Page 73 of Heresy

Keeping that thought to myself, I wipe at another tear and clear my throat.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I’m just having car problems and I need a cosigner so I can start a payment plan with the repair shop. I was hoping Dad—”

“What shop are you at?”

He asked the question a little too quickly, but I shove that thought aside to answer, “Priest’s Auto Body. It’s—”

“Downtown,” he finishes my thought. “Listen, Brinley, and this is extremely important.”

The tone of his voice is unsettling all of a sudden.

“You need to get away from that place as quickly as possible. Do not get your repairs done there. Simply get in your car, and drive away. Be polite. Say thanks but no thanks, then drive straight to my office after you leave.”

Certainly not liking the sound of that, I save my questions as to why he’s telling me this and explain the situation instead.

“I can’t drive away. My car won’t start.”

He curses beneath his breath. I hear tapping on what sounds like a keyboard, the creak of leather as he moves in his seat. The phone scrubs against his jaw for a few seconds before he speaks again.

“Scott is in the area. I’ll have him pick you up. He can be there in less than five minutes. Where are you? Inside or outside of the shop?”

This is all very upsetting.

First, the thing with my car, and now the insistence in his voice that I get away from this place immediately. Maybe I wasn’t wrong about the human trafficking. By the urgency in the governor’s words, it sounds like my life depends on what he’s saying.

“I’m outside.”

“Good. And where are the employees?”

“Inside,” I answer.

“Do you know any of their names? Which one have you been dealing with?”

Swallowing a knot in my throat, I glance back at the shop. “Shane, I think. At least that’s what his uniform said.”

“Is there anybody else with him? Friends of his, perhaps?”

I take another glance over my shoulder, half expecting Shane to bust out the door in chase.

“No. Just him.”

“Okay. Good. Stay on the phone with me until Scott gets there. If Shane comes outside, stay out of reach of him.”

Holy shit. Just how dangerous is he?

“Am I in trouble? I can start running now if my life is in danger. I’ll meet Scott down the street, or—”

“Just stay in place. Scott’s almost there.”

I hear the roar of an engine down the road, my eyes sweeping out to run along traffic until a black Rolls Royce comes into view. Taking a few steps farther out away from the shop, I attempt to control my breathing, but the panic I’m feeling does nothing to calm my heart.

I swear, I’m about to faint, sweat dripping slowly down the side of my face as traffic moves slow as molasses. Time is ticking by at a snail’s crawl, and I keep glancing back, worried that Shane will come through that door at any moment.

Hoping I can outrun him if he does, I stay on the line with the governor, my heart beating faster with each passing second.

Eventually, the Rolls Royce reaches the entrance of the shop, its blinker bright and orange as he indicates he’s turning in.

But just as the front wheels touch the parking lot, the door behind me opens, and I spin in place to see Shane walking outside.

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