Page 37 of The Wrong Drive-
Bad idea. He got into a fight and nearly beat some guy to death. I got him out of there. He left with his rifle this morning, and I don’t know where he went. I know I should go look for him, but he had that dead look in his eyes. I hate to admit that it scares me.
November 23, 2013
Things are okay again. He seems antsy. I sent word to Bradford. I want him to have a good life.
December 24, 2013
His emotions are all over the place. Gunner keeps alerting to an episode. But I don’t understand. He seems lucid. I can’t tell. I’m starting to lose hope. I think my brother is permanently broken. I don’t know what to do, but I think it’s too much for me to handle anymore. He’s going to hurt someone or a whole lot of people. I love him so much, but until he’ll go somewhere to get help, I have to give up. He won’t leave this cabin. It’s like he wants to force himself to be tortured over and over. I need a break.
I shut the book as I finish the last entry and put it back in a daze. Where is Thomas now? Did he take a break and never come back? I stand to my feet, feeling an overwhelming mixture of emotions. All of that took place over ten years ago.A decade.Isn’t that how long it had been since Turner listened to music?
The story starts to mesh together in my mind as I slip out of the room undetected, padding down the stairs and slipping into my hiking boots. His younger brother died in action, his parents died in a car accident a month later, a year after that, Turner was discharged, and then…Where’s Thomas now? Did he abandon Turner?
I sigh, raking my fingers through my hair. If Thomas managed to get out of here, I can, too. I take a deep breath andget dressed to head outside. The entries have made me more curious than ever, and I just…
I need to make nice, so I can escape.
Chapter 15
Turner
I stabthe shovel in the snow, huffing as I take in what progress I’ve made. Once I clear the way, I can get the tractor out and start really getting somewhere. My eyes cast across the backyard, and then to the hill a little bit further out. I can’t see the cross, but I know it’s there. The anniversary of eleven years is in just three days.
And so is Christmas.
“Hey,” a voice startles me, I whip my head to see Emersyn, standing about ten feet from me in the path I’ve cleared. “Do you need some help?” I stare at her, trying to process the fact she’s talking to me on her own free will. “Do you need some water or something?”
I shake my head slowly. “No, I’m good.”
She drops my gaze, her eyes falling to her boots and then rising to meet mine again. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk to you last night.”
“What?” I raise my brows, shocked.
She takes a step forward, her face full of emotion—that I don’t quite understand. “I’m sorry, Turner. I didn’t…I think I now understand that…” Her voice trails off, and I get what she’s trying to say.
“That there’s something wrong with me,” I finish for her. “You must’ve taken another trip upstairs.” Irritation and anger flood my system, but the embarrassment is far greater. “It’s fine.”
She takes another step toward me, and I take one back away from her, halfway expecting her to pull a fucking gun on me or something. She’s loaded with the ability to destroy me.
And now, I’m the one who’s scared.
“Turner…” She keeps encroaching, finally stopping right in front of me. “Why didn’t you kill me when you killed Adam? Or when we were up in the room? I know about the whole…blackoutthing.”
“I don’t know about up in Thomas’s room. But I was present when I killed Adam, and I didn’t kill you because I want you too much.” The truth slips from my lips unfiltered, and I know now this woman is going to be my downfall. She’s too intrigued for her own good, and now, she’s made the bold move of putting her hand on my chest...
And her mouth on mine.
I fall into her intoxicating kiss, threading my fingers through her hair and knocking her hood out of her face. My tongue dances across hers, tasting the mint on her tongue. She came out here wanting this to happen… and it’s such a turn on. For a moment, I let myself believe she wants me just as fucking bad as I want her.
I lift her into the air, wrapping her legs around me as I rip open the walk-through door of the barn, shutting it behind us with my heel. Heading straight to my workbench, I clear it in one swoop, sitting her down and tearing at her jeans. I’m going to make this womanmine,if only in my head.
“It’s freezing,” Emersyn pants as I wriggle her out of her jeans and boots. “We can go inside…”
“No,” I growl. “You’re not getting the chance to change your fucking mind this time.”
She shivers against me, now bare from the waist down. The heater is running, but there’s no escaping the chill in the air. I take her mouth again while I undo my pants, feeling the hesitancy in her kiss. My mind kicks into gear.
She’s just fucking you because she feels sorry for you.
