Page 13 of Deception

Bri buckled her seat belt. “How long ’til we get to Jackson?”

“A couple of hours. Should be there by nine.” She’d meant to make Jackson before dark, but it had taken longer to connect with the organization that rescued Briana than Dani counted on. Beside her, the teenager sighed.

“Nervous?” Dani asked. The girl answered with a shrug. Until now, Bri hadn’t exhibited any sign of anxiety.

“A little. It’s always hard going into a new situation.”

“You’ll do fine.” Dani navigated the one-way streets out of downtown Natchez. She’d been pleased at how well the two of them had connected the last two hours of the three-hour drive from New Orleans. That first hour, it’d been like pulling teeth to get the girl to talk.

But once Bri realized Dani didn’t look down on her for the life she’d been forced to live on the streets, the girl opened up. Dani learned that even though she looked much younger, Bri was twenty-one and a new Christian. Wings of Hope in Jacksonwould be the perfect place for her to grow in her walk. “If there’s anything I’ve learned about you since we left New Orleans, it’s that you’re a survivor. You haven’t let what you’ve been through destroy you.”

Bri sat a little straighter. “Thanks. Sometimes I just want to crawl into a cave and stay there. But then I realize if I did, they’d win.”

“Good for you.” The social worker in New Orleans had told Dani that the organization was working on getting Bri’s record for prostitution expunged since she’d been forced into it.

Dani ignored the GPS that directed her to Devereux Drive and instead took a right at Forks of the Road, weaving around to Liberty Road and the entrance to the Natchez Trace. She’d looked at the map, and it was a straighter shot to Jackson than Highway 61 or I-55 with a lot less traffic.

They hadn’t traveled far on the Trace when Bri groaned.

“What’s the matter?”

“All that tea I drank—I should’ve gone to the restroom like you said. Do you think there’s someplace on this road we can stop?”

“I’m sure there is.” Bri wasn’t alone in her request. Dani had been so taken aback by the man paying their bill, she’d ignored her main rule for traveling—always visit the restroom before hitting the road. “Use my phone and see if you can find a map of the Natchez Trace.”

A few minutes later, the teen sighed. “There’s no service of any kind.”

“Guess we’ll have to keep driving. Keep checking to see if we get service.”

She edged past the posted fifty-mile-an-hour speed limit until she noticed headlights in her rearview mirror and eased off the gas pedal in case the person behind them was a park ranger. No need to risk getting a ticket. Ten minutes later, they passed a sign announcing Mount Locust in one mile. “Maybe there’s a restroom there.”

At the historical site, Dani pulled off the road, but a gate blocked their way and she backed out.

“Wait!” Bri said. “I have a signal. Give me a second.” Her fingers flew over the phone. “Oh, good. There appears to be something at Coles Creek. Looks like it’s a couple of miles.”

“Let’s hope there’s no gate there.”

Just down the road, a sign indicated Coles Creek was a mile ahead on the left. A lone light shone outside the small brick building when they pulled into the parking lot.

The girl shivered. “Looks spooky.”

Dani agreed with her. “We can keep driving—maybe find a town nearby.”

Bri shrugged. “We’re here. Might as well make the most of it.”

Dani took the phone Bri handed her and dropped it in her purse, then she grabbed her keys and locked the car doors after they climbed out. Inside the bathroom, one of the two stalls had an out-of-order sign on it, but otherwise the facility was clean. There was a lock on the outside door, and for a second she was tempted to lock them in.

“You go first,” Bri said.

A few minutes later, Dani exited the stall and washed her hands in cold water. “I’m going back to the car. I have sanitizer in the console.”

It’d gotten colder since the sun went down, and she pulled her jacket closer. That’s when she noticed a car had pulled into the parking lot behind them, but it was impossible to see if anyone was inside.

A tingling raced down her neck just like at the restaurant, only this time her sixth sense screamed to run. She turned and dashed toward the restroom. If she could get there, she could lock the door—

There was a loud pop, and her right shoulder stung. Another pop, and she stumbled as a second bullet knocked her forward.

The concrete walk came up to meet her head. Dani fought to stay conscious as footsteps approached.Pretend you’re dead.That might not be hard to do ...

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