The Last Request by Brandon Barrows

Author:Brandon Barrows [Barrows, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rick looked over his shoulder, then turned back to me, standing in the same motion. Grabbing my arm, he tugged me across the room, aiming for a curtained door near the end of the bar.

He pulled me along, moving fast. I had trouble following as he weaved around tables and other customers. I almost tripped more than once, but I didn’t mind. My only thought was the hope that I spotted Elijah before he saw us.

Ducking beneath the curtains, we went through a storage room, then up a steep, narrow flight of stairs that opened onto an alley behind the bar. I was surprised that it was dark outside; I forgot for a while exactly where we were and how far north Foster’s Place was. My breath was coming hard, steaming in the air. Rick pulled me to the mouth of the alley, where I leaned against the building, trying to catch my breath. I thought I was in decent shape, but surprise and running were a bad combination for anyone who didn’t run regularly.

“What does he want?” Rick said, close to my ear.

I shook my head, panting, “I don’t know. Maybe Aunt Lydia sent him.” The pressure in my lungs was starting to fade. I straightened my upper body, my hips still against the wall. “How did he find me though?”

“If you weren’t at the house, he must have figured you’d be in town, and he must have guessed you’d be with me because there’s no way you could walk. All he had to do was find my truck and then check the places I might be.”

Rick looked around the corner. “It’s clear.” He turned. “What do you want to do? I could take you back to Mrs. Orlov’s or I could bring you to the motel, if you want. He’d probably find you again, but it’d give you some breathing room.”

What did I want? That was a big question. I wanted to run away from that strange, sterile house on the mountain, away from the cold, grinning old woman who all but told me and my cousins that she wanted us to die.

I also wanted the money though. I never really thought much about money, besides the kind of dreams everyone has about being rich. Things like college loans, rent, car payments, and the twenty-thousand-odd dollars in credit card debt a very stupid, eighteen-year-old me racked up the minute I left home all came to mind. I thought of the crappy office job I would be going back to, making thirty-one thousand dollars a year before taxes. How long would it take me to pay off college and those credit cards?

I wanted to run, to forget about my weird, creepy aunt and just go back to my life—but did I really want all the things that would mean? Not just for right now, but for the future. Lydia said I’d never have another chance like this and it was true. Running away now would mean giving up the only opportunity I’d ever have to be truly free.

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