Chapter 12 - No More Running
The sedan smashed through a row of plastic construction barriers and stopped hard against a curb.
Wyatt's airbag exploded.
Mara cried out from the back seat.
Stella's cracked ribs felt as if someone had driven a knife through them.
Through the windshield, the black SUV reversed.
"They're coming again," Stella gasped.
Wyatt shoved the airbag down. Blood ran from his eyebrow.
The engine turned over once.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
"Out!" he shouted.
They spilled onto the sidewalk just as the SUV surged forward.
Stella grabbed Mara's hand and dragged her behind a concrete planter.
The sedan crumpled under the impact.
Dean's door opened.
He stepped into the street.
Stella had seen him angry hundreds of times.
She had never seen him afraid.
"Stella!"
Her entire body reacted to his voice before her mind did.
Shoulders up. Breath gone. Muscles frozen.
Dean walked toward her.
"Come here. Now."
Mara whispered, "Don't."
Stella could not move.
Dean's eyes locked onto hers.
"You know what happens when you make me repeat myself."
Three years of fear rose inside her at once.
Then she saw Wyatt on one knee behind the wrecked car, reaching for his phone.
Saw Mara clutching her injured wrist.
Saw Dean standing in public, still certain one command could erase everyone else.
Something inside Stella finally refused.
She stood.
Dean smiled.
"Good girl."
Stella picked up a broken piece of the car's side mirror and threw it at his feet.
"Don't ever call me that again."
His smile vanished.
"You think Pierce is going to save you?"
"No."
She stepped backward toward the entrance of a crowded coffee shop.
"I'm saving myself."
People inside were staring now. Phones were coming out.
Dean saw them.
So did Nico.
"Get in the car," Nico snapped.
Dean pointed at Stella. "This isn't over."
She raised her voice so every camera could hear.
"Tell them about my mother's insurance money."
Dean stopped.
Stella continued.
"Tell them why you forged my name. Tell them why Victor Hale pays you."
A dozen phones recorded his face.
For one glorious second, Dean Keller had no answer.
Nico grabbed his coat and pulled him back toward the SUV.
They sped away.
Wyatt staggered over.
"You okay?"
"No."
Stella's hands were shaking violently.
"But I didn't go with him."
Mara gave a breathless laugh. "That's a start."
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Stella looked at the crowd filming them.
One woman approached carefully.
"Miss? This fell out of that man's coat."
She held out a small key card.
Printed across the front were the words:
HARBOR STORAGE - PIER 19.
May you like
On the back, handwritten in blue ink, was a time.
FRIDAY 11:30 P.M.
