop this. They’ll make sure of it.

Western bellows my name in the distance, but I don’t stop.

I have just turned the car on, ready to turn it around, when a voice echoes from behind me, coming from the darkness within the confined space of my car. A monster on the backseat.

“Hello, Bonnie.”

Cold steel presses to the back of my head, and I freeze.

Bill Whart is in my car.

He’s in my car.

“Drive.”

My body won’t move.

I can’t get my fingers to stop trembling enough to do anything.

“I will shoot you. Drive.”

No.

This can’t be happening.

Thisisn’thappening.

I can’t go with Bill. If I do, then he’ll end me. He’ll end me, and I’ll never get the chance to share with the world the truth of what these monsters are doing. He isn’t going to let me go this time. I can hear it in his voice, I can feel it just by the energy in this car. This is the end of the road for me. He’s going to make sure of it.

“You fucking drive or I’ll blow your brains all over this windscreen.”

I manage to move the car as I desperately come up with a plan.

Driving down the road slowly, my heart slams against my ribcage. I’ve fucked up. I don’t know how, but I have.