Road. I’ll tell you where to turn.”
“What the hell is out there?” the driver demanded, speaking for the first time since Tori got into the car. “I’ll have to call in the change. Your card—”
“Keep the charge on the card.” Alice dug into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a wad of cash, large bills, twenties and fifties. “You think this might take care of the extra trouble?”
The driver shot another glare at Alice in the rearview mirror. “I have to call it in.”
Alice laughed. “There’s five hundred dollars here. Maybe you can make an exception this time.”
He shifted his attention to the street and kept driving. His silence confirmed his agreement. Tori’s heart sank.
Alice rolled her eyes before leaning down, picking up the bag, and tucking the money inside.
Tori’s heart thumped harder and harder as a new wave of fear crashed against her. Why hadn’t she gotten out back there while Alice was in her house? She could have run. Even if the driver had chased her. She should have tried. What was wrong with her? She had allowed Alice to convince her Sarah needed them. After all the lies she had told, how could Tori believe her this time?
Now she was probably going to die. For all she knew Sarah was already dead.
No. No one else was going to die.
Anger shot through Tori. “Where is Sarah?” The thin, not-so-steady voice was hers. The words had burst out of her. Tori blinked, stared at Alice. “When you called, you told me she’d run away from the hospital and was in trouble. We’re supposed to be going to help her. Where is she?”
Alice exhaled a dramatic sigh as if she had no patience for Tori’s questions. “I told her to wait at the warehouse. It was the only place I could think for her to hide. Her parents would never look there.”
“At the port?” Tori demanded, her bravado rallying. “How did she get there? She couldn’t have walked that far.” Hitchhiking would be too dangerous. Sarah would never do that.
Alice nodded to the driver. “How do you think she got there? She called an Uber. Don’t be stupid, Tori. She’s our friend. We’re going to help her. That’s what friends do.”
Tori held back the other words she wanted to shout. How could she not have realized the guy behind the wheel was just an Uber driver? She really could have run, and he probably wouldn’t have cared. She was an idiot. She had to think. Alice could be lying. Why would Sarah run away and ask Alice for help? Why hadn’t she called Tori? They had known each other the longest—way longer. Why hadn’t the police had a guard on her hospital room? Sarah had confessed to pushing Brendal. Wouldn’t the police be watching her or something? Tori squeezed her eyes shut. The whole thing—the whole story was some kind of crazy lie that Alice had probably convinced Sarah to believe. No way had Sarah pushed anyone.
Tori understood now what kind of liar Alice was. But she couldn’t risk letting Sarah down if she needed her. Ignoring Alice’s call hadn’t been an option any more than not seeing this through was.
But she should have told her mom instead of leaving a note and sneaking out. If this was another lie . . .
“I don’t believe you.”
Tori froze. She’d said the words. Out loud. To Alice.
Alice held the bag closer to her chest; one hand slid inside. “Just shut up, Tori.”
Tori dared to meet her gaze. Alice’s eyes were wild and fierce. She was not kidding.
“We’re doing this together,” Alice said calmly. “Just like we planned.” She even smiled.
Probably for the driver’s sake, since he watched in the rearview mirror.
And they hadn’t planned anything. Alice had told Tori what they had to do, and Tori had done it.
Tori said another hasty prayer. Since he apparently didn’t work for her family, she hoped the driver wasn’t one of those people who didn’t like getting involved.
Help me, please.
Tori stared at that rearview mirror and silently repeated the words over and over. Maybe her eyes would somehow telegraph her plea to the man.
39
7:30 a.m.
Devlin Residence
Twenty-First Avenue South
Birmingham
Kerri cradled her coffee mug in both hands. She and Tori had talked and cried until late in the night. They’d eaten pizza and popcorn and ice cream. It hadn’t been until after midnight that Kerri had left Tori asleep in her bed and made her way to her own.
She’d slept like the dead. Kerri hadn’t