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"That’s bullshit!" Rusty repeated, frustration grinding her jaw until her teeth ached from it "No matter what you think you know, there is no way Donovan would throw you under the bus like you’re saying he has No fucking way! What can I say to make you believe that? If you won’t believe in him, will you at least believe in me? You have to trust someone, Eve Nobody can make it alone We all need someone at some point God, I learned that lesson the hard way, and thank God the Kellys were too stubborn to let me throw their kindness back in their faces"
Eve smiled faintly as she wound the rope around Rusty’s wrists, tying her hands behind her back Rusty craned her neck, staring up at Eve, looking for any sign that she was getting through to her God, she couldn’t let Eve walk out that door and into God only knehat kind of hell awaited her
"I wish Donovan were as admirable as you in his loyalty," she said sadly "Donovan is only loyal to his cause and his interests And in this case, his interest is in my brother and sister He’s ruthless Oh yes, he’s utterly ruthless when it co what he considers his I could admire that if it weren’t ai Cammie and Travis with him I can’t protect them God, I wish I could I’d do whatever I could to ensure their safety and well-being But I can’t You’re right that everyone needs someone And Travis and Cammie need him I do know he cares about them and he’ll protect them from Walt Even if he sacrifices me in the process And that hurts, but it’s at least a relief that he’s willing--and able--to take care of thethe bonds around Rusty’s hands and feet Then she stood, reaching for theto process Eve’s ination--in her words She couldn’t wrap her mind around what the hell Donovan had done to drive Eve to such a desperate--and selfless--act Eve was utterly convinced that she was being handed over to her stepfather by the only person she’d allowed herself to trust Rusty couldn’t even i True or not, Eve believed it wholeheartedly, and it broke Rusty’s heart for this fragile woman who’d been handed far too much hurt in her life already This was, Rusty believed, the final straw Eve looked utterly defeated Hopeless And resigned to an uncertain fate
"Do me one favor, Rusty," Eve said in a husky voice laced with tears and knotted with e with the words she wanted to say "Don’t let Caet how much I love thely Make sure they’re happy and loved That’s how you can help me"
Tears burned Rusty’s eyes as Eve walked toward the back of the store Never had she felt so helpless Not even when she’d been a surly teenager on her own, desperate for her next o just to survive
Eve was utterly devastated She was broken and defeated and she left with the weight of the world on her shoulders She believed--absolutely believed--that Donovan had betrayed her
Had he? An uneasy sensation crawled up Rusty’s spine She kneell that Donovan could be ruthless, as Eve had just said But how ruthless? Could he really have planned to sacrifice Eve in order to ensure Cammie and Travis’s safety?
She shook herself fros upward toward the button that triggered a silent alarm Noasn’t the time to ponder the what ifs No ht he’d done--Rusty had to get help and fast She couldn’t let Eve walk into the hands of a monster
She just prayed that Donovan had already taken care of the er a threat Because now Eve was alone and vulnerable, and worse, she thought that she’d been betrayed by the man she’d put all her faith in
CHAPTER 33
WALT Breckenridge watched with s satisfaction as Eve ducked out the back of the hardware store and slid behind the wheel of the Jeep that she and the other woman had arrived in
He’d known the little bitch had lied about her involvement with his children and Eve He hadn’t sed that bullshit story about Travis working a few days and then disappearing And now, Donovan Kelly had arrogantly de with Walt in which he planned to discuss handing Eve over to hi off Travis and Cammie
Kelly had fed him a bullshit story about how he feared for Travis and Cammie’s safety That he ell aware of Eve’s history of otten worse and he feared--as did Walt--that she was a danger to not only herself but others
He played the sy with Walt about his troubles with Eve and expressing his regret over the loss of his wife, made worse when Eve went off the deep end and kidnapped his children and how desperate he et them back
And yes, it had been Eve he’d offered up, clai stepfather and that once he was assured that Eve was taken care of and he kneas safe for the children to go back, they’d e for Travis and Camarbage
Did they think hianization, KGI
It was a trap, no doubt inspired by Eve’s lies and accusations He wasn’t falling for it and now Eve, the dus far easier than he’d even ient Stupid Tenacious But not smart Certainly no match for his superior intellect And now he had her
Now he’d have what he e He’d make her pay for all she’d done He’d put her away and ensure no one ever believed her outrageous accusations Then, and only then, would he get his children back from the Kellys He had far ht a lot of privilege And it sure as hell bought protection
Eve would have neither of those things, and by the time he was done with her, she’d wish she’d never crossed hiht before he wrapped them around his dick
Satisfied that, for now, Cammie and Travis would wait, he clioal Eve A rush invaded his veins at the thought of her at his utter le moment Eve? Well, he doubted she’d enjoy it as much as he would But she didn’t matter She never had
He wanted her to suffer
He wouldn’t be as easy on her as he was on her pathetically weak e whatsoever Eve, on the other hand, had proven to be ined He’d underestiain
He wouldn’t kill her because, as with her mother, that would be too easy He wanted her to pay And pay she would He wanted him to be what she sahen she closed her eyes What she dreamed And know that there was no escape That her fate was solidly in his hands
With a satisfied smirk, he pulled out of the area that had provided cover for his vehicle--a rental that couldn’t be traced back to hi careful Not speeding No, she wouldn’t want to draw undue attention to herself or risk being pulled over by the police, and that wouldn’t fit his plans at all He had no desire to involve the law Not here Not where he had no influence and power
A wreck An abandoned vehicle It would appear as though she wrecked and then ran And then he’dwith Donovan Kelly and he’d play by Donovan’s rules For now After Eve was taken care of and was in a place where she wouldn’t be discovered, no record of her whatsoever, he’d return for his children
Eve would simply disappear Another person lost in the system An unexplained disappearance blamed on the fact that she was on the run and ate, but even they wouldn’t be successful in uncovering her whereabouts
And with her out of the picture for good, there was nothing to stop Walt fro his children