Chapter 40
Ipulled at the zip ties on my wrists, the plastic cutting into my skin.
Thankfully, the cold numbed most of the pain. I pulled with everything I had, but I couldn’t make the zip ties budge.
I tried again, pulling as hard as I could, trying not to let out the scream of rage and frustration that pressed against my lips, ignoring the pain biting in my wrists. I closed my eyes, and I thought of everything that I had worked for so far, everything that I was so close to finally achieving.
I thought of the cold, restless nights and the shit apartment I survived, including that fucking landlord who had tried to insinuate that my rent was going to go up unless I performed sexual favors. I thought of every single act of indecency and insult I had suffered in the last twenty-four years of my life, and I refused to let it end like this.
It wasn’t uncommon for some women with my background to end up dead before they were twenty-five from overdose, suicide, assault, rape, or other acts of violence, whether random or perpetrated by the ones who were supposed to love and protect us. I refused to end up like those tragic girls. The statistics of impoverished women would not claim me.
Harrison had called me stubborn, and he had no idea how right he was.
Then his face popped into my head. Not the stern look he wore at the office when he was so absorbed in his work that the little line between his brows started to form. Not the proud-looking lift of the corner of his lips—not quite a smile but not a smirk—he had when he put something together that he knew no one else had yet figured out.
No, I thought of the Harrison that I was pretty sure I was one of the only people he showed. The Harrison who looked like the vibrant young man he actually was. When he genuinely smiled, his entire face lit up and his intense, dark blue eyes seemed to glow. When he laughed, truly laughed, it was with his entire body.
Then there was the triumphant smirk he got when he knew that he had made me come harder than I ever had before, when he knew he owned my body and could control everything. That was the Harrison I thought of, and I promised myself I’d make it back to him, redoubling my efforts to force apart the plastic straps binding my wrists together.
Two clicks. I managed to pull the plastic apart two clicks. But thankfully, that was all I needed to wiggle one hand through the loop and free myself. My wrists were bright red, and there were even a few spots of blood that started to smear the white button-down shirt I had stolen from Harrison before I left his apartment. I rubbed the tops of my arms, trying to get the blood flowing and some warmth into my limbs before I bent down and tried to wiggle the tie at my feet. Thankfully, having only one shoe made freeing my feet far easier and less painful than it had been to free my wrists.
As quietly as I could, I stood up and, after shaking my limbs to restore blood flow, stepped out of the bright light that was hanging over my head and waited just long enough to give my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. The warehouse looked abandoned. The windows lining the top of the large empty space were mostly broken, and there was more than one bird’s nest nestled in the rafters.
With the exception of my chair and the single light that hung from a rafter and plugged into a generator, the warehouse was empty. There were a few piles of fabric in the corners, probably beds for junkies or the homeless. But either way, I didn’t see a single soul, and that was more luck than I had counted on.
As quickly as I could, I moved to the closest wall, stepping around broken glass, trying not to cut up the bottom of my foot any more than necessary. I crept along the wall, trying to make it to the closest door, stopping just before I got there and listening.
“No, that’s not what we were hired to do. We keep her until we get the word, and then we end her,” the first voice said. It was deeper, so I was pretty sure it was the smaller man with dark hair.
“Aye, it just seems like a waste. A perfectly good girl like that, we should get some use out of her before sending her back to her maker.” The owner of this voice, with its hint of an accent, seemed upset. It was the larger ginger man who’d hit me.
“We don’t have the time. We’re under very specific orders.”
“What do you mean we don’t have the time? We’re just fucking sitting here waiting for a phone call. I could be balls-deep in that cunt right now.”
I had to swallow down the whimper of fear that rose from my chest, clamping my hands over my mouth in case I couldn’t stifle it all.
“I don’t understand why we’re taking orders from that old bitch anyway,” the second voice continued, in a whine that was almost petulant.
“Because not only is that bitch paying us far more than any contract we’ve ever received, she also assures us that as soon as this is all over and we’ve taken care of the whore inside, she will make sure her son stops investigating our family. Not only is this one job going to get us through winter, but it’s also going to keep everyone out of jail.”
“And as I said, I understand that. I just don’t understand why we can’t take advantage of that girl now. She’s here. It’s not like they’re going to want her back at any point.”
I couldn’t listen to them anymore. I knew Harrison’s mother was an uptight bitch, but sending the mob to kill me seemed a bit extreme even for her. Though Harrison had admitted to me that she may have been behind the kidnapping and blackmail of another girl, to get back at her son-in-law.
What did I know? Maybe this was right up Mary Quinn Astrid’s alley. Hell, this might not even have been the first time she’d done this. I’d bet that bitch had a playbook that would be the envy of Al Capone himself.
The only thing that was clear was if I stayed here, I was going to die.
Not today, motherfuckers.
I started backing up slowly, trying to make my way around the perimeter of the room to find another door. There had to be another way out of this warehouse, something that would lead me to safety. I headed back down to the first corner and started moving along the other wall. I was about halfway to the next corner when I was pretty sure I could see another door. It wasn’t one of the large metallic doors that would lead outside, but it was something. I didn’t know if it led to an office or another room, but there just had to be a way out through that door.
The large metal door behind me opened, creaking on its hinges as the two men stepped inside, one of them on the phone.
“Yeah, I understand, it’ll be done immediately, and the photos will be sent from the girl’s phone. Did you want her body found or do you want her to just disappear?”
They were silent for a moment. I tried to creep closer to the other door and hopefully my freedom.
“I understand, ma’am. You’ll have the photo soon.” He hung up the phone and must have looked up to where the chair sat and saw it was empty, because the big one yelled, “She’s over there, the little bitch is trying to get away.” They both started running in my direction.
As fast as I could, I ran toward the other door, stepping on a shard of glass that buried itself deep in my foot. I couldn’t let that stop me. I didn’t know if it was the cold temperature or the adrenaline, but I couldn’t feel it as I hobbled as quickly as I could to the door. My hands were on the rusted knob and starting to twist when I was grabbed by the back of my borrowed shirt and thrown to the floor.
One of the men grabbed my collar again, yanked me up to my knees, and pressed the barrel of a gun to my temple.