Savannah woke to darkness. Pitch black without a pinprick of light visible. Flat on her back, on a hard surface, she attempted to sit up, and promptly whacked her forehead against something mere inches from where she lay.
“Ow! What the heck?” Touching her forehead, she felt a lump already forming. Reaching up, she felt a satiny soft fabric over something solid. Hands scrambled against it, she hit it, to no avail.
A ragged breath caught in her throat when she realized where that son of a bitch put her. It was her worst nightmare come to life. Because she knew—it was a coffin. Had he buried her alive?
They’d laid their trap so carefully, determined to capture Aristides once and for all. Stefan, Bogey, and the rest of the Navy SEALs came up with a plan to smoke Aristides out of hiding—using her as bait. Obviously, it worked, just not the way they’d planned, otherwise Aristides would be handcuffed in the back of a squad car, and she’d be in Stefan’s arms.
“Hello, Anna.” The tinny sound came from what she suspected was a speaker near her right ear. It was Aristides. She’d recognize his smarmy voice anywhere.
“Aristides.”
He chuckled, and the sound made her skin crawl. “How do you like your new accommodations?”
“You don’t scare me, Aristides. My friends will find me…”
“Your friends don’t have a clue you’re even missing—yet. By the time they do, you’ll be joining Danny again.”
Her heartbeat raced as adrenaline surged through her veins. Don’t let him get to you, Anna. He’s taunting you, trying to get a rise. Don’t give him the satisfaction.
“You underestimate Stefan Carlisle. If you hurt me, there’s no place far enough away you can hide. And you saw his police records. What do you think he’ll do when he catches you?”
She didn’t mind using Stefan’s past to poke at Aristides. He didn’t know the real man; the gentle man Stefan had become. Building a good level of fear might mean the difference between freedom and death.
“I doubt your bumbling boyfriend can find you. You’re not in San Diego anymore. While he was studying his computers, chasing phantoms, I whisked you right out of your bed and you’re now miles away.”
“It won’t matter if it’s ten miles or a thousand, he’ll find me. You underestimated his skills before, and it cost you Danny’s life. Are you willingly going to underestimate him again?”
The silence following her words scared her almost more than his taunting jabs. It seemed to go on for eternity before Aristides spoke again.
“Carlisle will die for his part in Danny’s death. So will Ranger Boudreau and everyone else. But, you, my dear—you’re the one I hold most responsible. I’m going to keep you alive the longest and watch as you pay for my son’s death. Think about all the ways I will make you suffer.”
Her hands dug at the satiny fabric above her, panic giving her a fight-or-flight response fueled by adrenaline. She couldn’t go through that again. Suffering through Danny’s insanity, his beatings and rape almost broke her, physically and emotionally. She knew she’d rather die than submit to Aristides enacting his twisted sense of revenge on her.
“Don’t pretend you’re doing this for Danny. You’re not fooling me for one second, Aristides. This is all about keeping me quiet. Shutting me up, so I can’t testify against you. You’re scared of spending the rest of your life in Angola prison, or maybe worse, they’ll toss you into a federal prison. It’s no more than you deserve.”
The chuckle through the speaker was laced with so much evil it made her skin crawl. Danny might have been insane, but his father was totally lucid—he was simply a monster.
“Anna, Anna, keeping you from testifying is simply one of the perks. Killing you will bring justice for my son’s execution. Vengeance, as they say, is a dish best served cold. And I will have my revenge, against all of you.” His voice lowered to a soft croon. “Sleep tight, little Anna. And dream about all the fun we’ll have—before you die.”
Her hands fisted into the torn fabric, yanking it free. Tracing her fingers along the seams of the casket, she frantically searched for any way to open it from inside. When her fingers encountered the small speaker and microphone, she yanked them free. Maybe if Aristides couldn’t hear her, he’d come and check to see what was going on.
If he came, she’d be ready. This time, she wasn’t going to be anybody’s punching bag. She’d fight with every breath, every ounce of strength, because she had something to fight for—Stefan and the promise of a future together.
If she could just figure out how to get out of here, she’d turn the tables on Aristides, and make this nightmare end for good.