Farm Girl Loves Bad Boy (#2)

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Where are you going?” Mary asks, as I push past her towards the front door. I don’t look up as I shove on a pair of black ankle boots and search for my jacket.

“To check on the horses.”

“But River,” she mumbles nervously. “You said you might have seen someone outside. Don’t you think you should stay here? Besides,” she grabs my shoulder to stop me from getting ready. “Aren’t your parents on their way home?”

I shake my head no and her eyes grow wide. “Who was on the phone?” I start to put my arms through my winter jacket, not answering Mary’s question. Extremely upset, she grabs my shoulder and squeezes tightly. “River, what’s going on? Who was on the phone?”

I finally meet her eyes and don’t try to wiggle out of her grasp. “Mary, I need you to listen to me,” I whisper urgently, not wanting Vince to hear. “I need you to do everything I ask you or this won’t work, do you understand?”

Mary nods nervously and drops her arm. “What is it?”

“As soon as I walk out the door, I need you to call the police on your cell phone. Do not go into the kitchen or touch the house phone. You make the call upstairs, in my room, with the door closed. Do you understand?”

“River, why are you so freaked out?” She whispers, tears forming in her eyes.

I grab onto both her shoulders and give her a good shake. “Mary, do you understand?”

“Yes,” she whispers, tears rolling down her cheeks. “But only if you do something for me.” I clench my teeth as she goes into the other room. When she returns, she’s holding the family shotgun. “Take this.”

Taking a deep breath, I nod and take the gun in my shaking hands. Mary looks at me as I take a step towards the door. Her eyes are glassy and pleading for me to stay, however I can’t do that. My hand clasps on the doorknob and I open it into the night.

“Do exactly what I said,” I whisper, before biting my tongue and stepping outside. The air is cool as it hits my face. Once the door is shut behind me, the darkness consumes me and feeds my fear. Felling entirely alone, I creep towards the barn. I have no idea what I’m planning to do, however I check the shotgun to make sure it’s loaded. I don’t want to kill Vince but if I need to, I’m completely prepared.

Slowly, I love to the far right to avoid walking to the semi-open barn doors head on. When I reach the side of the barn, I listen to see if there is any noise inside. My feet quietly crunch on snow as I near the half open doors. I lean backwards against the wood and close my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I tell myself to be brave.

I get a firm grip on the shotgun and roll around the barn door, feeling stealth. As soon as I’m staring into the barn, I realize that I wasn’t going to catch Vince off guard. He stands a few feet in front of me in the aisle, arms folded across his chest and a crooked smile upon his lips. A thin, dark beard has grown across his chin but other than that he looks exactly the same.

“We’re not in a spy movie,” he laughs darkly, unfolding his arms to reveal a handgun. He points it towards me but I don’t flinch. Instead, I raise the shotgun to look down the sigh, aiming for Vince’s stomach. Aiming for his head has a high failure rate.

“What do you want, Vince?” I snap through clenched teeth, trying not to let my eyes wander over to the horses.

Vince laughs and takes a threatening step forward, not lowering his gun. “You’re going to come with me, River.”

“Why?” I spit back, pushing away the feeling of my feet wanting to retreat.

“You really don’t see?” He laughs, shaking his head in disappointment. “Emery will have to come after you once you’re gone. Then everyone else can have him.” The grin he has is sadistic and chills me to the bone.