Anson clapped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed hard. “This is over. We got him.”
My throat burned. “Thank you. I know…I know it’s not easy for you to delve back into that world.”
Anson shook his head. “Worth it. And the truth is, it’s getting easier. Having Rho to talk things through with if I get triggered makes it easier. I like helping. It heals somehow.”
God, I was happy to hear that for my friend.
He gave me a shove. “Now, get out of here and tell your girl the good news.”
Finally giving Thea that news would be a sweet moment.
I started toward the front of the house, but my phone rang. I slidit out of my pocket, seeing Trace’s name flash on the screen. I grinned, hitting accept. “You hear the good?—?”
“Shep,” he cut me off, his voice tense.
I froze, every ounce of relief disappearing in an instant. “What’s wrong?”
“Thea missed the turnoff for her house. Allen got worried and sped up. She’s not pulling over.”
Ice-cold dread slid through me as I turned. I knew Anson was there, but I couldn’t see him. All I could see was the spot where I wanted to build Thea’s greenhouse.
Trace’s voice crackled over the line. “Allen tried to get a look in her car. Someone was in the back seat, but he can’t see who.”
I should’ve known. Just when I’d grabbed hold of the happy and good—it all got ripped out from under me.
55
THEA
The gun was shovedinto my side with a vicious punch, making my ribs flare in pain.
“I saidkeep driving,” the woman snarled. “Faster!” She jabbed me with the metal barrel again as if to make her point.
The voice was so familiar yet different. Changed enough that I couldn’t quite grab hold. And the way the figure was tucked behind the passenger seat, right on the floorboards, meant I couldn’t get a look at her through the rearview mirror.
“If I go any faster, Deputy Allen will know something’s wrong.” My voice didn’t sound like mine. It was calm, collected, like it wasn’t even a part of me. As if the words hadn’t come from my mouth.
A curse sounded from behind me. “Those pigs. Always sticking their noses in business that isn’t theirs. Always making things so much worse. Why can’t they just leave us alone?”
“He’s trying to help. To keep me safe.” I didn’t know why I tried explaining that to a woman holding me at gunpoint. She obviouslydidn’t give a damn about my safety. But somehow, I feared silence would make her angrier.
“You don’t need to be safe! You have to be gone. Everything will be fine if you’re just GONE.” She pulled the gun back, then jabbed it into my ribs again.
The force of it sent me doubling over against the wheel, wheezing as the car drifted to the side, sending us over the rumble strips.
“Get back on the road! Can’t you do anything right?” she snarled, pushing up so she was sitting in the center of the back seat, right in line with the rearview mirror.
Everything swirled, twisting in my mind until I could put the pieces into place. It took precious seconds for my brain to compute the image I was seeing as I righted the car.
“Why anyone likes you is beyond me. You can’t even drive a car,” she snapped.
“Raina?” I croaked.
Her name was a question on my lips as my gaze snapped back and forth between the road and the rearview mirror, still trying to make sense of what was happening. It felt like some sort of fever dream.
She ignored my pseudo-question, her gaze tracking over me. “You’re ugly. Shaped like a skinny boy. You dress awful most of the time, and then you slut yourself out the rest of the time. Shep will thank his lucky stars when you’re out of his life. I’m doing him a favor.”
Raina’s words hit me like ammunition from a machine gun. Blow after blow. The cadence of them was so familiar. So similar to Brendan’s. The breaking-me-down that didn’t even make sense. Dowdy one second, a whore the next.