used to deal for Carmichael. Back in the day. Carmichael thought he could get his hooks in him.”
“I’m sorry he was killed,” I said honestly.
“Sometimes you don’t have a choice in what happens.” Then she turned around and started walking, leaving me to follow.
I stood in place, half tempted to turn around and run back to my truck. But I couldn’t turn my back on Ashley and Mikey, if she was telling the truth about where they were being held, and there was no doubt she’d catch up to me. How would she handle my escape?
Not well. She’d likely shoot me and be done with the matter. Especially since she was telling me out of obligation, not her moral code.
The phone was still in my sweater pocket. Turning to the side, I pulled the phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. No service. I wasn’t surprised, but maybe I could use it later. I had a feeling I’d need it.
None of this felt right. I suspected she was drawing me into a trap, even if the kids were being held by the Collards, but I had no notion of how to derail it.
Should I try to overpower Vera and then… what? Head back to my truck? Attempt to steal the kids away from the Collards?
But attacking her wouldn’t have been a sure thing if I hadn’t been pregnant and likely in labor, and it was unlikely to turn out well in my current condition. The only thing I knew to do was continue forward, and count on my vision coming true.
Even if half of it scared the bejiggers out of me.
Chapter 27
Two more contractions hit me before we made it to the edge of the clearing surrounding the icehouse. They were stronger than anything that had sent me to the hospital before. I estimated they were now five minutes apart, and I assured myself I had plenty of time to get the kids back to the car, hopefully without alerting their captors, and make it to the hospital in time to have the baby with Joe by my side.
Vera and I stood about six feet deep in the trees, watching. The four-foot-tall dilapidated structure was about as tall as it was wide, and a two-by-four in brackets was keeping the door closed. The building looked like it would fall over in a strong windstorm. I had no doubt a grown man or woman could probably bust their way out of that heap, but two little kids? Not likely.
The hair stood on the back of my neck. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t figure out what was setting me off.
“This is where we part ways,” Vera said, her voice shaking.
I grabbed her wrist. “You’re not gonna stay and make sure they’re still in there?”
Not that I’d counted on her help, but I also didn’t want her to run straight to the Collards to bring them down on me.
Her eyes narrowed, but I saw fear in her gaze too. “Nope. I only promised I’d bring you here. Nothin’ more, nothing less.”
She tried to tug away, but I tightened my grip as another contraction hit.
I forced a vision. What trap has Vera laid?
The vision quickly engulfed me. I was outside, surrounded by trees, and bullfrogs croaked so loudly it would likely drown out any cry for help. A dark pickup truck was parked to my right and a man stood in front of me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up at his face. I focused on his feet instead.
“I brought her to those kids just like you said,” I whined in Vera’s voice as I stared down at a pair of brown boots with a scuffed left toe.
“And did she get them out safely?” a man asked. I could hardly make out his words over the sound of the frogs, but I knew that voice. Terror swamped my head.
“I don’t know,” I said. I knew that wasn’t the answer he was looking for, yet I knew better than to lie. “You told me to make sure she got them. Nothin’ else.”
“I meant for you to make sure she got them out safely. What was happening when you left her?”
I hesitated, knowing full well he’d want to know it all, but telling him might be a death sentence. I looked up into the face of Skeeter Malcolm. His cold, dark eyes bore into me as he trained a handgun at my head.
“What happened?” he repeated.
“The Collards…,” I sputtered, my mouth