“You haven’t changed, Riley. Still a pain.”
She didn’t like that voice. Never had. Always yelling at her, finding fault with everything she did. If she didn’t love Reed, she’d run away.
“I probably shouldn’t have made you take two pills before I had to get you out of the car,” the voice muttered.
Pills? Was Reed taking pills again? She tried to open her eyes, but someone had glued them shut. Her arm was jerked hard, and she was pulled from her bed. She hit the floor, her hands scraping on gravel. Why was there gravel on her floor?
“Damn bitch. Get up.”
She hated when Reed’s mother was angry with her, which was most of the time. Riley managed to get her arms under her and pushed up. With great effort, she forced her eyes open, only to find herself on her knees, staring down at rocks. Where was she? Something hard and cold pressed against her head.
“You can either crawl or walk into the house. I don’t care which, but if you don’t start moving, I’ll just shoot you here.”
A gun pressed against her back as she walked out of her clinic, then a gun pointed at her as she swallowed a pill flashed into her mind. Oh, God. She wasn’t back living in the Decker’s house, and Reed was dead. She needed to be alert and smart, but the sleeping pill Mrs. Decker had made her take made her mind fuzzy. She needed to think if she were going to survive whatever Reed’s mother had planned for her.
“Move, Riley.”
By sheer force of will, she stood on wobbly legs. Hot tears burned her cheeks as they rolled down her skin. She wanted Cody. He wouldn’t let Mrs. Decker hurt her if he were here.
“Cody, please come find me.”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t know.” She didn’t like it at all when Mrs. Decker put an arm around her and helped her walk, but without the support, she would probably have fallen on her face, so she let the woman guide her into a house.
A few minutes later, she was pushed onto a small bed, and she fell over, snuggling her face into the pillow. How long she had slept, she didn’t know, but when she woke up, it was to see Mrs. Decker sitting in a chair, staring at her with those hate-filled eyes.
“I didn’t make him take the drugs,” Riley said.
“No, but you introduced him to them. I’ll never forgive you for that.”
She probably was to blame. Yet, how was she, a teenager, supposed to have known there were people who couldn’t take or leave the marijuana as she could, and would go looking for bigger and better highs? If she’d had any clue Reed was one of those, she would have buried her supply of pot in a twenty-foot hole.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. The slap across her face came out of nowhere, and she jerked, putting her back against the wall. Instead of being cowed, though, she got mad. “He could have said no.” Cody had reminded her of that, and it was true. “I never gave him any hard drugs, he found those all on his own. I tried to save him, but he didn’t want saving.”
The gun that had been resting on Mrs. Decker’s leg was suddenly pointed at her. “Shut up.” She swung the barrel of the gun toward a table next to the bed. “There’s a pill there.” One side of her lip curled in a sneer. “And a glass of water so you can swallow it without all the dramatics.”
Riley shifted her gaze to the table. Another sleeping pill? She was still half out of it from the last one. This one had the letters OC stamped on it. “That’s an OxyContin.” She gave a vigorous shake of her head. “I’m not taking that.”
Could she manage to slip it under her tongue, and then into her pocket? Thinking of the pocket of her lab coat, she remembered she’d turned on her phone. At least, she hoped she had. Was Cody even looking for her? Yes, he was trying to find her. She had to believe that.
“Remember what I said, Riley. Your knee will be the first to go. Take the pill.”
Riley considered her chances of getting the gun away from Mrs. Decker. If she could take the woman by surprise, maybe she could, but as out of it and sluggish as she was, she’d probably end up getting shot.
“Do I have to start counting again?”
“You’re really making me hate you, Mrs. Decker.” Riley grabbed the pill and stuck it in her mouth, slipping it under her tongue.
“Do you think I’m stupid, girl? Swallow it.”
With a glare at the woman, Riley pretended to swallow.
“Open your mouth and lift your tongue.”
In trying to hide the pill in the back of her throat, she swallowed it, but it got stuck. She grabbed the bottle of water, and drank as she gagged. “Why are you . . .” She coughed. “Why are you doing this?”