But the line goes dead.
I try Luke’s number, but he doesn’t answer, most likely because he’s on his way to Sons of Eden to try and negotiate. So I fire off a voice memo as I accelerate toward my destination.
Alert the team. I’m going in.
Chapter Forty-One
Lyingon my bad side helps me breathe a little easier, but the icy concrete floor is making me shiver. Or maybe it’s my apprehension chilling my bones. The lightning and thunder have stopped, but the drumming of the rain on the cellar door tells me that the storm is long from over.
I had to give up on my knife. Instead, I’ve been rubbing my wrists, hoping to unravel the one strand I did manage to cut, but it must be trapped beneath the others because it’s not budging. All the rubbing has turned my wrists raw and hot, and a warm sticky liquid—blood?—is oozing between my fingers.
I’m shivering and exhausted. And I’m hurting. My side. My skull. My cheekbone. My shoulders and arm muscles from cutting and rubbing. My feet, so cold in this dungeon without socks or shoes.
Dad and CJ will be searching for me by now. If my work truck is still parked in that pullout, at least they’ll have a starting point. But what if the men moved it, drove it off a cliff somewhere?
It might slow Dad and CJ down, but my car is certainly still at the field office, and my destination is written on the sign-out sheet.Will they know I’ve been taken? Or will they assume I got lost? Or hurt?
Fresh tears sting my eyes as another heavy wave of despair crashes over me. I’m not getting out of here. The young woman only came to me for information, and when I couldn’t give it to her, she turned her back on me. How can she leave me down here? The men will be back, and I won’t be able to stop them from hurting me.
I try to close myself off, shut everything down so I’m locked tight inside my own mind, but my fear is ramping up, making me cry harder.
The rattling of the lock startles me, the sudden movement making me yelp in pain. The cellar door opens with a rusty squeak, and though barely any light comes in from outside, I can make out several figures.
Dread spirals down my spine while fear prickles my scalp. I scoot farther from the bars, but there’s nowhere to hide. My teeth chatter and my breaths turn to panicked whimpers.
The door shuts behind them, and a flashlight clicks on. They’re talking in hurried tones broken by laughter. Unease slithers beneath my skin because they sound…excited.
The beam of light crawls toward me. I force myself to look back with all the bravery I have left.
But the light catches my knife resting outside the bars.
The men go quiet, then the beam hits my face.
Angry tears prick my eyes but I hold my head high.
The bigger man, the one who kicked me, plucks my knife from the floor, then tsks at me with his tongue.
“What did you think that would do, huh?” the other man taunts.
“Time for your first lesson in obedience.” This comes from a third man. His cold tone sends a fresh wave of chills down my spine. I squint but he’s standing outside the pool of light. He’s tall, with long arms.
Breathing fast, I stare them down.No matter what happens, I won’t let them break me.
The bigger man points the flashlight in my direction. The other man unlocks the cell and swings the door open, then beckons to me with his fingers.
I scoot farther into the corner. No.No!
The man steps into the cell, his boots gritty against the dirty cement floor. I shift to protect my head, expecting his kick, but he yanks me to my feet and shoves me face first into the wall, cracking my cheekbone, the ripple of hot pain through my ribs making me dizzy. If the man wasn’t pinning me in the middle of my back, I’d crumple. Each tug on the rope binding brings more pain, but their hold must satisfy him because he spins me around and shoves me forward. I’m so surprised and my feet are so numb that I stumble. The man with the gun steps aside to watch me fall. I crash so hard my vision tunnels and their jeers sound far away. Or maybe I’m already shutting down. Because they’re going to enjoy hurting me.
A radio crackles with a command I can’t decipher. The third man barks a reply, then mutters something to the two others in low tones.
Their momentary distraction gets me stumbling to my knees—go, go!Get to the hatch!But the room spins and God, the pain. If I run, will they shoot? Maybe that’s the way. End this now.
But I’m grabbed by both of my arms while the third man hurries up the stairs and slips into the night, shutting the door behind him. I scream into the tape and flail my legs, tearing against the men’s hold, renewed strength coursing through my veins. But I’m heaved onto the bed I saw earlier. It’s so soft compared to the hard floor but it’s the opposite of comforting. I’m kicking and thrashing so hard that I don’t realize someone else is in the room until a flash of movement draws both men’s attention.
Illuminated by a beam of silvery light from the open cellar door isCJ, the outline of something long and heavy in his hand. “Step away from her or you’re fucking dead.”
Chapter Forty-Two