No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

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hadn’t. She knew Ashley had sent obedient little Lars out thereto cut off her escape. Which left a far more cunning anddangerous enemy unaccounted for.Then she heard the restroom door click shut.He’s in the room with—A plastic bag tugged over Darby’s face from behind. Shescreamed, but it was trapped inside her mouth.
1:09 a.m.Jay Nissen sawed through the last bar on the dog kennel.She’d cut them one at a time, sawing with the toothedknife the way the red-haired young woman had instructed.Like a miniature tree cutter. Her left hand throbbed with pinsand needles, so it took a long time. Twice, she’d dropped theknife and had to grope for it in the darkness. Once, she’dfeared it had bounced outside the kennel and been lost forever.But she found it.And now?With a push, the grating fell away and chattered againstthe van’s door.This was the first time the cage had been open since theytook her. She didn’t know how many days ago. She hadn’tbeen counting. Going more than a night without her shotsmade her woozy, and since then she’d fallen into an irregularrhythm of sickly, four-hour naps. The sun had been up anddown, rising and falling from different windows. The smell ofketchup, ranch sauce, and stale sweat dewing on glass. Thecrumple of Jack in the Box wrappers. Their murmuring voices,Ashley’s knee-slapping jokes, the hum of blacktop, the urgenttick of the van’s turn signal. Could it have been a weekalready? What were her parents doing right now?Her Wii U controller had been charging when they cameto her house.She’d been plugging the gray wire into the Nintendo portwhen a single, sharp knock came from the front door. Like atennis ball. She’d scurried to the door and opened it a fewinches — there’s a little brass chain the door catches on — andthat was when she first saw him, the one she now knew asLars. Back then, he hadn’t developed his head cold yet. He’dsmiled thickly down and told her he was here with the Fox
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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
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She crouched and ripped the white s
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Dangerous. She’d acted without th
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“From your house?” Darby rephra
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The girl nodded.Darby’s mind flut
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But he didn’t. He kept walking, c
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He was looking at Jay’s kennel in
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Jay didn’t blink, her bloodstaine
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media to aid the coming manhunt. Sh
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his forehead, which reminded her of
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pinned on Darby as he spoke. “You
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The time she dreamt that her throat
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flesh of his throat, or his eyes. N
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Ed blinked. “What?”“Circle ti
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these ancient ore carts, over these
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entire world teetered on a knife ed
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11:09 p.m.In the men’s restroom,
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He’d caught his breath now, and l
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this asshole. And since he suspects
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“Am I Person B?”Darby placed th
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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 100 and 101: into the restroom? After she made k
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 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
Page 150 and 151: Darby skidded, reaching the driver
Page 152 and 153: “And you should eat a goddamn bre
Page 154 and 155: she was. She didn’t know they wer
Page 156 and 157: No answer. Only the stiff creak of
Page 158 and 159: She wished she could rewind this ho
Page 160 and 161: Lars liked it well enough. But he
Page 162 and 163: rolled on knees and elbows, kicking
Page 164 and 165: single window, the parked cars, the
Page 166 and 167: sticky, duct-taped in patches. A cr
Page 168 and 169: “With what?”“They have a gun.
Page 170 and 171: Darby grabbed his wrist, vise-tight
Page 172 and 173: they’d be leaving the cars unguar
Page 174 and 175: Perched against a vertical world of
Page 176 and 177: table and the window frame. “Ashl
Page 178 and 179: “Front window.”“Barricaded.
Page 180 and 181: enough. And she was grateful she di
Page 182 and 183: 2:56 a.m.On her way back into the l
Page 184 and 185: She remembered the sharp odor of vo
Page 186 and 187: Ed knelt to Jay. “When they come,
Page 188 and 189: “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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The cameras, too. The fuzzy microph
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As the clock ticks down, Dan’s pa
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No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

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