the bedroom. Bear lifts his head, but when he sees it’s me, he sighs and stretches before going back to sleep. I kneel next to Shepherd and give him a gentle nudge.
“Shepherd.”
Silence.
“Shepherd!” I whisper louder.
When he doesn’t wake, I give him a good shake and I think about how quickly he’d fallen asleep while I was in the bathroom. I wrote it off as him being tired after what’s been happening, but what if… what if Dave gave him something?
I press my fingers against his neck, but I can hear him breathing, telling me he’s alive, just out of it.
Dave gave him something… he gave us both something, but Bear knocked my glass over when he ran to the door and Dave didn’t notice.
What do I do? What do I do?
“Shepherd, please wake up, please wake up,” I say as I shake him again. It’s clear he’s not going to wake up, so I rush back to the computer.
Me: I think Dave did something to Shepherd, he won’t wake up, what do I do?
Micah: Is he breathing fine?
Me: Yes. He’s just out of it. I can’t get him to respond.
Micah: Calm down. Tell me your location and send me the stuff from the flash drive. They’re probably coming to get you and they didn’t want Shepherd protecting you. As soon as you send me the stuff, you need to run.
Me: I can’t leave Shepherd.
As I wait for his next email, I push the flash drive in and impatiently wait as the computer accesses the disk. Then I throw all the pictures into a folder before attaching the folder to the next email for Micah. This could be a setup. He and Dave could both be fucking me over, but I have to trust him or I won’t get anywhere. And it’s not like he’s taking the flash drive from me.
Micah: Do you think you can get him out to a car? If you can, I need you to head to this address.
I jot the address down on the same sheet of paper I’d written his phone number. The moment the files are done downloading, I send them off and grab the flash drive and the note before rushing back to the bedroom where I see Dave.
“Get away from him,” I growl.
“I’m sorry. We have to go. We have to get away,” he says as I realize he’s trying to tug Shepherd. “When I was driving to the other cabin yesterday, some guys stopped me and told me they’d kill me and Shepherd if I didn’t do what they said. I… I think they were scared of going against Shepherd, so they told me that if I didn’t drug both of you, they’d kill us. They were watching the house and I just didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”
“Why wouldn’t you have told us?” I hiss.
“I didn’t want anyone to die and I knew that if I told you, you guys would fight against them or they’d kill us. I didn’t… fuck. I don’t know, Killian! I’m tired of being alone and the thought of losing more people after losing my wife is terrifying. I’m not the risk taker I used to be. I just… I thought that going along with them for now might be the answer, but I don’t know what to do.”
“Without Shepherd we’re useless!” I say, but the idea of forcing Shepherd into another fight so soon after he was hurt the last time makes me hesitate. “Fuck. They’re coming now?”
“I don’t know…”
Bear lifts his head before cocking it and I try to listen. I think I can hear someone in the house. Is Micah right and this was so they could come for me without Shepherd here to protect me?
I hook my arm over Shepherd’s chest and drag him off the bed as he mumbles something incoherently. Dave tries to help me but I don’t know where I’m going with him. They won’t kill me—my father needs me alive—so maybe if Shepherd isn’t a threat they won’t kill him either.
“I hear them,” Dave says.
“They just want me. Take Shepherd and hide somewhere. Please,” I say as I look around, but if they’re already in the house, the closet is the only place to go. Clearly, I won’t be able to get him to the truck if there’s someone out there, so I take him to the closet and drag him inside. The note with the phone number and address on it