Sacrificing Sloan (Sloan Series Book 3) (8 page)

I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh. A big, giant high-pitched laugh that hurt even my ears, but couldn’t stop. “I just can’t get that through my mind. You want to help me. You tried to kill me… you shot my brother… you hurt my girlfriend—”

“Oh, you’re official now?”

I didn’t stop talking. “And now you want to help me? Why? The woods scary to ya? Think I’ll leave you here? Afraid of being alone?”

Boyd opened his mouth to speak and clamped it shut. His cheek turned a bright red, and I knew I’d hit a nerve. A very bad nerve. Instead of going off on me like I expected, Boyd let out the breath he’d been holding. “Are we doing this or not?”

“Why not? “ I scooted off the bed on my ‘good’ foot— which was an understatement, since my ankle was sprained. But at least it wasn’t broken. Small favors and all… The movement made my stomach very queasy, and the world spun for a second—not that I wanted Boyd to know that. He’d never know, if I had anything to say about it. The world stopped spinning, and I hobbled over to the table to steady myself.

If you can stay inside, please stay inside. We are expecting at least five more inches of rain today. Widespread flooding in low lying areas are imminent. Stay inside, folks. It’s gonna be a rough one.
The man from the radio’s voice poisoned the air.

“Lead the way.”

Chapter Thirteen

Sloan

2:02 PM

“
S
HE’LL KNOW WE ARE GONE.”
I
said, as I turned off on Brown Hollow Road. Truth be told, I hated that road. I hated it with everything I had in me. It wasn’t the road’s fault. It was actually a nice little country lane. There were farms on either side of it, rolling hills, a few scattered houses.

And that’s what bothered me—the few scattered houses.

More specifically, the one that was up on my right. The white farmhouse, where all of this started. The place where Darcy cornered me in a bathroom and poured beer on me. It was where I ran. I’d ran to the bottom of the road and stood at the mailbox, just to get some air—just to get away.

And a blue Mustang pulled up.

The window rolled down.

And there was Aaron Hunter.

What would have happened, if I hadn’t gone to that party?

What if I hadn’t let Darcy push my buttons like she did?

What if I had just gone on my merry way with my shoulders back and my chin held high?

I never would have run.

I never would have met Aaron.

My life would have been worse.

His would have been better.

Butterflies flew in my stomach as I got closer to the mailbox. He asked me if I was okay. He seemed to care, even then, and he knew who I was because I had been Ray’s little girlfriend in Kindergarten.

I wanted Aaron back so badly.

I let out a breath as I went by. I had to be a big girl and stop freaking out over everything. So, I made the split-second decision to turn in the driveway, a decision that caused Ray to grab the handle bar and curse a bit loudly at me. “What are you doing?”

“Boyd might have come back here… or maybe Mr. Lawrence knows something about him. Or maybe his mama is here. I don’t know.”

“I don’t care about Boyd.”

“I don’t either.” And it was true. It was very, very true. “But Boyd went over with Aaron. It makes sense to think that maybe they washed up at around the same location. Maybe they are even helping each other, and I believe this is the first place they would go.” I hoped so, anyway. Boyd wouldn’t want to go to the hospital. Too many questions. And I couldn’t, for the life of me, see how he didn’t get injured in the fall. Both of them. To get out, they would both need help from each other.

“I can’t see Boyd helping anybody.” Ray shook his head. His legs were fidgeting like he’d rather be out in the woods looking for Aaron than in that car. “This is a waste of time.”

“Maybe. But we won’t take long, and if there is no one home, we won’t bother waiting, but I have this feeling, Ray. Something isn’t right.”

“A lot ain’t right.”

“True. But just give me five minutes, and then we can go down the trail and get all muddy.” I tried to make it lighthearted, but it didn’t work. Ray never cracked a smile. Maybe he was thinking about how we left Mackenzie high and dry at home. Maybe he was thinking about what he’d do to Boyd if he happened to open the door.

When I parked in the driveway, I noticed something right away, Mr. Lawrence’s jeep was gone. I saw it a lot when I was dating Boyd, and of course in the school parking lot. I wondered if he’d gone out looking for Boyd himself. I sort of hoped he was. I always liked Mr. Lawrence, and it wasn’t his fault his son turned out to be a psychopath.

I notice another thing too, a car I didn’t recognize. It was a white convertible, with the roof up, of course, thanks to the rains that just wouldn’t stop. I put the car in park and hesitated.

“I take it you don’t know that car.”

“Nope. I don’t even know who it could be. Boyd’s mom isn’t around. She’s been in Nashville for the past however many years.”

“Divorced?”

“No, they just live apart.” I clarified.

“Ah…You going in?” Ray asked, as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

I guess I should have just jumped right out and gone in because it had been my idea to stop there, but the house had so many memories, and not all of them were good. I’d been with Boyd a lot in that house—and by been with, I mean… you know… and I always felt a bit uneasy there.

Like my past was trying to come back and smother me.

Ray placed his hand on mine, which shocked me. He had compassion in his eyes, not the bitterness he’d showed since he woke up yesterday. This looked like the old Ray. My friend. The one I counted on to help take care of me. I was so glad he was back. I needed him more than ever. “It’ll be okay, you know that, Sloan? I’ll be with you. We’ll knock. Ask if they have seen Boyd, and then we will leave. But we need to do it quick. It’s not like we have much daylight anyway, and what little we have will be gone soon.”

I nodded and got out of the car. The rain drenched me in less than thirty seconds, and I ran to the door. It opened on the second knock.

I started to say hello, but when it hit me who opened the door, I hesitated and stared.

It couldn’t be her. She had short hair, make-up on, nice clothes. She looked like a supermodel—then again, she always had. In the pictures I’d seen of her, at least.

Boyd’s mother.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Aaron

Time: Unknown

I
FELT LIKE AN IDIOT.

I was the eyes. Boyd was the legs on this particular venture, and if anyone saw us, they would laugh their butts off.

Then again, no one would see us because we were out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a rainstorm that wouldn’t end.

Oh glory.

One thing, it was comical. Big ole me, all muscles and in my twenties, having to be carried out of a shack by the man I hated. Not just carried—carried on his back. Like a backpack. Like a useless thing. Stupid broken leg. Sure, I probably could have hobbled on my sprained foot out of there, but I wanted to save that for the hills later. I wasn’t sure how much pain I could take, and I wanted to conserve my strength.

Plus… Boyd offered.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

There wasn’t much more closeness that I could get to Boyd.

I shook my head.

A new low in a lifetime of lows. Even for me.

“Dude, could you weigh any more?” Boyd huffed as he stepped off of the porch and into the storm. My first thought..
this is a bad idea!
My second,
please don’t let him drop me
. Boyd’s first step nearly covered his black formal shoes, the ones he’d worn to prom. I had on mine, too.

The second reason for the ridiculousness of the situation.

We were going to have to go through the woods like this—in clothes that didn’t match our terrain and shoes that weren’t hiking boots. Maybe we should have thought more about this….

One turn of my head and I knew why we couldn’t have thought any longer. The creek was maybe five feet from the house. It roared like a river and was way beyond its banks. Not even white water experts would want to test those waters— well, some people might, but I wouldn’t. I’d fought that current enough for a lifetime.

God
sure did have a sense of humor.

“Don’t complain. It could be worse.” Though I wasn’t entirely sure how. Maybe if we both had lost our legs or our vision. That would have been a lot worse.

“I don’ t see how.”

“You don’t see anything.” There would come a time when I figured I’d cross the line on blind jokes, but I hadn’t gotten there yet… and it wasn’t that I was talking about blind people. I had nothing but respect for them. I had no respect for Boyd, and if I could taunt him in any way, I was going to take it. Even if it did make me feel a bit bad to say. It wasn’t like I walked up to a random blind person on the street and kicked him. I wouldn’t do that. I would never mock a person’s disability. But this was Boyd. Boyd wasn’t a person. He was a monster.

He was fair game.

I just had to keep reminding myself of that because behind the monster was a guy who could be charming and funny when he wanted to be. I saw that side of him just a little in the cabin. He could be “one of the guys” if he wanted. He could actually be fun to mess with. A guy who, if circumstances had been different, could have been my friend.

Okay, so maybe not that far, but as much as I hated to admit it, it wasn’t horrible being stuck with Boyd. He had his purpose.

Then I thought of everyone Boyd had hurt: Ray, Sloan, even that Darcy chick, and it took everything I had not to kick Boyd with my good foot. Or strangle him. Or break his neck.

“Don’t think about it.” Boyd said, before I could do any of those things.

“Don’t think about what? How stupid this is?” I yelled into his ear because it was sort of hard to hear over the wind and rain.

“Kicking me, or whatever it is you are planning back there.”

There was no way this guy could read minds. “I wasn’t thinking about kicking you, Boyd. I like you too much.” Too much sarcasm? Maybe… possibly…

Boyd actually snickered. “Didn’t think Christians lied. Isn’t that frowned upon?”

“You keep mistaking me for my brother. You know, the one you shot? Yeah. He’s the Christian. Not me. I don’t live by anybody’s rules but my own.”

Boyd grunted and moved me up higher on his back, making me flinch. My ribs! Oh, my ribs. “Guess we aren’t so different, then.”

Oh, we were different. So. So different. “Let’s get something straight right now. We are nothing alike. I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to have to spend time with you.”

“Thought
I
was your worst enemy.” He sounded a bit… sad… about that? That settled it. Boyd was definitely mental. One couldn’t go from the guy that actually kidded and had, dare I say, fun, to the guy who hurt people, without there being some cause for it.

“Maybe not my worst. But definitely high on the list.”

Boyd stepped around a mud hole, only to step in another one. Actually, there wasn’t one place that didn’t have either mud or water or just general horribleness. I hoped he didn’t fall because it would be bad if both for both of us if he did. “Aww, Aaron. Are we having a moment?”

We were, but it was over now.

“You might want to move to the left.” I told him, being the eyes and all.

“Why?”

The question came too late.

Whack!

Boyd’s knee hit the front bumper of Mr. Lawrence’s jeep. The useless thing had been disabled, thanks to a fallen tree. Boyd cursed, grumbled, and said some words that even I didn’t say.

“I told you to move left.”

“A little more warning, moron! What good is it going to do if both of us have lame legs and can’t walk, huh? Wanna be stuck here forever?”

Since when had Boyd been the voice of reason? “Oh, lighten up. Next time, do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it. I say jump, you say how high.”

“You say jump, and I’ll throw you off my back.” He huffed, as he used his elbow to feel around the car, as his hands were currently occupied holding my legs around his waist.

It was as uncomfortable as it sounded.

“Just get to walking. We need to get out of the woods before it gets dark.”

“Anything else I need to know about?” Boyd asked. His steps turned strangely cautious. Though I supposed it wasn’t really that strange,. Boyd didn’t trust the ‘eyes’ on his back, any more than I trusted the feet under me.

“No.” I told him simply, staring at a rock where the mud met the forest. I’d tell Boyd about it.

Eventually.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sloan

2:09 PM

I
DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY
at first because, truth be told, I hadn’t really expected anyone to answer the door. Yeah, the car and all and it was my idea to go to the house anyway, but it still shocked me when the door opened. And it shocked me even more when I saw Boyd’s mama staring at me.

“Sloan.” She said my name with an icy tone that sent shivers down my spine. I guess to her, though, I was the enemy. The reason her son was missing. Maybe I’d feel the same way if it were my child. Then again, I hoped my child didn’t turn out like Boyd.

“Hi, Mrs. Lawrence.” I hoped she was still “Mrs. Lawrence,” or this would be very uncomfortable. “Can we come in?”

It was raining harder now, and my clothes were drenched. I should have grabbed a rain coat or something on the way out, but I was in too big of a hurry. I mean, I had on a heavy coat, but still, not a rain coat. Not by a long shot.

“I guess you are here about Boyd.” She answered, not moving.

My teeth started chattering. I really wanted her to let us in.

As if reading my mind, Mrs. Lawrence sighed and moved from the door. She walked into the living room, and Ray and I followed.

The house was just as I’d seen it that last time I was here— last week, when I confronted Boyd about stalking me. He denied it, and I believed him. I believed him! Idiot.