Page 106 of Reign of the Queen
She immediately pulls away from him and almost falls out of the back of his Range, trying to get away from him. "No, please, you say I was safe."
"Sorry, not what I meant.” He raises his hands in a soothing manner, trying to calm her down. “I need to make itlooklike I buried her. Pretty sure my dad's tracking my Range, and he wants her dead. I'm going to have to dig a hole and bury one of those bags filled with rocks or dirt and make it look like it's her. She's getting the hell out of Casbury on a cargo plane tonight with Benny."
She relaxes at his explanation and allows him to continue cleaning the wound on her head. Her eye is so swollen she can't even open it, and it looks like her hand is broken with how she's cradling it. Anger and rage fill me. The desire to get back in my car and find Theo’s dad and murder him runs through my body.
"Your dad needs a bullet to his head." The rage almost overwhelms me just looking at this poor abused girl.
"Working on it," I hear Theo mutter under his breath.
"Alright fuckers, where we digging this hole?" Mateo walks back to the car and brings out the shovels and gloves. I notice he’s averting his eyes from looking at the girl and his face is pale. I hope he doesn’t end up having a panic attack right now. My mind can only deal with one crisis at a time.
I grab one of each from him, walk away from the cars to an area that isn't as overgrown but still hidden, and start digging. Mateo joins me, and we spend the next couple of hours digging a hole big and deep enough to hold the girl's body. In the meantime, Theo has taken one of the duffle bags and started filling it with dirt and rocks using his bare hands. Once the hole is deep enough and the bag is full, we heft it into the hole and start covering it with soil.
The girl, whose name we learn is Zofia, watches us from the back of Theo's Range. I managed to find some pain pills and a couple of protein bars in my bag, so at least we managed to get her to eat and drink a bit and swallow some of the pills. Theo’s piece of shit father hadn’t fed her in days.
We search my car and find two different-looking trackers hidden. Someone has definitely been tracking our whereabouts. I wonder if both are Vincent's, or did my parents put one on my car too? Mateo and I rip them off the Caddie and stomp on them. We find the same trackers on Theo’s vehicle, so maybe they are both Vincent’s. Fucker has been tracking our whereabouts, which means he knew we were at Mia’s the whole time.
"Ok, Zofia, here comes the shit part. I need you to get into the other bag, and we are going to put you in the trunk of Finn's car. Mateo's going to drive mine away from here, and Finn and I will get you to Benny. I need you in the bag in case anyone stops the car. You're going to have to stay quiet and hidden, ok?"
Zofia looks at all three of us with fear on her face. She doesn't completely trust us, and that's probably a good thing. She probably won't ever trust another male in her life not to hurt her. Vincent Saint-Lambert did more than hurt her. He broke her.
She climbs slowly down from the back of Theo's car, refusing Mateo's attempt to assist her, and climbs into the back of mine. She then proceeds to squeeze herself into the equipment bag that Mateo managed to find at the school. Little, painful whimpers escape her as she folds her body as small as possible so we can close the bag. We leave a section of the zipper open facing the opposite way of the trunk so she can get some air.
This girl is a warrior; someone else would be completely losing it by this point.Shit, I probably would have lost my fucking mind if someone suggested I get into a duffle bag in the back of some random guy's car after what she has gone through.
"Mat, I need you to drive the Range out of town for a few hours, don't stop for longer than it takes to fill it with gas, and don't come back to Casbury until either Finn or I text you. We can't remove the trackers he has on it for now." Theo threads his hands through his hair in aggravation.
Mateo nods, taking Theo's fob and getting in the Range to drive off. Theo and I get into the front seats of the Caddie and head out of the cemetery, taking a left while Mateo takes a right. "We heading directly to Benny?" I inquire.
"Not yet, do a loop. Let's make sure no one's following you first before we drop Zofia to Benny." We drive for the next hour doing loop after loop and backtracking through the countryside. If someone's following us, we haven't been able to spot them.
After another half hour of driving, we head toward the cargo terminal at the private airport, taking the maintenance route. Theo pulls out an ID card from his wallet, taps it at the electronic gate, and it opens for us. I drive into the cargo hangar and park the car in the farthest and darkest section.
As we're getting out of the car, a large frame appears in my sightline. Warning bells go off in my head, and my fight or flight kicks in. I'm not prepared to let anyone harm this girl any further, and I'll fight whoever comes for her.
"Chill, bro, it's me." The shadow calls to us, and I relax my body. Benny comes closer, his large body making it into the light of the one emergency spotlight at the back of the hangar. Benny is a former Casbury football player. His body is stacked thick with muscle. He's a couple of years older than us and a mean fucker with a hidden heart of gold. His gleaming bald head shines in the light, and he's wearing a concerned look on his strong, broad face. "You boys alright?"
"We're fine. We can't say the same for Zofia." I nod to the trunk, and Theo opens it up, unzipping the bag and helping Zofia sit up.
"Holy fuck, your dad did a number on this one, Theo. He's getting worse, bro." Benny moves closer to Zofia, using gentle motions to try to reassure her that he's a harmless six-foot-two three-hundred-pound puppy. "Zofia girl, we're going to get you out of here, and when we get where we are going, our first stop is to get you to a doctor I know, alright?"
Zofia nods and climbs out of the car, wincing at the pain the motion causes her body. She turns to Theo and touches his cheek. "You are nothing like that monster. Thank you for saving me." Then she walks away with a concerned Benny who is acting like a mother hen.
Benny looks back at us and nods, and we know he'll take care of her from here. It's unfortunately not the first time that we have had to bring someone here to escape Vincent Saint-Lambert, and it's looking like it might not be the last either.Thank fuck for saint Benny.
We get back in the car and head out of the area, taking multiple turns to ensure we aren't being followed on our way back to Casbury.
"You want to talk about it?" I ask.
"No. I need to return home soon, or he'll start to look for me if he hasn't already. I need you to do me a favor and make me a promise, bro." He looks right at me with a severe expression.
I slow the car down and stop on the shoulder, turning my full attention to him. "Anything."
"No matter what you hear, no matter what happens next, don't come for me. Keep Mia, Mateo, and Carter safe, and if you have to run, don't look back. Promise me you'll do that." He clenches his hands in his lap.
"I promise, but what the fuck is going to happen next, Theo?" My hands tighten on the steering wheel in fear.
"He's going to make me wish I died a long time ago. He's making me serve tonight, and I'm sure any protection I might have had before is gone. I have no idea if I'm going to make it out of there in one piece. Regardless, he will come for Mia, and Mack will come for Carter. I know it deep in my bones that he will. I am just hoping to buy you all enough time to get out of here, to be safe." He sighs and leans his head against the headrest, defeat already on display on his face.
