Page 89 of Forever and Other Lies

“You’re following him?” Burke’s voice rose. “Derek! You can’t follow an innocent man.”

“Burke, he’s not innocent. He wears size 10 boots. And I just have a feeling.” Derek continued running up the uneven driveway staying along the tree line. “Burke, you just have to trust me on this.”

He could hear the tapping of computer keys through the phone. “Sonny owns the property, Derek. It was his uncle’s farm that he inherited.”

Sonny had left his SUV running and had the headlights pointed toward the rear of the farmhouse. Derek felt his pulse pick up. He needed to be careful. Under his feet, the rocks crunched loudly in the quiet night. He caught a glimpse of Sonny’s silhouette in the headlights.

He moved to the back of the SUV. Crouching down, he peeked around the tailgate. There it was—the entrance to the root cellar, just like Jamie said. Sonny was lifting the heavy wooden door and disappeared into darkness.

“Sonny just entered a root cellar, Burke,” he whispered into the cell phone. “Get here quick. I’m going to…”

Burke swore under his breath. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

What? Seriously? He was the king of stupid.

“Wait till I get there,” Burke ordered, and the call ended.

What was he going to do? His mind was going a mile a minute. It would take Burke over ten minutes to get here. Every second wasted was one closer to losing Jayna. Taking a deep breath, Derek inched toward the cellar entrance. Goddammit, Jayna was in danger.

Chapter 44

Jayna was in danger. Her heavy eyelids slowly opened. The remnants of the vivid dream still clung to her consciousness. Her head pounded, and she tried to raise her hand, but it wouldn’t move. Panic rose within her. This was not a dream. Why were her hands bound?

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Where was she? A fuzzy-headed drugged feeling clouded her thoughts. She inhaled sharply. The air was musty and smelled like apples. A basement, maybe a cellar? The chill of it seeped into her bones as burning fear crept up her throat.

A memory flashed. She’d been running late. Jamie and Derek were on the phone. The doorbell rang. She opened it. Why was Sonny at her door? He shoved in, taking the phone from her hand and smashing it against the wall. Then he grabbed her by the hair, pushing her against the wall. He shoved a cloth in front of her face—she couldn’t breathe. Then blackness.

Sonny.

Derek. He would find her. That thought flickered. Why, though? She was nothing to him. She would be the last person he’d send out a search party for. Yet she was certain he would.

Jamie... Jamie. She concentrated, visualizing her friend’s face. Jamie would know. Apples. Cellar. “Jamie, please hear me. Help me.”

The sound of a door creaking open was followed by footsteps echoed off the cement walls. Her breath hitched, and she strained to see through the murky darkness.

“Awake, are we?” Sonny’s voice was calm and deceptively gentle. Eerily gentle. “Guess the last of the Ketamine has worn off.”

“Sonny, why are you doing this?” Her voice cracked.

“Why?” Sonny flipped a switch, and a single bulb overhead flickered to life, casting shadows. “You really have to ask, Jayna?”

She squinted against the sudden light, her eyes adjusting to the sight of Sonny’s familiar face that was twisted into an unfamiliar mask. He didn’t look like the friendly paramedic who brought laughter into the emergency department. This Sonny was nothing like the proud grandfather showing off pictures on his cell phone.

“Lance loved you,” Sonny continued, his tone sharpening. “He was a wreck after you broke things off. You destroyed him, Jayna. And you didn’t even care.”

Her breath came faster, shallower. “Sonny, listen to me. Whatever you think I did to Lance, it wasn’t my fault. We’d only been on a few dates. Relationships end, people move on.”

“Not him!” Sonny roared, slamming a fist against the wall. Dust particles rained down, and Jayna flinched. “He gave everything to you, and you threw him away like garbage.”

“Sonny, please…you don’t have to do this,” she pleaded, tears pricking at her eyes. “I can talk to Lance. Apologize. We can fix it. Just let me go.”

Sonny chuckled softly. It was a sound devoid of humor sending another shiver down Jayna’s spine.

“Fix it? Like you fixed it when you broke his heart? You women are all the same. You use men, chew them up, and spit them out when you’re done.”

Jayna shook her head frantically, struggling to find the right words. This was not the rational Sonny she knew. His eyes were wild. She was not reasoning with a sane man.

“It’s not like that, Sonny. I honestly never meant to hurt Lance. Please, you have to believe me.”

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