Page 85 of Trapped

“Yes,” he answered.

“Okay. Give me a moment.” They waited without speaking for Kelley to return. When she came back on the line, she said, “Take Route 108 across Montgomery and Howard Counties. Do you know how to get there?

“Yes.”

“Turn off on New Hampshire Avenue, then right onto Brighton Dam Road. And head for Brighton Dam Park. We’ll meet you in the parking lot across the highway from the Park. Do you know where that is?”

Cash had no idea.

But Sophia answered, “Yes.”

When she hung up, Cash slumped in his seat, and Sophia reached to touch his knee.

His leg twitched. “That ploy didn’t work out so well.”

“Sorry. I guess it wasn’t such a great idea.”

“I shouldn’t have let you risk it. I’m obviously not functioning at top efficiency.”

“Stop blaming yourself.”

“He hurt you.”

“One slap!”

“That was enough.”

“I’m tougher than I look.”

“I know.”

“Thanks for that, at least.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She huffed out a breath. “You’re trying to distance yourself from me.”

“For your own good.”

She turned her head toward him. “You have to let me be the judge of that.”

“I’m not used to answering to anyone besides myself. Well—at least when I’m not following orders.”

“That’s obvious.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he pressed his lips together, waiting for her to demand some answer that he wasn’t ready to give.

And maybe he never would be.

To his relief, it seemed that Sophia had decided not to keep prodding him.

They traveled in silence until she said, “Here’s the turnoff.”

They rode past woods, then came to a parking area on their right. In the moonlight, he could see the ground sloping along the side of a dam—into what looked like a black chasm.

“What’s down there?”

“Picnic tables. Playground equipment. A stream where the water spills off from the dam.”

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