Page 76 of Fallen Creed

“Actually, we just met for the first time before you showed up.”

She smiled at his surprise.

“But we’re alike more than we’re not,” she added.

It was a strange thing to say, and Creed waited for her to explain. She didn’t.

“It’s none of your concern,” she said instead.

“What does it matter what you tell me?” Creed asked. “It’s not as if I’m going to tell anyone. Besides, you intend to kill me.”

“What? No, I’m not. That’s not part of the plan.”

“It’s part of Ariel’s plan.”

She met his eyes again, but the weight of his stare made her look away.

“This has gotten so crazy,” she said, standing up and pacing the small area.

“So make it stop.”

“I thought I did,” she yelled at him, for the first time raising her voice. “It obviously didn’t work. Okay?”

“So, what do you plan to do? Run and hide again?”

It stopped her in her tracks. When she raked her fingers through her hair, her hand was shaking.

“Maybe you should trust me instead of Ariel,” he told her.

“Maybe I should let her kill you like she wants, so you’ll finally shut up.”

As if on cue, the trailer door swung open, bringing a blast of cold air along with a snow-caked Ariel. She looked at them, eyes darting back and forth. Before she said a word, Creed knew she was flying high.

—59—

Hastings, Nebraska

Ruben hated waiting almost as much as he hated the cold. He stood at the hotel room window, staring out at the blinding white.

Traffic slowly resumed as trucks plowed roadways and dispersed sand with salt. It was a tedious way to live. A wasted portion of life consumed with shoveling, pushing, and piling small mountains of ice chunks, only to have it all melt away in the next several days. He couldn’t leave this part of the country soon enough.

He glanced at his phone. Nothing. He had told Vanessa not to leave Lincoln until he gave her the go ahead. The last thing they needed was for her to end up sliding into a ditch or being in a pileup on the interstate. He knew she was just as anxious as he was for this to be over. She wanted to meet them at the address, and she wanted to do it now. But being in a hurry had landed them in the mess they were in. They needed to get it right this time.

Parked in the far corner of the lot below, Ruben watched three white utility vehicles with a logo for the local public power district. Three uniformed men—one for each vehicle and all wearing matching blue coats—talked and gestured to each other. Then two of them got in their vans and left. The other pulled out a duffle bag and shuffled through the snow to the hotel’s entrance. The bag looked like an overnight case and not a tool bag. Perhaps he was finished for the day. It was clear the hotel still had electricity.

In fact, Shelby was binge watching sappy Hallmark Channel movies. Love and happily ever-after endings with perfect men and pretty but stupid women. Why did all women, regardless of age, find those themes enticing?

Actually, he was relieved that Shelby had found something to occupy her time, so he didn’t have to talk to her. Another reason he preferred three girls around him at all times. They kept each other entertained with their discussions of silly and pointless subjects. And when they grew tired of each other, it didn’t take much to pit them against one another. Having just two was easier, but three made everything so much more interesting.

If only Emma Hobbs hadn’t slipped through his fingers. How did he not see that she’d be a problem? A good girl trying to be a bad girl but failing miserably.

He had set his sights on her long before she knew him. He saw her at a high school soccer game. The field was one of his recruiting grounds. Outdoor events gave him viewing access without questions. He was free to walk around, learn valuable information and follow them to waiting cars that provided a license plate and then an identity.

The recruits didn’t need to be rebels. Good girls often wanted to know what it felt like to be bad girls. But athletes, he’d found, were especially interesting because they were competitive. He liked that. He liked to use that particular skill to his advantage.

These were the things he counted on each and every time. But Emma, now Libby, had tricked him. She’d bailed on him. Managed to escape and ultimately knew enough to destroy him. Obviously, if she had spoken to anyone about what she’d seen or experienced, no one believed her. But he couldn’t rely on that. As long as she was alive, Ruben was in jeopardy. It took seven months to find her. He would not let her get away again.

Finding her took longer than he expected. But he knew the good girl in her would eventually tell him exactly where she was hiding, and he was right. As much as she claimed to hate her mother, she couldn’t stand not letting the woman know that she was okay.