Page 15 of Worth the Ruin
I gave her a big hug, holding on for dear life. I knew this wouldn’t be the last goodbye—or nearly the hardest—that I would face in the months or years to come, but it didn’t make it any easier to manage. I finally pulled away and Mrs. Huggins wiped away her own tears and then mine.
“Goodbye, sweetheart. Thank you for making a lonely old bird feel like part of the family. It meant the world to me. Send those other two scoundrels over here for a quick goodbye hug if you don’t mind.”
I did and while Gabby said her goodbyes, talking animatedly about all the things she was going to do at the lake, I showed Jonah what was in the box. He sucked in a harsh breath, as if he hadn’t been allowing himself to think about what was coming either. He wrapped me in a hug and we silently gave each other the strength we needed to make it through this. Somehow, someway, we would. We wouldsurvive, no matter what came for us, but we’d only do it together.
We got Gabby strapped in, happily playing some strange game on her tablet that involved aliens and unicorns and a giant slingshot, and we pulled away, saying goodbye to the lives we’d known and bracing ourselves for the unknown, admittedly terrifying future waiting for us.
CHAPTER SEVEN
MELODY
“Is the blindfold really still necessary?”I demand when Traeger comes towards me with it again on the third day. I’m over it big time. There’ no way in hell I could possibly tell you where we were, what direction we’d gone, or even how far we were from the other settlements at this point. The secret lair’s location would be remaining secret.
I’d forced myself to remain awake all night in the back of the truck in the clearing. Partly because I didn’t want to see what kind of dreams might be waiting for me—painful ones, most likely—and partly because I didn’t trust these people as far as I could throw them. I’d slept during the drive on the second day, conceding that I was probably safe with only Traeger in the car. The dreams were still there waiting and I woke gasping and clawing at nothing more than once. Though I couldn’t see his face because of the stupid blindfold, I got the feeling that Traeger was studying me and I hoped to all things holy that I hadn’t been talking in my sleep.
We’d camped out again the second night, this time in the office of Richard P. Johnson, CPA. I’d eyed the door with a snort.
“I know right?” Wynn said quietly, chuckling low. “I mean, his name is essentially Dick P. Dick. His parents must have hated him.” I’d given him a small smile before Jett had bumped me roughly as he entered, making sure I knew that he was still large and in charge. I glared andmayhave made a gesture that suggested a certain male appendage was being, uh,servicedwith my hand and then erupting onto Jett’s back. Wynn tried to hide his laugh with a cough.
Traeger ushered me into a small office where I got to camp out in private, again reminding me not to get any bright ideas of trying to escape out the small window—both the room and the building itself would be guarded all night, he assured me. I’d moved the small chair in front of the door as soon as he’d walked out, shifted the bookcase in front of the window, and let myself sleep through most of the night.
Traeger eyes me now in that intense way of his and I force myself to meet it, jutting my chin stubbornly.
Finally, he sighs and hands me the bandana. “I guess we’ve traveled far enough that you can go without now.”
I throw the thing onto the dash as hard as I can and Traeger chuckles. I give him a sidelong glance before turning my attention out the window. The caravan of vehicles pulls out of the parking lot and eventually makes its way to a small scenic highway, thick forests or open farmland on either side for as far as I can see.
“How much longer?”
He shifts to place his right hand on the wheel and rests his left elbow on the open window frame, looking so casual, as if we’re just out for a nice little Sunday drive, heading to the movies or something.
“A few hours now,” he says, rubbing his thick stubble before dropping his arm back on the window again.
I prop my feet up on the dash and catch Traeger gazing at my bare thighs before quickly jerking his eyes back to the road. I probably should have opted for jeans, but it’s still sweltering out and I didn’t feel like suffering during this ride any more than I had to. Traeger shifts in his seat and absently traces the base of his ring finger with his thumb. My eyes narrow a fraction. I’d noticed him doing it before too, and I add it to my mental profile on him. A tell of some sort? Or just an absent-minded habit, like me with biting my thumb nail? I scowl when I realize that I’m doing it now and drop my hand just as a swift stab of pain laces through my chest.
Whitt used to tease me mercilessly for it. I wonder for the thousandth time what might have happened to him. I hope that he made it to the farm and that his family is still there, safe and together. Maybe they found other people—goodpeople—and formed their own little version of Haven. I’d tried to figure out a way to contact him a lot at the beginning, even tried Jonah’s dad’s old ham radio a handful of times in case he had the same idea, but nothing ever came of it. We’d even thought about trying to find his grandpa’s place when we left the lake house, but a bunch of Bloodies and other groups and people in need of help had other plans. I still think about him though, still let myself hope that he’s still out there somewhere, happy and whole and alive.
I turn my gaze back to the window and try to mentally prepare for what might happen when we arrive. Will I be thrown in a cell? Tortured? Used and abused for entertainment? Jett’s cruel smile flashes in my mind and I clench my teeth. I’ll endure. I’ve had worse from better, and can handle whatever they throw at me if it means keeping Jonah and the others safe, but that doesn’t mean that I’m excited about it.
Just like the previous two days, Traeger doesn’t try to talk, just lets the music play and lets me stew in my thoughts. Maybethis is part of his game. Not speaking and letting my imagination run wild with all the possibilities so I’m a nervous wreck by the time we arrive. Mental warfare.
I decide to stop worrying about what’s to come because honestly, it doesn’t matter. It will be what it will be and thinking about it won’t make a bit of a difference. So, I let my thoughts shift back to Traeger instead. He’s bugging me. Or, nothim, exactly, but my mental profile on him. There are pieces that aren’t fitting quite right, and I’ve never been good at letting puzzles go without solving them.
I think back to the altercation with Kevin, something about it nagging at the back of my mind. I replay it over and over before it finally hits me. When Traeger had pulled the knife, ready to kill Kevin, there hadn’t been that sadistic glee in his eyes that I’d expected, no flash of impending pleasure and power. No one else would have noticed, I’m sure, but I’m not anyone else. Noticing details, reading people and seeing them in ways most of the population didn’t, had been my job—and I’d been damn good at it.
No, in that moment with the knife, I hadn’t seen excitement at all. I’d seen…something else. Something that really doesn’t fucking add up. I turn to stare at him with a frown, tilting my head.
“What?” he asks, not taking his eyes from the road.
“Nothing, just…” I purse my lips and shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Trying to figure me out?” he asks, that challenging smirk tilting his lips up on one side.
“Nothing to figure out, I’ve got your number,” I say confidently, though it’s only about eighty percent true at this point. He quirks a brow and I turn away again to watch the scenery fly by in a blur. I hang my hand out of the window, letting it rise and fall in small waves as the wind rushes by. Aflash of a memory of Gabby’s small hand doing the same thing hits me out of nowhere and I yank my arm back in, cradling it to my chest.
“You alright?”
“Fine,” I say quietly. He doesn’t push and we settle back into silence again. After several more hours, a few more detours, and a bathroom break, we finally turn off the main road and pass beneath a tall wooden arch, a carved sign hanging in the middle.
