Chapter 18
I came to with a pounding head and a foggy brain, but thankfully, the fogginess cleared rapidly, even if the headache remained.
I recalled exactly what happened. Cracking my eyes open, I didn’t move my head or body, but I scanned my surroundings.
My eyelids were barely open, so if Baker were in the room with me, hopefully, he wouldn’t notice I was awake.
My scan revealed no one else was with me in the small bedroom.
Opening my eyelids fully, I tried to move my body next.
I couldn’t fully do it. My arms were cuffed above my head to an eyehook that was screwed into the headboard, but my legs weren’t restrained.
A couple of hard tugs told me I wasn’t getting out of the cuffs.
I hadn’t thought I would, but I had to try.
I strained my ears to see if I heard anything.
The place was eerily quiet. A glance out the window with the shade up revealed not another building or home, but trees.
My guess was he’d taken me to some place secluded and outside of Bristol.
Whatever Baker had in mind, he wouldn’t want witnesses. I shivered at the thought.
God, how the hell would Mayhem and his club find me?
My delaying tactics at Aubrielle’s hadn’t worked.
They didn’t make it in time. That thought made me think of Aubrielle.
Shit, I prayed the club rescued her before Cherisse could hurt her too badly.
That woman had screws loose. I hoped the club would do more than fire her.
My hands itched to pound the bitch into the ground.
Going through my mental files, I came to the conclusion that the Punishers had no way of finding me, which left me with the job of freeing myself and, in the process, hopefully, capturing Baker.
If it came down to escaping or capturing him, I’d run, but he’d be hunted for the rest of his days—no way Mayhem or I would allow him to roam free for the rest of his life.
I didn’t know how long I lay there, re-scanning, plotting, and listening for life in the house before I grew tired and sleepy. It had to be the effects of the tranquilizer he hit me with. That dart had put my ass out fast. I idly wondered what was in it. Whatever it was, it worked.
I fought to keep my eyelids open, but I lost the battle.
As I drifted, I wondered when Baker would come for me and what he planned to do.
If he had wanted to talk, he could’ve reached out like a normal person and asked, which meant we wouldn’t be having a friendly chat.
I needed to shore myself up for what was to come.
I’d been tortured and violated before. It didn’t break me then, and I wouldn’t allow it to break me now.
???
I came out of a deep sleep when my face was slapped hard, causing it to burn, and a rough, male voice snapped at me. “Wake the fuck up! You’ve been asleep long enough. You and I have some talking to do, bitch.”
A few seconds were needed for my brain to come back online. When it did, I knew who it was before opening my eyes. I slowly opened them to make him think I was scared. I’d already decided, as I floated off to sleep, how I would handle him. I twisted my face into an expression of fear.
“W-who are you? What do you want?” I whispered.
“Ah, finally awake. Good. As for who I am and what I want, you’re about to find out. You and I have someone in common.”
“Who? And why did you kidnap and chain me like an animal?” I whimpered.
“My name is Radley Baker. You knew my brother, Rodney. As for why I kidnapped you and have you cuffed, it’s simple. You killed my brother, and I want you to confess and pay for it,” he snarled.
I shot him a shocked expression. “Yes, I knew Rodney. He was in my squadron in the Navy. But I didn’t kill him. Who told you that? I’m so sorry he’s gone,” I told him, not feeling a bit sorry that prick was dead and gone.
Another slap, this time to the other cheek, made me suck in my breath at the fiery pain of it.
If he thought this would get him anywhere, he was so wrong.
Radley’s techniques of persuasion or outright punishment were nowhere close to what I’d been subjected to before.
However, I played it up, crying out and feigning tears.
“Liar. You’re the reason he’s dead, which makes you guilty of killing him, the same as if you murdered him yourself. As for who told me, I pieced it together and had help from several people. Not everyone at your old command is enamored with you. Lucky me.”
Someone at my old command told him what happened?
That somewhat narrowed it down. Not everyone would have that kind of access.
The mission was top secret. The only ones who knew were the SEALs who had rescued me and the upper echelon of command.
Radley had been a SEAL. Did Radley know the ones who rescued me?
“I don’t know what you were told, but I didn’t kill Rodney or get him killed. It was a mission that went badly.” This statement was the official one that the Navy fed the families.
Radley grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard.
His fingers bit deeply into my upper arms. If I had my arms free, I’d throat punch the fucker.
It was hard to keep my fury out of my eyes and off my face.
If I wanted to get out of here, I had to lull him into believing I was no threat so he’d uncuff me.
Suddenly, I broke into sobs. I made them very believable.
His look of scorn was what I hoped for. He was discounting me already.
Radley let me bawl for a minute or so before he yelled at me.
“Shut the fuck up! Or I’ll give you a reason to cry.”
I sniffed several times and blinked hard, trying to show that I was doing as he was asking. The fear was front and center.
“I-I’m sorry. Please, don’t hurt me. I’ll tell you whatever you want,” I vowed.
“Start by dropping that bullshit line that they feed the families. I know it wasn’t just a mission gone bad.
You were shot down, and the squadron was captured.
Out of the survivors who made it to the ground safely, you’re the only survivor.
There’s no way a woman could withstand captivity.
Not unless you gave the enemy what they wanted.
“I bet you sang like a canary and fucked all of them to stay alive, didn’t you?
And while you played the whore and were a traitor, my brother and the other guys in the squadron were tortured unmercifully.
They wouldn’t break and betray their country, unlike a weak whore like you.
Why the fuck would the Navy let women fly?
You’re not nearly as talented as men. You can’t do the same things guys can.
Look at how you folded under the threat of torture. ”
He’d let go of me and was running his hands through his hair in agitation. His scowl was now a thunderous expression.
“Then, to top it off, they gave you a fucking Navy Cross! Do you know how many sailors who deserve it never get that? Yet, they gave it to a whore. No way did you distinguish yourself in action by showing extraordinary heroism. You did nothing, let alone doing it in the presence of great personal risk or danger. Yet, they awarded my brother and his fellow pilots nothing.”
It was clear that while he knew a little about the mission, he hadn’t read the official transcripts I had spent days on, which retold what happened and answered questions until the Navy was satisfied with my answers and what I had done.
I detested the fact that I got a Navy Cross for it.
I tried to decline, but I wasn’t allowed.
I certainly didn’t display it or talk to anyone about having it.
Suddenly, Radley was in my face—barely two inches between our faces.
My eyes crossed. “I want you to walk me through every fucking moment of that mission. Don’t leave out a single detail.
If you do, I’ll make you regret it. I want to know exactly what happened.
The longer you talk, the longer you’ll live,” he snarled.
“Please, don’t hurt me. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. But don’t hurt me. Why, if you wanted to know, didn’t you call and ask to meet?”
He jeered, “As if you’d do it. Besides, you would’ve lied and acted innocent.
It was a good thing I found someone who told me how Rodney died.
I’ve been searching forever, and no one would talk to me.
I spent the last several weeks in that godforsaken country retracing footsteps and chasing down leads on people who would speak about it. ”
He’d eased back from me, giving me breathing space.
“I don’t know who you spoke to or what they said, but I swear I didn’t betray our country or my fellow sailors. We were all tortured,” I told him.
“Yeah, sure you were. I can believe they were. The agony my brother must’ve suffered.
We had to have a closed-casket funeral. He was so messed up.
I couldn’t allow our mama to see him that way.
Shut the fuck up with your lies. The next thing out of your mouth better be how this mission began and go from there, or you won’t like what I do to you. ”
He walked away from me. That was when I noticed a bag resembling one you’d carry tools in or your gun and ammo to the shooting range.
It was on a small table across from the bed, which had two chairs around it.
The bag was open. Radley slid his hand inside and came back out clutching a pair of pliers. He held them up and grinned.
“See this? I’ll start on those nails of yours and then move to your teeth,” he threatened.
My fingertips throbbed in remembrance. They’d been through this before.