Page 104 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

I stared at Misty trying to push herself upright with taped wrists, breathing too fast, blood running down her chin.

If I let him tie me up, we were dead.If I refused, he’d start hurting her again.He seemed unstable enough now that I believed he would do something terrible.

Slowly, I held out my hands.

The duct tape hissed loudly in the silent room as he tore off a strip.

I needed him talking.Needed Timothy to hear this, whether the call had gone to voicemail or he had answered.

“Where are we going?”I asked.

My father stepped closer, the sharp chemical smell of gun oil and sweat rolling off him.

“We’re going to your boyfriend’s house.”

“Why?”I didn’t bother denying I was with Timothy.There was no point.

He grabbed my wrists hard and started wrapping the tape tight.

“Because,” he said softly, almost cheerfully, “it’s time somebody paid me back.”

* * *

TIMOTHY

I answeredGia’s call immediately, but all I got was silence.

Then her father’s voice came through the speaker.

Every hair on my body stood up.I heard the threat.Heard Misty crying.Heard him say they were going to the farm.

For one frozen second, I couldn’t breathe.I kept the call connected and grabbed my second phone, the one I used for work, off the console.My hands were already shaking as I searched for Jackson’s number, but my regular phone lit up first.

Jackson calling.

I put Gia’s call on mute and answered Jackson so fast I nearly dropped it.“He’s got her,” I said the instant the line connected.My voice sounded rough.“Gia.He’s got Gia.”

“Where’s he taking her?”Jackson seemed too calm.That scared me more.

“The farm.My house.”I blew through a stop sign, tires squealing as I fishtailed onto the highway.“Jackson, what the hell happened?Did you and Mark do something besides involve the DEA?Why didn’t Mark let me know he left?”

Jackson was silent a beat too long.“I found out Jimmy McClary had another family.”

“What?”

“He’s a bigamist.Had a second wife living thirty minutes away.Been playing at being some kid’s stepfather for over a year.”His voice stayed terrifyingly even.“I turned everything over to the police this morning.”

The engine roared as I shoved the truck faster.

“I think his second wife took the news badly.”Jackson paused.“Really badly.”Something in his tone made my stomach tighten.

“We’ve got to get to the farm,” I said.“Can you make it there before him?”

“I’m already driving.”

“What about Mark?Where the hell is he?”

Another silence.Longer this time.The kind that tells you something awful before the words came.