Page 69 of Unravel You

I Wasn't a Stupid Little Lamb

Valentina

The car hit a pothole as it merged onto I-85. We were leaving the city. I faced Bridget, and she put away her gun.

“I trust you're smart enough not to jump out of a moving vehicle. At this speed, you’ll die,” she deadpanned.

“Where are you taking me? Derek can get you more money tonight. Why leave Atlanta?”

“Because the amount I’m asking for is going to take a few days to pull together.”

When and how did she send a ransom note to Derek? She had to know the minute she logged onto the network or Wi-Fi, Derek would find her. By now, Derek knew I’d left the house of my own volition. I hoped he would understand why I did it, that I did everything for Max because I thought he was in trouble. No doubt Derek would be mad at me for not trusting him, for leaving him out of it. I’d survived all this time without him. I would survive this too.

If he’d told me the truth from the beginning, maybe we’d be in a completely different situation, though I couldn’t think of a scenario where I wouldn’t run out the door to save my son from someone like Alex. I had no doubt Alex would have put Max through hell just to get his hands on a few thousand dollars.

“Where are we going?”

“Savannah. We’ll lay low for a few days.”

Alex sniggered from the front seat. I ignored him and glanced out the window instead. The more I reacted to his taunting, the more he liked to push me. After all these years, not much had changed about him. How much was Bridget paying him to earn this level of respect from him? Maybe it wasn’t the money. I simply didn’t inspire his respect.

I hugged myself. I had wasted so much time doing what he wanted to prove to him I was smart and capable. Nothing had worked. Regret. Shame. That was all I felt for Alex now.

Next to me, Bridget sat all proper with a laptop in front of her. When she hired me to work at Derek’s company at the start of the year, before I even graduated from college, I thought she was the smartest woman I knew. A part of me, a huge part of me, wanted to be just like her. I only knew her from the work she’d done managing logistics for Derek and her stint as acting CEO, not the shitty human being she could be.

I rubbed my temple to keep the tears away. I was wrong about them. But they were wrong about me too. I wasn’t the nineteen-year-old who was easily manipulated by a charming smile or the fresh-out-of-college girl begging for an opportunity, for her first job.

By their calm demeanors, they were sure I’d be a good girl and stay put while Derek turned his company upside down to come up with the money they asked for. Wrong again. I was done playing nice with both of these assholes.

“I thought we said no internet?” Alex switched lanes with an angry look on his face. “I can’t have my phone, but you’re online?

Bridget rolled her eyes. “Do you not know what Derek does for a living? If you’re on the network, he’ll find you. Keep your phone off. Why did you even bring it?”

“For emergencies.”

“What?” She slow-blinked. “Stick to the fucking plan.”

“So he can find me but not you?” His whiny tone said he wasn’t happy about not having internet access.

Some priorities he had.

“No, Alex, not me, because I know what I’m doing. Just do your job and let me worry about the logistics.”

Three and a half hours later, we drove past the Welcome to Savannah sign. The streets were nearly empty this late at night or almost early morning. Alex drove straight to a Victorian-style home. He’d been here before. How long had they been planning to come after Derek and me?

As soon as the car slowed down and pulled up to the curb, Bridget pointed her gun at me again. “Whatever you think you can do, trust me, you can’t. Get in the house.” She waved her weapon in front of me.

More than anything, I was afraid Bridget would shoot me in the face by accident. The way she handled the gun, with so little regard, made me nervous. I climbed out of the car and followed her inside, like a stupid lamb on her way to the slaughterhouse.

Inside, Bridget gripped my elbow and pushed me onto a chair in the entryway. The place had been fully renovated with an open-space concept that made the downstairs feel bigger than it was. The rectangular living room was furnished with upholstered sofas and plush area rugs. Velvet curtains dressed the floor-to-ceiling windows.

At the other end of the room, a small eating area had a six-chair table with dirty dishes on it. They’d been living here for days. As soon as Alex locked the door behind him, Bridget climbed the steps to the second floor, gesturing for me to follow.

I glanced behind me at Alex, who stood by the front door with a nasty smirk on his face. The door only opened and closed with a punched-in code. With his back to me, he entered the number on the keypad to activate it. His fingers were too fast for me to catch the sequence.

“The door won’t open or close without the code. So don’t get any ideas into that little head of yours.” His voice boomed in the small entryway at the bottom of the stairs.

“Walk.” Bridget snapped her fingers at me the way she used to do when I worked for her about three months ago. It felt like a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then.

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