“Hey!” Sebastian said indignantly.
I smiled and pressed my lips to his.
“Be safe.”
Little did I know that those words would haunt me hours later.
***
“You have to tell her, Sebastian. She’s going to figure it out eventually,” Baylee hissed.
I woke from sleep almost instantly, but my years in prison had finely honed my faking sleep skills.
I knew that I’d learn more from them now by eavesdropping on their conversation while I pretended to be asleep instead of waking up and demanding they tell me what was going on outright.
Or, at least, that’s how I’d get the most information from Sebastian.
Baylee would probably just tell me whatever it was that I wanted to know.
My stomach was in knots as I listened to the two argue back and forth.
“But we don’t know anything. We only found his bike in fucking pieces. He’s nowhere to be found,” Sebastian said in exasperation.
But I heard the hint of fear in it.
And I knew fear when I heard it, believe me.
Sebastian was worried about something.
“Yeah, but if Silas’ bike was broken up like that, then most likely Silas is too. Even if he’s not actually at the scene of the crash,” Baylee whispered a little too loud once again.
This time I knew she was trying to wake me, so I sat up, only opening my eyes once my feet were on the floor next to the couch.
“Tell me,” I whispered.
Sebastian was across the room from me leaning against a wall in the kitchen.
Baylee was directly across from him standing beside the kitchen island staring at him like he was the school-yard bully.
Sighing, Sebastian leaned forward until both elbows rested on the countertop before saying, “Dad’s bike crashed in between Longview and Kilgore. He left on his own while we were all doing our own thing around five this evening, and we haven’t heard from him since.”
My heart froze as I looked at Sebastian, hoping beyond hope he would tell me he was joking or that they knew exactly where he was.
But he wasn’t and he didn’t.
“You didn’t have any GPS or anything on him?” I asked worriedly.
Sebastian shook his head. “No.”
“But…but…what are we going to do? Are you going to look for him?”
Sebastian nodded. “We’ve been looking for him since we realized he left. Kettle was the one to find his bike. I’ve got a few friends working magic on their end, but dad’s normally the one using his contacts to find people we need. We’re not sure where to go from here.”
My mind raced as I fought the bile rising up in my throat.
“You can’t find whomever he worked with and talk to them?” I asked worriedly.
Sebastian shook his head. “No. We’ve been looking. I’ve never known anything about my dad’s business. And not once, in all the years I’ve been alive, has he had a slip up.”
My head hung. “I…I need to go home. I need to think. Maybe I can come up with something. Maybe he left me a note.”
Sebastian looked at Baylee with pity, not holding back his worry about me.
Well, he could just take that pity and shove it.
I knew he wouldn’t just leave without letting me know.
I knew it.
Chapter 23
Dear NASA, your mom thought I was big enough!
- Pluto
Silas
“That rifle shot that took your daughter-in-law out was meant for you. I lucked out that you thought it was a rock that hit her. Could’ve had me then, but you fucked up. You’re getting soft in your old age,” Shovel said snidely. “You almost lost her, and it would’ve all been your fault. All these years of you protecting them, and it wouldn’t have mattered one single bit.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Not because of what he was saying, though that was significant.
But because I was fairly positive that the broken ribs I’d sustained after going down on my bike and having the shit beaten out of me were sinking through the tissue of my lungs.
I’d woken up like this nearly an hour before, and all Shovel had done since I’d woken was talk about the old days.
Him shooting Baylee was new, though.
We’d really thought the cut on her neck was due to a rock, or something that kicked up and taken out a chunk of her flesh while we were riding.
The bleeding had never made sense to me, though.
Now, knowing that Shovel had taken a fuckin’ sniper rifle to her, it made sense.
“So what are you going to do to me?” Shovel asked.
What was I going to do to him?
I was the one that was tied up to a fuckin’ chair.
Well, granted, I had wanted to be tied up.
I knew he’d take me if I gave him the chance.
Which was why I’d gone out on a ride alone.
I knew he couldn’t resist the temptation.
And he was only one person.
He had my arms stretched upwards, tied to a pipe above my head.
But he’d made a mistake by not tying my feet.
I wouldn’t escape…yet.
I’d wait until I had my chance.