AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My head shakes again.
“Figures,” she mutters, looking through the windshield. If I’m not mistaken, her eyes are glistening. My chest tightens as I look away.
FIFTY-THREE
BRYNN
My leg bounces in front of me as I keep the gun pointed at Jolene. I feel a migraine coming on, and they’ve been coming more frequently. My doctor informed me that I was prone to migraines. With head trauma like mine, it was typical.
I grab my backpack from the backseat and unzip the front pouch.
“What are you doing?” Jolene asks, panicking.
“Just keep driving,” I mumble, retrieving the orange pill bottle from the pocket. I remove the lid, dumping a hydrocodone into my palm. I swallow it dry then pick up my gun again as Jolene keeps her hands wrapped around the steering wheel.
Her phone rings and I spot the name Samuel on the screen. I eye her as she lifts a hand to decline the call. When she’s settled again, she blows a breath and says, “I’ll get back to him later.”
The car is silent again. The soothing sound of wind rushing past the vehicle and the pitter-patter of rain allows me to relax for a moment.
“So, I take it you’re fed up with your husband too and that’s why you helped me back there?” I ask.
She glances at me through the corner of her eye as headlights drag over her face. She won’t answer. Fair enough. I am holding her hostage.
“I saw what he did to you in the kitchen,” I murmur. Perhaps that’ll get her to stir.
She almost doesn’t react. Almost. Her mouth twitches, like it wants to turn downward so she can frown. “Let’s just find your friend and deal with this.”
“How exactly do you plan on dealing with this, Jolene?” I ask. “Please enlighten me. Because the way I see it, your husband not only tried to bury me alive, but he has now kidnapped my best friend.”
Her head turns so she can steal a look at me.
I sit back against the seat. “You think he’s so perfect.”
“I—I don’t. I know he’s not perfect.” Her throat bobs up and down, “God, Brynn. I’m so sorry.”
I hate that she calls me by my first name. She’s trying to humanize me when the truth is I’m not the one who needs it. Her husband does. Hell, she probably does too. People know when they get married that their spouse has a flaw. Jolene knew from the moment she said I do that she’d have to take his secrets with her to the grave. That’s what spouses do. They honor and protect and all that extra crap.
“Why are you apologizing for him?” I ask, in more of a snap.
“Because I just—I’ve sensed something off for so long, but never thought it would be this. Kidnapping people. Burying them.” Her bottom lip rolls between her teeth.
I sigh and look through the windshield. It’s now drizzling and the tiny dots on the window glow red from other cars taillights.
“Why did you come here, really?” she asks.
“Because he assumed I was dead. I wanted to show him that he can’t escape his past or his mistakes. He ruined my life.”
Jolene stares ahead without blinking. “Your life isn’t the only one he’s ruined,” she mumbles.
I keep quiet. I don’t care about her sob story. This woman has it made, with her fancy house, car, and the luxury little tea shop she owns. What could possibly be so hard about her life?
“What if... what if I can help?” Jolene asks.
My attention switches to hers again. “Help how?”
“Dominic doesn’t know that you’re with me. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”
I frown, and my eyes shift from her to the screen of her phone. I suck in a breath when I see Dominic’s location has changed. He is now twenty minutes away from the original location. What the hell happened? That stupid call must’ve caused the app to glitch.
