A fresh start? It’s what I’ve always wanted—to have a new life, untainted by my past. Still, there are too many loopholes in their plan. As nice as it sounds to have my freedom, I’m worried I’ll get killed before I actually get it.

Say I say yes, I jot down. Then what? What’s your big plan to get me in the good grace of Donny again, because right now, he’s fucking pissed off at me and my father.

Stale wavers and glances at Senford. “Let’s just say we’re going to give Elderman an offer he can’t turn down, either.”

I wave my hand in front of me, signaling for him to explain further.

“We can’t give you all the details until you agree to do this,” Stale explains. “But let’s just say you’re going to make Elderman an offer he can’t turn down, an offer that will be great for his business and that will help you get your foot in the door.”

And what if they come after me? I write, wondering if I’m insane to even consider this. I have to be. Have to have lost my damn mind. What if they find out what I’m doing? And what if I manage to pull this off, bust Elderman, and he finds out it was me? What if his men come after me? They’ll kill me if they ever find out I was involved.

“We can offer you protection. Even after we take Elderman down, we can still protect you. You can enter the witness protection program and start over, just like we promised.” Senford leans forward, very get-down-to-business like. “Look, Ryler, we get that this is dangerous for you, but you’re not going to be in it alone. We’ll be there to help you. We’re not just going to throw you in. We’re going to prep you and be there every step of the way until we find Donny and take him down.”

Maybe I should have considered my answer longer. Betraying one of the most dangerous men should be a big, huge decision. But the words fresh start keep flashing inside my head. It’s what I’ve wanted for years, but never thought I’d get. I wouldn’t have to go to Kentucky. My record would be gone. My tainted past erased. My shitty life would be no more.

My hand shakes a little as I press the pen to the paper. Okay, tell me what I have to do.

Chapter 3

Right out the Window

Emery

6 months later…

It’s the start of summer. While most of the kids I grew up with are living with their parents back at home, I’m moving into my new apartment in a town an hour away from Ralingford, moving into my new life and following through with my plan. I just wish my mother wasn’t with me, poisoning the moment.

“I still don’t get why you couldn’t wait until the end of the summer to move out like the rest of your friends.” My mother crinkles her nose as she assesses the single bedroom apartment with plain walls and boring tan carpet that will be my new home.

Simple. Everything about this place is simple, which is why I decided to rent it—because it is everything my old home isn’t. Plus, it’s cheap and affordable.

“It would have saved you money to live and attend college at home,” she huffs, still irate ten hours after I announced that I was moving out.

She’d slapped me across the face numerous times, but I made sure not to react, blinked through the pain until she was finished. That was when I’d threatened to hitchhike to get to Laramie if she didn’t take me. Terrified someone would find her supposedly perfect daughter walking down the side of the road, she’d caved and drove me.

“But no,” she continues ranting. “You had to spring this moving plan on me without a single hour of notice. Jesus, Emery, I still can’t believe you packed all of your stuff up then announced you were leaving Ralingford. No notice. No nothing. I haven’t even been able to get ahold of your father to tell him yet. Do you know how infuriated he’s going to be when he finds out? You’re lucky he was out of town; otherwise, this”—she waves a finger around the room—“would never have happened.”

She’s telling me stuff I already know. It’s why I planned on leaving today while my father is away on one of his business trips. I made sure there were no loopholes in my plan, like my father locking me in my bedroom.

I set down the box I’m holding and wipe my damp forehead with the back of my hand. “I had to move out today. I’m taking summer classes, which start in just over a week. You wanted me to take summer classes, remember? We’ve talked about it since I was sixteen and began making plans for college.”

She walks into the small kitchen that’s attached to the living room and opens a cupboard, shaking her head. “Yes, but at Ralingford Community College. Not at a college an hour away from home, living on your own.”

“I didn’t want to go to Ralingford Community College.” I rub my sweaty palms on the front of my pants. Even now that I’m free, her presence still unsettles me. “I want to attend a university where I can get a bachelor’s degree.”

She slams the cupboard shut, brushes her long, black hair off her shoulder, and faces me. “Ralingford is less than an hour drive to Laramie. You could have easily lived at home and commuted. You could have done that for fall semester, too. It’s what some people from town do. At least, the ones stupid enough to believe they’re getting a better education outside of Ralingford.”

My graduating class consisted of two-hundred students. Three of those students, including me, are going to the University of Wyoming. Only one, other than me, moved out of town, as well. I’m not sure if they suffered the same drama, but I envy them if they didn’t.