Page 71 of Forgotten Comeback

Gavin moves the gun back to my head as bile rises in my throat.

“See, that trip I was telling you about? It wasn’t a request,” he tells Kat.

“You’re making a big mistake,” Kat says calmly, but her trembling hands give her away.

“Let’s go,” Gavin barks. “Out through the back. Kat, you first. Hands on top of your head and keep them there. You try anything else, I’ll put a bullet between Taylor’s eyes.”

Kat’s feet are working, but mine aren’t. Why aren’t my feet working?

Gavin growls, practically dragging me to the kitchen.

“Lie down on the floor on your stomach and put your hands on top of your head,” Gavin orders Kat.

“Let’s talk about this,” she begs.

Gavin digs the gun harder into my temple, and Kat complies—sliding to her knees and onto her stomach.

A piece of duct tape is slapped over my mouth, and I’m shoved into a chair. Gavin roughly grabs my wrists, and the cold feel of plastic is now on my skin.

Things feel fuzzy, like this is a dream. Is this a dream? Or am I having a psychotic break?

Something wet touches my cheeks; I’m crying.

“If it’s me you’re after, let Taylor go,” Kat says.

Gavin secures Kat and drags her out the door. “No!”

Kat can scream. Why can’t I scream?

He returns with a gasoline container.

I can’t ask him what he’s doing, because I can’t talk. Why can’t I talk?

He grabs me and hoists me over his shoulder, walking me outside.

My vantage point is the ground; wait, was that Mrs. Parker’s body?

I’m tossed on top of Kat, and we both let out mumbled groans.

Gavin mutters something before closing the trunk, but I don’t catch it.

Could be minutes, could be hours, but the vehicle lurches forward, and there’s a loudboomthat has my teeth rattling.

This has to be a hallucination, because if it’s real life, Gavin just blew up my house.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Gavin

Inferno silently watches me carry Taylor inside the warehouse. I gently place her in a chair, securing her with zip ties. I’m concerned because her glazed-over expression holds not even a spark of her usual fire.

Hurrying out, I grab Kat, who gives me more of a fight as I drag her to a separate room and secure her.

I exit and close the door, with Inferno waiting to pounce.

“Tell me that you have a good explanation for one, why you reek of gasoline, and two, why you brought Taylor here,” he whispers furiously, leading me inside a storage room.