Page 31 of Lock Me Out

“We’re going to find out what happened to Bradley.”

“We?” I ask, and for the first time, real fear slithers down my spine like a snake. I didn’t think about Bradley. The way he disappeared around the time of the explosion. The body, the grave. Why didn’t I think about that until now? How could I have missed it?

When Deborah’s mouth twitches into a knowing smile and a look of satisfaction comes over her face, I know this is it. She has seen through me. I’ve just gotten to the heart of why Nix won’t come back. It must be Bradley in his grave. And now she’ll know all of her accusations were correct because I’ve never been very good at hiding my thoughts.

It’s only when I hear someone step up behind me that I realize I was worried about the wrong thing. Hot breath fans out across the back of my neck, making me flinch, but I don’t have time to run. It’s already too late.

That same hot breath hits my ear in time with a cloth covering my nose and mouth, a cloth cupped inside a large hand that clamps down hard. “This is for my brother,” a man whispers, and I know it must be Dennis holding me in place.

I’m forced to breathe in whatever is on the cloth.

Dennis holds me up as my body begins to slump, and Deborah opens her car’s back door in the moments before the world goes dark.

They’re going to hurt me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop them.

15

NIX

Now I knowwhat real torture feels like. Before today, I only thought I understood. Keeping myself away from the world, living in the shadows, holding myself back. It’s been hell, and I thought it couldn’t get any worse.

Now I know better.

My pulse is pounding and sweat rolls down the back of my neck as I follow the car Leni is in. I don’t know how I managed to sit there silent and still when my instincts screamed at me to stop them. I could’ve hit the horn, so they knew someone was watching. I even saw myself hitting the gas, aiming directly for the car they stood next to once I spotted Dennis approaching Leni from behind. Why didn’t I stop them?

Because they, of all people, can’t know I’m still alive. It’s bad enough Colt knows—it was stupid to think Leni would be able to keep my visit a secret. I told myself she could because it meant getting what I wanted, and now I have to be more careful than ever.

But showing myself to Dennis would’ve been the biggest mistake of all. Especially out in public, on the street.

Meaning all I can do now is follow them. The sun is setting, and traffic is getting thinner the further we drive away from the center of town. I have to hang back half a block, sometimes more, to make sure they don’t get suspicious. Deborah might be a dumb bitch, but she’s sneaky. She’ll be keeping watch, making sure nobody noticed what they did.

I only hope Leni is unconscious, the way she looked when they shoved her into the back of the car. I don’t want her to know this is happening. If she’s ever going to be afraid, I want her to be afraid of me, of what I can do to her, not of these pathetic assholes. What do they think they’re doing? What’s the point of this? Fuck, if I could only ask. Not that it would make a difference even if I could.

Farther and farther, Dennis drives until the landscape changes around us. The buildings thin out, changing shape from homes and shops, turning into factories and warehouses. There are a few other cars on the road to give me cover, mostly trucks and vans, but at least I don’t stick out too much.

By the time the car in front of me slows down and the right turn signal blinks, my palms are sweaty enough to make steering a challenge. I go around them, slowing down, watching in the rearview mirror as Dennis turns into the gravel lot of an old, darkened building whose windows are either broken or boarded up. After driving another block to make sure I don’t raise suspicion, I make a U-turn and park across the street.

My feet don’t make a sound as I run, or maybe that’s the pounding of my heart drowning out everything else. What the fuck do they think they’re doing? And what can I do to help her?How can I do anything when I can’t let them see me? But I can’t stand back and watch without doing everything possible to help her, either.

By the time I reach the building, they’re inside, bickering. Dennis must be desperate if he is willing to put up with Deborah’s shrill voice. “Tie her the fuck up,” she demands. “I can’t wait to have a little fun with her.”

“Remember what we talked about,” Dennis warns. Peering through one of the broken windows, I find the space barely lit by a handful of lanterns surrounding a folding metal chair where Leni is now slumped, with her head hanging forward and her eyes closed. The only thing keeping her up is the way they’ve tied her hands behind the chair. She’s going to be in pain when she wakes up.

They are going to make her hurt.

Everything around me goes red while my heart pounds harder than ever, and I imagine the satisfaction of snapping Dennis’s neck. Deborah’s, too.

But I can’t do it alone. Fuck me, I need help.

There are only three people in the entire world I care enough about to do what I’m going to do now: Mom, Leni, and Colt.

Backing away from the window, I take my phone from my pocket and dial up one of those three people. All I can do is hope he won’t waste any fucking time on things that aren’t important now.

Shouldn’t I know him better? “Oh, so you’re finally going to sack up?” Colt asks as soon as he’s answered the phone.

“There’s no time,” I whisper, cutting off anything else he was about to say. “They took her. Deborah and Dennis.”

“What?” he barks. “Where?”

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