Page 67 of Deliverance

“Get out.”

He kept the hood on and gripped my arm tightly as he pulled me forward. The screech of metal echoed into the night a few moments later. He jerked me forward, and we stopped about ten steps in. He yanked the hood off my head, catching some of my hair and yanking it out in the process. I winced slightly at the pain and then blinked at the bright fluorescent lights.

Nathaniel Drake stood in the center of the room with his hands clasped behind his back. He was dressed as if he were about to attend a board meeting in a navy suit and burgundy tie. He looked faintly amused at my state, like he had already won.

“Miss Harper.” His voice echoed off the metal walls. “I knew you’d come.”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice,” I said, looking around the space.

I was in a warehouse of some kind but a small one. Maybe an old mechanic’s shop? There were three large bay doors to my right. To my left, a portion of the space was walled off. A thick metal door with a keypad guarded the entrance to that room.

“There’s always a choice.” He tilted his head slightly. “You just made the right one.” He assessed me slowly, studying me like he was trying to crack me open. “I’ve been watching you for some time, you know. You’re quite remarkable for what you are.”

“And what am I?” I kept my voice steady.

The thug from the car had retreated to the door behind me. I knew he was armed. Drake held all the cards right now ,but I knew my team was behind me. And listening to everything. I needed to play along and get Drake talking.

“A bleeding heart,” Drake spat as if the very concept offended him. “You’re resourceful, I’ll give you that. But you’re driven by emotion, which makes you predictable.” He began to move, a slow circle around me. “Today’s little performance was cute. The nonprofit announcement, the federal agent, the sob story—those were all nice touches. But did you think that would stop me?”

“I think it stopped your narrative,” I said simply, shrugging like I didn’t care.

“Temporarily.” He flicked his fingers like he was flicking away my words. He stopped in front of me. “I’ve run this operation for years. I’ve evaded many federal investigations. Did you think that one small, insignificant vigilante organization could stop me? Please,” he scoffed. “But do you know what I find most interesting about you, Miss Harper?”

“Tell me.” I folded my arms, careful not to cover the cameras on my coat.

“You built an entire organization out of one bad night. One moment of powerlessness that you decided you were never going to feel again.” My heart beat faster at his words. He smiled, but his eyes were cold, empty. “I find that poetic. Which is why I thought it was appropriate that your story ends the same way it began.”

I kept my face neutral even as my stomach clenched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You will.” He gestured towards the door to my left. “Shall we?”

I hesitated, and he pulled a gun under his suit jacket. “Quickly, Miss Harper. I don’t have all night. I have a business to run.”

He walked me at gunpoint across the warehouse floor. He reached past me and shoved the door open. He stepped aside and waved me inside.

I stepped through the door.

The room was smaller than the warehouse, about a third of the size. It was dimmer in here, a single overhead light buzzing incessantly. A man leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed. I froze. I hadn’t seen that face in person since I was sixteen years old on a back porch at a party I should have never attended.

Conrad Holcom looked older. I knew from tracking him through the Archers that he was working at his family’s law office. But his eyes were the same. Cold, gray eyes with a dark look in them. He’d had that look that night too.

The door clicked shut behind me as Drake stepped in after me.

My hands went cold, and my heart stuttered in my chest. Fuck.

CHAPTER 28

EVELYN

Blood rushed through my ears, and my heartbeat seemed to echo around the room. The prod of a gun against my back forced my feet farther into the room.

“I see we remember each other.” Drake chuckled.

I needed to move, to think, to get away, but my muscles were frozen.

Conrad pushed off the wall and walked towards me, stopping in the center of the room a few feet away. He looked over my shoulder at Drake. “I didn’t think you would come through.”

Drake scoffed. “You would do better than to doubt me, Mr. Holcom. Your father would know better.”