“Get up. Come on. Get up.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. You have to.” I shook her gently.

She sobbed quietly. “That hurts.”

I looked closely. I didn’t see any blood, so she was in better condition than I was. “You can. Now get the hell up!” I grabbed her shoulders.

“Aauuuggghhh!” she shrieked.

I broke my hold quickly. “What did they do to you?”

“My shoulders. They’re both dislocated.”

“Damn. I’m so sorry.”

“Can you pop them back in?”

“I can’t. I’m not a doctor.” And if I didn’t get out of here, I never would be. “I might do more damage.”

“Then please. Kill me.”

My heart dropped to my stomach. Kill her? I couldn’t kill anyone.

“Please,” she said again. “I’d rather die here than have them torture me anymore. Please.”

“I…”

“What’s your name?”

“Zinnia. Like the flower.”

“I’m Katelyn.”

“Katelyn. I’m so sorry.”

“Please, Zinnia.”

“My friends call me Zee.”

“Please, Zee.”

“You can’t ask this of me. How will I live with myself?”

She scoffed softly. “Live with yourself? You won’t live through this, Zee. You won’t have to live with yourself for long.”

I considered her words. Yes, I actually considered them. But not for long.

“I’m so sorry,” I told Katelyn. “I’m not a killer.”

She closed her eyes, groaning. “Then run. I hear them coming.”

I turned my head. Sure enough, faint footsteps.

“Maybe it’s not them,” I said.

“It’s always them. Now do as I tell you. Get the hell out of here.”

“I can’t leave you.”

“If you can’t pop my shoulders back, and you’re not willing to kill me, there’s nothing more you can do.”

“I can carry you.”

“Then we’ll both die.”

My survival instinct flew into overdrive as the footfalls got louder. Katelyn was right. Survival of the fittest. I hated myself for leaving her, but I fled.

And I never saw her again.

42

Reid

I slowly slid the last photo into view. It wasn’t an item belonging to Lacey. No. It was a document.

A marriage certificate.

I gulped.

“No,” I said. “This can’t be.”

“It is.”

Derek Wolfe—my father—had married another woman.

And according to the date on the certificate, they got married before he married my mother. He was young. Really young.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“It could mean nothing,” Buck said. “It could be a forgery that Jim was going to use to blackmail your father.”

“No.” I shook my head. “My father had way more resources than Jim. No way would Jim be stupid enough to even try.”

“How do you suppose,” Buck began, “your father got Jim to take part in his games?”