I leaned against the tree, my own chest on fire.

“Sure, why not?” I breathed, closing my eyes.

“I never said I was going to kill you,” he said. He held one arm behind his back and wiped at the blood on his forehead where I’d hit him with the dumbbell.

“Have a little faith in your fellow man. You never know what he can do for you,” he said.

I pushed off the tree, standing up straight, confused as hell. “What?” It wasn’t often I was wrong about people. But I couldn’t figure this guy out.

“You’re both young. He only wants to show your friend the meaning of respect and to make Payton feel like she got what she wanted. Then everyone’s happy. You understand?” He stepped closer to me. I flinched, expecting his fist to find my face.

Nothing happened.

“Mason’s a good kid. You should be teaching Payton a lesson, not him,” I said, letting out a relieved sigh.

Mark took me by the arm and led me back into the trailer. I was apprehensive at first.

“You sure you’re not going to kill me?” I asked, just to make sure.

“Will you calm down? I am not going to kill you. I told you,” Mark said. I hurried through the door, eager to lay eyes on Mason.

“Kendall,” he said, relief reflected in his expression. It looked like the grizzly man had worked him over good. His face looked awful.

Mason dropped his gaze back down to his feet. My heart ached for him, for the pain he’d suffered. I noticed his hands were tied.

“What kind of people are you?” I blurted.

The giant ogre moved across the room toward me, his body looming over me. He lifted my chin, surveying my eyes, taking in every detail.

“I am a man of my word,” he said, “a man of my word.”

I didn’t move a single muscle. His dirty hand held my face in place. The realization of what we had survived finally hit me.

“Mason understands. Now I want both of you to go and not speak a single word of any of this.” He released me and untied Mason’s hands, helping him to his feet.

He rubbed his wrist, standing next to me. Mark opened the door showing us a way out.

“You kids take care. Stay away from that nut job. See where she got you already?” he asked, looking at Mason.

Mason nodded. I was confused and shocked, but somehow I managed to get down the steps. Mason pulled me toward the gates and then through them.

We didn’t hear the snarling dogs we’d heard upon our arrival as we made our way out the gate.

Silence loomed as we headed back into town. Neither of us spoke of what had happened back at the trailer.

I squeezed Mason’s hand tightly as we moved past the crowds of people on the sidewalk. Anyone who looked toward us was shocked at the sight of Mason’s injuries. A few people actually had the audacity to pull out their cell phones to snap a quick picture of him. At that point, we didn’t care; we just wanted to get back to our hotel.

Mason opened the door for me, gritting his teeth in pain as I passed him.

“So what now?” I asked as he hit the elevator button.

JULY 7

TH

IT WAS NEARING MORNING. I laid in bed staring at the ceiling. The only sound was Mason’s light breathing next to my head. I locked my hands together underneath the covers, afraid to make a noise, afraid to breathe.

I knew Mason wouldn’t be happy to know I hadn’t slept at all. I was too stressed to sleep and I constantly fought the urge to throw up.

We hadn’t said a thing to Wanda or Payton since our return. There had been a couple knocks at the door in the last two days, but we ignored them. He would hear the knock, then immediately fall back to sleep.

Mason never answered me when I asked him what we were going to do. He was in denial that his mom would have him beaten up, but the bruises and cuts on his face were the only validation needed.

We were almost out of money and we’d soon be out of a place to stay. I closed my eyes, begging sleep to come. A rush of nausea hit me again and I quickly ran for the bathroom.

The bathroom door came open with a thud, hitting the wall. Mason towered over me as I hugged the toilet bowl.

“You’re always letting your nerves get the best of you,” he said from above. He stroked my hair, his fingers soothing me with every light caress they made down the back of my head.

I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch.

“What are we going to do, Mason?” I asked, waiting for the sick feeling to pass.

“What do you want me to do, Kendall? Say anything and I’ll do it,” Mason said. He pushed my hair off my neck, his lips grazing my cheek. I sighed, holding tight to the side of his head.

“I really don’t know. I just wish things could be simpler,” I said.

Silence fell over the room again.

I wasn’t certain of much. I didn’t know if we were going to make it out of this alive. There was no way out and I was about to lose all hope.

The silence was broken by the pounding on the door. Mason jumped up. Whoever was on the other side wasn’t happy.

My sickness would have to wait. I got up and quickly collected our things, being careful not to make any noise. He pressed himself against the door and peered through the peephole. I snagged the last thing off the floor—his favorite t-shirt—and I was ready.

Mason looked at me. I knew that look all too well. He was worried and that didn’t happen often.

“Now what?” I asked, afraid to ask if it was the police.

“We’ve gotta hope they give up and leave. And then we sneak out,” he said in a whisper.

“What about the money Roger gave me?” I asked. There was enough to buy us more time in Virginia. Mason shook his head.

“That’s the only money we have in case of an emergency. If we’re out of money, so are they.” He was right, of course.

“What about the window?” I asked in desperation. My heart was racing and I had a severe case of cotton mouth.

“No way, Kendall,” he said. “We’ll kill ourselves pulling a stunt like that.” He took another look out the peephole.

“What about Wanda?” I squeaked. She was the only security I’d ever known—as dysfunctional as it was.

In my despair, I’d lost all rational thought.

“What do you think Wanda is going to do for us?” Mason asked, almost yelling at me.

I bit my lip. I had no answer to that. For all I knew, she was responsible for whatever it was we were now facing.

After several minutes, all was silent again at the door, and my heart began to return to a more normal rhythm. Mason threw on his shirt and shoes. I held tight to our backpack as he slowly unlocked the door.

All kinds of crazy scenarios were playing out in my mind as he inched the door open bit by bit. He motioned for me to follow as we quickly slipped into the hallway. There was no one to be seen. I held tight to Mason as we moved undetected through the hallway.

“If it was cops they’d have just come in, right?” I asked. I was freaking out and couldn’t calm down.

“Exactly…the cops could get a key from the staff to get inside if they wanted to. It was probably housekeeping or something,” Mason whispered. Mason nodded politely at a passing couple and he nearly collided with another guy rounding the corner the same time we did. We didn’t need any upset to get in the way of our escape.

“Should we?” I asked, hoping he knew what I meant.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he mumbled nervously under his breath. He tugged me to move faster so we could squeeze into the elevator before it shut. Otherwise, we’d be left in the hallway waiting for the elevator to return.

We startled the woman in the elevator by making our last-minute entry. She studied Mason’s battered face and pulled her arms closer to her body, taking up a defensive stance. She hugged her wrist with the opposite hand and draped a finger over her watch in case we had plans to rob her. If she only knew…stealing was the last thing on our minds.