Page 64 of Broken Discipline
It was Bruce’s mother, Edith Astley.
“What did you say about your husband?” she asked, tilting her head. The hat made her look like a massive moth bursting from a cocoon. “Your husband is dead, isn’t he?”
My heart palpitated, hoping that she meant Bruce, andnot Finn.I gripped the edge of my sweater, hiding behind the fabric. I patted my purse; did I still have that stun-gun with me?
“What are you doing here?” I stammered.
She nodded toward the storefront, and a set of four burly men stood outside, glaring at me.
“I want to have a little chat, my dear,” she said. “Where is my son?”
A bullet whizzed past my face, shattering the glass, cutting through my hair. I ducked down, hiding my head, looking frantically for an exit.
“You’re going to get us killed,” I shouted, racing toward the back of the store.
“I’m not trying to getuskilled, silly girl. My nephew’s soldiers are trying to killyou,” she said.
Another bullet whizzed past me, hitting the cashier’s stand, and I bolted for the first door I found. It led to a storeroom, but there was another door in the back. The door opened into a back alleyway with garbage bins every few yards. I ran between each of them, hiding myself. Bullets shot through the mall, sirens blaring in the distance. Sweat beaded on my forehead.
What the hell was going on?
And if her nephew was Upchurch, how was I going to get out alive this time?
The parking garage came into view. I raced around, each footstep pounding into the ground. Some shoppers gawked at me, asking if I needed help, but I kept running, leaping up the stairs, trying to find Tank.
As soon as I got into the car, the engine roared to life, and I silently pleaded that we could get out before they caught us.
I turned onto the main road, and two black cars followed me. Each time I turned, they did too. And once we were on the freeway, twomoreblack cars joined us, each of them surrounding me. I couldn’t move, and Tank could only go fifty miles per hour. I tried going faster, but she struggled, and I bit my lip. Blood burst into my mouth as a random off-ramp came into view.
If I swerved at the last possible second, maybe I could lose them.
I sped up as much as Tank would go, then held my breath as I turned the wheel as hard as I could, veering to the side, and the car tumbled over the ramp, sailing over the next curve of the ramp. My body was airborne.
Tank landed in a thud on the asphalt, my body whiplashed against the impact. The wind knocked from my chest. Then everything was silent. I coughed as I turned the key in the ignition, but it clicked like a broken record, no matter how many times I tried. I screamed, hitting the steering wheel with my fists, then unbuckled my seatbelt. Engines roared down the offramp.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered. I tore myself out of the seat, but the black cars had already pulled up beside me. I didn’t think. I ran down the ramp, trying to flee. But a soldier tackled me to the ground. My head crashed into the pavement, the pain splitting through my chest. Dirt covered my cheek, and fear coursed through me like a zap of light. The soldier covered my mouth and used his weight to restrain me. Another shoulder tied my wrists and ankles with rope.
“We got her,” another soldier said into a phone as he stepped into view. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll take her back to the Manor right away.”
The Astley Manor.
The rope cut into my legs, my limbs going numb. A scarf was stuffed into my mouth, my throat dry. They threw me in the trunk of one of the cars. Darkness swallowed me whole. The muffled noises of the guards’ conversation filled me with panic. They had me now. They were taking me.
Where was Finn?
But I couldn’t think about that right now. I could only survive. The car hummed, lurching over speed bumps, swaying past turns. Then it lulled to a stop. Once we parked, the trunk popped open, blinding me with light. The sky was blue and freshly cut grass permeated the air. Everything was too perfect to be real, just like the rest of Opulent Gates. Two suited soldiers grabbed me by the arms, dragging me inside. They hurled me into a chair, binding me to the arms and legs with more rope, then the nearest guard put a gun to the back of my head. It was cold, a chain keeping me still.
High heels clicked through the house, like the dinging of a bell. Finally, Edith came into the room, her blue eyes filled with ice.
“Tell me what you know,” she said coolly.
I shook my head. “I don’t know where your son is. That’s why I came to you for help in the first place!”
“Is that the cover you and Finn came up with?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re working together, and you wanted his money, and so you both came up with this elaborate scheme to get rid of him so you can blame it on a random disappearance. I’m not stupid, Ramona. I’ve always known that you were after my son’s money.”
I bared my teeth. “Take the money. I don’t care!”
She pulled out a folded paper from her purse.
