Page 95 of Pulse
They say he loves me.
My shoulders shake as I struggle not to cry. If something happens to me, if I don’t figure a way out, it will devastate him.
I can’t be the thing that ruins him.
“Don’t say that,” Freddy says.
“I’m trying to help you.”
“I saidshut the fuck up.”
I free the edge of the fabric and gulp blood-scented air. My stomach clenches.I might puke.
“What do you want?” I ask.Keep him talking.I heard Ford say that once. Keep them talking to humanize yourself. “Why are you doing this? You obviously want something, so let me help you get it.”
“See, that’s the thing, baby. You are helping me get it.”
“How?”
He swerves again, smashing me against the door. I wince as pain rockets through my head.
I consider finding the handle and jumping out. I could probably pull that off.But if I do, where am I? Will I get run over or fall into a swamp? Will I break every bone in my body?
Stay calm. Wait for Troy.
“Remember when you took me to your daddy’s house for dinner, and we met your stepmommy?” he asks.
Alexis. “Yes.”
“Turns out your stepmommy has a sweet little cunt on her. She’s insatiable. Unlike you.Frigid bitch. You got that from your dad, it seems. Neither of you want to fuck enough.”
Focus, Dahlia. “Interesting observation.”
“But then she found out she’s gonna be a widow sooner than later, and she didn’t want to risk losing that. Sorry about that, by the way. Even your daddy doesn’t want you until he knows he has an exit strategy.”
What?
“You know about the cancer, right? Stage three. Bone.” He groans, hitting the gas. “Guess he started fearing the afterlife and figured he better make good with you in case God is real.”
He’s lying. He must be. I would’ve known that.
“Yeah, I knew about that,” I lie. “Thanks for your sympathy.”
“The fucker really messed up my plans. Now Alexis thinks there’s nothing I can do for her. What does she need little ole me for?” He pats my thigh, the contact making me shiver. “You. You’re what I can do for her.”
I close my eyes and grip the door. “Why me?”
“If I get rid of you, she gets the whole inheritance. Which, rightfully, she deserves. She’s been fucking him for that money for longer than he’s known you. You’re a grave robber really.”
What the hell is happening here?
“But what good is all that money to you if you’re dead?” I ask. “Surely, you’ve thought about that.”
His laugh cuts through me. It’s wild. Maniacal.Unholy.
“I hate to break it to you, baby, but I’m looking in the rearview right now, and your boy isn’t coming for—shit!”
Troy
