Running into the forest, he left the man and the fence behind him.

CHAPTER 27

His leg hurt like hell. As he limped back to the cabin, he cursed the boy over and over. He should never have bothered to befriend the kid. Perhaps he should have throttled Nathan as soon as he slid into the car. Instead, he’d gone to all that effort, re-creating Nathan’s room, buying him his favorite food. And for what?

The kid had attacked him like an animal as soon as he’d had the chance.

And now . . . well, now everything was ruined. His entire plan had unraveled. If the kid managed to get to safety, he could identify him, and the police would show up. And if the kid got lost in the woods and died . . .

That wouldn’t be so bad. He could work with that.

He barged through the door and slammed it behind him. Went to the medicine cabinet and took two ibuprofens, swallowing them dry. He limped to the kitchen, sat on one of the chairs, and rolled up his pant leg. A large purple bruise had materialized on his shin.

Shit.

Maybe he should get that x-rayed. No, of course not. What would he say? That he’d accidentally kicked a metal rod with his bare leg? No, it’d be fine. Pain relievers would be his friends for a couple of days, and he’d get better.

What he should do was get ready. Because if the kid got to safety, he had to disappear—and quickly. He should prepare a bag with some necessities, withdraw some cash.

His eyes went to the large picture on the wall, and hundreds of Gabrielles stared back at him. It had taken him over thirty hours to make this picture. He’d gone through thousands of images he had of Gabrielle—mostly from her Instagram, some manipulated to match his needs. Creating her nude images had become much easier since the DeepNude application had been released.

Could he take the picture with him? It would fill the entire back seat of his car. He imagined the border guard looking at it, asking him questions. No, he would have to leave it behind. He would have to leave everything behind.

He let out a sob. He’d done it all for her. And this was what had happened.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and chugged half of it, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his leg. Then he fished his phone from his pocket and tapped the Instagram app.

A new story and a new post, saying she had urgent news. Had Nathan already managed to return home? But no, that was crazy; it couldn’t be. The kid had been gone less than fifteen minutes.

His trembling finger tapped the story. He watched Gabrielle on-screen, talking about her brother’s abduction.

Finally. He had started thinking she’d never figure it out.

She’d dressed in her white dress; he remembered her buying it. At the time she’d planned to wear it to a spring dance of some kind. But she never had, or at least, she’d never posted about it. She had called it pure when she’d bought it. But for him, it had inspired a different word. Bride.

“We don’t have that much,” she said and sobbed into her hands.

His heart squeezed. He couldn’t bear it when she cried. He took another long sip of his beer, drinking her tears away.

“If the kidnappers are watching this, please don’t hurt Nathan. He’s a little boy. He likes drawing and swimming, and he still loves to cuddle. Keep him safe, and we’ll get you your money, okay?”

He exhaled. She was right. Nathan was a little boy. He’d been thinking of him like a thing that could be discarded, left to die in the woods. But he couldn’t do that. He needed to keep him safe. Gabrielle had spoken to him directly, not even hiding behind her usual facade of pretending to talk to all her fans.

She was talking to him. Telling him to keep her brother safe.

And then, that whispered thank you. She’d never thanked him directly before. He’d always done what was needed for her, but she’d never expressed any gratitude. And in a way, he’d never minded; he didn’t expect anything else. But those two words tasted so sweet.

He played the video again.

Keep him safe.

Thank you.

Exhaling, he got up from his chair, his leg hardly hurting anymore. Perhaps it was the ibuprofen and the beer, but perhaps it was just Gabrielle, instilling him with renewed energy.

He grabbed his flashlight and phone, then stepped back into the night, determined to keep Gabrielle’s brother safe.

CHAPTER 28

After stumbling in the freezing dark for what felt like hours, Nathan felt drowsy.

His right foot, wet and muddy, almost didn’t hurt anymore. It was numb, and moving it was like lugging a large rock forward with every step. His back still hurt, the fabric of his torn shirt now sticking to his skin. When Nathan had tried to peel it away, the stinging pain had been so unbearable that he’d been unable to go through with it.

His teeth chattered occasionally—but not so much anymore. Really, it was getting better. Maybe the cold was getting better too. He needed to get some sleep.

In the distance, an animal screeched. He listened to it, detached, no longer scared.

Just exhausted.

He finally lay down by a tree, trembling. He curled into himself, hands hidden deep in his sleeves, face tucked into his sweatshirt’s collar. He would just rest for a few hours, maybe until morning. And then he’d keep walking.

New York City couldn’t be far.

The reassuring nothingness of sleep enveloped him, taking away the agony, the fear, the cold. His trembling diminished. Just a short rest.