The entire left side of her head was on fire after that hit and the slam against the window when she’d wrecked.
Her vision swam as Davies climbed out of the van, picking up both feet while Walker held onto her with one hand under her arm. They tossed her into the back seat of the van. She landed right behind the driver’s side.
Scrambling, she tried the door beside her. Locked. She rushed toward the other door, but it shut in her face. She tugged and pulled on the handle. Nothing happened.
Ella jumped through the seats to the front, only to be shoved back by Davies’s hand in the middle of her chest.
She fell onto the armrest before bouncing to the floor. Taking less than a second to gather herself, she sprang up, but it was too late.
Walker had already sat down on his side.
No way out.
“Don’t do this, Walker,” she pleaded. “You don’t know who you’re involved with.”
Davies grinned. “And who exactly am I?” He chuckled, the sound sending a chill across her skin. “I was worried that you’d forgotten about me, Elizabeth. You’ve been hard to catch.”
Even his voice disturbed her.
“I’ve followed you, you know. City to city. Town to town,” he said, the slowness in his voice sounding like someone telling a scary story. It was. This entire thing was a nightmare. “But we got to Charleston, and I lost you.”
“Should’ve taken me up on my offer earlier,” Walker began, not even out of breath from the struggle. “I would’ve protected you better than that fraud you’re dating.”
He drove the van slowly away from the scene. A few people stood in their yards, watching, but no one helped.
Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she tried to figure out what to do next. Could she risk Walker wrecking the van if she attacked him? But Davies was there. No way she could take on both of them. She touched the side of her face and winced.
Sitting back wasn’t an option. She had to do something. Come up with a plan. Going to a second location almost always ended in murder.
Frustrated and scared, tears filled her eyes as she realized she didn’t have a plan. Here she was, a passenger princess to her own damn murder.
The van smelled eerily of cleaning fluid, like a mixture of bleach and air freshener—the nasty lemon-scented ones.
Once they pulled onto the expressway, Davies turned and smiled at her. “I don’t believe I’ve formally introduced myself to you. My name is Davies. I wish we could’ve met earlier under different circumstances.”
She looked away, not giving him the satisfaction of asking questions. She had to find a way out of this situation.
It hit her.
With them both facing forward, Ella reached into her back pocket and flicked her phone to silent.
Damon tracked her every movement. He’d find her once the FBI and Detective Moore weren’t holding him up. With her options to escape nonexistent, she studied the expressway. When she saw the sign for Atlanta, she had to ask, “Are you taking me back to my apartment?”
“Yes,” Walker said. “I’m getting paid a pretty penny to turn you over to them.”
“Them?” She eyed Davies. Wasn’t he turning her over to the murderer? “Who else is involved?”
“You’ll find out.”
Matteo and Julia. It had to be them.
She tucked her knees under her chin. “But you’re gonna kill me?”
Walker snorted. “Not me.”
“But you,” she said, looking at Davies. “You’ll kill me like you killed Teddy?”
Davies shot her the same creepy smile he had before while stalking her. “What’s the fun in spoiling your adventure by telling you the ending?”