Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(79)

A phone rang from somewhere on Drew’s body. “The Vengeful One” by Disturbed blasted inside the car, and somehow I managed to chuckle because I knew it was my phone. Jonah must have changed my ringtone as a joke. Such a fitting song for me, and when my chest stopped rising with laughter, I could feel the tears running down my cheeks.

Was Jonah already on his way to Lea’s house to pick me up? What would he think when he couldn’t find me?

Drew was driving us back toward my side of town, and the pit of dread inside my stomach yawned wider. “Where are we going?” I croaked out. Licking at my dry lips, I winced at the bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

He didn’t answer, but I already knew. A few moments later, he stopped the car in front of a house I’d been in once before the night I discovered who Jonah really was, but I didn’t think Jonah was home tonight.

“You have to tell Victor where that safe is, Candy. He’s obsessed with finding it. He won’t stop until he does.”

Drew faced me, and I was able to turn my head to look at him. Apparently the drug was fading from my system.

“What did you give me?” I asked, hearing the subtle slur in my voice.

“Victor told me to use it if you wouldn’t leave with me, but I only gave you half. He said it was some homemade ketamine. Frigging gel capsule started dissolving in my mouth before I got it into yours. You probably ended up with less than half. Tastes like crap, doesn’t it?” Drew lowered his window for a moment and spit over it.

Ketamine. I had no idea what that was. “Thanks for keeping it to half,” I muttered sarcastically.

“You’re welcome,” he answered seriously, as if I’d been sincere. “I’m sorry I had to do this to you. Just go in there and tell him where the safe is. Then this can all be over.”

“I thought Victor was away being questioned.”

“They let him go a few hours ago, and he’s not exactly in a good mood.”

I wondered why Jonah didn’t know Victor was back. “I don’t know where the safe is.”

He eyed me sharply. “Yes, you do, and you know what’s inside it too. It’s those medical files of your mother’s you were talking about at dinner, isn’t it?”

Panic shot through me, and my fear must have shown.

“I figured as much,” Drew said. “Your father shouldn’t have saved them. That was stupid of him.”

“Did you tell Victor about the files?”

He nodded. “I had to. Go on inside. Tell him where the safe is, and then everything will be fine.”

My eyes closed and my chest felt tight. Victor knew. He knew about the files. I pictured his cold, dark eyes, and could feel the pressure of his fingers around my throat. “I’m not going in there.”

Drew’s lips flattened, his expression turning murderous as he pushed his door open and came around to get me. I doubted I could fight him off, but I wouldn’t make it easy for him. My attention kept going to the house, expecting Victor to come outside at any minute.

Drew pulled open my door and reached around me to unfasten the seatbelt. Before it could release, I leaned forward and grabbed the strap just as “The Vengeful One” played again from somewhere inside his coat.

“God damn it!” He bit the words out as he wrenched the strap from my hands and pulled me out of the car without unclipping the seatbelt.

I pushed off the seat with my legs, throwing Drew off-balance. We both tumbled back, just like at Lea’s house, but this time sharp little pricks pierced my skin through my sweater. As I scrambled to sit up, I saw we’d landed on a pine tree. There were pine trees everywhere, piled all over the front yard with green and brown needles scattered across the snow.

“What the hell?” Drew mumbled as he struggled to stand among the branches.

Glancing around, I saw the moment he realized he couldn’t cross the front yard because of all the trees, and would have to take me around to the driveway to get me to the door. He cursed up a storm as he rubbed at the needles stuck to his skin.

When my phone rang again, I was right beside him. Our eyes met and held. There was a long moment in which he knew I could get to the phone, but he also knew he couldn’t let me. I pushed my hand inside his coat until my fingers found it. Then I yanked it out at the same time he grabbed my arm.

It was Jonah calling. His name was right there, lit up on the screen. I stopped pulling against Drew and pushed at him instead. As he struggled not to fall backward, I swiped my thumb across the screen and yelled, “I’m at your house, Jonah! I’m not at the party. I’m at your house and your—”

Drew’s arm flew at me, knocking the phone from my hand before I could tell Jonah his father was here. Then he palmed the back of my head and pushed me facedown to the ground. I squeezed my eyes closed as the branches and needles scratched my skin.

Sharp points of pain were all I felt as Drew held me there. I tried to buck and knock him off, but each time I moved, the needles dug deeper. The irony was, this was my own doing. These trees were here because of me.

The pressure pushing down on me stopped abruptly when Drew removed his hands. As I struggled to stand, I heard him talking to someone. I swallowed hard since I had a good idea who that someone was. By the time I turned myself over and blinked the night back into focus, Drew was gone and only Victor was there standing over me.