FORBIDDEN TRUTH

CHAPTER 011

The Edge of Trust

Sam's POV

As we raced down the lonely road, the quiet between Adrian and me sounded more than the motor roaring. What had just happened at the house felt weighty on my chest. The picture of Victoria standing there, cool and collected, as though she knew she had all the cards would not go away.

Adrian has said little since we fled. His white knuckles matched his grasp on the steering wheel, eyes locked forward. He was clearly deep in concentration, scheming, even making our next action plans. But me personally? The reality that someone from his past had just ambushed us still troubled me.

Then there was Jared.

Like a dark shadow, his terror of what he could do, what he may still do persisted. I turned slightly in my seat, fixed on Adrian, waiting for him to say anything, anything. Since mine was erratic, I wanted to know where his head was.

"Adrian.." I began, my voice little, but the stress made it crack.

He did not even flinch, nor turn toward me. " Tonight we will be protected. I know just outside of the city there is a place.

His voice was steady, but it only made me more uncomfortable. I was not in want of assurances. I craved responses.

"I was not asking about tonight," I said, swallowing hard. "I would like information on Victoria. About Jared. How we are going to handle this is what interests me.

He looked at me momentarily, his face insensible. "I am handling it."

I put my hands tightly together. His cool, measured answers were driving me nuts. "That's not what I'm asking Adrian! You handle it; I am also involved in this. Jared aimed for us, not just for you. I have to know exactly what is happening.

Silence descended upon us, the only sound the tires against the ground produced. Then Adrian abruptly drew the car off the road and parked. The abrupt stop rocked my seat. His eyes hard, he turned to face me, but under the surface I could see the cracks—the anxiety, the frustration, the concern.

Samantha, you seek the truth? His voice was low, almost lethal. "The reality is, I am attempting to shield you from the mess I have brought you into. Jared is playing a game I cannot completely see yet; he is not only trying to hurt me now.

Victoria mentioned made me shiver down my spine. " Why her? She has to do with all this what?

Adrian obviously agitatedly ran a hand through his hair. " Victoria and I... we were engaged long ago. She is driven and constantly searching for a chance to run up the ladder. Jared had to have promised her something—something she sorely wanted enough to turn on me.

betray you? I was confused and angry at the same time. "What did she really mean when she stated Jared is the key to breaking through? With that, what is my supposed action?

Adrian's jaw tightened, and for a split second he turned aside, as though he wanted not to respond. Then he sighed, long and slow, then he met my eye once again at last. "Samantha, you are more vital than you would believe. Control—over me, over his company, over you—obsessed Jared is. Longer than you could ever imagine, you have been in his sights.

Trying to understand his remarks, I slanted back in my seat. Me too? Jared had been focusing on me all through this. I was not just incidental harm.

"What are you saying?," I asked My voice just above a whisper.

"I'm suggesting he has been following you and hence me as well. He understands that injuring you would destroy me. And that Victoria is working with him, things have gotten considerably more complicated.

I felt queasy to my stomach for a minute. Though Jared was hazardous, yes, now there were levels to this scheme I had not thought of. I was a target not only in this game. Though at the same time I couldn't allow fear to rule me, the awareness hit me like a kick to the gut.

"What should we do right now? My voice steadier than I felt, I asked.

Adrian's eyes softened just a little bit, and I could see the worry he was trying so hard to keep under. We keep ahead by one step. Not far around is a safe house. We reorganize there and decide what to do going forward. But starting now, we trust none.

I nodded, the adrenaline still coursed through me. But I discovered something as the weight of the circumstances settled in. "Adrian, if we keep sprinting, we are simply extending the unavoidable. We must squarely address this and learn what Jared wants.

His jaw tightened once again, and for a few seconds I feared he may object. But then he nodded slowly. "You are right. Nevertheless, not tonight. We will lie low tonight.

My head whirling with questions, I leaned back in my seat as Adrian turned the engine back on. Now Victoria was involved; Jared's reach went farther than I had thought. I didn't know so much—so much Adrian wasn't telling me. I also understood, though, that we would never be free if we failed to stop this.

My phone buzzed in my pocket as the car hummed back to life and we carried on down the road. My heart pounding, I grabbed it and watched the message flash across the screen.

You are not safe. Not via him. Not from my perspective. v**

My fingers shook as I read the lines; my blood grew cold. Victoria's number matched mine. She was observing us—probably knew our direction of travel.

I muttered, "Adrian," with a shaky voice.

Glancing over at me, he saw the expression on my face and narrowed his eyes. "what is it?"

I handed him my phone; the text still flashes back to me. He silently read it, his face deepening with the second. When he did look up at last, his face wore a mask of restrained anger.

"Change of plans," he remarked in a strained voice. "We are not able to visit the safe house. She understood.

I forced panic out of me even though it shot through. Not now, not when everything was on the line, could fear distort my judgment.

"Then where else do we go?" Try to keep your voice steady, I asked.

Adrian gave no response right away. His eyes turned to the rearview mirror, and for the first time since we had begun driving, I understood he was searching for something—or someone.

"They are following us," he said under his breath. We have company here.

Whipped around in my seat, all I could see were the empty road stretches behind us. "I see no one."

With a determined jaw, Adrian put his foot more firmly on the gas. "You wouldn't." Not now. Still, they exist. They are constantly like this.

As I clutched the seat, my heart hammered in my chest and my mind flew. The walls were closing quickly and we had few choices.

Then Adrian abruptly swung quickly, the tires screaming as we drove off the road and down a small dirt lane I had not even noticed.

"Where are we heading?"? Panic swelling in my throat, I asked.

He fixed me with a stern glare. "We're going somewhere they won't expect."

A huge smash sounded behind us, exactly as I had assumed we had dismissed our assailants. I looked to see quick, unrelenting spotlights barreling toward us.

The hunt was not yet finished.