Page 137 of The Moments You Were Mine
Would the fire truck make it in time to get Parker?
God. I wanted to scream Parker’s name, wanted to wake him up.
But if I did, I didn’t doubt Ike would simply shoot him before Parker even realized what was happening.
As we crossed the empty tarmac, there wasn’t a soul in sight. Where was the tower crew? Had they gone for the fire suppressants kept on site? Would they get to Parker?
Once we reached the hangar, I started toward the side door, and he yanked my arm with enough force that I cried out. I hated myself for giving it to him, for letting him see my pain.
“Not inside.” He pushed me toward a dark sedan parked next to the building. He popped the trunk and waved at me to climb in.
What could I do to delay? The sirens were getting closer. If I could just hold on a minute or two more, I’d have help.
Please just let them get to Parker before the plane explodes.Please, God, if anything, gethimto safety. For Theo. For my soul. For the Steeles.
Parker would be wracked with guilt.
Dad would be distraught. Like Parker, he’d blame himself for not being with me when the worst had happened once again.
Mom would lose herself to drugs for sure.
My baby…my innocent child wouldn’t even take a single breath.
I bit my cheek, holding back the tears. Ike might get my pain, he might be able to take my life, but he wouldn’t see my sorrow.
Then, the realization hit. If Ike had wanted me dead, he would have already killed me. He would have shot Parker and me while we were inside the wrecked Cessna.
He needed me alive. For something.
The burn of bile grew up my throat as the truth landed. He needed me as bait. To lure Dad.
Which meant he was taking me somewhere until he could get Dad here. Somewhere help could follow. I just had to leave behind enough clues.
Parker would find them.
He’d fucking survive, and he’d come for me.
“Get in.” Ike shoved me, and the back of my head hit thetrunk lid. The world swirled until I thought I might actually vomit. As I put my hand to my head, the bracelet from Theo swung down my wrist. Lettered beads. The sweet gift. The sweetest message.
I swallowed over the lump in my throat and defied Ike as I tried to buy myself a few seconds. “No. You’re going to kill me anyway. Just get it over with.”
He laughed, dark and deadly, confirming my thoughts as he said, “Yes. But I need Daddy Dearest to show up first, and he needs to hear your voice to incentivize him to get his ass to Rivers.”
“Fallon!” Parker’s voice, groggy and unsure, traveled across the tarmac.
Ike shifted, keeping his gun trained on me as he pulled a second from his back and pointed it toward the runway, the burning plane, and Parker, who’d risen to his hands and knees. While Ike was distracted, I tugged on the bracelet with all my might, and it broke. The noise of the sirens as they approached hid the sound of some of the beads hitting the ground while I captured and shoved more of them into my pocket.
Ike glanced at me, and even with his eyes hidden behind his glasses, I felt the evil radiating from them. “I’ll kill him if he reaches us before you get in.”
I did what I was told and climbed into the trunk. He slammed it shut, and darkness swallowed me. The car rocked as he got in. The sirens had almost reached us as he started the engine and peeled out. My body rolled into the rear of the car, and I let out a pained groan.
I widened my feet against the side, bracing myself as the car sped up. I turned my attention to the trunk, letting my eyes adjust to the dark, scanning the space for the child-release latch. Hope flared when I found it, only to die when I pulled it and nothing happened. He must have disabled it, proving Ike wasn’t stupid. Just vengeful.
I felt around, searching for the compartment, hoping to find a tire iron, anything I could use as a weapon, only to come up empty.
The windy back roads leaving the airport tossed me from side to side. I steadied myself as best I could as my chest grew tightwith fear. Where was he taking me? What would he do to me when he got me there?
Dark thoughts, horrible thoughts from my past traumas blended with too much television.
