“Tell him the rocks I found didn’t work.”
“Okay.” I bit my lower lip. “And then what?”
“And then you get the knife.”
“How will I get the knife?”
“He keeps it in his back pocket. That’s why he hasn’t taken his pants off. You’ll have to find a way to grab it from him. Maybe pretend to fall into him and grab it that way.”
“That sounds like something a pickpocket would do.”
“That’s what you’re trying to do.” He grabbed my hands and stared at me intently. “You have to be careful, Bianca. You have to be very careful. If he suspects anything . . .”
“I’ll be careful.” I nodded. “I’ll get the knife.” I swallowed hard as another thought hit me. “Do you think he has a gun as well?” I thought back to the loud bang we’d heard at the waterfall.
“I think he has something, but I don’t think it’s a gun. If he had a gun, I think he would have pulled it on me a long time ago.” His voice lowered. “I’ll be watching as best I can.” He held me close to him. “Call out if you need me.”
“I don’t know if I can do this.” I felt my eyes growing heavy as I held on to his arms. My voice trembled, and I looked down to the ground in embarrassment.
“Then you don’t have to do it.” He shook his head. “I won’t make you do it if you’re too scared.” He brought my face to his chest and stroked my hair. “I can take care of you, Bianca. I won’t put you in danger.” Something in his tone gave me the strength I needed, and I pulled away from him.
“I’m sorry. I can try.” I swallowed and pushed my shoulders back. “I’ve always been a more passive person, but I’m trying to be stronger.” And this was all for my dad. This whole situation was to find out what had happened to my mother. I couldn’t allow fear to bring me down.
“Funny, that’s what my mom taught me too.” He gave me a wry smile. “Yet both of them seemed to take it and accept it.”
I nodded without saying a word, and we just stared at each other. I watched as Steve came out of the ocean, and something in me snapped.
“Get away from me!” I pushed Jakob away and screamed. “You liar! Get away from me!”
“What?” He grabbed for me, and I reached over and slapped him hard. I beat my fists against his chest and shook my head like a crazy woman.
“You’ll pay for this!” I screamed, and leaned forward. “Run to the jungle.” My eyes implored him as I whispered hurriedly. “I’m going to get the knife.”
He nodded his understanding and stepped back. “I’ll be back once you calm down,” he said loudly.
“Leave me alone!” I screamed, and ran toward Steve.
“Are you okay?” Steve’s eyes were wide as he approached me. His expression looked eager and satisfied, and I knew that he had bought my little shouting act.
“I confronted him about the note,” I told him, feigning outrage.
“You told him?” He grabbed my arms. “Why did you do that? He’s going to be mad.”
“I need to know the truth. I need to know why he’s been terrorizing me.”
“He’s never going to tell you the truth, you stupid girl.” Steve’s voice changed, and he looked angry.
“Can I have a drink?” I reached my hand out, hoping he would hand me the flask without even thinking about it. “I really need one right now.”
“Sure.” He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. My eyes immediately fell to the bottom of the flask, and that’s when I realized that the stainless steel at the bottom wasn’t completely flush. Steve froze as he realized what I was staring at.
“I think I’ll keep my alcohol to myself after all.” He took a step away from me.
“I know you sent me the letters.” I gasped, going out on a limb, wanting to know the truth and knowing I had to do something to distract him long enough to try to grab the flask away from him. “I know it was you.”
“He told you?” He froze, and I saw his expression change to something unpleasant. “I can’t believe he told you about the plan.”
“You’re working with David?” I frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“David told you?” He paused and took a step toward me. “What did he tell you?”
“David didn’t tell me about the notes.” I hurried out. “I didn’t know that this was part of the plan. He just told me that Mattias didn’t want me nosing around Bradley Inc., He told me that it would be smart for me to disappear for a few days. I didn’t know he was going to be the one to make me disappear.”
“David? Or Mattias?” He frowned, and that was when I knew that Steve definitely wasn’t here to protect me. If he didn’t know about David or his involvement, that meant he wasn’t here to try to help me. The fact that he brought up Mattias’s name told me everything I needed to know. That meant he was the enemy. I took a step away from him and stumbled to the ground. Steve stood in front of me, looking down with a wild gleam in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Bianca.”
“Sorry about what?” I asked and tried to jump up. I fell back again in my haste, and we both froze as we heard footsteps running toward us. I turned around and saw Jakob approaching us. “What are you doing?” I shouted at him and jumped up. My heart raced in joy, and my stomach flipped over at the sight of him.