Page 105 of Surrender
Loud and final.
“No!” I dropped to my knees, crawling to the cliff’s edge, my heart thundering. I was desperate to catch a glimpse of him, to confirm that he was alive. But before I could get my eyes on the water below, another gunshot rang out, leaves exploding inches from my leg.
I spun, gritting my teeth and digging my fingers into the dirt as I faced him.
He stepped out of the trees, sweat soaking his hair and shirt, which was now dark and damp. The gun in his hand stayed trained on me as he moved forward.
One step at a time until he was standing over me.
His favorite place to be.
Then he smiled.
“No one’s coming,” he sneered. “You’remine.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
DARCY
“What do you mean you aren’t going to help this time?” Parker roared, kicking up dirt as he marched back and forth across the forest floor. One arm was cradled tight against his body, his face twitching every few steps with a wince he couldn’t hide.
Our crash had done some damage.
Just not enough.
“Mom, youhaveto do this for me,” he pleaded, and it almost brought a smile to my face to hear his voice crack with fear and desperation. “Do you want me to go to jail? Or worse! Have those bikers show up and kill me?”
An unexpected chuckle slipped from my mouth, and he stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face me with an angry scowl. He kicked hard at the ground, sending a spray of dirt and rocks straight at my face. It stung my eyes, and I coughed, brushing the grit off with the back of my sleeve.
“I hope they do show up,” I choked out, blinking past the pain so I could see his face. “And I hope they kill you.”
The words felt like fire on my tongue.
They were words I never imagined saying to anyone.
But Parker wasn’t anyone.
To me, he wasn’t even a person.
He was a monster.
A killer.
A waste of the air he was breathing.
He clenched his teeth so tight I thought they might snap as he continued to pace frantically. “Mom, no. Don’t fucking do this! Mom!”
He pulled the phone away from his ear, looking at the screen.
Call ended.
He let out a raw scream, hurling the phone at the tree in front of which I was sitting. I ducked, covering my head as it shattered on impact, several pieces raining down around me that were definitely not going to fit back together.
“Mommy won’t help this time?” I taunted, spitting to the side to get the dirt out of my mouth. “Wow, it’s real sad when the woman who’s meant to love you just leaves you to die.”
He charged forward with a snarl, swinging at me, his palm connecting with my cheek.
I sucked in a sharp breath, working through the sting until it eased and the ringing in my ear had stopped. I had no control over the tears that came hot and fast, but I let them fall.
