Page 118 of Corrupting Ivy

Jeremiah’s enormous frame filled the space as he opened the trunk and pulled my father out by his legs, letting his body hit the ground with a hardthunk.

I squirmed to see if he was okay, but he shut the trunk lid down, locking me back inside. “Your time will come,” he said.

Jeremiah grunted. “Y’all are a bunch of useless men. She’s a buck-ten soaking wet, and you can’t carry her?”

“I have a bad back.”

“And what’s your excuse?”

Their voices trailed off as they carried my father away, leaving me alone with my head buzzing and my stomach clenching.

“What do I even pay you for when I have to do everything myself?” Jeremiah said, his voice coming closer as he walked towards me.

I clenched my eyes tight and used every ounce of strength I had to keep tears from streaming down my face. I couldn’t bear the thought of them seeing me break down. As his footsteps came to a halt and the trunk opened, tears spilled down my cheeks without mercy.

“It’s your turn now.” Jeremiah reached in and pulled me out of the trunk, then placed me on my feet. “What did I tell you about crying?”

He pulled me into a small dirt area flanked by a line of colossal pine trees and mining equipment.

The Culver Mines?

He was serious about burying me in there?

The locals claimed horrific things happened in that privately-owned gold mine. After several miners quit, the stories circulated of apparitions in the dark and voices where no one else should be. I didn’t believe in that superstition, but if I did, that’d be the last place I’d want to die.

We stopped near the tree line beside my father, who lay face down on the ground, unconscious. Billy sat in his wheelchair beside him, a twisted look of disgust on his face. Peter, the deputy, stood beside him while Sheriff Dun gripped my arm, taking Jeremiah’s place.

“You should know by now, Ivy. You cannot run from your family. We’ll always find you.”

I spat at him. “You aren’t my family. You never were.” Sheriff Dun jerked on my arm, pulling me back into place.

“That’s where you’re wrong, dear sister. We’ll always be family even if you didn’t love us like we did you.” He pulled the pistol from his holster on the side of his hip.

“You have a warped definition of love.” I scoffed, then studied Billy, who sat outraged by the events playing out. Not for the reason a husband would, but because he didn’t get to do the honors. My stomach tightened. Referring to him as my husband made my blood boil.

“I do?” He rushed me, pulling me from the Sheriff’s grasp, then put the pistol under my chin. I glared back at him, but my traitorous chin quivered, giving away the terror I felt on the inside.

I wasn’t ready to die.

“You shot your husband and left him for dead so you could go whore it up with another man.” He pressed the pistol harder into my flesh. “I’m glad you watched me blow your boyfriend’s brains all over that fancy car of yours. Did he buy that for you?” He released me and walked back over to my father, who still hadn’t moved. “You must’ve landed a rich man if he could afford your hospital stay in lil’ old Cavil, Texas.”

The sheriff took hold of my arm again as my eyes widened.

He knew about Texas?

A wicked grin stretched over his lips. “I guess I should’ve thanked him before killing him. If it wasn’t for him paying your hospital bill, I don’t think we would’ve ever found you.”

I shook my head, confused.

“The billing address, Ivy,” he said, tossing his hand in the air. “God, you never were bright, were you?”

He wiped his chin with the back of his hand that held the gun as he bent down and placed his other hand on my father’s back. “Say goodbye to Talon, Ivy.” He placed the gun at the back of my father’s head.

“Leave him out of it. He didn’t do anything.”

“So brave, yet dumb. Your father wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight, but I thought, maybe since he was on my payroll, he’d keep his mouth shut like all the others.” His lengthy fingers wrapped around the handle of his gun, one by one, as he adjusted his grip. “But he sealed his fate when he questioned me.”

So that’s why my father had respect in the community? Because he had the Baker name backing him?

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