Burn Like Fire by Jody Morse, Jayme Morse Read Free Book Online Page A

and she quickly turned to Austin. “There’s Gabe now. We have to get going, but thanks for our little chat.” Staring into his eyes, she thought: You won’t remember this conversation anymore. If anyone asks you, you won’t tell them that you spoke to me or that you told me where you’re going in Ohio.
    When she finished thinking the words, Austin stared back at her blankly. She could tell from the look in his turquoise blue eyes that he really didn’t remember that he had spoken to her. He glanced around and, judging from the look on his face, she could tell he was puzzled about why he was standing in front of her car.
    Austin scurried off in the other direction, just as Gabe was standing next to the car. As he opened the door and climbed in, he turned to Rhonda. “What did Austin want?”
    “Oh, nothing. He dropped a pencil or something next to my car, and he was trying to find it. What a weirdo.” Rhonda rolled her eyes and cracked her gum coolly. She turned to Gabe. “So, are you ready to hit the road?”
    Gabe nodded, resting his head against the seat. A piece of dark hair fell into his eyes. “Yeah, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
    “Great.” Rhonda reached in the glove compartment and pulled out the red bandana. She opened it and held it up to Gabe’s eyes. “I’m going to blindfold you.”
    Gabe stared back at her questioningly. “Uh, why?” The tone in his voice didn’t sound amused by the idea; he actually sounded sort of pissed off. Rhonda hoped that he wasn’t going to get testy with her again. She wasn’t sure how she would handle that.
    “Because I have a surprise for you, silly,” Rhonda replied, with a ‘duh’ tone in her voice, even though she was lying. “You’ll see once we get to Boston.”
    Gabe narrowed his eyes at her. “You really want me to be blindfolded the whole ride to Boston?”
    “Well, I would tell you to go to sleep, but you and I both know that isn’t exactly possible. Is being blindfolded a problem? Because I think it’s pretty sexy.” Her hand drifted down to her cleavage. Just let me blindfold you, Gabe. It will be completely harmless, I promise.
    Gabe’s eyes followed her hand before meeting her eyes. “Okay, I guess you can blindfold me. As long as you promise me you won’t hurt me.”
    Rhonda giggled. “Do you really believe I would ever hurt you ?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s so silly, Gabe. You’re the love of my life.”
    Gabe laughed what sounded like a forced laugh, but he didn’t say anything back. Rhonda met his eyes again and pursed her lips. Tell me I’m the love of your life, too.
    “You’re the love of my life, too,” Gabe said. The tone in his voice was monotone and almost robot-like, but it didn’t matter. The words were exactly what Rhonda needed to hear. They gave her an inner burst of energy, a happiness that radiated throughout her whole body, from the tips of her fingers to her toes. They made her feel rejuvenated.
    For a moment, she actually forgot about her whole plan. All she could think about was Gabe and how much they loved each other.
    As she covered Gabe’s eyes with the blindfold, though, she glanced into the backseat of the car. She spotted the duffel bag that was lying on the floor of the car—the duffel bag that contained the alcohol and poison that she’d tricked Noah into getting for her earlier.
    It was the same alcohol and poison that Rhonda was planning to use to kill Anna with once they arrived in Shady Brooke.

 
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    “Are you sure this is the place?” Austin asked, as he pulled Anna’s Ford Escalade into the parking lot at the motel that they had booked online before they’d left Huntington. The motel’s sign flashed obnoxious yellow and pink in the dark night, illuminating the words ‘Motel Dixie’.
Anna nodded, glancing down at her cell phone for confirmation. “Yeah, this is definitely the place.”
    “It’s not even a hotel,” Austin commented. “It’s a