Page 18 of Refuge for Flora

“Sounds great. Let me get my bag and tell Mrs.Murphy where I’m going.” She was only gone a minute and she came back smiling. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“You drive my truck. I’ll drive this thing. If something’s wrong with it, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“But it’s okay if you do?”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Just get in the truck.” Flora laughed, but she climbed up into the truck’s cab and in minutes, they were on their way.

Barrett was shocked. The car rode and drove great. He planned to ask them to go over all the fluids and check them, but except for the fact that he was terrified a tire would blow, it was a pleasant ride.

In no time, the appointment was made, the tire center had her number, and they were headed back. It was quiet in the truck until she asked, “You have to work tonight?”

“Yep.”

“What are you doing?”

God, he hated that he had to be so sketchy. “I can’t really say. Not yet.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m nosy.”

“No, it’s normal to be curious. After I’m done, I can tell you, but not now.”

“Okay. Got it.” And she fell silent.

He got the distinct impression that she thought he was hedging her in some way. In fact, he was. Telling anyone about the operation going down that evening would be a mistake. They rode in silence until they got to Mrs.Murphy’s house. As soon as he parked, he turned to Flora and smiled. “So when they get the car finished, I’ll take you back. Just let me know.”

“That’s not necessary. I can get someone to?”

“Flora, I don’t mind. Really. Not at all. I’ll be at home until about eight tonight, so if you want to use my computer, just come on down. That’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure the slave mistress in here will have stuff for me to do, but thanks. I appreciate it.” She opened the door and slid down to the ground, then turned to close it. Barrett started to say something to her, but in a flash she was gone.

There was more to FloraStevens than he knew, and he wondered if he’d ever find out exactly what she was hiding.

Because he was positive that she was hiding something.

Chapter 3

Flora openedthe door and expected Mrs.Murphy to immediately start screaming for her to perform some chore. Instead, the old woman was sound asleep in the rickety old recliner, so Flora started the dryer and headed to her room. She’d found a few books around the house and decided maybe she’d read for a while. But thoughts kept drifting into her mind, thoughts about the things that had taken place right before she’d run from Pikeville.

Nightmares didn’t begin to describe what she’d seen. It was terrifying and stomach-turning. She’d thought about going to the authorities, but after all the times she’d gone to the hospital after Darryl had almost killed her and then gone back to him, the sheriff’s department had pretty much written her off. The Pikeville Police Department wasn’t much help either, not after her dad had given the police chief, who happened to be his poker buddy, a stern talking-to about “tough love” and how they shouldn’t help her so she’d eventually “come to her senses.” Every time she thought about all of it, she thought about Velma. She’d never been a big fan of the loud, irritating woman, but the look in Velma’s eyes when she realized that Darryl was going to kill her was something that would haunt Flora for the rest of her life. She’d stood in the bathroom and trembled as she heard him in the other room, gutting Velma alive, the brunette screaming and shrieking in pain, then gurgling on her own blood. When he was done, he made Flora come out and help him clean the whole thing up, then help him carry Velma’s body out to the barn and watch as he cut it up with a chainsaw. “What the fuck does Bradley see in this bitch? She’s got the littlest damn titties I ever seen,” he mumbled as he sawed up her corpse, blood and bone fragments flying everywhere. They’d covered him and coated the front of Flora’s body. She’d tried to leave, but Darryl had pinned her to the wall by her throat. “You leave and you’ll be next.” There was no doubt in her mind that he meant it.

She’d had to stand there, shaking and crying, as he threw each piece of the woman into the pit with the alligators he was raising. The gnashing and rolling of the beasts made her nauseous, and the stench that filled the air left her stomach heaving. At one point, she’d thrown up, and Darryl had screamed at her. “You gonna have to toughen up, pet. We gonna raise these suckers and they gonna make us a lot of money.” From somewhere else in the big barn, an animal screeched, and she was pretty sure it was a chimp or some other kind of primate. She’d seen the tiger cubs the day they’d brought them in, and she wondered if that’s what she’d eventually be fed to.

And then one day two weeks later, the animals had all disappeared. He’d sent her to the store to pick up some grain for the hogs and when she came back, it was quiet?too quiet. If he’d killed them all, she never found any trace of them. Even odder was the fact that he never mentioned them. Not one word. She knew he was waiting to see if she’d ask, but she knew better. Whatever he’d done with them, she didn’t want to know.

It had taken her three months, but she was over four hundred miles from those horrors, and yet she didn’t feel safe. She’d never feel safe. As long as she knew DarrylStevens was alive, she knew she wasn’t safe. If he had any indication she might spill the beans on his activities, he’d kill her no matter where she was. There was no doubt in her mind that he was looking for her. She represented a wild card that he really didn’t want loose with knowledge that could sink him, so staying away from him was her only hope.

That wouldn’t be too hard there. He’d never heard of Paducah, much less ever set foot in it. There was no way he’d find her. She’d done everything she could to keep him off her trail.

And it seemed to have been enough.

* * *

The list wasn’t long,but it was important. Barrett went over it three times to make sure he had everything.

Weapon P

Extra magazines (2) P

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