Chapter 34
Every part of me hurt, but thankfully, I wasn’t hanging from the ceiling anymore. Nicole had ordered her two minions to unhook me and dump me naked on the concrete floor.
She’d left at some point, muttering something about her son being pathetic. Did it have something to do with the shipment? Had James shown up to interrupt it?
I had no idea how long I’d been here or what time it was.
I only knew Nicole was going to kill me. I just didn’t know how long it would be until she did it. From her earlier statements, it could be a long, long time.
My body was covered with whip marks and burns from the cattle prod. My left eye had swollen shut. She’d asked me countless times where the files were, and every time I’d refused to answer her. But instead of getting frustrated, she’d seemed pleased to have an excuse to inflict more pain.
I drifted off but woke up when I heard the door open. Nicole entered the room and shut it behind her, standing in front of it as she studied me with a smile.
She wasn’t afraid of me. Not like this.
“Where’s Gerry?” I asked, still lying on the floor.
She chuckled as she moved closer. I saw a flash of something shiny and realized she was holding a knife.
“Do you prefer him to me?” she asked. “Sorry, but he’s busy making sure your boyfriend doesn’t interfere with an important drop.”
It had to be after midnight. Maybe closer to two.
“You say that so easily,” I said, my cheek on the cold concrete.
“Like you’re not discussing the sale of human beings.
” It wasn’t lost on me that she was in here alone, and my only binding was the rope on my wrists.
But I couldn’t even pick my head up off the floor, let alone overpower her and escape.
“The world doesn’t run on fairness, Harper,” she said, sitting on the chair which had been moved to the corner. “The world runs on power—he who holds the power makes the rules.”
“But not she,” I scoffed. “That has to piss you off. Letting the world think your son is the brains when we both know it’s you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“But I do,” I said. Keep her talking. “I was smarter than my partner on the force, but he always took credit for my discoveries. Men think they’re entitled to power. When we’re the ones who help them hold onto it.”
The expression on her face changed, as though I’d struck a nerve.
“I bet your husband did the same thing,” I continued. “Is that why you befriended my mother to get the files? Gerry wasn’t smart enough to handle it.”
She pushed out a sigh. “You always want your children to have it better than you. Easier. But sometimes we don’t expect enough of them.”
“And I bet your husband was the one who picked my dad to be his attorney, so you were cleaning up the mess he’d created.”
Her brow lifted. “Exactly.”
“Which is why you need the files. The men fucked up and now you have to do the clean-up. You need to know what my mother had so you can be prepared in case the wrong people get their hands on it. Like the police.”
She didn’t respond, but suddenly she looked exhausted. It was the middle of the night and beating me for hours must have sapped her physical strength.
If she was tired, maybe I could rally and use her exhaustion against her. I just needed to keep her talking so she didn’t call her minions in to hang me from the ceiling again.
“Maybe we can make some kind of compromise,” I said.
Surprise filled her eyes.
I gathered my strength and pushed myself upright. Moving slowly was a good idea. Any sudden moves might make her think I was a threat. Not that I was capable of sudden moves right now. I barely had the energy to sit upright.
“How about we make a deal?” I suggested. “For every piece of information I tell you about what’s in my mother’s files, you can share something with me.” When she hesitated, I added, “What can it hurt? We both know the only way I’m leaving this room is after I’m dead.”
“It’s a shame,” she said, and a regretful look crossed her eyes. “Under different circumstances, I think you and I could have been friends.”
I bit my tongue to keep from saying I didn’t befriend masochistic kidnappers who sold and abused children.
It wasn’t lost on me how vulnerable I was.
My legs were pressed together, bent at the knees and to the side, but I was still naked.
I kept my back as straight as possible, not attempting to cover my breasts.
Nicole had seen plenty of them over the past few hours.
“I guess I should start,” I said with a hesitant smile. “Is there anything you’re particularly concerned about, or should I pick something at random?”
Her eyes narrowed, like she couldn’t believe I was playing games. “Tell me something random.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to keep my gaze off the knife she was twirling in her hand. “You weren’t the only person in my mother’s files. You and your family only make up about forty percent.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie?” I asked with a small laugh. “You thought you were my father’s only criminal clients?”
“I knew about J.R.,” she said. Confusion covered her face.
Then, as if grabbing for something she understood, she added, “Speaking of J.R., were you the infamous Lady in Black?” She shook her head.
“I don’t see how. I know you were working for the Little Rock police up until last fall, but Gerry was so sure you were her. ”
There was that name again. “We’ve already determined you’re the brains of the family,” I said. “I’m not the Lady in Black. I’ve never heard of her until tonight.”
She took delight in that piece of information. “Oh, interesting indeed. So you replaced her?”
“Why would you think I’m her replacement?”
“Because you’re working with Skeeter Malcolm,” she said, like I was a fool. When she saw my confusion, she laughed. “You didn’t know?”
“What he did in the past is his business,” I said, but my mind was racing over who the Lady in Black could have been and why Malcolm would have used a woman to—
I was an idiot. I knew exactly who the Lady in Black must have been.
And Nicole could tell I’d put it together. “You know who she is,” she said, leaning forward, excitement giving her a burst of energy.
“How would I know who she is?” I scoffed. “I’ve never been to Fenton County.”
She tilted her head. “I never said she was from Fenton County.”
Shit. “Of course she was from Fenton County. If she worked with James, then she had to be there.”
“Hmm…” she said skeptically. “I don’t believe you.” She stood and took a step forward, her knife pointed toward me. “You know who she is.”
I kept my gaze glued to the blade in her hand. “How would I know that when I’d never heard her name before tonight?”
She took another step, her eyes lighting with excitement. “But you know anyway.” She leaned closer to me. “And you’re going to tell me.”
Funny. I was probably about to die protecting Rose Gardner’s secret identity. Because while I’d never met the woman, and I undoubtedly felt threatened by her past relationship with James, I would never let this woman get within fifty miles of Rose and her children.
How ironic that neither she nor James would ever know.
Nicole turned toward the door, and I could tell she was about to call for the guards to come string me up again.
If they did that, the session would end with me covered in countless cuts, either dead or wishing I was.
No, I wouldn’t let that happen. If I was going to die anyway, I’d rather do it trying to save myself.
So, I leapt up at her. I was still too weak to get to my full height, but I reached her waist and managed to pull her to the floor.
She hit the ground hard. She regained her senses seconds later, though, and was about to shout when I covered her mouth with my hand.
She hadn’t lost the knife in the fall, and without hesitation, she stabbed me in the side.
I gasped, and a triumphant look filled her eyes.
A sharp pain filled the side of my chest, and I nearly collapsed on top of her.
She pulled out the blade, whipping her arm back and then swinging down to stab me again.
Somehow, I found the strength to push her arm hard with my free hand before the blade made contact, but the arc of her interrupted swing brought the tip dangerously close to my cheek.
My other hand was still covering her mouth, and she tried to bite my palm. I drove my chest hard against her sling, hoping to inflict pain where I’d shot her last week.
I knew I should have an escape plan, but the only thought in my head was that this woman was going to kill me, and I needed to disarm her in any way I could.
I shifted my hand to her wrist and slammed it onto the concrete floor. But she still didn’t release the knife.
I heard shouting outside the door—muffled and urgent—followed by multiple gunshots.
Nicole’s eyes flicked to the door. The sounds outside the room gave her a burst of energy.
She bucked me off her and onto my back. Within seconds, she was looming over me with the knife, her eyes wide with fury.
She brought the knife down in a stabbing motion over my left breast, but I grabbed her forearm with both hands and tried to hold her off.
“I’m going to kill you, Harper Adams,” she sneered. “But not before you tell me who the Lady in Black was.”
“Go to hell,” I grunted, my side sticky with blood. I was already weak, but my body was turning cold, and I could tell I was already going into shock. I didn’t think I could hold her off much longer.
“I can make this easy for you,” she said with a saccharine smile. “Just one name and then your suffering will be over.”
“I’ll never tell you,” I said through gritted teeth, “just like I’ll never tell you where my mother’s files are.”
The shouting was right outside the door now, quickly followed by a round of gunshots. I couldn’t let myself believe that James or anyone else had come to save me. I had to focus on not letting her kill me.
But my arms were beginning to shake, and her knife blade was inches from my upper chest. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on.
Then the door burst open and Nicole flinched, panic filling her eyes as a shadow filled the doorway. “If you shoot me, you’ll kill her too!”
I didn’t understand what she was saying, because I didn’t have a gun, but then a pair of boots and jean-clad legs appeared to the left in my blurred vision.
“Good thing I don’t need a gun for this,” James said, then kicked the toe of his boot into her ribs and sent her several feet from me.
Nicole screamed as she landed on her injured arm, but James was already kneeling beside me. My eyes lifted to his, and I wasn’t surprised to see the horror in them.
His gaze swept over my welts and blood, then landed on the pool of blood next to my left side. His eyes lifted to mine in question.
“She stabbed me.” I gave him a shaky half-smile. “I didn’t get a chance to use anything Tex showed me.”
He pressed his hand to my side with his bare hand, trying to apply pressure.
“James,” I said, barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry I left. I thought…”
His jaw clenched. “Save your sorries. There’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m gonna to get you out of here, but I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Just help me sit up.”
He hesitated like he didn’t think that was the best idea, but then he scooped his arm under my upper back and lifted me to a sitting position.
Nicole was still lying on the floor, moaning. The knife lay on the floor between us.
I reached for it as Nicole lunged for it too, a wild, feral look in her eyes.
A gunshot rang out and blood flowed from a wound in her upper right arm, but it didn’t stop her. She grabbed the hilt of the knife.
James shot her again, but she lifted the knife, tip pointing down. When she lunged for me, I used all my weight to push her onto her back and grab her knife hand, twisting her wrist away from me. But my forward momentum not only pointed the knife toward her chest but drove the blade in.
Shock filled her eyes and her face instantly lost color.
“Meet you in hell,” she spat at me.
“Looks like you’re getting there first,” I whispered, struggling to breathe.
James pulled me off her and tried to get me to lie down again, but I pushed his arm away and scrambled to my feet. “No. Get me out of here.”
I grabbed at his clothes, and he wrapped an arm around my back to pull me upright. “You need to be lying down, Harper. You’re hemorrhaging.”
“No,” I said forcefully. “I’m not dying in this room.” I tried to take a step, but my legs gave out and my body crumpled.
He scooped me into his arms and held me close. “You’re not gonna die, Harper,” he said, his voice tight as he carried me out of the room and down a dark hall. “You’re too damn stubborn.”
“Yeah,” I said, then coughed, pain filling my entire chest. “It’ll take more than that bitch to kill me,” I said, but the words felt loose and I wasn’t sure I’d even said them. My peripheral vision had turned dark.
“Damn straight.”
We were bouncing, and I had the vague idea that we were going up stairs.
“Stay with me, Harper,” he said in a pleading tone that caught me by surprise.
“You came for me,” I said in awe, my cheek resting against his chest.
“You thought I wouldn’t?” he scoffed, but he didn’t sound pissed. “I’ll always come for you.”
I wanted to promise him the same, but I wasn’t sure I’d be around to hold up my end of the deal.
Then cold air hit my body, and I began to shiver uncontrollably.
But the dark sky was above me, which meant we’d made it outside.
I forced my gaze up to James’s face. “Thank you for not letting me die in there.”
He glanced down at me, fear in his eyes. “You’re not gonna die,” he ordered.
A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. “I’m trying.”
“Do more than try.” Then he put me in the backseat of a car. Seconds later, something soft was pressed against my side. “Just hold on, Harper,” he pleaded again. “Just hold on.”
I wanted to hold on, but this was too much. Everything faded to black.