“Where are they taking the animals?” I asked, the question popping out before I could stop myself.
“You are an inquisitive one, aren’t you?” Heath glanced my way, this time not smiling. “We turned the interior courtyard into a little farm. Pulled out the benches and picnic tables and brought in hay. Even built some shelters for when it gets cold. It’s the perfect way to keep the animals safe.”
I remembered the little courtyard, which was surrounded on all sides by the building but open at the top so the sun could shine down. It would more than keep the animals protected and, as much as I hated to admit it, was an ideal solution—despite the sidewalks and other patio areas. Heath was smart.
“Oh,” was my only reply.
We had to pause at the entrance while the woman in front of us tried to urge the cow forward, but once she managed to convince the thing to step inside, Heath followed her. She turned left, though, while Heath pulled me to the right. He was moving faster now, his grip more punishing than it had been before, and I had to scramble to keep up because I was so busy looking around. Hoping to see my dad. A few times the sound of voices floated out into the hall as we passed open doors, but no matter how many times I craned my neck, I didn’t see a single face I recognized.
“Where’s my dad?” I asked when I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer.
Heath’s brown eyes flitted my way, but only for a second. “You’ll see him after your probation period.”
Probation?
He and Ryan had discussed someone else’s probation in the parking lot, but I hadn’t considered what it meant or what it might mean for me. I was afraid to ask, terrified what the answer would be, but the question was already on the tip of my tongue, and I had to sink my teeth into my bottom lip to keep it from flying out. Heath already seemed annoyed by my constant questions, and there was no point in pissing him off even more. Not when he not only held my fate in his hands, but my father’s as well.
Without warning, Heath pulled me through a doorway and into a dark room. A second later, there was a click, and light flooded the room. I squinted from it, my gaze moving to the ceiling as my brain tried to grasp what was happening. Electricity. I hadn’t noticed it before, too focused on searching for my dad, but now that I thought about it, I realized the lights had been on in the hallway as well. How strange to have missed such an important detail.
We were in an office. A couple filing cabinets and a bookshelf were positioned on the other side of the desk, as well as a big, brown leather chair. Two more chairs—these not nearly as nice—sat in front of the desk, and Heath shoved me into one of them. I went down with a thud, my teeth biting into my lip. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth, and I reached up, brushing my fingers against my bottom lip and wincing when they came away red. The bite stung, but it was nothing compared to the throbbing area on my arm where Heath had held me as he walked.
I rubbed at it, glaring at him as he pulled the door shut and moved around to the other side of the desk. Once there, he lowered himself into the cushy chair like a king ascending a throne, watching me the entire time. I squirmed. It was unnerving the way he could stare at me for so long without blinking.
After a second, he pulled a tissue from a box on the desk and placed it in front of me. “You’re bleeding.”
I took it, pressing it to my throbbing lip, but instead of thanking him said, “What now?”
“More questions.” He shook his head as if irritated but answered me anyway. “Now I tell you how things work here, we talk, and if you play your cards right, you see your dad.”
“And if I don’t?”
His lips twitched like the question amused him. “You will be given a room away from the general population until we determine you’re trustworthy. Assuming we do.”
His cryptic answers were starting to get on my nerves.
“Explain.”
Heath sat back, crossing his arms, his eyes focused on me and that creepy smile back on his lips. “Like I said, we’re a community, and to function as a community, everyone has to chip in. You want to be part of the group, you have to have a skill. Like your father, for example. He’s a doctor, which is something we desperately need. We have other people with useful skills, farmers, welders, electricians. People who don’t have skills we can use to better the community—a student like yourself, for example—have to contribute in other ways.” There was a light knock on the door, interrupting Heath. He kept his eyes on me when he called out, “Come in.”
The hinges creaked, and I glanced back as Ryan stepped in, something that looked like a collar in his hand. That couldn’t have been right, though. Why would he have a collar?
“Here’s the equipment.”
He dropped it on the desk in front of Heath, and I blinked. It was a collar.
I looked up, focusing on Ryan in hopes of figuring out what was going on. He blinked and, like in the parking lot, did a double take, looking me over before turning to Heath.
“She’s bleeding.”
“She did that herself.” The boss waved his hand dismissively. “Bit her lip.”
Ryan pressed his own lips together then focused on me again. “You’re okay?”
I nodded once, then shook my head. “I just want to see my dad.”
“Who’s your dad?” Ryan asked.
“Dr. Summers.”
His eyes widened, and he turned to face Heath. “What’s going on?”
Heath got to his feet, his chair scooting back so fast it slammed against the wall. “We’ll discuss this later. At the moment, I’m conducting an entry interview just like I do whenever someone arrives. Do you have a problem with that?”
His cool tone made it clear Ryan would have a problem if he didn’t leave, but still the other man hesitated. “I have your word nothing else is going on?”
“I can’t believe you even have to ask,” Heath said, almost sounding frustrated.
The two men held each other’s gazes for a moment longer. Finally, Ryan sighed and headed for the door, shooting me one more concerned look before stepping out and pulling it shut behind him with a click.
Once he was gone, Heath pulled his chair to the desk and sat back down. “Now, where were we?”
I doubted he wanted an answer from me, but I gave one anyway. “You were explaining what I had to do to see my dad.”
“Yes. Your dad.” Heath gave me another one of his creepy smiles. “When people arrive, they offer a skill. If they can’t, they offer something else. Robert, who you heard Ryan and me discussing in the parking lot, for example, gave us a tip about where to find a truck full of diesel, which we need to keep the generators going.”
So that was how they had electricity.
“He was on probation until we verified that he was telling the truth,” Heath continued, waving to the collar sitting on the desk in front of him. “Once we had the truck, we knew he was trustworthy, and his probation ended. Now he’s part of the community, which means he’ll be given a job, a room, food every day, and most importantly, protection.”
He made it all sound so reasonable, but that didn’t stop my stomach from twisting when I looked at the collar. I had a sinking suspicion it wasn’t as straightforward as he was making it out to be. Not only that, but I seriously doubted there was anything I could contribute other than what he wanted, which was something I couldn’t give.
“What if someone doesn’t have a skill or know where to find a bunch of gas?”
“It doesn’t have to be gas,” Heath explained. “They can give us a tip about weapons, or something else we might need. Say they know someone who was hoarding food, for example.” He leaned forward, his eyes on me, his smile stretching wide. “Or maybe they know the location of another group.”
“So, that’s what you want? For me to tell you where Gabe and the others are?”
It wasn’t a shock, but the sinking in my stomach still increased.
“I want you to be part of the community.”
“I’m waiting,” Heath said after an extended silence.
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
He tilted his head, studying me. “I thought you wanted to see your dad.”
“There are kids,” I said, “Lots of them.”
“I’ll bring them here.” Heath put his hands out, gesturing to the room to emphasize how safe they’d be. “We have a lot of people who lost their own children. I’m sure they’d be happy to have an orphan to look after. I’m not heartless, Rowan.”
“And the others? Gabe?”
“Gabe doesn’t get to live.” The words were harsh and final. “Not after what he did. He’s dead. Lane, too.”
“Because they had an affair? I know it’s awful, and I can’t imagine how it must have made you feel, but that doesn’t justify killing someone.”
Heath dropped his leg to the ground and leaned forward, placing his hands palm down on the desk as if bracing himself. “It’s more than that. I was willing to forgive and forget, willing to work together, but he and Lane wouldn’t let it happen. They kicked me out. Gave me nothing. I could have died, but they didn’t care.”
At his words, I sat up straighter, my gaze searching his. “You were with them?”
Heath’s body relaxed a little, but he didn’t lean back again. “I was. We met at the gym after the world disappeared. Gabe and Lane, but the others, too. Rick and Ari and Brian. They were supposed to be my friends, and even though I was still hurt over what Lane and Gabe had done, I knew we needed to put the past aside if we wanted to survive. They refused, though. Lane and Gabe might have split up since then, but they were still together at that point, and they didn’t want anything to do with me. So, they sent me away. Empty handed.”
My mind was spinning. Could he be telling the truth? If so, that made Gabe and Lane even bigger assholes than I thought. I wasn’t sure who to trust, though, and even if I did believe Heath without a shadow of a doubt, it still didn’t justify murder. Not to me, anyway.
Plus, I had to think about the big picture and for once not act impulsively. If Heath’s men showed up at the school, Gabe’s group would fight back. Brian, Ari, Rick, Max…Doug. Devon. He wouldn’t know Gabe was actually the bad guy in this situation—assuming he was. I was still trying to make up my mind about that. It would only take one gunshot from my friends for Heath to decide they were on Gabe’s side, and what would he do then? Would he bother showing mercy when he had vengeance on his mind? What if Devon got hurt? And what about Kiaya and Lisa? Buck?
“You know I’ll find out where they are eventually,” Heath said, his tone calculated. “Maybe by accident, but eventually, I’ll come across their hiding place. You might as well tell me now.”
My mind was still reeling when I shook my head. “There’s too much at stake,” I said to myself, then to Heath, “My friends are there.”
“I’ll make sure they don’t get hurt.” Excitement gleamed in his eyes like he thought I might be on the verge of giving in. “Tell me where they are.”
“I can’t,” I insisted, the words firmer now. “I can’t be a part of murder. I’m sorry Gabe and Lane did that to you, but you’re okay. It worked out, and you found an even better group, and a great place to hide. Put the past aside again. Move on.”
His expression changed, hardening until he almost looked like he’d been carved from stone, and he got to his feet. Slower than before, the chair only rolling back a couple inches. “My mind is made up. And from the sound of it, so is yours.”
He kept his gaze on me as he came around the desk, saying nothing, and the look in his eyes was so unnerving that I found it impossible to look away from his face. Which was why I didn’t notice the collar in his hand until he was standing in front of me.
“I need your cooperation for this part,” he said, lifting the thing.
I jerked away from it, my eyes growing wide. “What the hell is that?”
“I told you. Probation.”
He waved it in front of me, and I inspected it a little better. The collar was made of black leather and only about a half an inch wide, but it didn’t look like a regular pet collar, because there was a small lock. There was also a little square box attached to it.
Realization slammed into me, and my gaze darted to his face. “Is that a shock collar?”
“It is,” he said, as if it were no big deal. “We have a section of the building wired, which means until you prove you’re reliable, you’ll be restricted to that area. It’s for everyone’s protection.” He kept his gaze on me when he pulled a key from his pocket, smiling as he undid the lock. “Now, lift your hair so I can put this on.”
I jumped to my feet, pushing the chair back in the process. It clattered to the floor as I made a run for the door, and behind me, Heath swore. The knob was in my hand a second later, but before I’d had a chance to turn it, Heath was on me. His arms went around my waist, and he pulled me back, throwing me to the floor. My head bumped against the cold linoleum, and a throb spread through my skull, but still I tried to pull myself forward, my nails clawing at the ground. I got maybe five inches before Heath grabbed me and flipped me over, so I was staring up at him. Once I was on my back, he straddled me.
“You chose to come here,” he said, shifting so his knees were digging into my arms, keeping them pinned to the ground. “I didn’t do this. You did. Now that you’re here, you will play by our rules.”
I struggled and fought, but it was useless. He had the collar around my neck in seconds, the leather getting twisted in strands of hair that had escaped my braid, and the click of the lock followed a moment later.
Heath slid off my body, taking a seat on the floor at my side as I clawed at the leather, tugging at it even though it was useless. It was tight against my skin, ensuring the little box would send the shock into my body if need be, but not so tight I couldn’t breathe. Not that it was comfortable.
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s temporary.”
“Fuck you,” I growled.
“No, thanks.” He got to his feet, grabbing my arm to pull me up after him. “You’re pretty, but you’re not exactly my type. Too mouthy. I had enough of that when I was married to Lane.”
I jerked my arm from his grasp, glaring at him, and said nothing.
“Relax,” he said. “Nothing is going to happen to you as long as you stay in the designated area, and as soon as you cooperate, your probation will be over. Then you can see your dad.”
I dropped my arms to my sides, shocked and hurt and disappointed, and once again, tears sprang to my eyes. This time, I didn’t bother trying to blink them away. “Not until then, though?”
“No,” he said firmly.
I was so close, in the same building with my dad, but I still had so far to go. Too far, because I couldn’t think of a scenario in which it would be okay to give Heath what he wanted. If I did, whatever happened would be my fault, the blood of whoever got hurt would be on my hands, and that was something I couldn’t live with.
“You might as well take me to my cell, then,” I snapped, more tears springing to my eyes as my anger got the better of me. “Because I’m not telling you a thing.”
3
Kiaya
Zara was leaning against the wall when I stepped out of the command center, her arms crossed over her chest and her gaze focused on the floor as she traced the toe of her shoe over a crack in the old linoleum. Slowly, she lifted her head, and our gazes met, and like every other time I looked at her, I was struck b
y how much she resembled our mom. Too much. Which, I supposed, meant I resembled her as well since everyone said my sister and I were nearly identical despite the three-year age difference.
Zara pushed herself off the wall and crossed to me, her mouth turned down. “Hank told me what happened with Rowan. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet.”
I looked behind me to the room I’d just left where Doug, Devon, and Gabe were still talking. I hated not knowing what was going on, but I had to pee, and I’d wanted to check on Zara.
The other men had left, heading off to take care of their normal duties and keep watch. Just in case. They had still been set up at the gym when the falling-out with Heath took place, which meant there was a good chance he didn’t know where Gabe and the others had finally settled. But he could have heard rumors about a group at the school and put two and two together, or even come upon the place by accident. It was a small town, after all. Since Heath was clearly a vindictive asshole, it was better to be safe than sorry, which meant having a couple people on watch at all times.
Lisa had left, too, going to check on Lexi, Mike, and Randall, but Lane had stayed in the room in case she could be of some use in analyzing the asshole she used to be married to.
“Is Rowan going to be okay?” Zara asked, drawing my attention back to her.
I put my hand on my sister’s shoulder, hoping to ease her apprehension, but not certain it would work. She seemed to always be worried, and truth be told, I wasn’t sure how to help her. She was my sister, but we’d been together very little over the last ten years, and sometimes she was like a stranger to me.
“Rowan is going to be okay,” I said. “We don’t know what we’re going to do yet, but I promise we’re going to figure out a way to get her back safely.”
Far Series | Book 3 | Far From Lost Page 5
