We didn’t believe it was safe to stay at either of our houses, so we rented two motel rooms connected by a bathroom. Brad ordered me to prop a chair under the doorknob of my outer door. Sleep didn’t come easy, and I again awoke gritty-eyed and less than charitable.
I shuffled sleepily into class the next morning, ignoring Lyon’s curious gaze, and took my seat. It wasn’t until the tests were passed out that I groaned and laid my head down. Today had to be the worse day for a semifinal, and I hadn’t studied a bit.
“Relax,” Brad said. “You’ve got this. You’ve been living these questions.”
True. I picked up my pencil and got to work. Once I’d finished, the professor said I was free to go. Go where? Brad was still taking the test, and I’d been warned not to leave him. Sitting outside wouldn’t be safe, so I headed for the college cafeteria. I sent Brad a text of where I’d wait for him.
While I waited at one of the round tables, nursing a soda, I pondered our next move. We didn’t have one. We’d solved the case. I grinned, mentally writing the final paper that would earn me my degree.
All that was left was for Jenkins and Olson to join Connor in prison. “We did it,” I whispered. Justice was being served.
Footsteps behind me caused me to smile. “About time you finished the test.”
“Get up real slow.” Something poked me in the back. “You wouldn’t want one of these innocent students to die now, would you?”
I tossed my soda hard over my shoulder and ran, expecting a bullet in my back any second. “Call the police,” I shouted at the cafeteria staff.
Curses followed as whoever threatened me gave chase. I wasn’t going to slow down long enough to see whether it was Jenkins or Olson.
I bypassed the bathrooms, not wanting to be cornered, and took a left, barging out a side door of the building. I turned the corner and ran smack dab into Jenkins and his gun.
“Smart little thing, aren’t you?” He motioned the gun toward the parking lot.
Olson joined us, soda still dripping from his hair. “Shoot her now.”
“No. We need to get out of here before the police arrive. I know just the place for her.”
The two men ushered me to the same van that stopped me the day I was almost abducted. Tied up inside, rope around his mouth and one eye quickly bruising, was Brad. Jenkins must have grabbed him while Olson went after me.
“Where are you taking us?” I glanced back as I climbed into the van.
“Somewhere your bodies won’t be found.” Olson slammed the back door and opened the passenger door. “A place needing a foundation poured.”
“Shouldn’t we tie her up?” Jenkins asked.
“She ain’t going anywhere.”
“Still …”
The door opened again, and Olson zip-tied my hands behind my back.
I glanced at Brad. “Are you badly hurt?”
He shook his head. “No.”
I slumped down next to him. “We can’t stay tied up,” I whispered.
“I know how to get out of these. I’ve watched plenty of videos. Besides, there’s a loose screw in the panel behind me. I’ve got it unscrewed enough I can use it to help me with these ties.”
“I never thought they’d be brazen enough to take us from school.”
“Neither did I. By the way, I saw your score when I turned in my test. You aced it.” He grinned.
Small consolation when I was about to die. I wouldn’t take dying easily. I might be small, and a girl, but I’d fight as long as I could. I glanced to where a mesh curtain separated us from Jenkins and Olson, wanting to strangle them.
“Shut up back there,” Olson growled over his shoulder, “No amount of whispering is going to get you freed.”
I scooted around the dim back of the van as quietly as possible in search of a chain or a strap. Anything I could use to get the numbers down to two on our side and one on theirs. Since Jenkins drove, Olson would be my target.
“What are you doing?” Brad hissed.
“I’m going to choke Olson once you get us freed.”
“For crying out loud.” Brad started sawing his hands behind his back. “You’re going to get us shot if we don’t crash first.”
“Shhh.” A crash was what I counted on. My fingers grasped a roll of thin cording. Hopefully it would be strong enough.
Once his hands were free, Brad took the cord from me then cut the ties around my wrist with a piece of metal he’d found. “You be ready to reach around Jenkins and grab the wheel. The minute the van stops, fling the door open and run. I’ll be right behind you.”
I nodded and quietly got into position. Jenkins chose that moment to glance in the rearview mirror. “Hey!”
Brad lunged, shoving aside the mesh curtain, and wrapped the cord around Olson’s neck.
I leaned over Jenkins and fought for the wheel. His elbow caught me in the nose, bringing tears to my eyes. The van swerved across the freeway and across oncoming traffic.
A tree loomed in front of us. Slamming Jenkins against the door, I jerked the wheel away from the tree, taking the van through a stand of saplings instead. When the van stopped, I bumped Jenkins hard enough to bang his head against the window then rushed for the door.
I jumped out, Brad right behind me, and made a mad dash for a nearby cliff. I’d take my chances with the sea given my other option. I glanced over the edge, glad not to see any jagged rocks or a beach directly below.
Brad grabbed my hand, and we jumped as a shot rang out.
The icy waters of the Atlantic closed over my head. I lost Brad’s hand as I struggled to break the water’s surface. Summer or not, the water was cold. Once I emerged, I took a gulp of air and glanced around me. Waves moved me to and fro but steadily closer to a large group of rocks.
Fighting the current, I eventually made my way to shallower water and lay on the beach gasping for air like a stranded fish. I turned my head as Brad crawled to my side.
“Come on. We aren’t out of trouble yet.” He pointed to where a gun-wielding Jenkins was making his way down to the beach.
“Did you kill Olson?” I got to my feet.
“No. The second he passed out, I followed you. Bad guy or not, I don’t want to be the one who kills him.” He grabbed my hand again, and we sprinted away from Jenkins.
With our phones wet from seawater, we couldn’t call for help. “Make for the lighthouse,” Brad said. “Locking ourselves inside is our only chance of surviving this day.”
Fear propelled me faster. My body could complain later. My lungs burned from the exertion. My feet kicked up sand, and still we ran.
When a shot rang out, Brad swerved closer to the cliff rising above us. “Stay as much in the shadows as you can.”
I wouldn’t argue with that reasoning, but we’d have to stop sooner or later. I didn’t have much more to go on. Please, God, give our feet wings.
Seagrass made our running more difficult the farther we got from the beach and the closer we got to the abandoned lighthouse. I tripped and fell. “I’ve got nothing left, Brad.”
“If you don’t get up, you’ll die.” He yanked me to my feet and spurred me on.
The lighthouse didn’t have a door. Tears sprang to my eyes. Whether from exhaustion, fear, or disappointment, I couldn’t tell.
“Up the stairs.” Brad gave me a shove.
“We can’t lock him out.”
“There’ll be another door at the top.” He reached down and grabbed a stick of driftwood. “Find a weapon.”
I found a long piece of wood about the circumference of my wrist, took a deep breath, and forced myself to climb. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, ignoring the weakness in my legs. Stopping wasn’t an option. Giving up meant not only my death, but Brad’s. I focused on the benefits of living, like more dates and kisses with him. A new career. That beautiful house I would find a way to own.
Thank you, God. A solid door waited at the top of the stairs, and it wasn’t locked.
We rushed inside and slammed it behind us. The lock had rusted away.
I glanced around the tower for something to place against the door but found only a shattered chair of no use to us. I removed my shoes and jammed them under the door. Not a surefire method, but it would slow Jenkins down.
Brad smiled and arched a brow.
“Television,” I said. I folded to the dust-covered floor. Regardless of the dirt, I lay flat on my back and stared at the glass above me. Some panes were missing, but all in all, the lighthouse was still a thing of beauty.
The sound of feet climbing the iron staircase jerked me back to a sitting position.
“Can he shoot us through the door?”
“Not easily. It’s pretty thick,” Brad said, raising his wooden cudgel. “If he opens the door, I’ll break his hand before he can shoot.”
“Aim for the head.” I was over his bosses.
Grabbing my piece of wood from where I’d dropped it when I’d fallen to the floor, I took up a position next to Brad. Fight together or die together.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Jenkins said from the other side. “I can make this fast.”
“You’re delusional,” I said. “Why not come and get us?”
“You have nowhere to go. You got out of the house, but if I set fire here, you won’t be as lucky.”
“Stone and iron won’t burn fast.”
“Then you’ll die of smoke inhalation!”
I could tell I was really getting under the man’s skin. I met Brad’s amused gaze and shrugged. “Frustrated people make mistakes.”
“TV again?”
“Yep.”
The door inched open.
Brad slammed his body against it.
Jenkins cursed. “When Olson catches up, you don’t stand a chance.”
I glanced out the window. Olson had just started making his way to the beach. We had a while. “Why don’t you go get him? He doesn’t seem to be doing very well. I think his throat is bruised.”
“Why don’t you just leave town?” Brad suggested. “The police know you’re guilty. It’s only a matter of time before they find us.”
“Because I don’t leave loose ends behind. The two of you ruined my plans. Do you know what loan sharks do to people who can’t pay?”
“They’ll still be after you, even if you kill us,” I said.
“But I’ll feel better.” He rammed the door again.
His gun hand slipped through.
Brad brought the wood down on his wrist.
The man cursed and withdrew. “You broke my arm!”
“I told him to aim for your head,” I said. “I’m getting hungry and thirsty. I’m not a nice person when I’m either of those. Add in lack of sleep, and I could probably take you down myself.” This entire situation was getting old.
“Open the door, Brad,” I said softly. “I’ll stand where he can barely see me. You stand behind the door and bash him when he comes in.”
“Too risky. He can get a shot off at you.”
“Not with a broken wrist.”
“We’ll keep stalling until Davis finds us. Someone will have seen the van and called it in.”
Ever the voice of reason, Brad Overson. I sighed and leaned against the window, knowing we were too high for anyone to shoot us from the ground.
“How did you do on your test?” I asked.
“Good. A few points lower than you.” Brad chuckled. “I guess I should watch more true-crime shows like you do.”
“It’s going to get dark. We could be stuck up here for a long time. I don’t like the dark, Brad.”
“That surprises me. You don’t seem frightened of much.”
“When I was a kid, we lived in the country. The nights were really dark, and we lost electricity frequently. Once it happened when I was home alone. The coyotes howling sounded like they were right outside the door. When my parents finally got home, I was a basket case. I haven’t been a fan since.”
“I’m here, Ashley. You won’t be alone, and the only coyotes you have to worry about are the two-legged ones outside. We can handle them.”
I really hoped so.