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“She sure did,” I say. “She deleted time off the recordings.”
“Huh.” He peers through his glasses, watching the screen with me. “I can fix it. Let me see.” His fingers fly as they pass over one of the keyboards, and I remember how he made it in without being one of the bigger, stronger ones. The kid’s a tech genius. He gives a satisfied nod. “Done.”
I scan the screens. There she is. Talking to him outside of the building. They enter together. I fast-forward. He leaves. I show up. He comes back.
She never leaves.
I know one thing. She’s not far. Not far at all.
A look passes between Brady and me. She’s somewhere in this building.
I stand to make my exit. We say our goodbyes. I step outside.
And wait.
Chapter Seventeen
Rhett
My heart is hammering so hard, I can feel it in my throat. But I have to do what I have to do. I’ve been around Beckett’s place and the Village, listening close enough to pick up a bounty of whispered words.
Through my observations, I’ve managed to piece together three things…
One, Beckett placed a tracker on my sneaker that night in the street. I’ve heard whispered words about it. I checked the outfit I was wearing that night, figuring that had to be the only way he could have found me. I thought back to the street. I remembered he’d pressed his hand on my foot as he was standing up. I found the tracker on my shoe and instantly knew that’s the way he found me in the warehouse with Trevor.
The fact that a man who didn’t know me kissed me and stuck a freaking tracker on me doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it should.
Number two.
I like every single thing about Beckett. I can’t find a single thing wrong with him. With one exception.
Becket Bachman is most definitely, one hundred percent, absolutely planning on killing Trevor.
I snuck out of Beckett’s house this morning, knowing he would never let me leave. Not until he kills Trevor. Somehow, no matter what Trevor’s done to me, I can’t stomach the thought of his murder.
I know they haven’t found him yet. It’s been a few days now that they’ve been looking for him. They have to be closing in.
I had to find a way to leave the Village and warn him.
Crazy, I know. But if I’m not the kinda girl who can leave a dying man in the street to save myself, Beckett has to understand I’m not the kinda girl who can let someone I know be murdered in cold blood if there is anything I can do to stop it.
No matter how big of an asshole that person might be.
A simple, normal phone call is out of the question. Of course, Mr. Bossy Pants took my cell phone the second we passed through the gates of the Village, telling me there was no way I could keep it, knowing Trevor might be able to find a way to hunt me down through it.
Beckett promised he’d give it back when the time was right, but I have a feeling that time is only going to come when he sees fit to release me from the walls of the Village—which is no time in the near future. Last night I remembered there was a time when there were phones hanging on walls. What were they called? Landlines? So when Beckett was in the shower, I ripped the tracker off my shoe and placed it by the front door, then did a quick search of his downstairs. It was a long shot. Probably would have seen one by now if he had one but I checked anyway.
I didn’t find one.
Which brings us to number three. This is a big one…
Not only do I need to get away to warn Trevor, but I also need to get away because I’m becoming way, way too attached to Beckett. And I cannot afford to fall for another violent man.
I stare at him as he sleeps, memorizing the lines of his handsome face. Resisting giving him a goodbye kiss, I crawl out of bed carefully, so as not to wake him.
It’s still dark when I step out into the cool air. No one in sight. I chose today because it’s the morning of Tess’s big prayer brunch and I heard from Ashe just about everyone was going.
I run to the gates of the Village. Massively tall, thick gates with no way through unless you have a pass card or thumbprint that will open them. What did I think I’d find? A giant red button that says, “Open Gate”?
