a hundred pounds. I had no idea how much time had passed since Devlin and Tank had barged into Colt’s house. Hours? Minutes?
Long enough to drag me into a dark room. But where?
I rolled onto my stomach and pushed up to my knees. My stomach churned with sickness, and I took a few long breaths to calm it. I pressed my hands against the walls, they were cold and rough—likely brick. But I couldn’t find anything that indicated a window or door. And I couldn’t see a damn thing.
As if the nausea wasn’t already bad enough, the rising fear and anxiety stole my breath.
I moved slowly along the wall, feeling for anything—praying harder than I thought possible for a clue. For some possibility of escape.
As I rounded the corner, a small sliver of light appeared along the floor about two feet away.
The door….
And just beyond it, someone had just turned on a light.
I scrambled backward getting as far away from it as possible—but there was nothing for me to hide behind in my barren cell. Then, I climbed to my feet. I wouldn’t play the feeble, whimpering victim—even though that’s exactly what I felt like doing.
Blinding light filled the room when the door open. I heard deep laughter as I shielded my eyes.
“Colt will find me,” I said to the faceless intruder.
“I’m counting on it,” Devlin replied smoothly.
I lowered my arm and squinted at him—paying more attention to what was beyond him. I tried to make out anything that might tell me where he was keeping me, but my eyes were slow to adjust. Devlin nodded, and Tank moved past him, coming toward me faster than I could move. I tried to duck away, but there was nowhere to run, and within seconds he had me pinned in a corner, pressing his forearm against my throat. Then, he jerked me forward and, just as easily, sent me sailing face-first into the floor.
My knees hit with a sickening thud, and Tank’s arm came around my neck from behind while he twisted my left arm behind my back until I felt like an aching pretzel. I pressed my right hand against the floor, unable to even look up as Devlin’s steps stopped inches in front of me. He knelt and pushed back my hair. Then, he placed the full weight of his knee on the back of my hand.
I screamed against closed lips. Biting them closed to smother my reaction until it turned into a nasally squeal.
“Remember our deal?” Devlin growled.
That stupid, damn deal he had the audacity to threaten my family over. To track down my brother, and threaten his daughter, just so I would get on Colt’s bad side. “Ask him questions. Annoy him. I did.”
“And the package?”
I shook my head.
“He’s not using….” Devlin said, jerking my head back by a handful of hair. I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to see a forked tongue moving inside his mouth as he spoke. “You mentioned it when we picked you up, but how did you know what my goal was?”
Think, Aubrey. Think. I sure as hell couldn’t tell Devlin that Colt had been aware of the entire arrangement, and likewise Colt had clued me in—to an extent—to Devlin’s plan. “You asked me about a package before... When I saw him with it one night, I asked about it.”
“And did he take it?”
I shook my head again. “Not that I ever saw.”
Devlin dug his knee deeper into my hand, and I swallowed my whimper.
“I tried,” my voice barely carried through the pain. “I tried to push him.”
“How’d he get Wilson to play along?”
Damn it. Did they bring me here just to question me? If I told him about the car, we were all dead. “I don’t know.”
More weight shifted onto my hand until I thought it would shatter. “He doesn’t tell me anything. ‘Shut up.’ ‘I’ll take care of it.’ ‘Just do as you’re told.’ That’s it.”
“Does he know about our conversations?”
Yes…. No…. Was there any answer that would keep me alive? You’re taking too long. “He goes through my phone. He’s always suspicious, but I told him I’d never help you, and he seemed to believe me.”
“Well, let’s be sure of that.” He pulled a long blue elastic band from his pocket. I used every muscle to rear back but couldn’t move more than an inch. Still pressing his knee into my hand, he tied the tourniquet around my bicep, then waved a syringe in front of my face.
Tears burned, and my body shook. “No, Devlin, please. I’ll do what you want.”
False promises. I just needed to buy time.
Devlin chuckled. “Did you ever consider that’s exactly why you’re here in the first place?”
Of course it was. Devlin always got his way. He touched my jaw and rubbed his finger along my lips. “Since we’re all quite aware of your willingness to use your body in barter. What do you say to a blow job for one more night of sanity?”
I glared up at him. If I was going out, I was doing it with my head up this time. I set my jaw and took a deep breath. “Go fuck yourself.”
He jabbed the needle into the vein on the inside of my elbow. Bowing my head, I watched as my tears dripped to the floor. Then, he pulled back the plunger, tainting the liquid with my red blood just before he emptied the contents into my arm. Tank pulled me back, sitting me on my heels.
There was no escape now.
Nothing could save me.
Devlin pulled away the elastic band and hot liquid rushed to my mind, coating it in dark ecstasy. My eyes were still open, but I dropped back against the wall like an old doll with no stuffing.
Tank and Devlin slipped away—back into the light—so bright. So far away.
I didn’t want to be left in the darkness again.
But…. I couldn’t convince myself to care either.
Tank returned—just a blob of a man before my drooping eyelids—and sat a bucket in the corner.
The door closed.
And the light disappeared.