Page 72 of Finding Her Strength

The silence continues as Antony listens to the other person on the phone.

“I want to know the minute it’s done.” A pause. “What are you doing about the brother?”

With confirmation his conversation isn’t ending, I slowly move the headrest high enough for the zip tie to slide underneath. It’s excruciating as my hands contort, moving as slowly as possible to not draw attention to myself. I can’t risk being caught. There’s too much at stake for the pain to even matter right now.

The tie clears the bar, and I grit my teeth to keep from cheering out loud. My gaze flicks to Antony; his phone call is wrapping up now. I’m not sure what my plan is since my hands are still bound together, but with them free of the headrest, I’ve got a better shot at escaping.

I keep my hands around the headrest to make it seem as ifthey’re still attached. I need a minute to figure out what to do next.

Antony ends his call, placing the phone in the cupholder. “Incompetent idiots. I swear they would be in jail without me telling them what to do.” Antony continues venting his annoyance with his minions, lamenting about how the men he trusted were all in prison now.

While he rants, I take in my surroundings. Fields are on either side of the highway, and there are very few cars on the road. I could grab the steering wheel, but the potential for Antony to overpower me before the car stops is high. I don’t have a seatbelt on, so no matter what I do, I’ll likely be injured beyond repair. In the end, it would be better than what Antony is capable of doing to me.

He’s finally silent, visibly relaxing into his seat as he settles in for the drive. The movement has an idea forming in my head.

It’s insane.

Probably deadly.

But it’s the only choice I have that gives me any chance to survive.

I can do this.

Taking a deep breath, I spring over the console to grab the e-brake, pulling back as hard as I can. The abrupt movement causes Antony to flinch. The second he releases the steering wheel, the car goes sideways, flipping over the guardrail.

My body flies into the ceiling with a sickening crunch, then lands on the floorboard of the back seat. Fire races down my arms, into my shoulder, and through my chest. With my hands still hooked around the handle of the e-brake, my chest is stretched across the center console, pulling my shoulders further out of place.

Disoriented, I attempt to plant my feet on the floor of the car. Everything screams at me to stop moving, but I don’thave a choice. I have to get out of here. Antony hasn’t made a noise since we crashed. I don’t know if he’s dead or just knocked out. I’m not going to take any chances of him waking up and finding me here.

I grit my teeth, lifting my arms over the handle of the e-brake. Blackness swirls in my vision as pain screams through me.

Push through it, Hope. You can do this.

Once my arms are clear, I open the door, pushing myself out of the car. I stumble to the ground, the tall weeds in the ditch surrounding my body. I don’t think I can get up. My entire body feels broken.

You can’t stay here.

Growling, I force my body to move. I get to my knees, holding my bound hands to my chest in an effort to contain the pain. When I plant my foot on the ground, I push my weight up to stand.

My vision swims, making it seem as if a passing car has stopped. The road is so far away.I’ll never make it.

I’m sorry, Levi. I tried. I tried so fucking hard to survive. To be strong. For you.

I love you.

41

HOPE

Pain.

It’s the only thing I can feel at this point. My entire body is burning with it.

Instead of dying on the side of the road, I was brought to the hospital. Turns out, I wasn’t hallucinating the car on the side of the road like I thought.

A man saw the crash and pulled over to help. The nurse told me I was rushed to the hospital, taken for scans, then immediately went into surgery when my lung collapsed.

That was four days ago.

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