“Shut up, man. Who cares if she’s asking questions? We don’t got to tell her about that Jana chick.”
“What a fucked-up bitch she was. Thinking she could jump straight from Myers bed into the boss’s.”
“Like he’d wanted that used-up cunt.” They both laughed.
Jana? Ink’s ex-personal assistant. How did she know Forrest? Maybe she hadn’t. Maybe Forrest had found her. And Jana, wanting revenge for her arrest, had given her up to Forrest.
She felt ill, knowing Ink would blame himself if he found out.
“I’m just glad the boss finally decided to make a move. Watching and waiting was doing my head in.”
“At least you got to watch Betsy. I had to watch that blonde-haired chick. Her life was damn boring. Just fucking lucky she went off on her own today so I could snatch her or we might still be waiting around.”
“I think we did a fucking fine job. Boss is gonna be pleased. We followed his instructions. Use the blonde-haired bitch to get to Betsy. Kill Betsy and dispose of body.”
“Might even give us a raise.”
Something let out a howl in the distance. What was that? A wolf? No. Nope. Not happening.
“What the hell was that? You didn’t say there were fucking wolves out here!”
“How was I meant to know? I’ve never been out here before.”
“Where is it? Is it coming for us? We got to go!”
“We can’t go, idiot. She’s not dead. We’re supposed to be burying her.”
“We could leave her here for the wolves.”
“That’s the first smart thing you’ve ever said.”
“We could shoot her again. Make her nice and bloody.”
Her breath sawed in and out in fast pants.
Don’t faint!
The voice came from inside her. Deep. Sure. Calm. But with a hint of steel.
I will always come for you, Betsy. All you have to do is fight. Fight to stay alive.
She’d promised. She wouldn’t give up now. She forced herself to slow her breathing.
Another wolf howled. Or maybe it was the same one. Who knew? Maybe it was a mating call or maybe they were hungry and coming for her.
“Fuck! Did you see something in the woods?”
“Shit! Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
There was a scream. Oh God! What was going on? She sat there, panic making it hard for her to breathe, to think.
When there was no other sound, no painful flare as a bullet hit her, she managed to raise her head. She couldn’t hear anyone above her.
Did she call out? What? And risk reminding them that you’re down here?
Something shifted above her. A few pebbles fell down the hole. How far down was she? Silence remained. Taunting her. It wasn’t that she wanted Thing One and Two to stick around. After all, they were burying her alive.
But still, being out here on her own wasn’t too fun, either.