Page 97 of Protecting Her Secrets

“Thank you, Miss Martha.”

“No problem. Please give me a call when you find her.”

“Will do.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Skylar

I wake in a confused fog.My eyes are so dry, my lids feel like they’re glued to my eyeballs. Instinctually, I try to rub them, but my hand—which I just notice is above my head—can only move a couple inches because it’s stuck on something. I switch to the other hand, but that one won’t move either. What the hell?

Looking up, I blink a few times and see they’re tied to a metal headboard with rope. The more I struggle to get them free, the more it abrades my wrists. Moving around has also made me aware that my ankles are secured to the footboard by the same rope.

How did I get here? The last thing I remember is sitting on the couch, waiting for Walker to get home. What happened after that? Sprocket was on my lap, and I was scared because Walker was confronting Klutch. Shit.Aunt Amy. She tricked me and injected me with something.

I look around the room and see what looks to be a cabin, but there are hundreds of cabins near Culver Springs, so that’s not exactly a clue. Without knowing how long I was stuffed in thattrunk, I could be anywhere. My heart starts to pound, and my throat gets tight. Why did she bring me here?

I want to shout for help, but chances are there isn’t anyone else around, and I don’t want Aunt Amy to know I’m awake until I can gather more information.

Lifting my head, I see that other than the bed, there’s a cozy-looking chair and end table in front of a window looking out into the forest, a quilt ladder in the corner, and a chest of drawers against the opposite window. Straight ahead of me is a door. I hear whispered voices coming from the other side, but I can’t recognize who they might belong to.

Walker must be losing his mind. I never should have come here to see him. Now he’s all mixed up in my mess, and knowing him, he won’t stop until he finds me. But if Klutch is behind this like I think he is, then Walker’s life is in as much danger as mine.

I don’t know how long I lie there, but it’s long enough that I become so panicked, I don’t even feel the pain of the rope slicing up my wrists. I pull and twist anyway. I think the knot on my right wrist is loosening, but it might be all in my head. At least I can say I tried and didn’t just wait for my future to be dictated to me, even if that’s what ends up happening anyway.

Blood drips down my arm, and my fingers tingle, so I switch to my feet, tugging and twisting. At least I have socks on so the rope isn’t directly on my skin. Logically, I know I can’t get free, but anxiety isn’t logical, and right now, my anxiety is screaming at me.

I freeze when the doorknob turns and the door slowly creaks open. Expecting to see Aunt Amy, I’m surprised when, instead, it’s Klutch. There’s my confirmation he was behind this.

“You’re awake.” He states the obvious. The way he looks at me makes my skin crawl.

“And you’re a sick fuck. Why am I here?”

“You spend a couple weeks away from me and forget your manners. Maybe you need a reminder.”

“Maybe you need a lobotomy. Why am I here?”

His face reddens. I never speak to him like this. It wouldn’t have done me any good before and would’ve resulted in pain, so what was the point? But I’m done appeasing him. It’s gotten me nowhere, so I might as well tell him how I really feel.

I’m confident in that decision until he pulls out his knife. “My plan was to have Amy take you so I could be the one to kill you, but then I was told you’ve been hiding something from me.” He lifts my shirt and drags his knife across my belly, barely breaking the skin. Tiny dots of blood pop free.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play coy. You’re carrying my baby. So congratulations, you saved your own life. For now, anyway. Once you give birth, that’s a different story.”

“You’ll keep me alive just to take the baby? And who will raise it if you kill me?” It makes me sick to even think the words, let alone say them out loud. I shouldn’t be raising issues with his plan, but at least I know I’ll be safe for the next six months.

“Amy’s always wanted a baby. You know she and Loner tried for a lotta years. She’ll raise it.”

I saw the look on her face when she saw my bump. She must be the one behind this plan. “And what will you do with me for the next six months? Keep me chained to a bed?”

“Maybe.” He lifts my shirt up and over my head, leaving it stretched between my raised arms and exposing my breasts. I regret not wearing one of the many sports bras I purchased with Jazzy. Instead, I have on the black lacy one I was wearing when I came to Culver Springs. “There are other things you can be good for.”

“Because Lord knows you can’t find a willing partner, not when you gave up showering and brushing your teeth.”

He slaps me across the face so hard, I see stars. My cheek instantly swells, red hot. “Watch your mouth.”

“It’s not too late to let me go. I’ll disappear from your life, and you can go on like this never happened.”

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