Ethan turned right, heading away from town. Cora turned in her seat to look back up the driveway. She saw no movement. No truck following them. She didn’t think Derrick had tried to get up yet.

“He’s not following us. We should be safe to call the police from here,” she said.

Ethan shot her a look but didn’t stop.

Cora waited a beat, turning again to look back at the house. Why was Ethan moving away from town? Shouldn’t they be headed toward people, not away from them?

“Ethan, stop.” Her voice still held the tone of someone who didn’t understand what was going on. Someone who expected him to listen.

It was dawning on her, though, that he wasn’t going to listen. He wasn’t planning to call the police and explain what had happened. He wasn’t planning to tell them that he’d had to hit Derrick because he was hurting Cora. It was the truth, but there was something else Ethan would have to admit to if he did. And he wasn’t planning to tell anyone the truth.

Cora didn’t want to know what it was. She just wanted to get out of the truck.

“Stop the truck, Ethan. Let me out.”

His hands tightened on the wheel. “We just have to figure this out. We need to figure out some kind of story.”

“There doesn’t need to be a story,” she said, in a measured calm tone. “You had to hit Derrick. He was hurting me. That’s all we need to tell them. No one’s going to blame you for that.”

Ethan blew out a harsh breath and shoved a hand through his hair. His hand was shaking and he didn’t look her way. His eyes stayed locked on the road ahead of them. It was an empty road now. Around his house, there might have been the chance of another person coming down the road, but now they’d gotten to the point where the cars would be few and far between.

“I just need to think, Cora. I’m going to figure this out.”

Cora thought back to all she knew about being in a situation like this. It wasn’t just what Justin had told her over the last few days. Her sister, Ashley, had been kidnapped once. That had been an eye-opening experience for all of them. Cora had read as much as she could after that about what to do if she was ever kidnapped.

She didn’t consider this a kidnapping, really. Ethan likely hadn’t stopped to think about what he was doing. What she needed to figure out, was how to get through to him. How to get him to realize what he was doing. If she could get him to stop and think, surely he wouldn’t hurt her. He would let her go.

Should she yell at him and tell him to stop the car right now and let her out? He’d shown some protectiveness back there when he’d saved her from Derrick. But would that streak continue if he felt like she was turning on him?

Justin’s voice came through to her. “Humanize yourself. Always make sure an abductor sees you as a person. If they do anything to make you think they’re not seeing you that way anymore—if they stop feeding you, or cover your face up, or won’t look at you—you fight like hell. Until then, stay calm and humanize yourself as much as possible until you see an opening to get help or get away.”

Cora turned toward Ethan in the seat. “Thank you for stopping him. I was really scared when he grabbed me.” No need to lie there. It was the truth and the shakiness in her voice as she relived that moment was genuine.

Her purse and her phone were in her car, but she had her keys in the pocket of her sweatshirt. Thanks to Justin, the keychain had a canister of pepper spray on it.

“We just need to figure this out,” he said again. He seemed locked on that idea.

“Tell me what we need to figure out, Ethan.”

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. This was never supposed to be this way. I haven’t gambled since I got out of this fucking town ten years ago. I did what I had to do to settle the debt before I left. It wasn’t supposed to come back on us like this.”

Cora froze, listening as Ethan talked.

He turned to her. “I just need to find a way to fix this.”

“Fix what, Ethan?” She could spray him with the pepper spray but then he might crash the car. The stuff was strong and he was going fifty-five or sixty. An accident at this speed could kill them or at the very least, do a lot of damage.

He looked over at her again and then shook his head. “Derrick and I both owed people a lot of money. It wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t both plan it together. It only worked because I worked for the transport company and he worked for the company that was hired to dispose of the chemicals. With both of us on either end, we could change the paperwork to make sure the numbers matched up. I delivered some of the drums Caufield’s sent and we buried the rest on my family’s land. Derrick’s sister worked in the billing department at the disposal company. She billed the amount Caufield’s expected to pay, then only transmitted enough to cover what we said they sent. We kept the extra money.”

Cora realized what he was saying. He and Derrick had buried those chemical drums the kids had discovered. They were the reason Mr. Knight and the kids had gotten sick.

She spoke quietly and calmly. “Derrick, just pull over and let me out. I’ll walk back.”

He didn’t seem to hear. “Cora, you know me. You know I would never have done any of this on purpose. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Her other option was to jump from the car. But they were going too fast.

She could try to spray him with the pepper spray and grab the wheel, but she couldn’t work the pedals. If she sprayed him, he could as easily hit the gas as he could the brake.

Maybe she could get him to pull over so they could talk.

“Ethan,” she said, putting her hand on his arm very gently. Just the smallest touch to see if she could get through to him. “Pull the truck over so we can figure this out, Ethan. We need to stop and think before we go further. It’s not a good idea to just run blindly.”

He glanced her way, then nodded. He pulled the truck over to the side of the road and shifted into neutral.

Cora reached for the door. She was getting out of the truck before it started moving again.

She heard Ethan yell as she bolted.

“Cora, wait!”

Cora turned and faced Ethan. He stopped and stood in the headlights of the truck. It was getting dark out now.

Her hand was on the pepper spray as she talked to Ethan.

“I’m not getting back in the truck with you, Ethan. We can talk about this, but I’m not getting back in the truck.” She still hoped she could talk him into calling the police and explaining things. She didn’t want to mention the police yet. It was possible he would see that as a threat and things would escalate even more than they had. As far as she could tell, he still saw her as a potential ally.

He took a step closer, but she held out her hand and took a step back.

“Cora, I can’t let anyone find out what we did. I need to get out of here. They’ll figure it out and I can’t be here when they do.”

She gripped the canister of pepper spray and slid the safety lock to the side with her thumb so she was ready to use it if she had to. “I’m not going with you, Ethan. If you want to run, you’re going to have to do it without me.”

She didn’t know how many miles they had travelled. Not many, she thought. Maybe five or so miles.

She nodded to the truck, hoping he would get in and go. If she stayed on the road, she could find her way to a house. They had passed a ranch house a mile or so back. It was dark, but she could stick to the road and find her way.

Ethan looked smaller somehow now, like he’d lost his way. “Just come with me. Please, Cora.” He didn’t seem to want her as a hostage. He almost seemed like he just didn’t want to be alone in this.

He came toward her and reached for her, but she pulled away. Anger crossed his features, made all the more vivid and frightening in the light of the headlights. “Cora, we have to go!”

She dodged his grip and brought the pepper spray up, aiming toward his face and pressing the trigger. She didn’t know how accurately she hit him, but his scream told him she at least caused some amount of pain. He stopped and bent, hands to his face.

Cora didn’t wait to see what would happen next. She ran to the truck and got in, shutting the doors and locking them.

Then she looked down and reality hit her. She didn’t know how to drive a stick shift.

She looked up in time to see Ethan coming toward her. His eyes were nearly closed, blue ink streaked his face. A face now contorted with pain and rage. And she’d just trapped herself.