Page 68 of Iron Will

“How did you find my house, Mickey? How did you know where I live?”

“I didn’t.” He sneers at me, showing his overly-large teeth. “You dumb bitches. I followed you from the motel. You didn’t even see my car.”

“Mycar,” Bethany mutters. Mickey looks like he’s going to explode at her. I try to make eye contact with her, try to signal to her to back down, but her eyes are locked on him.

“Mickey, look,” I say. “Please, for the last time. You need to put away that gun and leave my house. Right now. And let us go. Please don’t kidnap us in Bethany’s car.”

“The fuck I will!” he yells. He turns to me, spittle flying from his mouth. “Get up outta that chair. Move!”

Next to Bethany, poor Paisley is still sobbing and trembling like a leaf. I’m afraid to press my luck at this point, but decide to try one more time to get my message across to the person I hope is listening on the other end of the phone. “Where are you taking us, Mickey?”

“First of all, you are gonna clean out your bank account for me,” he sneers. “So get the fuck up,now! And no more talkin’, or I put a bullet in your head as soon as I get that goddamn money.”

I stand up, so shaky that I almost stumble. Numbly, I follow Bethany and Paisley out the front door, terrified Mickey will completely lose control of his temper or accidentally pull the trigger and kill one of us. I don’t dare talk anymore.

Mickey orders all three of us in the front seat of the car. He gets into the back, and tells all of us to stay quiet and keep facing forward. He directs Bethany to drive to the nearest bank and pull into an ATM drive-though.

I don’t have any idea what happens after I get Mickey the money from my bank account. I have no idea whether he’ll take me with them, or leave me on the side of the road, or do something worse. What I do know is he’s not thinking all that clearly — and that he might be on drugs. And he’s so angry, it’s almost impossible to predict what he’ll do next.

One thing is certain. I can’t let him separate me from Bethany and Paisley. No matter what happens, I won’t leave them.

I just have to stall, keep looking for an opening, and pray.

Pray that Rourke heard me.

And pray that he gets to us in time.

27

Rourke

Turns out, that ride I was planning to go on doesn’t happen.

I’m out in my driveway, trying to decide how to time it so I’ll end up in a good place for lunch, when my phone rings. Grumbling, I pull it out of my pocket, hoping it ain’t Axel calling me back to the clubhouse. But instead, it’s Laney.

She’s never called me before. Not sure what she’d be calling about, since I just saw her a couple hours ago, but I sure as hell don’t mind seeing her name on the screen. I accept the call and pull the phone up to my ear.

“Hey,” I say.

But on the other end, no voice greets me back. Instead, it’s a muffle of sounds. Almost like it’s under water. The kind of noise you get when someone butt dials you.

“Well, fuck,” I snort.

I’m deciding whether to hang up or to shout into the phone, to let her know she called me by mistake. Just when I figure I might as well end the call, Laney’s unmistakeable voice comes through the earpiece. Muted, but definitely her.

“Mickey, I know you’re angry at Bethany, but breaking into my house with a loaded gun and threatening us is not the answer.”

“You can fuck off, bitch!” someone in the background yells.

Mickey.

“How did you find my house, Mickey? How did you know where I live?” Laney asks. Her voice is clear as a bell. Almost as though she knows I’m on the line and she’s trying to make sure I hear it.

Which… fuck, which of course she is!

“I didn’t. You dumb bitches,” Mickey’s voice shoots back. He says something else after that, but I can’t make it out.

“Mickey, look,” I hear then. “Please, for the last time. You need to put away that gun and leave my house. Right now. And let us go. Please don’t kidnap us in Bethany’s car.”