Gilly reeled, pulling her hand back and punching him in the nose. He keeled over as blood poured into his hands. “You broke my nose!”
“I’ll do a lot worse if you don’t watch your tongue.”
Isaac stayed bent over, moaning lowly.
“Such a baby.” Gilly ran a hand through her hair.
“It’s enough,” I said quietly. “Everyone in this room has suffered. We’ve all felt the worst pain. Isaac and I will never forget. But if you kill us, our suffering will be over.”
Did Gilly think Serena and Kay would let her get away with this? Was her mind so warped that she thought they would simply go along with it afterwards?
Gilly paused in her pacing, seeming to think about my words. My gaze darted to Isaac as he worked on the ropes around his ankles. He needed to move faster.
“She’s right,” Serena said, trying to sit up in her chair. “They won’t suffer if they die. They have to be alive to feel it. Don’t you think, Mom?”
Kay nodded, tears still streaming down her face. “I don’t want them dead, Gilly. I want them to remember. To never forget my boy.”
“Stop it! All of you stop! You’re trying to trick me. The only way for us to be free is for them to be gone. It’s the only way for us toheal.”
What a messed-up version of healing Gilly had in her head. I couldn’t help but wonder how she’d hidden this sickness and obsession for so long. How she’d seemed to care for me so deeply. Or had she just kept me close to make sure that I was grieving appropriately? The truth was, I hadn’t shown any signs of moving on until Boden.
My heart clenched at the thought of him. He’d already lost one woman he’d loved; I couldn’t put him through that again. I wasn’t sure he’d survive.
Isaac peeked up at me. His hands and feet were free.
Blood roared in my ears. “I’ll help.” I mouthed the words to him.
Isaac nodded back, mouthing a countdown. “One, two, three.”
On three, we both burst forward. All I could do was hop and throw myself at Gilly. But Isaac, he could run. Thanks to his head wounds, his gait was clumsy, and I knew he likely had a concussion. Still, I hoped he had enough adrenaline to spur him to freedom. We were miles from help, but I had to hope.
I caught Gilly’s legs as I fell, holding on for dear life, trying to give Isaac as much of a head start as possible. She cursed and kicked at me. One of the blows connected with my chin, and I saw stars.
My grip on her loosened, and she clamored to her feet, running out the door after Isaac. Serena dropped out of her chair, crawling over to me. But it was another flash of movement that had me jerking back. Jax sat up, patting his pockets. “She took my fucking phone.”
“House line?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We got rid of it last year. We never used it.”
He scooted closer to me, working at my ropes. “Get to the barn and get the keys to the work truck. Then drive like hell.”
“We’ll all go.” As soon as my wrists were free, I started on my ankles.
Jax moved to Serena’s bindings, shaking his head. “You and Serena go. She won’t hurt Mom and Dad.”
I hoped he was right. I pulled the rope around my legs free and stood. Wavering a bit, I reached out to steady myself on the couch.
Serena was right there, gripping my arm. “You can do this. Lean on me.”
“Nobody move,” Gilly gritted out as she shoved Isaac through the door a second time. Now, blood dripped down his shoulder, staining his shirt.
Nausea swept through me. This wasn’t happening. We were so close to freedom.
Isaac slammed his head back into Gilly’s face with one word on his lips. “Run!”
44
Boden