Page 26 of Dark Roads
I leaned my head on his shoulder, took a breath. “Right.”
I rolled over, checked my cell phone. Three in the morning. I grabbed my backpack and quietly swung it over my shoulders, watching Cash’s sleeping face, lips parted as he softly snored, his arm flung above his head. I was going to miss him. He’d been my armor all night. We played games, I gave him his bath, got him into his pajamas, and read to him. Lana asked if I needed help and I shooed her away. “Relax, watch TV.” All the while, I felt Vaughn watching me.
I’d slept in my leggings and a tank top, only needed a hoodie, and I didn’t pack much.
The plan was for me to get Jonny’s mountain bike where he was going to hide it in the woods and ride to my old house, where I’d take some of Dad’s things and Mom’s jewelry. Jonny bought prepaid phones so we could keep in touch. When I reached Vancouver, I’d call Amber.
I crept out of the bedroom, using my hand to stop the door from swinging shut, and then I walked straight into a body—hit Vaughn’s chest like a wall and bounced back. He clamped his hand over my mouth and dragged me into the bathroom. It was so dark I couldn’t see to grab anything. I clawed blindly for the counter.
“We don’t have any stinging nettles, you idiot. You think I don’t check with Cash about what you’re up to? You think I don’t know about your meetings with Jonny?”
I tried to twist away, but he had a strong grip on my elbow. “Stop,” he growled into my ear, his hand pressed hard against my mouth. I wanted to bite him, make him release me, but I couldn’t open my jaw. I hated the feel of his body against mine.He yanked the pack from my shoulders and dropped it at my feet. “Whatever you think you found in my office doesn’t exist, get it? And if it shows up again, it won’t be on my computer. It will be on Jonny’s.”
I saw it all too clearly. The photos leaking on the internet and being traced back to Jonny. The police breaking into his house, taking his computer. His cell phone and iPad. Vaughn would collect the evidence. He could do whatever he wanted. The girls in the photos might be underage. Jonny would go to prison. Vaughn could have him hurt on the inside.
“Do we have an understanding?” I could barely move, but I nodded slightly. “Is this going to be a problem?” He pulled upward, his arm under my chin. I made a grunting sound.
No, no problem.
“Don’t yell, don’t move an inch.” He removed his hand from my mouth. Noises behind me. He’d picked up my backpack.
“What have you got in here?” Zipping sounds as he checked each compartment. Soft thuds and rustles as some of my belongings fell on the bath mat. While he was distracted, I slid my free hand into my hoodie pocket, pulled out the prepaid phone, and quietly pushed it up onto the countertop where he wouldn’t see it. Then I held my breath, praying he didn’t turn on the light or frisk me. He’d feel the knife that I’d strapped to my calf. There was a heavier thump as he dropped the pack.
“You should be thanking me. You wouldn’t have gotten far with any of this.”
The click of the door handle, then his quiet footsteps down the hall. He’d left the door open. I picked up my pack and hugged it to my chest.
Three days later, Jonny drove the speed limit away from my old house, then gunned it when we got around the corner. Icouldn’t help but glance over my shoulder, even though I knew Lana, Vaughn, and Cash were at the fair. I was supposed to be with them. This morning I’d found Lana in the kitchen putting away the breakfast dishes, while Vaughn wrestled on the floor with Cash.
“I think you’re right,” I’d told Lana, my voice soft, resigned. Vaughn was listening, and I had to play my part perfectly. “I have to start sorting through my dad’s personal stuff—I can’t keep avoiding it. Maybe that’s why I’m having nightmares. Can you drop me off?”
“Today? But we’re going to the fair…”
“You don’t want to do that alone.” Vaughn sat straight while Cash flung himself across his back, tried to get him into a headlock. Vaughn tickled him until he screamed with giggles.
“That’s sort of the point.” I kept my gaze on Lana, made my eyes water. “It feels like something Ineedto do alone, and honestly, being around all of you as a family, it’s hard.”
“Oh, Hailey.” Lana reached out and touched my shoulder. “I understand. You’ve to find your own way through this. We can drop her off, right, Vaughn?” She turned to look at him.
“Of course.” He smiled, but I felt him studying my face. I kept my mouth downturned, chewed on my lower lip as though struggling to hold back my tears.You just wait, asshole.
It had been three long nights since Vaughn had threatened me in the bathroom. Three nights when I wondered if he would decide I was too much of a risk. Then it came to me.
I would still run away, but not to Vancouver. That had been a mistake. Vaughn would have the police looking for me. There’d be flyers. People might recognize me. I had to stay off the grid. Where no one would ever find me. I would live in the miner’s cabin until I was of age.
Jonny glanced across the truck at me now. “Yousureabout this?”
We’d met at my house. He’d gotten my dad’s old backroad maps from the workshop, while I shoved things in boxes and took photos so I could show Lana how productive I was being. I made sure to post a few on my Instagram page. #forsalesoon #estatesale #toolsandgear #makeyouroffer
Vaughn would think I was stupid—I was practically advertising for thieves. Which was the point. If I was going to rob my own house, the more Vaughn underestimated me, the better.
“Nothing else will work.”
“The cabin is like fifty years old. There are bears and cougars, Hailey.”
“I’ll haveguns, and I’d rather face whatever is in those woods than Vaughn.”
“What about Lana and Cash?”
