Page 131 of You Make Me Feel
Then he pushes me forward, the gun poking me in the back this time.
“Walk ahead now. Nice and easy, no sudden movements.”
I don’t reply that I can’t do anything else in this stupid dress.
The click of his shoes behind me is steady, careful, calculated. Each step we take down the wooden boardwalk echoes like a countdown.
Please let Asher and Zach have a plan. Because I’m scared. Really scared now. I don’t want to be alone with Darien on a boat. And I definitely don’t want to be alone with him when we reach land.
I can hear Darien’s heavy breathing as we move together down the road toward the ferry dock. And just asAsher promised, there’s a boat there. Tied up to the side, the engine running.
Darien lets out a little chuckle, like he can’t believe his luck.
But it doesn’t stop him from tightening his grip on me, his fingers digging into my waist as we step off the boardwalk onto the dock. The old planks creak beneath our feet, and the water laps lazily against the hull of the boat.
“Climb in,” he mutters.
God, this is really happening. They’re letting me go. I don’t know why that makes me want to sob, but it does.
Pulling up the skirt of my dress, I step onto the edge, one hand bracing against the side of the boat. My toe stubs the step and I let out a cry as I stagger. He shoves me forward and I land on the deck with a thud, my palms scraping against the wood.
“Get up,” he tells me. “And drive the boat.”
I blink. “I don’t know how to drive a boat. Can’t you do it?”
He lets out a groan. “I don’t fucking know how to.” With his free hand he pulls out his phone and throws it to me. “Google it.”
A sob pulls at my throat. I’m on the verge of hysterics. “Just let me go.”
“Drive the boat, Sadie,” he growls. “Because if you don’t…” He wiggles the gun.
I don’t bother googling it. Instead I head for the steering wheel, and see what looks like a stick shift next to it. I push at it gently, but the gears ratchet. So I shove it and the engine revs as the boat starts to surge.
“Oh shit.” I ease off.
“For fuck’s sake,” Darien shouts. “Be gentle.”
My heart slams against my chest. “You need to undo the rope,” I shout back. “For us to leave.”
“You do it,” he says. “I don’t trust you to leave without me.”
“I can’t untie the rope and drive the boat at the same time.”
He wrinkles his nose at me, then walks over to the rope that attaches the boat to the dock. But instead of jumping out and unwinding it, he unwinds the part of the rope attached to the boat.
Jesus, the man really is an idiot. We won’t be able to dock on the other side.
I push the stick forward slowly, trying to get used to the feel of it. The boat starts to move. Then Darien walks over to me and puts the gun against my head again. “Thank you,” he says. “I think I’ll take it from here.”
“You want me to go?”
“I want you to let go of the fucking wheel,” he tells me.
“But youareletting me go?” I ask again.
He slowly shakes his head. And that’s when I realize, he’s not letting me go. Not here, and not on the mainland.
“You wouldn’t hurt me,” I whisper. Tears start to stain my cheeks. “You’re not a killer.”
