My hand flies out, gripping his wrist so tightly I can feel his bones straining not to snap. Half a dozen pistols are pointed to my head, but all I see is red. If he so much as fucking touches her…
Liam’s face is strained, but he manages a twisted smile. “It’s okay, boys. He’s going to let me go, because he knows I could take his fucking bitch apart piece by piece right now if I want to. But if he behaves, who knows? Maybe he’ll find some way to stop me.”
I grudgingly let go of his wrist, glaring hard enough to burn holes in his skin. “What do you want?”
He looks down, smiling. “Since you’re mine now, I think I’ll let you in on a little secret. You too, honey,” he says, looking to Makayla. “Your stepfather has made arranging your death a can’t-miss opportunity. Imagine my delight when I realized I could get the revenge I wanted and cash in on your pretty little ass at the same time.”
“You’re lying,” breathes Makayla. Her voice sounds thick with emotion, and it tears at me to hear it.
The need to protect her throbs within me, nearly overwhelming me and driving me mad because we’re in an impossible situation. There’s no amount of strategy or cleverness that could do anything about the number of guns pointed at us. The only option right now is to wait.
“Not that I have anything against lying,” says Liam, “but no. Hubert’s up to his eyeballs in debt and the people he owes money to are just about ready to collect his balls as collateral. Do you recall agreeing to be covered for life insurance?”
Makayla doesn’t say anything, but the look on her face says she does.
“Well, I guess you didn’t bother to read the terms. He and his lawyer apparently managed to get you covered for a lot of money. And since Hubert is the primary benefactor in the event of your death, well, he’s ready to cash in and get his business back on the ground.
A tear streaks down Makayla’s cheek. “He wouldn’t. He loves me.”
Liam shrugs. “I’m sure some farmers become attached to their cattle, but when the family’s stomach starts to rumble, the cow gets slaughtered all the same.”
“You’re lying. They could have hurt me whenever they wanted,” she says, looking to Edwards and Rosenthal. “If he had paid them to betray me, they wouldn’t have waited so long.”
“I only just managed to find a price they both found agreeable. Besides, you’re worth about three times as much if the death looks like an accident. Putting a bullet in your head would lose us a lot of money. I’m thinking a car accident will do the trick, but I don’t plan to let this body of yours go to waste before at least giving it a taste,” Liam steps forward and reaches for Makayla.
I land two thundering cross hooks. The first connecting with his eye and the second with his nose. His head snaps back twice, eyes glazing. Something hard and metallic slams into the back of my head, followed by two more blows. I fall to my knees, vision going black. I have just long enough to hate myself for failing Makayla before I lose consciousness.
40
Makayla
I’m being kept prisoner in a classically elegant room. The furniture all looks antique but well-maintained, and the room is furnished with seemingly endless ornamental pieces that each look priceless. I have half a mind to trash the place just to spite these assholes, but I know it wouldn’t be smart. Because it might make them kill you faster, whispers a small voice in my head. A wave of chills washes over me.
It still doesn’t feel completely real. The last few hours have been such an emotional rollercoaster that I still can’t completely wrap my head around it. Hell, the last few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster, except it seems like there have been way more downs than ups.
I can’t seem to go more than five minutes without thinking about Jesse. Without worrying about Jesse. Those men hit him with their pistols so hard I thought they killed him. I nearly cried with relief when I saw that he was still breathing as they dragged him into the car. But God, as horrible as it is, part of me almost wished he wasn’t breathing. I know what Liam plans to do to him and it’s eating me up inside.
I know I should be completely focused on getting myself out of here right now, but I’m finding it hard not to give into despair. Jesse is gone. They took him and he can’t save me. If I’m going to get out of here I’m going to have to do it myself. Easier said than done.
I pace around the room, thinking of every possible way out of this I can. I don’t know how long I have. All I really know is that Liam had some “business” to set in order before he could come “fuck the bitch”. I feel bile rise in my throat. I’ll bite off my own tongue before I let him touch me. But it’s not going to come to that, because I’m going to find a way out of here. Somehow.
I stupidly reach for my purse to grab my phone on impulse. I have neither, of course. I still vividly remember watching my purse fall to the concrete when they dragged me to a car, its contents spilling to the concrete. As I remember the image, I fixate on my inhaler tumbling from the bag and an idea strikes me. I haven’t had an asthma attack since second grade, but every time I’ve changed purses, I’ve always just moved the inhaler from purse to purse. Now that it sparked this idea, I know it might not have been a complete waste of effort.
I have to wait a few minutes until I hear men outside my door. I quickly put myself in the zone. Lights. Camera. Action.
I clutch my throat, gasping dramatically, wheezing in a pained breath like it might be my last. I choke out a strained “help”, pressing my mouth close to the door. I keep gasping and clawing at my throat as I fall to my knees, banging a hand on the door. It’s only a second before I hear a key scrabbling at the lock and the door swings open to reveal Edwards and Rosenthal.
Rosenthal looks annoyed, but Edwards’ face is lined with concern.
“The fuck?” asks Rosenthal.
“Asthma… attack…” I gasp. “Inhaler…”
The two men exchange a look. “Fuck, man,” says Rosenthal. “Liam’s going to be pissed if she dies before he gets to play with her.”
“We need to take her to see a doctor or something,” says Edwards.
“Are you fucking stupid?” asks Rosenthal. “That idiot told her we’re planning to kill her. We can’t take her anywhere.”
I squeeze my throat discreetly, making the blood rush to my face as I gasp, letting spit drip down from my mouth.
Edwards picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, heading toward the front door of the large house.
“Put her down,” says Rosenthal. “If she dies, she dies.”
“I’m not going to watch her suffer. This isn’t what I signed up--”
A gunshot blasts my eardrums. Edwards’ tall frame crumples beneath me and I’m slammed to the ground as he drops me. He falls to his knees, pulling a gun and turning in time to shoot once at Rosenthal before Rosenthal empties the rest of his clip into the man, squeezing the trigger several times after he’s out of bullets, making the gun click uselessly. I barely manage to crawl out of the crossfire.