Page 16 of Ruined

“I can.” Titan is back on his laptop.

“What kind of plane?” I ask Zero. “Did you see the direction he took off out of Merrill Field?”

“He took off toward the south but then circled to the north.”

“Okay.”

I pull my phone from my pocket and start looking at possible places he could head. He could be bringing her back this way for all we know.

I make a call to the Fairbanks Flight Service Station and Tower, giving them the tail number Zero gave me, and ask them to let me know if it appears on their system.

SEVEN

FRENCHIE

Iwake up to my worst fear. Panic surges through me as I start beating on the box, screaming, until Wilder thumps it and tells me to shut up. I notice that this box isn’t as elaborate as the last one. I calm and realize he didn’t have as much time to build this one as he did the other.

The last box had hidden hinges, but this one is different. I can feel them as I run my fingers along the rough wood. I jerk my hand back and stifle a cry when a splinter pierces my skin.

I shift around, unable to see anything. Unlike the last box, this one has no hole for me to peek out of. My empty holster digs into my hip underneath my leather jacket. Wilder stripped me of my weapons, but he was in a hurry to get me out of the house, and I fought him for so long, that he didn’t thoroughly search me. I can feel the boot knife that is always down the inside of my boot.

I slide my hand down and try to pull up my leg. But there’s not enough room in the confined space.

The box dips to the side, and I scream when it feels like I’m falling.

Wilder slams his hand on the box. “Shut up, little bitch, it’s just the plane going through turbulence.”

Plane. I’m on a fucking plane. How the hell did this happen? Now I’ll never see my family or Dylan again. Wilder is going to take me out into the bush and kill me.

I can’t believe I was foolish enough to think Wilder would wait to meet me. I never expected him to ambush me at the Royal Bastards’ safe house. I was getting ready to leave and sneak out before Aftershock or Zero could come to check up on me. I’d disarmed the alarm, started my car, and was heading back inside when Wilder jumped me. We fought. I stabbed him in the side and was just getting the upper hand when he tricked me. I know I left him bloody and with a broken nose before he hit me in the side of the head with a frying pan.

I decide in that moment that I do want to live. This box scares me, but I’m not freaked out. I’m not having a panic attack. If anything, I want to fight. I won’t let Wilder win again. He took so much from me, but he won’t any longer.

I manage to free my holster from my belt. Using the front buckle, I quietly disable the hinge mechanism at my shoulder. It won’t open correctly now. He’ll have to struggle with it, giving me time to prepare for the fight that I know I’m going to have.

The shift in the plane’s movement tells me we are preparing to land.

I’m jostled as we touch down. After a few moments, the plane comes to a complete stop, but the engine continues to hum. Wilder gets out, and I hear him talking to someone before he’s back.

“We just need to get some more fuel before we get to my camp. Everything is ready for you, sweet Minuet,” Wilder says from above me.

I cringe at his words and then hear shouting and raised voices. I can’t tell what’s going on, but the plane is in motion once again, gaining speed before it takes off.

“Goddamnit. That trooper you’re fucking must have called me in. How did he find out about my plane?”

Hope blossoms in my chest. If Dylan is looking for me, that means he didn’t give up on me. He remembered what I said.

More time passes. I don’t know how much, but it feels like hours. I feel the plane descending again, and then we’re bumping across the ground. I know I’m not going to have much time. He’s armed with my guns and other knives, if not more.

“Welcome home,” he says as he drags the box out, letting it drop to the ground.

I scream out in pain, and the wood groans. I’m sure it’s more damaged now.

I hear Wider fumbling with the lid.

“You fucking bitch,” he yells when he can’t open it. “I guess I’ll fuck your corpse.”

A gunshot rings out, and I scream when pain explodes in my arm. Another bullet flies through the box, and I quiet, hoping he’ll think he killed me. I lie there as still as I can.

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