Page 47 of Karma
“Zane ran your mom off when they were supposed to get married. Without knowing it, he saved Emma. I mean, she’s blonde with blue eyes, which is perfect for me. But she’s older than I like. And Nash was pretty torn up about losing her, so it makes her safe. But not you.”
At least Mom’s safe. I don’t know why we didn’t think to make sure she was guarded. She fits his victim type.
The car hits a pothole, and Lex grunts as she hits her head on the sidewall this time. She’ll have a concussion from the damn drive if he doesn’t slow down and take it a bit easier.
“I knew the moment you came back to Griffin’s Beach the last time, the one after you left Colt, you were going to die. And I knew that I had to perfect my plan to do it. I’ve finally figured out the perfect death for you, and we’ll go out together. The moment you take your last breath, so will I. You and me forever, Alexis.”
Together? Why does it feel like I’m in some sort of sick love story he’s made up in his demented head?
Moving to the taillight, she sticks her arm out to wave. She has to get someone’s attention. Attract them enough to call the authorities and give the license plate.
“And when Zane inevitably shows up with the clues I’ve sent him, I’ve got a plan for him, too. Even if I’m gone, it’ll work. Nash Dalton will be forced to see the deaths of his three children. The deathshecaused. Unlike us, though, he’ll actually mourn Zane. But at least you and I will be together.”
Please, someone, anyone. See the taillight. See my arm. Call the cops.
The car turns a few times before finally coming to a stop, and Lex wipes her hand furiously on her jeans to dry them of her blood. She grips the tire iron firmly in her hands. If his plan is to kill her, he better be prepared for a fight. If he did the research he claims he has, he should know this won’t be easy.
The trunk opens, and she swings, nearly leaping out of the cramped space, and hits him square in the forehead. The metal makes a satisfying cracking sound, and he drops the gun from his hand as he stumbles backwards, his hand to his head.
Jumping out of the trunk, Lex runs, realizing too late she should have grabbed the gun. She could have bent down, picked it up, and ended this right now. But it’s too late to turn back now.
She sprints in the direction they came, bringing her to a small tree line, but she almost bursts into tears when she hides behind a tree. They’re isolated in the middle of fucking nowhere. She hadn’t realized they were on gravel for what looks like a few miles, at least.
No one will stumble up on her here. If she plans to get out of this alive, she’ll have to kill him. Which would be so much easier if she’s had a moment of intelligence to pick up the damn gun he dropped when she took off. What she’d give to be able to empty the magazine into his chest and head.
“Fuck,” Lex whispers as she moves to another tree further away as Phillip calls out her name. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Chapter Sixteen
Griffin’s Beach
Lex
Icould scream. Maybe someone’s close enough to hear me. But I can’t see any other houses around. All it’ll do is give myself away. Fuck, I can’t outrun bullets. Think, Alexis. Think!
“AL-EX-IS!” Phillip shouts. “That wasn’t nice!”
How in the world is Lex going to get out of this? There has to be a way. There’s always a way. She had a sadistic mobster ex-fiancé. She took on a car. Has been kidnapped more than once. Tortured. Beaten. Almost died. There. Is. Always. A. Way.
Just as Lex plans to move to another tree, a large hand grips her arm and yanks her back into the clearing towards a house in such disarray it’s barely standing.
Of course, my serial killer half-brother would have the stealth of a horror movie villain.
To her left, she sees a shop in decent shape.
That’s where he has at least one wall wallpapered with my face. Where he’ll do whatever the hell he has planned for me. Whatever it takes, donotgo in that shop.
Blood drips from his forehead, and Lex swears his eyes have turned completely black again. Just like the day he walked into her house and sat at her kitchen table.
She’s seen bad before. She’s seen terrible. But Phillip? He is pure evil.
How did Nina find this place? And where the fuck am I?
Her back scrapes on the gravel when her feet trip from underneath her, and she tries to swing, hoping to hit him somewhere that will force him to release her. Maybe the back or the gut. But, like the typical villain, he grabs the tire iron and uses it to help toss her in front of him.
She lands on her back, forced to release her weapon, and she fights the panic as the wind gets knocked out of her. Feeling like she’s drowning on top of what is surely inevitable death nearly paralyzes her.
“Don’t worry,” he calls as he walks over to her. “We’re not dying out here.”
