Page 49 of Finding Chaos

Chapter 23

Destiny

Destiny kept glancing out the rearview mirror, hoping that someone might care enough to notice she’d disappeared. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and tried to ignore the bite of the gun barrel in her side.

“Where am I going?” she asked.

“Just keep driving and don’t try anything funny, or I’ll kill you and everyone you care about.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“Because, for an entire year, I had to endure you and all your crazy ideas.”

Her brows knitted. “What are you talking about? You suggested I write an article on Bigfoot. That was all your idea.”

“Genius, wasn’t it? Ruin your reputation as a journalist before you ever even got off the ground. Should you happen to stumble onto what’s been going on, no one would believe you.” His laugh bordered on maniacal. “That was my idea. I had to make you to depend on me, to need me. You were mine to mold like clay. Until you dumped me.” Putnam shoved the barrel tighter into her side as if punishment for kicking him to the curb.

She tightened her hold on the steering wheel as anger roiled in her gut.

“Always in need of saving. Who’s going to save you now that your boyfriend knows the truth of what you’ve been up to?”

“He’ll come for me,” she said with a belief that she could only hope was real.

“No, he won’t,” Putnam said. “Especially after I tell him how we got back together.”

Her tightened fingers on the steering wheel turned white. “I’m never getting back with you. You’ll have to kill me first.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“You think you can blackmail me? You think you’re winning favors with my father?”

“Your father?” Putnam laughed.

His laugh made her pause. “What did he promise you? Fame, fortune?”

Putnam’s smile fell, and he leaned in. The twinkle in his eye sparkled. “Poor Destiny. Couldn’t smell a story if you lived with it.” His smile turned into a sneer. “Your father is as clueless as you are. It’s not him running the show. It’s your dear sweet mom.”

Destiny’s heart stopped in that one second as Putnam’s words seeped into her soul, chilling her from the inside out. Her mother? It couldn’t be. Putnam was lying. He had to be.

Putnam glanced at his watch before meeting her gaze in the mirror again. “Turn up ahead.”

Her parents owned property not far away. A snowy wonderland on the lavish side of the mountain where the rich, famous, and beautiful people liked to ski. For as long as her parents had lived there, Destiny had never been on this road.

“Where does this lead?”

“It’s time for a family reunion.” He shoved the barrel deeper into her side. “Park by the other cars. I’m sure you recognize them.”

Destiny’s heart raced. Her mother’s car was parked next to her father's, outside a dilapidated barn.

She parked and turned the van off, leaving the keys in the ignition, praying she’d have an opportunity to escape.

The van’s backdoor slid open, and Putnam appeared at her side and yanked her out from the driver’s seat. He led her toward the open barn door.

She glanced at his foot. “So, the limping was a lie too?”

His lips twisted in a smile. “I left you all the clues to find me up on that damn hill. I was supposed to handle you there, but that damn weird woman found me instead.”

“So, when you acted surprised that I was looking for you on the mountain, that was just another lie?”

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