Chapter25
Katelyn
The door opens, and Sawyer is shoved inside.He stumbles, the momentum nearly taking him to the ground, but he recovers quickly.Both of his hands are bound in front of him, and he’s shirtless, but his injury has been tended to, a crisp white bandage over his side.
Which means, they want him alive…for now.
Relief rushes through me at the sight of him.Thank You, Lord!
“Easy, bud, I require a more tender touch,” he says to Leo.
“Shut up.”He shoves Sawyer down into a chair beside me, then secures his feet at the ankles with zip ties.
Sawyer glances over at me.“Come here often?”
How he’s joking right now, I have no idea, but his uplifted spirits are a good thing, right?Doesn’t that mean he feels okay?Does he know how we’re going to get out of here?
“Are you okay?”I ask.
“Eh, I’ve had worse.”
Leo zip ties one wrist to the chair, then cuts the one that is binding both of his wrists together and secures his right wrist to the other side of the chair.“Don’t go anywhere,” Leo says, then throws a wink at me.
“Not planning on it.”Sawyer winks right back.
Leo snarls and mutters obscenities as he leaves the room and slams the door behind him.
Sawyer turns to me, the humor from just seconds ago leaving his face.His gaze drifts over my body as if he’s checking me for injuries.“Are you okay?”
“I’m not the one who was shot,” I reply.
“I’ll be fine.”He’s quiet for a moment, nostrils flaring.“Did they touch you?—”
I shake my head, already knowing he’s about to ask whether or not they assaulted me.“I’m okay.”My gaze fills.“But I’m so sorry, Sawyer.I’m so sorry that you got dragged into this.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault.Besides, this isn’t even the first time I’ve been tied to a chair this year.But I do need you to tell me what’s going on so I know what we’re dealing with.”Sawyer glances around the room, then nods toward a camera mounted in the top right.“Watch your words, though.We have an audience,” he says, tone low.
I’d noticed it earlier, too.“Earnest is my brother-in-law,” I tell him.As much as I hate to rehash this again, the time for secrets is past.If there is anything I know that can help, I’ll say it.
“Victor Marks is your ex-husband?”
“Technically, my late husband.We never officially divorced,” I tell him.“I ran and was too afraid to send him divorce papers, just in case he could use them to track me.”
“He was abusive?”
I nod.“Among other things.”
“You said late husband.He’s dead?”
“He died when Thomas was three.”
“That why big brother is after you?What does he want with Thomas?”
Tears burn in the corners of my eyes, and my stomach twists.“He has been trying to kill Thomas since Victor died.”
Sawyer’s gaze turns downright murderous.“He wants tokillthe kid?”
I nod.“He blames me for Victor’s death and?—”