Rules of Survival(77)

“I was terrified that if I passed out while you were still cuffed to me, when I woke up, you’d be dead.”

“But we fell into his panic room.”

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “And I was so hazy by that point, I wasn’t sure what was real and what was fake.”

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t unlock us after that, though.” I couldn’t help feeling betrayed. He’d had the key the whole time and lied about it. Why? Because he thought I might bolt? “Those stupid shackles made everything a thousand times harder than it had to be!”

“I thought about unlocking them—I wanted to—but I just couldn’t.”

“Why the hell not?” I should have left it at that, but I was hurt. “You were afraid I’d get away? Is that it?”

He thought about it for a moment. I could see his shoulders shaking slightly from the cold, but he didn’t seem to care. His gaze met mine and he nodded once. “Yeah. Actually that’s exactly it.”

Fury replaced what little happiness I’d felt over him not being swallowed by the lake. Fury—and embarrassment. The things we’d done… I’d admitted to having feelings for him and shared secrets I’d never told another living soul. For a microsecond in time, I’d thought maybe—just maybe—there might be something between us. I’d trusted him. The least he could have done was trust me back. “So it was all about the job. The whole time. All that—”

“What? God, no.” He turned away to look out over the lake. “When I cuffed us together at the hotel, it was because of the job. You knew that. I never lied. I wanted to make Pat proud of me. That meant not losing you, no matter what. You couldn’t possibly escape me if we were tethered together.” He turned back and took my hand. The one that had been cuffed to his for the last few days. He traced his thumb over the large patch of bruising on my wrist and shook his head slowly. “But then, as time went on, I kept us cuffed for a different reason.”

“Different reason? What reason could you have possibly had?” I tried to pull my hand from his, but he held tight.

“I was afraid you’d get away. Not from Pat—but from me.”

I tried again, and this time managed to pull away. “So? Same thing, right?”

“Wrong. At first I was shackled to a criminal. That’s how I saw it. The only way I saw it. But as time went on, I realized I was shackled to this amazing girl. If I’d uncuffed you, you would have disappeared.”

He brushed the back of his other hand across my cheek. His skin was warm, despite the near-freezing temperature, yet still, a shiver ran through me.

“I meant what I said. I like you. A lot. I want to get to know you…all of you. Every stupid little detail about your life. You don’t have to run anymore. You can give this a chance.”

His admission should have made me swoon. It was sweet and romantic and probably every girl’s twisted little fairy-tale fantasy—but I wasn’t every girl. Damaged and a little bit broken, I’d had the rug pulled out from under me too many times in my short life. I’d started to trust him along the way, and he’d just shattered that trust. Granted, it was one little lie, but in my world that was enough. I didn’t know where to go from here.

“Please. Just give me a chance. Give us a chance.”

I took his hand and squeezed, then climbed to my feet, free for the first time in days. “I’m not sure that I can.”





Chapter Twenty-Six


Patrick hadn’t been thrilled about it—neither had Shaun—but I insisted on going back to the cabin alone. It was a fast trip, in and out, just to retrieve the letter. After all the trouble it caused, I felt like I at least needed to read the whole thing.

I didn’t take the time to collect any of my things or Mom’s. Living my life on the run, I’d learned not to be sentimental. Belongings were just that. Things. They could be replaced. The cabin was in my past. After today I would never go back. There was no reason to.

Now, as I sat at the back of the bus, I couldn’t help running my fingers over the scrawling cursive on the crumpled page, wondering what had been going through her mind as she wrote it.

Baby girl,

I don’t have much time. I’ve done some bad things. Things I’m not proud of. I made poor choices and trusted the wrong people. Worse than that, I’ve kept things from you.

Before you were born, I ran a con game with a couple partners—Mick and Tanner. When I found out I was pregnant, I decided to call it quits. One last job and I was done. But that last job—the one that was supposed to set us up for life—went badly. We were betrayed. An innocent person ended up dead. They thought I did it—my prints were everywhere—so I panicked and ran. It was foolish, but I was young…

Mick convinced me that it was Tanner who committed the murder and stole the money, and I let myself believe him. We went into hiding, but as time went on, I realized things didn’t add up. I started to question the past and, in digging, discovered it was Mick who had committed the murder and stolen the money. Not Tanner. I confronted him under the guise that I was impressed. He’d always been jealous of Tanner’s planning and intelligence. I got the confession on tape, took you and what was left of the money, and ran. He’s been searching for me ever since. I’ve managed to keep us hidden all these years, but I was careless and I think he’s found us, and I don’t know what he’ll do.