Page 143 of The Moments You Were Mine

Damn.

Still. We were used to working at night. We’d make do.

I glanced at the screen one more time, focusing on Fallon’s pale face.

Hold on, Ducky. I’m coming for you.

And if Ike had hurt even one more strand on her head, I’d make him suffer before I killed him.

Chapter Thirty-eight

Fallon

GUNPOWDER & LEAD

Performed by Miranda Lambert

TEN YEARS AGO

HER: Giles was Buffy’s real dad. But he died and left her to fight alone.

HIM: First, Buffy was never alone. She had the Scoobies. Second, we both know you’re really talking about Spencer. So I’ll just say that Spence was a good father, and I’m sorry you’re feeling his loss, but don’t give up on Rafe. He’s no Hank Summers. Rafe will be there when you need him most. He loves you.

HER: If I’ve learned one thing in this life, it’s that you can love someone and still fail them.

PRESENT DAY

The chill of the caves hadalready worked its way into my skin and bones, and the adrenaline that had fueled me earlier had slipped away. It meant I was shaking like a leaf. My mouth was dry, and I craved water as if it was a lost treasure. I was bleeding from a cut on my arm I must have gotten in the crash and hadn’t noticed until I’d been sitting here for what had felt like an entire day already.

“Why the fuck isn’t he answering?” Ike demanded, pacing in front of me.

When we’d first arrived, he’d had me shackle my ankle to an iron rung pounded into the rock. It was old, probably used by the bandits who’d holed up here well before the Harringtons hadowned the land, maybe even before the Hurlys had claimed it. If I wanted to escape, I had to get close enough to Ike to get the key from the front pocket of the sweatshirt he’d pulled on.

He didn’t seem to care that I was freezing my ass off. But then, why would he when he only intended to kill me anyway?

After he’d made sure I was locked tight, he’d lit an LED lantern, and it had filled the cave with creepy shadows. Not far from me, a sleeping bag, a duffel, and a pile of food debris were scattered around. It angered me to see it, to know he’d been staying here for weeks, using my land as his base to taunt and terrorize me and mine.

Maybe I should have been afraid while I sat here shivering. Maybe I should have dreaded the moment Ike turned his hate and fury at me, but I wasn’t. I was strangely calm because I knew what was coming for him.

The only thing that scared me was the idea of Parker or someone else I cared about getting hurt while trying to rescue me. Because they were all coming. Parker’s teammates. Kurt. My security team.

I was not alone.

I’d never been alone, even though there’d been plenty of times as a kid I’d thought I was.

Instead, I was part of a team.

I’d do my part as one of the members. I’d free myself before Parker got here and distract Ike for long enough that Parker could disable him. I just had to get the key for the shackle tearing into my ankle to do it.

Ike stopped in front of me and hit redial on the satellite phone he was using to receive a signal this deep in the caves. When the call clearly went to voicemail, he shoved it toward me. “Tell Daddy to call back within twenty minutes, or I’ll take a finger for every hour he makes me wait.”

I shook my head, and he backhanded me. My head whipped to the side. Thankfully, I didn’t crash into the cave wall. I wasn’t sure my concussed brain could handle much more.

He dug his fingers into the cut on my arm, and I couldn’t hold back the cry of pain.

He stepped back and spoke into the phone, “You hear that, Marquess? That was the first finger. I’ll take another if I don’thear back from you in an hour.”

Blood dripped from a new cut on my lip, and I wiped it gently on my shoulder as I watched the key inch out farther from the pocket of his sweatshirt.