Page 6 of Rough Choice

“It’s morning; the sun is rising behind us.”

“Didn’t know you were a boy scout,” Grier commented.

“Doesn’t take a genius to know the sun rises in the east, Grier,” Eliana muttered. She fell silent, resting her sore head against the glass of the window. Signs flew past them on the road, but as they were on a rural highway, none of the exit signs were very informative as to their location. Wherever they were, it was hours away from Kye.

As though remembering something, she turned in her seat and grabbed her backpack from the seat behind her. She was rummaging and fumbling through it, searching every pocket and crevice. Not finding what she was looking for, she upended it and scoured her belongings.

“I can’t find my phone,” she said, looking over at Grier. He’d kept his eyes trained on the road, one hand gripping the wheel, the other resting on the gear shifter. The SUV was an automatic, so she suspected he was used to driving a manual from his posture. “Grier?”

“What?”

“I can’t find my phone.”

“Did you look in your bag?”

“Are you trying to be funny or insufferable?” she asked, knowing full well he’d seen her sifting through her items for the last ten minutes.

“Are you laughing?”

“No.”

“Then likely the latter.”

“You know what, fuck you,” she cursed and began stuffing her items haphazardly back into her bag.

“You’re not my type.”

“It wasn’t really an offer,” she snapped back. Turning her eyes to look back out the window, she struggled to replay the events of the night before. Though they’d planned as carefully as possible, it had all ended up feeling hastened and hurried. Things would have gone according to plan had the park ranger not shown up. But that was Max’s play, wasn’t it?

The last weeks in the confines of her former home, doing Max’s bidding, working to free guilty men under the guise of working off her debt had all felt like the final walk to the hangman’s noose. Even in his weakened state, he’d been slowly tightening the rope; planning, plotting and blocking every escape from the ultimate trap he’d built. The park ranger had been the final installment. His insurance to make sure Kye had carried out his final order exactly.

“Have you heard from Kye?” She looked over at Grier. The man remained unmoving. He must have been a statue in a former life because he managed to sit so still, she couldn’t tell if he was even blinking. “Stop ignoring me!”

“I’m not ignoring you. I’m not answering you,” he replied.

“We can argue semantics, or you can just answer the question. Just tell me if you’ve heard from Kye. I don’t have my phone. He might be trying to reach us.” She was well aware of the pleading in her voice, but she made no attempt to stop it. Just shy of jumping out of the moving vehicle, she had no way of getting back to Kye outside of this man. Grier. Kye’s best friend, supposedly. Yet he was entirely unhelpful to her.

“I haven’t heard from him,” Grier answered after a long moment of silence passed.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s not a good thing.”

“The two of you, you have a plan; I know it,” Eliana interjected.

“If you know, then why are you asking?”

“Stop it, just stop!” she shouted and banged her hand on the dashboard. “Pull over. I need air.” When Grier didn’t so much as let up on the gas, she unlocked the door and reached for the handle.

“What the hell?” he asked when she started to open the door. He slammed the brakes and pulled onto the shoulder of the two-lane highway. A cloud of dust settled around them as she jumped out and began pacing. Air was flowing freely in her lungs, but she still felt as though she couldn’t breathe. Raising her arms to rest on the top of her head, she continued pacing and tried to steady herself with several long and deep breaths.

“Please, please just tell me,” she begged when Grier exited the car and leaned against the hood. He was lighting a cigarette when she approached him. “I need to know. Please tell me we didn’t just drive away and leave Kye to die. I have to know. Please, please tell me.” She was crying now, and the stoicism in Grier was making it worse. If the night before had been the last time she’d ever see Kye, she’d never be able to forgive herself.

He’d taken the hand and gone to Max. She was certain of it. Maybe he thought they needed to buy time, maybe it was part of the plan; she didn’t know. What she did know was that Kye had gone back into the snake’s pit to try to keep her safe. If he died because of it, Eliana would have nothing to live for anymore. It would have been better if Grier had killed her, or loaded the gun he’d given her, or they had buried her in that pit and cut off a hand as proof.

“Kye and I have always had an escape plan,” Grier said, letting out a long breath. “About six years ago, when the money really started rolling in, we put together an exit strategy in case we ever needed one. He has a fail-safe, and I have one.”

“And that’s where we’re going now? His fail-safe?”