Page 290 of Forged in the Fire
I’d never beenone for grand theft auto. It appeared Silas Mercer was truly rubbing off on me.
Criminal activity catching.
I choked over the thought.
Over the drive of the knife that kept piercing my ribcage, allowing droplets of my soul to dribble out.
Gripping the wheel with trembling hands, I sucked it back and tried to focus.
I could fall apart later. That was if I survived this.
I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about heisting the crappy, unkempt car from the neighbor’s back lot.
I had no other choice. It wasn’t like I could hitchhike.
Even going as fast as this car would take me, I kept glancing in the rearview mirror, waiting for an army of vicious motorcycles to catch up and surround me from behind.
Night had begun to descend, the pinks twining with wisps of silvered, darkened blue.
The woods flashed by at the edges of my sight, and the branches almost touched overhead.
With each mile I traveled, they seemed to deepen with the promise that they would swallow me.
Lead me down a hollowed-out tunnel to my demise.
I swiped the tears from my face with the back of my hand, trying to see through the torrent that wouldn’t stop falling as I sped in the direction of the address on that document.
I’d just passed the California state line, and I’d reach my destination in twenty minutes.
What I would find there, I didn’t know.
I tried to call and text Dereck a hundred times since I’d tossed myself over that wall.
Honestly, I’d barely hoped for a reply. It wasn’t like I’d gotten any before, so I wasn’t shocked when they remained unanswered.
The road twisted and wound into obscurity before I finally made it to the turn-off onto a dirt road.
My pulse careened. Nerves firing in every direction.
Fear telling me to run while despair pushed me forward.
Steeling myself, I slowly drove down the lane. The tires crunched over the gravel as I wound around a bend.
Finally, I came to the same massive iron gate I’d seen on the satellite picture.
Every molecule in my body squeezed.
Silas, what am I doing? What is happening? I don’t want to do this alone. Please…
My mind silently pleaded with a man I couldn’t trust, except my spirit screamed that was all wrong.
Screamed I didn’t understand.
Screamed that I was making a mistake.
All while my mother’s face flashed through my mind.“You’ll take good care of him?”
I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to find courage. Belief. Resiliency.
