Page 124 of Death Wish

“Why? They were your friends.”

“At one time, they were. They dissed me.” He jabbed the barrel into her side. “Just like you did. You’ll pay for that, Simone. No one treats me with disrespect and gets by with it. Even you.”

“Why did you kidnap me? If you’re angry with me, why would you force me to go with you?”

He snorted. “To punish you, of course. You deserve everything you get. Years I spent in prison because of you. I’m thinking about keeping you locked up for the same amount of days I was in prison.”

That wouldn’t happen if she could help it. “Oh, come on,” she scoffed. “You spent two years in jail. Big deal. You’ve been living it up since your release while I spent my life on the run, always looking over my shoulder, watching for you.”

He smirked. “And I kept finding you, didn’t I? You thought you were so clever. You’re as stupid as all the other women I’ve known.”

“Really? If you’re so smart, why did you have to use Ember to find me every time I moved?”

Trevor jabbed the gun into her side again. “Shut up, Simone, or I’ll take you out right now instead of keeping you around.”

She sucked in a breath as pain rocketed through her body. “Knock it off, Trevor. If I lose control of the car, both of us might die.”

He backed off a little. “Your friends will pay the price if you trash my car. I’ll go back and kill them all, one by one.”

“You’ll never get away with this. You know that, don’t you?”

“Oh, I already have, baby,” he crowed. “Your big, tough boyfriend is dead and his friend is powerless to do anything about it. Where I’m taking you, no one will ever find you.”

That’s what he thought. However, Trevor needed to believe she had lost hope. Otherwise, he’d be too vigilant. Simone wanted that chance to escape. “Where are we going, Trevor?”

“You’ll see.”

Great. She was driving without a destination. Simone glanced at the fuel gauge. Her hands tightened around the steering wheel. The Jerk had filled the gas tank before shooting Jesse and kidnapping her which meant the gas would hold out for about 500 miles. For the record, she was tired of being kidnapped. It sucked.

To keep from antagonizing Trevor more, Simone remained silent while she drove. If she was lucky, her ex would fall asleep. Stranger things had happened. After all, he was on an adrenaline high. She knew from experience after the high came a crash.

Instead of falling asleep, though, he stayed wide awake, popping a pill every once in a while. “What are you taking?” she asked when the sun had finally risen.

“Energy, babe. Pure, sweet energy.” He laughed, using the barrel of the gun to brush her hair away from her face. “I can stay awake for hours with these little babies.”

Her heart sank. Trevor was taking uppers while she was becoming more exhausted with each passing mile. Looked like the joke was on her. She was the one fighting an adrenaline dump while Trevor was still riding a high. At some point, though, he’d have to sleep. Even he couldn’t stay awake indefinitely. When he fell asleep, all bets were off. She’d find a way back to Jesse either on her own or with the help of Fortress.

At noon, Trevor said, “Take this exit. We’re going to fill up here and maybe grab a bite to eat. We’ll take it to go, so no funny business.”

She followed his instructions, drove to the nearest gas station connected to a truck stop, and parked beside a pump.

“Get out and fill the tank. I’ll be right beside you so don’t try anything. Anyone you ask for help, I’ll kill. Got that?”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” She climbed out of the car, groaning at her stiff muscles. Man, she hated driving that long without a break.

Simone glowered at Trevor who came around the back of the car to grasp her arm in a strong hold.

“Bad attitudes will cost you, baby,” he murmured as he glanced around. “Don’t tempt me to increase your punishment.”

She held out her hand.

“What?”

“We have to pay for the gas.” Simone raised her eyebrow. “You kidnapped me with no warning. I don’t have a penny to my name. That means you pay for the gas or we walk.”

He dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Trevor grabbed a card and thrust it into her hand. “Use this.”

She glanced at the name on the card and flinched when she recognized the name of one of his victims. “Seriously?”

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