“Wherever I tell you to.” He pulled a gun from his back waistband and pointed it at her chest. “Let’s go.”
“Avery?” Jessica’s horror-stricken eyes shot to hers.
“It’s okay, Jess,” she lied. “Everything’s going to be fine. They’re not going to kill us.”
The man with the gun snorted. “How can you be so sure?”
Avery looked him square in the eye. “You kill us, you get nothing.” When the muscle under his eye twitched, she gave him a smirk of her own. “That’s right. We know about the ransom. So that’s how I know you won’t kill me or Jessica, or anyone else. Because if you do, you won’t get a penny of our money.”
“You’re right.” He put the gun away and went to her. “I won’t kill you. Not yet anyway.” The man’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the chin. Squeezing her with enough force to damn near break her jaw, he said, “But sometimes there are worse things than death.”
With a hard shove, he released her before yanking her arms behind her back and securing her wrists with plastic ties. Grabbing the top of her arm that was already bruised from before, he forced her out of the room and down a long hallway.
Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!
The sound of her own pulse filled Avery’s ears as her heart pounded so hard she thought it would explode.
“W-where are you taking me?”
Damn, Avery. Stay. Strong!
“To see the boss.”
Boss?So, these guys weren’t the ones in charge?
Good God, how many of these assholes were there?
Passing by several other doors—some open, some closed—Avery thought she heard muffled voices behind them. Was Garrett in one of those rooms?
She thought about his head injury, again. It was the second one in such a short period of time, she couldn’t help but worry for his well-being.
Screaming for help entered her mind, but that was how he’d gotten hurt to begin with, wasn’t it? That man had grabbed her, and she’d panicked. Had reached for him and screamed his name.
And when he’d tried to help her, he’d been smacked in the head with a gun.
“Here she is.” She was shoved from behind into another, larger room.
An old, metal desk and two folding chairs were the only furniture adorning the hot, dusty space. Standing in the center was a man she hadn’t seen before. And he wasn’t wearing a stocking cap like the others.
Dark hair, olive complexion, a straight, narrow nose, and coal black eyes that met her stare.
He’s letting me see his face.
From the books she’d read, to the shows and movies she’d watched, Avery had come to believe seeing a criminal’s face was never a good thing.
“Shut the door on your way out,” this newest man ordered the one who’d brought her here.
As instructed, the other man left the room, leaving her alone with the supposed boss.
“My, my.” He sauntered toward her, undressing her with his dark, beady eyes. “Aren’t you a pleasant surprise?”
The comment confused her. “Surprise?”
“I was led to believe there would only be nine females in your group. And only one under the age of thirty. But you…” he got close enough to brush some hair from her face. “You’re an unexpected gift from the gods.”
There’s only one God, asshole. And He’s going to send you straight to Hell.
“I know you’re waiting to get a ransom for each of us,” she informed him. “So if you kill me…”