Page 65 of The Way Back Home
At any cost.
When they reached the upstairs bathroom, Josh shoved her inside and ordered her to start undressing. The bathroom was small, the old claw-foot tub taking up most of the available space. She pressed herself against the wall as Josh leaned down and turned on the faucets, but it was pointless. There was nowhere she could stand and be out of his reach.
“There,” Josh said as steam began to rise from the tub. “Now, let’s get you out of those clothes.”
She shrank in on herself, wrapping her arms around her torso. “Please leave.”
Josh turned toward her, and something in his eyeschanged. The softness dropped away, like a mask falling. His smile stayed, but it no longer reached his eyes.
“Shy now, Teagan? It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”
He reached for her, his grip clamping down on her wrist like a vise. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
“I need a minute. Alone. This is a lot.”
A beat of silence passed.
Then he tilted his head. “Fine. You’ve got five minutes.”
He let go. Stepped out. Turned the lock from the outside with a softsnick.
She looked around for something—anything—she could use as a weapon. Her eyes landed on a small candle in a glass jar. Not much, but maybe …
She picked up the glass jar and backed into the corner farthest from the door, her fingers curling tight around it, heart pounding like a war drum in her chest.
She knew in her heart she wasn’t going to make it out of this alive. But she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ALEX
Alex stood to the side as the sheriff pounded on the door, scanning the windows, sweeping the area for movement.
The bug he’d placed in Teagan’s pocket had picked up everything Graner said in the diner. The threats, the confession. The son of a bitch was going away for a long, long time—assuming Alex didn’t kill him first.
“Josh Graner! Open up! This is Sheriff Morrison. I need to speak with you.”
Alex shifted his weight, ready to kick in the door if necessary. The sheriff pounded twice more before Graner opened the door a few inches.
“Sheriff. This is not a good time.”
Sheriff Morrison looked at him hard. “Never is, Josh. But this can’t wait, I’m afraid. I’ll need to speak to Miss McKenna too.”
“She’s resting,” Josh said, smiling in a smugyou knowhow it isway. His skin was pale, except for the angry red claw marks on the side of his face that he kept turned away from them. “It’s been quite a morning, and she’s exhausted. Another time.”
Josh started to close the door, but Alex wasn’t having any of that. He jammed his booted foot into the opening with practiced precision.
“Now is better,” Alex said.
“Who the fuck are you?” Josh said, abandoning all pretense.
“Your worst fucking nightmare if you don’t invite us in right now.” Alex didn’t raise his voice. He spoke matter-of-factly, yet his words carried a lethal weight that even Josh understood.
Josh’s eyes narrowed. “You got a warrant?”
Alex ignored him and gave the door a mighty shove, sending Josh backward. Alex pushed his way into the kitchen, assessing the layout as he moved, noting exit points, potential weapons. The sheriff followed in behind him, holding out an official-looking piece of paper with a local judge’s signature scrawled across the bottom.
“Where is she?”
