One of Those Faces (100)

He opened my door, and I kicked at him. He grabbed my foot and slid me down the seat toward him. I screamed, but then he was on top of me in the back seat, pinning my legs down before striking me across the face.

My jaw went numb. He grabbed my hair, the intense pain beside the cold part of my head making me cry out. I dug my heels into the snow outside the car, but he pulled me away. We were by the lake. But it was darker and colder outside the warmth of the city. He had taken off my coat, and I was shivering.

“I gave you a chance to walk away from this, but you just kept digging.” His fingers wrapped around the gun at his waist. “I didn’t ever think it would come to this. I didn’t think you would ever do something like this to me.”

My legs weakened, and I fell to my knees. “I-I swear,” I stammered. “I don’t know anything.” The words were hard to press through my lips; my lungs were tensing inside my chest.

He glared at me. “From all the shit in your bag, it seems like you’re caught up.”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t understand,” I said. “Why? Why are you doing all of this?”

He seized my shoulders and lifted me to my feet.

My legs trembled and buckled again.

The cold metal of his gun grazed the skin under my shirt. “Get up.”

I wanted to obey, but I sat frozen in the snow.

He sighed and holstered the gun, reaching down and gripping my hair with his fist before he dragged me down the beach.

I screamed as we drew closer to the water, bringing my bound hands to my hair and clawing at him. “Please!” My knees almost touched the waves lapping at the shore. I realized it then. He was going to drown me. “I didn’t say anything to anyone,” I pleaded, my fingers digging into his.

“Do you know how much I’ve done for you? I’ve tried to protect you,” he said after a moment.

Protect me?

His gaze softened as he looked down at me. “You were so broken when I found you. I never wanted it to come to this. Not again.”

Again? Oh, god. “Sarah? Did you . . .”

He gripped my hair again, searing pain at the base of my skull. “Sarah was an unfortunate accident,” he said. I flinched as his fingers trailed down my cheek, the gentleness of the gesture in such contrast with the cruelty of a few seconds ago. “I thought you’d rejected me, but it was that bitch.”

It became clear then. She’d just had the misfortune of looking like me and telling Wilder off for what he was—a creep.

“If you’d seen the way she looked at me . . . you’ve never looked at me like that.” He stared down at me as if he saw that same look now, and he didn’t like it. He bent down. “After all I’ve done, you’re ready to turn on me like this? You were going to report me, weren’t you?”

“No.” My mouth was so dry I could barely speak. “I would never do that to you.” Maybe a part of him wanted to believe me. I saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes. “I care about you. You saved my life.”

He studied me. “I wish I could trust you. But I’m all out of chances, Harper.” He kneeled down, cupping my face into his hands.

I resisted the urge to pull away. I forced myself to meet his gaze.

He leaned forward and kissed me, the heat from his lips clearing my mind.

I pressed deeper into him, sliding my bound hands to the side of his coat, willing them steady as they closed around the car keys in his pocket.

His kisses became more frantic, his hands tightening around my waist. For a moment he loosened his grip, and I took my chance.

I reared back, then struck his face with my forehead, a small snap sounding upon impact.

He roared, clutching at his nose as he staggered backward onto the snow.

I struggled to my feet, only taking one step before I was pulled back onto the ground, the keys flying from my grasp as I collapsed onto my arms.

Wilder flipped me over, looming above, his face covered in blood. He raised a hand and struck me across the face. “Dammit, Harper!” He grabbed the collar of my jacket and pulled me along the ground, closer to the water.

He said something else as he continued to haul me toward the water, but I could only hear the sounds of the waves. Taunting me. They would reclaim what they’d been robbed of all those years ago. He paused as we reached the lake’s edge. “You know something? Who’s going to even notice if you disappear? You’re not on a single person’s radar. You’ve made sure of that.” It was true. The only person who would care was Iann. And if he started asking questions, Wilder would just need to remind him that I had been a teen runaway. That was it. Harper Mallen: once a runner, always a runner. Case closed.

“All I did was help your father out,” he said, lifting me to my knees. The calm in his voice unnerved me. He’d accepted what he was about to do to me. I hadn’t given him any other choice. “I did that kid Danny a favor too. If I hadn’t found you back then, they probably would’ve locked him up for good.” He sighed. “The saddest thing is that you and I are actually alike.”

The thought that I had anything in common with him was too much.

“After what you did to Jenny, I didn’t even think twice about taking care of that mess you left behind,” he continued. “I had to protect you in any way I could.”