No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

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into the restroom? After she made knowing eye contact withhim on her way out the door?Jesus — what the hell was going on?Bloody scenarios cycled through her mind like cameraflashes. She braced, half-expecting the thump of a gunshot.But there was nothing. Only icy silence. Only the distant moanof the wind. Only Jay and herself, standing on shaky legs inthat desolate parking lot.The nail gun, she decided.Lars’s nail gun was her new objective. She’d find it, figureout how to operate it, and then she’d run back inside the visitorcenter, kick open the door, and whatever was going on inside,she’d fire a nail right into Lars’s whiskery little face. Kathunk.Asshole dead. Innocent child saved. Nightmare over.That would work.She looked back at Jay, her teeth chattering. “Alright.Where do you think Lars keeps his nail gun? Back here, or inthe front?”“The other one keeps it in an orange box.”“Keeps it where?”“It used to be back here, but I think they moved it—”But Darby wasn’t listening. Jay’s little voice bled away,and in a flash of scalding panic, the prior sentence snagged inher brain and echoed: The other one keeps it an orange box.The other one.The other one.The other one—Slipping, staggering back outside, she hit her kneecaps onhardened snow, steadied herself against the brake light, andpeered around it—The building’s door was now open.Lars stood in the doorway. Beside him, Ashley.
The other one.They watched her, fifty feet away, framed by interior light.They appeared to be speaking to each other, in guardedwhispers so Ed and Sandi wouldn’t hear from inside. Theirfaces were black shadow, unreadable. But Lars had hisscrawny arm chicken-winged up inside his jacket, resting onthe grip of his pistol. And Ashley had the rock-in-a-sock out,in his right hand.He was swinging it.Smacking it against his palm.
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NO EXITA gripping thriller full of
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DEDICATIONFor Riley.
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Sent: 12/23 6:52 p.m.To: Fat_Kenny1
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7:39 p.m.December 23“Screw you, B
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“No, no, no.” She pumped the ga
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Darby almost ran it over.Her windsh
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couldn’t sink into that muck agai
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“Not since White Bend.”Her hear
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outlines of distant peaks. Craggy s
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Darby chuckled.They’d reached the
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but that’s not true. It takes yea
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highway. She knew she was lucky to
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8:17 p.m.She went back inside.Ashle
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Jesus, Darby, just turn around.Face
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wayto summon help from cellular dea
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Ashley glanced up at her over a han
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She didn’t realize Rodent Face ha
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In this tiny rest stop.All night.
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overnight in a snowy rest stop? It
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“Reminds me of a joke. What does
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Darby scooted her chair out and sto
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9:25 p.m.Darby walked to the Nightm
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Strangely, though, her body itself
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the deserted cafeteria, and took tw
Page 50 and 51: She crouched and ripped the white s
Page 52 and 53: Dangerous. She’d acted without th
Page 54 and 55: “From your house?” Darby rephra
Page 56 and 57: The girl nodded.Darby’s mind flut
Page 58 and 59: But he didn’t. He kept walking, c
Page 60 and 61: He was looking at Jay’s kennel in
Page 62 and 63: Jay didn’t blink, her bloodstaine
Page 64 and 65: media to aid the coming manhunt. Sh
Page 66 and 67: his forehead, which reminded her of
Page 68 and 69: pinned on Darby as he spoke. “You
Page 70 and 71: The time she dreamt that her throat
Page 72 and 73: flesh of his throat, or his eyes. N
Page 74 and 75: Ed blinked. “What?”“Circle ti
Page 76 and 77: these ancient ore carts, over these
Page 78 and 79: entire world teetered on a knife ed
Page 80 and 81: 11:09 p.m.In the men’s restroom,
Page 82 and 83: He’d caught his breath now, and l
Page 84 and 85: this asshole. And since he suspects
Page 86 and 87: “Am I Person B?”Darby placed th
Page 88 and 89: him, to decide how to deal with us.
Page 90 and 91: Ashley reached through the security
Page 92 and 93: She wished he’d just inhale some
Page 94 and 95: Ashley swallowed. Some color was ba
Page 96 and 97: So she did — she decided to keep
Page 98 and 99: “Believe me, Jay, that’ll chang
Page 102 and 103: MIDNIGHT
Page 104 and 105: She needed to find it fast. Under t
Page 106 and 107: But she knew the pistol was just fo
Page 108 and 109: rust-eaten hinge, and it seemed to
Page 110 and 111: update. What was the timetable befo
Page 112 and 113: they’d used before, back when she
Page 114 and 115: “Afraid so.”“Well, I guess we
Page 116 and 117: And those green dragon eyes kept st
Page 118 and 119: It was just a small error, only a f
Page 120 and 121: It didn’t matter, because Ashley
Page 122 and 123: And she wasn’t even awake. She sn
Page 124 and 125: “See, Darbs, we’ll all agree th
Page 126 and 127: Every second felt volatile. She gla
Page 128 and 129: Sandi stirred again on the bench. L
Page 130 and 131: Darby shook her head sharply, squee
Page 132 and 133: Now, he reached through the securit
Page 134 and 135: fingernail around the trigger, whif
Page 136 and 137: He wasn’t sure.Please?Finally he
Page 138 and 139: But it was fine. No worries. Ashley
Page 140 and 141: hadn’t. She knew Ashley had sent
Page 142 and 143: Roofing Service, that her father
Page 144 and 145: “Shh.” Ashley moved his head, l
Page 146 and 147: Nothing.“Isn’t it funny, then?
Page 148 and 149: Lars’s eyes widened, darting from
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Darby skidded, reaching the driver
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“And you should eat a goddamn bre
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she was. She didn’t know they wer
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No answer. Only the stiff creak of
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She wished she could rewind this ho
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Lars liked it well enough. But he
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rolled on knees and elbows, kicking
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single window, the parked cars, the
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sticky, duct-taped in patches. A cr
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“With what?”“They have a gun.
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Darby grabbed his wrist, vise-tight
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they’d be leaving the cars unguar
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Perched against a vertical world of
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table and the window frame. “Ashl
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“Front window.”“Barricaded.
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enough. And she was grateful she di
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2:56 a.m.On her way back into the l
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She remembered the sharp odor of vo
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Ed knelt to Jay. “When they come,
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“He has the newest Gears of War.
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“You’re just drunk. If we try t
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“Answer me.” Darby’s voice wo
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3:33 a.m.Ed screamed: “SANDI—
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rubbing her nose. “I mean … God
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To his right, Lars took a diligent
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Sandi was in hysterics. She cried o
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She pressed the gas pedal and the F
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sounded different. They were gettin
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“What if we need to get out and r
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shards bounced. Darby banged her ja
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time bomb; a single bad moment away
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Jay peered over the door. “What i
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Jay faced her now, standing in the
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4:05 a.m.Thirty minutes.Thirty minu
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she’d once mistaken for Ashley’
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Jay cried, struggling to look away,
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made a strange sound, like a wet bu
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She nodded, and another tear hit th
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—But it was real. It was all real
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REST AREA ONE MILE.* * *“Hey.”
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“But, see, I had a plan, too.”
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“What?”“Women’s shelters. S
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makes her a liability. So we came u
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was rock-hard here, like sculpted c
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meaningless to him; you might as we
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The worst part of it all? Their she
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“No, Darby—”“Please, tell m
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a donut. She knew it might appear h
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Perfect darkness.Lars knelt to the
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fingernails scratching her cheek, b
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Darby held on — knowing it was st
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“Darby, I swear to God, if you re
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“It’s okay.”She hadn’t yet
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“Don’t miss.”“I won’t.”
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“Yeah, well, I lied.”THWUMP-THW
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“We could’ve gone to Idaho. Tog
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plunger. It clicked, like a gun’s
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“Oh, come on—”* * *A fireball
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“You named your car?”“I’ll
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5:44 a.m.“Daaaaarby.”Yes, Ashle
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I won’t.* * *Ashley was perplexed
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Uphill, the flaming visitor center
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“What were you going to do with J
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6:01 a.m.Ashley flinched at the gun
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DAWN
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through the truck’s windshield
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6:22 a.m.Ashley Garver flinched aga
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profound horror, he’d forgotten w
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“I said thank you.”This gave Da
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DRAFT EMAIL (UNSENT)12/24/17 5:31 p
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No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

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