Breathe (20 page)

I was hobbling back from the bathroom when my phone rang. When I saw it was a blocked number, I was terrified to answer it, but then again—what would happen if I didn’t?

I answered the call and heard the voice I dreaded to hear.

“Jasmine.” My breath caught and my heartbeat sped up.

“Yes,” I gasped out as I hopped quickly into my room, shut the door, and fell down on my bed.

“Didn’t we have a conversation about you getting rid of that oaf? He had his hands all over you. My instructions were clear.”

I knew he must have seen me with Easton today. Crap.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I took care of it.”

“Be sure you stick to our agreement or it won’t go well for him. Do you understand?”

I was shivering all over. “Yes, you don’t need to hurt anyone.” Please let him believe me.

“It won’t be long until we’re together.”
Click
.

I crawled under the covers. I set my alarm and reached into my nightstand drawer for the only picture I had of Easton and me together. I held it to my chest. What if I couldn’t save him or my family? I cried myself to sleep. Again.

#

There are rules to getting away with something. You can’t leave any detail undone and think it won’t matter—that’s how you get caught. It’s all about the planning. Details are important—ignore them at your peril. But it’s important to remember that you’ll never think of everything.

My alarm went off at two a.m. When I got up, I put on my darkest running clothes and crept down the stairs as quietly as I could. Stepping over the creaky stair in the middle, I made it downstairs and safely out the back door.

I was ready to go. I had activated the GPS that was strapped to my “bad” ankle. I needed to make sure it worked the way it was supposed to. This was my test run. I started to run down the sidewalk on my way to the trees at the end of the street. I noticed movement in the car in front of me and my heart started to pound, but it wasn’t the Monster.

It was Easton’s car. What? His driver’s door swung open. What in the world was going on?

I started to veer away from the car to the trees, when he got out and called me.

“Jasmine.” I came to a halt on the passenger side. He was scowling. “What are you doing?”

Was he kidding? What am I doing? What was he doing? He could ruin everything in this one moment. I looked at him, then glanced at the trees.

“Don’t make me manhandle you into the car. I am not in the mood to be patient right now.” He looked like he meant it.

I looked at the trees again. I knew I wouldn’t make it. I was fast, but with his stride in this short amount of distance, he would catch me in about three steps. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. He walked over to my side and opened the door. “Get. In.”

Discretion being the better part of valor, I got in. While he made his way over to the driver’s side, I started to freak out a bit. What if the Monster saw us? What if he came now?

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out as soon as he got in and closed the door.

“I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing out at two thirty in the morning, and why are you running when you’ve rolled your ankle?” He raised his eyebrows at me.

“I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to run. My ankle is better. I can’t use the treadmill without waking everybody up, so I thought it would be no big deal to go for a run right now. It’s not like I expected to have someone outside my house watching me.” I felt like an awful person. I was making him sound like a nutcase, but I needed the attention off me and onto him.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked. “Are you stalking me?”

He wasn’t even looking at me. He was staring out the side window scanning the street. For what, I could only guess. “Yes, Jasmine,
I’m
a stalker. You must be tired because your little act is slipping.”

I pretended to sulk. Was I ever going to catch a break with him? Why didn’t I fall for some nice, dumb jock who believed everything I said? Did I have to be attracted to an intelligent guy? So, I guess my sulk was kind of real. Why was nothing ever easy?

“What is it you think I’m doing, Easton?” Sometimes playing dumb is enough. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t believe me, but his life was in danger if I didn’t convince him.

He turned in his seat to face me. “I think you’re doing something dangerous.”

Oh boy. Not good. Underestimating him was a bad idea. “Dangerous? Running is dangerous? I know I rolled my ankle, and it’s the middle of the night, but really?”

“Jasmine, I’m tired, I don’t want to play this game anymore. Unless you want to tell me what’s really going on, you should just go back in the house and go to bed.” He sat back in his seat and stared out the windshield.

“I told you, I’m going for a run.” I put my hand on the door handle, and his hand shot out and grabbed mine.

“No you don’t. The only place you are running to is your front door.”

“What are you talking about? I told you I came out here to run.” I felt like having a temper tantrum. Like a real honest-to-goodness tantrum, right there. It was the outside of enough. I just couldn’t deal with this too. He was so frustrating. I loved him, but he was going to ruin everything.

“Sugar, whatever is really going on, you have to stop it.” He looked determined.

I realized at that moment that he hadn’t bought my act at all. Not even a little bit. He might not know everything that was going on, but he was on the right road. How many nights had he sat out here? This was far more dangerous than I originally thought. I needed to get away from him and stay away until this was all over.

“Let go. I’m going back inside. I can’t do this. I don’t know why you’re here. We’re not together. Go home, Easton.” He still had hold of my hand. I knew he could feel it shaking. I was glaring at him, but it didn’t seem to be working.

He spoke as if he was choosing his words very carefully. “If you go anywhere but to your front door right now, I am going to wake your mother and tell her what I think you’re doing. She’ll never let you leave the house again.”

I ripped my hand out of his and flung the door open. I got out, slammed the car door, and stomped all the way to my front door. By the time I got there, he had grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. No. No, no, no. I could not give in to him no matter how much I wanted to with every fiber of my being. He tilted my chin up and stared into my eyes like he was trying to figure something out.

“Jasmine, what are you doing? You have to let me help you.”

I took a deep breath. “If you want to help me and yourself, you will go home.” I wriggled out of his grasp and went inside without looking back. I really wanted to slam that door too, when I got in, but rationality prevailed, and I crept back to my room instead.

My life sucked.

I was in English class when the text came in.

Take the number 4 bus to the rest stop off Hwy 10. Exit #97. I am sure I don’t have to remind you what will happen to Lily if you disobey me. You have 1 hour.

I had been worried all morning about what happened last night, but it looked like the Monster wasn’t aware of it. Instead, it was time to go. I got a jolt of fear when I read the text, and then peace. Strange. Maybe it was shock. Didn’t matter at this point. I had to get moving. I asked Mrs. Thomas if I could go to the nurse. Instead, I went to my locker and stopped in the bathroom.

I had a few preparations to make. I used the toilet, then changed my clothes and shoes before I went out the side doors by the gym. I walked quickly to the bus stop three blocks over. I hoped no one had seen me, but after-school detention for skipping class didn’t seem like that big of a deal at the moment.

I felt a little numb. I thought I would be shaky or scared, but really, I just felt calm. It was finally happening. The waiting was over. I was ready. I was putting my plan into action, and if I was lucky, the Monster would be caught.

I hopped on the public bus and opened up my phone to read the text one more time.

I texted Caedan to tell him I wouldn’t be home this afternoon. I gave him the password to my username on the computer. Then I told him I had a mission for him.

When he was little, he loved to play spy. I used to set up missions for him. I would send him to find out what mom was making for dinner, but he had to do it without her seeing. He loved it. I knew, at first, he would think it was a game. Even though he was twelve, he wouldn’t be able to resist. I warned him to follow my instructions exactly. I said a prayer that it would go off without a hitch. Unlikely, I knew, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

At some point—probably sooner rather than later—he would know it wasn’t a game. I was trusting him to hold it together and follow my instructions. He had to activate the GPS, have the texts sent to his phone, make sure the e-mails got sent, and call 911. I knew it was a lot to ask of a twelve-year-old, but Caedan was the most capable member of my family. Even if he fell apart, there was enough information there. I know he would make sure the police got it. I was just praying it would work in my favor.

It made me sad and scared to think I may never see my family again. I knew what kind of pain my death or even disappearance would bring. We had lived it already once. If I could have thought of a better way to catch him, I would have. I hated that I might cause so much pain if it went wrong. I could feel the fear trying to get a foothold when I started to think about what I had to do. Time to stop thinking and start doing.

I spent the rest of the bus ride repacking my backpack and mentally reviewing my plan. I hadn’t had time to test it as well as I would have liked, thanks to Easton’s little interruption last night, so I was just going to hope it was as good as I thought it was. No more time to plan now. I had arrived.

As I stepped off the bus, I got my next set of instructions.

Sit on the bench next to the trees on the far side of the building. Walk slowly. Face forward.

That was simple. I could do that. My heart was starting to pound. All I could think about was how many holes there were in my plan and what could go wrong. I hated not knowing what was going to happen. I had a vivid imagination, and I had to force myself not to dwell on all the horrible things that could happen. One foot in front of the other. I needed to stay focused.

I hobbled slowly toward the bench and sat down. I was facing the highway and the building with all the restrooms, so I could see almost everything going on at the rest stop. This was a little strange. There were people everywhere. Why would he have me come here? There were truckers and families stopping here to use the restrooms. It wasn’t packed like on a weekend, but it was a Friday afternoon, so it was fairly busy. I guess it made sense. He could watch and make sure I did what he said. I was right not to have called the police yet. He would have seen that coming and just walked away. I had thought about it, but I couldn’t risk it. If he was watching, he would get away. Again.

I pulled out my phone and got to work.

I saw a newer-looking truck pull into the parking lot, and a man got out. He was tall, blond, and kind of muscular. He went into the restroom and came out again, talking to another guy. The man chuckled and moved on to his car. Blond guy turned and walked away from his truck and toward my bench. He stopped directly in front of me. He looked vaguely familiar.

“Excuse me, do you know how to get to Lake Charles from here?” He was smiling, but I couldn’t see his eyes through the mirrored sunglasses he wore. I thought it was odd that he would ask me for directions. I was obviously not an adult. Not that he was that old. Maybe midtwenties. Why wouldn’t he ask one of the other adults nearby? Was this a line?

“I’m sorry, I’m new here. I don’t really know my way around yet.” I smiled briefly and looked down at my phone, hoping to be dismissive but not rude.

“Well, that’s okay, Jasmine. I’m new here too. I think we’ll find our way where we’re going just fine,” he said as he stared down at me from where he stood, blocking my line of sight to the restrooms.

My head snapped up when he said my name, and my stomach felt like it hit the ground. How could this be him? He didn’t look like I ever imagined the Monster to look. I thought he would be ugly, deformed, and awful. He was no Easton Ward, but he was so… normal.

I was completely taken off guard. I expected a repeat of the day of the meet. I expected to be grabbed from behind. How was he planning to get me to go with him? Oh, right. Same way he got me here. Lily. I would just go to his truck with him, and it would look like we were together. No one would be the wiser. Clever. Clever and really creepy.

Was this what he had done with Daisy? Had he threatened to take me? Had she gone without any fuss because she thought I was in danger? I couldn’t believe how sick I felt in this moment. My sister had died at the evil hands of this man. I was shaking, and I felt cold sweat pour down my back. I didn’t want to think of the horrible things he had done to her as he stood there smiling at me. I could feel bile in the back of my throat. I was angry and terrified both at the same time.

“So, Jasmine, we’re just going to make our way over to my truck, and you are not going to draw attention to yourself in any way. You understand? Nod your head.” He looked serious. I nodded and stood up. I felt like my feet were filled with lead, and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I limped as we made our way to the truck. He put his arm around me as we walked. I had to control myself not to shudder and gag. All I could think about was that those hands had killed my sister.