Page 45 of Crawl
I know the truth. She put something in my drink. And now, she’s second-guessing that decision.
Finally.
“I have a better idea,” I say.
I lead her back to my car, opening the passenger door for her once again. I circle the car and pat on the trunk as I get into the driver’s seat. Dean’s eyeless head is still back there. Even in his death, he can’t see or touch Remedy, and that gives me pleasure.
We drive along the coast past the main section of the island until we reach a dirt road between the trees. After a short distance, the road changes from dirt to pavement, opening up into what looks like a secluded parking lot without any lines to mark the spaces. It’s an abandoned project from the Winstone Company, forgotten after a hurricane.
No one will find us here.
CHAPTER 11
Remedy
As I close the car door and step onto the asphalt, I suck in a breath. It’s fishy and slightly musky, like decaying algae, and honestly smells like the rest of Key West. But there are no lampposts. No parking spaces. Just asphalt in a huge rectangular shape: trees on three sides, and the sea splashing onto the rocks and jagged bushes on the fourth. The sprawling fanned leaves of the thatch palms spring out, mixed with grayish-green, eye-shaped leaves. I’ve lived in Key West for my entire life, and I’ve never been here.
Cash stares out at the water like he’s waiting for a storm to come in. If I have to run, it will be hard to escape here. I can hide, but Cash will find me. His words swirl inside of my head.
Don’t you wish you could kill him?
Emotions rage inside of me, fighting for control. I believe my best friend. I know Jenna told me the truth. So why do I feel like Cash isalsotelling me the truth?
What actually happened?
“If you didn’t hurt Jenna, then who did?” I ask. “Did you hire someone to pretend to be you? Are you Winstone’s secret son? I don’t understand why you can’t tell me the truth.”
“I give everyone a choice, Remedy. Even you,” he says, lifting his upper lip. “If it bothers you that much—” he points at the road leading back to the main streets of Key West, “—then leave.”
And though he doesn’t say it, I can hear it in his voice. If I leave, he won’t stop me. Somehow, I don’t think he’ll give that video to the police either.
So why am I still here?
My eyes fall to the ground. The asphalt is dark like it’s recently been paved, or like no one has ever used it. There are large cracks on the edges, but no other visible signs of use.
I’m not sure what this place is, but I know I’m not going anywhere. Not now.
Cash wraps his arms around me from behind, then pulls up my dress and forces me to face the water.
“You’ve been teasing me all night,” he breathes down my neck. Chills erupt on my skin as he thumbs the edge of my panties. He creeps inside, skimming my skin with his rugged hands. I melt down, ready to surrender, pressing into his firm, chiseled chest. He arranges my dress until it’s bunched under my breasts, then he cups my pussy, playing with my folds, like his fingers are another leash guiding my soul. I don’t know who Cash is or why he’s doing this to me, but he presses my clit and I don’t care. His nails dig into my sensitive tissue with a sharp, stinging pain until I give him what he wants: I moan. Then he bites my neck through the lace collar, the tension spiraling up to my head and down to my toes in waves of pain and pleasure.
I hate him,I remind myself.I hate him. He’s the worst. He’s the enemy.
“You,” I stammer. “You are—”
“In control,” he says. “I know what you want, Remedy, and I’m going to give it to you. All you have to do is crawl for me.”
My brows furrow together, but he shushes into my ear, the sound calming, like the ocean waves bashing against the rocks.
“I’m going to make you come so hard that you don’t know who you are anymore, like you asked,” he says. “Trust me.”
I force myself to close my eyes and shake my head, but it’s just for show. I want everything he can give to me so damn bad, and I believe him. With all of my heart and soul. But Ican’tlet him take me like this. He hurt Jenna, and she won’t be free until he’s in jail or in the ground. And since she can’t take him on, then Ihaveto fight him for her.
But what if he hasn’t done anything to her? What if there’s another part of the story, one I don’t know yet?
Someone like that deserves to die,he said. And he said it like he was completely serious. Like he wants to kill people like my stepdad.
They’re pathetic,he said.They’ll do anything to survive.
