“Griff, don’t be ridiculous. No one’s going to do anything to you. I’ll talk to them
tomorrow if you want.” I rubbed my tired, burning eyes and yawned.
Griff was incensed and leaned in. “I’m not blind. Even I can see that the boss is a great-
looking guy. You probably imagine yourself spending your days at his beck and call, and I’m
sure a pretty girl like you could definitely keep him busy for a while. You also probably think
that because the boss wants a piece of you, you’ve got some kind of power over him and that you
’re safe. Wake up, Emily! The guy doesn’t love you and never will. The minute he gets what he
wants, you’re done for too. I won’t be here to save you when that happens.”
His eyes were bloodshot and looked like they were about to bug out of his head. He was panting
hotly, and every muscle of his body was tightly knotted and he was very close to me.
“Griff, you’re scaring me,” I admitted, my voice shaking.
He stepped away from the bed and started pacing back and forth again.
“We have to leave tonight,” he thought out loud.
I pulled the warm blankets up to my chin. “We’re not going anywhere—”
“You need to pack a bag. We leave tonight. One of the night guards usually falls asleep against
the tree. We’ll sneak past him when he does and follow the road from the woods and flag someone
down on the highway. We’ll have to hitch a ride out of here.”
“We’re not going anywhere … tonight. This is ridiculous. You’re upset and paranoid.
Everything will be better in the morning. You’ll see,” I assured him.
Griff sat back on the bed and looked at me closely. “Emily, if you don’t leave tonight, they
will kill you. Maybe not tomorrow, but they will, eventually. There’s a reason they don’t want
anyone to talk to you, makes for less witnesses when you suddenly disappear from the face of the
earth. I’ve been looking on the news to see if anyone is looking for you, there’s been nothing
at all about you. I don’t think anyone even knows you’re missing. I didn’t tell you this
because I didn’t want to scare you.”
I suddenly realized that Griff was right. I had watched enough television with Rocco to know
that my face never appeared on any news bulletins. This had upset me for reasons beyond Griff’s
grasp.
He took my hands into his. “I’ll come back in three hours. Get your stuff together. Just the
essentials. We have a long trek ahead of us.”
I didn’t know what to say to him, except that I wasn’t leaving with him. I looked around for
inspiration and noticed that something big was missing.
“Where’s Meatball?” I asked him, when what I really meant was: How did you get in here
without Meatball biting your arm off?
He pointed to the patio door. My guard dog was contently lying on the deck outside gnawing on
the gigantic meat bone that was nestled between his paws.
Griff got up.
“Remember, three hours,” he whispered again as he stepped out onto the balcony and climbed
down until he was out of sight.
I did set the alarm clock to go off in three hours. In three hours, I would have another chance
to convince Griff that running away alone in a dark forest was a really bad idea. I had three
more hours to sleep.
Three hours later, the clock rang. I waited and let Meatball back inside.
But Griff never showed.
Chapter Sixteen:
Scar Tissue
The house was filled of people and yet unnaturally, densely quiet, like the woods would get
right before a storm came crashing down.
I could have sworn Cameron had seen me trotting down the stairs, but he kept walking like he
hadn’t. When I called out to him, he paused at the front door without looking back. Carly did
turn, and she glared … at me?
Cameron murmured to Carly and Spider that he would catch up with them. They left, he finally
turned around, and I was almost in tears. His face was impenetrable, robotic. He forced a smile
—it was thin and bloodless. This only made it worse.
“What’s wrong?” I managed to ask as I slowly walked toward him—I was sure he had taken a
minute step back when I had.
“Nothing … Just work,” he said with the same strained smile. “I’ll be gone most of the day.
Can you keep an eye on Rocco for me?”
“Of course,” I softly agreed. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” he answered with an automated tone. “Have a good day.”
He swiftly spun and left the house. I stood in the foyer, befuddled as usual.
I wondered how bad things had gotten the night before between Spider, Tiny, and Cameron for
Cameron to still be so upset. I found myself being angry at Griff—for refusing to follow
orders, for ruining my sleep and my perfect moment with Cameron, for causing a rift in the
family.
Rocco was in his room, lying in bed, looking at the ceiling.
His face was wrenched in pain.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him.
“I’ll be fine in a few minutes once these green pills kick in,” he said through gritted
teeth.