Chapter 39 Ella
Ella
With every minute that ticks by, my chest tightens. It’s been too long, hasn’t it? Or maybe it hasn’t. I have no concept of how long murder takes, especially mass murder.
I pace, the gun warm in my grip, when I hear something.
My name.
“Ellaaa …”
It’s not Gable. It’s mocking, amused, a voice I don’t know. Motor lowers his ears and growls at the door.
“Ellaaa …”
My skin chills, and I back away from the sound. They’re in the house. They’re in the house, and I can’t hear any commotion that would mean Gable is fighting them.
Three.
Slow.
Knocks.
Then what sounds like nails being dragged down the wood. Horror freezes me in place, and I raise the gun, my hands trembling.
“Are you in there, Ella?” He chuckles. Motor barks furiously, his hackles up, his teeth bared. “Come out, come out, wherever you are …”
The handle twists, and the door is shoved open. It bangs against the wall, and Motor stands between me and a man.
He’s around my age with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He’s unshaven but dressed well, a sharp suit and a smug smile.
“Hello, Ella,” he croons. Motor snaps angrily, but the man doesn’t even glance at him. “I’m Ty. Why don’t you come downstairs with me and leave the dog up here?”
“Or how about I just shoot you?”
He chuckles. “Honey, we have Gable downstairs, and I will kill him, slowly, if you don’t do as I ask. Now, come on.” He holds out his hand and flexes his fingers. “No time like the present.”
As a drop of sweat works its way down my spine, I weigh up my options. He could be lying about having Gable, but it isn’t like I have much choice but to go with him.
Because I don’t think I can kill a man.
It might be different if he rushed in, attacked me … but he’s calm. Polite, even.
My morals are biting at my heels.
I lower the weapon.
“Good choice.”
Walking past Motor, I scratch the top of his head. “Stay here, boy.”
He whines softly but doesn’t follow as I step into the quiet hall and close the door. Ty holds his hand out for the gun, and I pass it to him.
“Perfect.” He gestures for me to walk and even puts his hand on my lower back to guide me. I twist away from his touch, and he chuckles. “So shy.”
Each step down the stairs steals a little more of my breath. I picture Gable’s body, mangled and beaten, a hole in his head or chest, and I almost run back to my room.
But when I reach the living room, he’s sitting on the couch. I exhale a cry and rush to him. He stands and I wrap my arms around him, ignoring the blood and sweat over his bare chest.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“I’m fine. What happened?”
There are at least eight armed men in the room with us, and that becomes nine when Ty takes his place in front of the fire.
He gestures at the couch. “Sit.”
We do. Gable takes my hand and runs his thumb over my knuckles, his heated glare fixed on Ty.
Ty notices the gesture and smirks. “Nailed both brothers? Nice.”
My cheeks burn hot. “Fuck you.”
“She’s feisty.”
“She’s also a great shot, so I’d watch your fucking mouth if I were you,” Gable hits back.
Pride flares in my chest, and Ty ignores the comment. “You’re probably wondering who I am.”
“Not really.” Gable leans back into the couch comfortably, and I want to mirror his nonchalance, but I’m stiff as a fucking board.
Ty smirks. “I’m one of the Winchester five.”
Silence. I blink and glance at Gable, expecting some kind of recognition from him. He’s completely expressionless, until he raises his brows. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”
Ty blushes. He actually blushes. “Fuck you. Everyone has heard of the Winchester five.”
“Sorry.” Gable drapes his arm on the back of the couch behind me. “Not ringing any bells. Not as famous as you think you are.”
Ty’s jaw tenses, and I find myself almost biting back a laugh. He’s bright red now, and I half expect him to pull out a resume.
“We killed Senator Alton,” Ty says, and waits, as if this will suddenly jog Gable’s memory. Gable just shrugs. “We … we took out the Black Snake crew in Texas!”
The quiet that follows his statement is uncomfortable as all hell, because it’s clear Gable has absolutely no clue who this man is.
“Black Snake crew?” I ask Gable. “Did you and Asher have a nickname, too?”
“We didn’t need one; our reputation was enough.”
I smile proudly. “Good.”
He grins.
Ty claps his hands together to get our attention. “You may not know me, but I bet you know what this is.” He dips his good hand inside his suit pocket.
And pulls out a USB stick.
Gable tenses beside me, and I glance between the device and Ty. “You have the drive.”
“Yes, I fucking do,” he says, brandishing it smugly.
“You weren’t the only pretty brunette in that building that knew Barnaby.
” I frown, then my skin chills as he holds up a phone.
It has a case on it that I recognize. Ty makes his voice higher, “‘Am I a bad person if I have feelings for someone so soon after Asher?’ It was fun texting with you. How do you think we found you? You really shouldn’t send photos and information via text, Ella.
You have no idea who’s on the other end of the phone. ”
Tears burn my eyes. “Where is she?”
“Your friend Matilda? Oh, well, she was a fighter. Just popped back to the apartment before heading to France, apparently. Claimed she knew nothing, but she did. She knew of a security guard who got fired for stealing packages just like you did, Ella. Turns out that security guard had the drive all along.”
I feel dizzy. Sick. The room seems to soften, to fade.
“Where. Is. She?” I whisper through gritted teeth.
He pouts. “She died.”
I launch myself off the couch. Ty screams as I rake my nails down his face, but it’s seconds before he grips my neck, cutting off my airway.
“Tucker, grab her!”
Gable is on his feet fast. He punches the approaching Tucker and sends him flying, but more men close in, and I watch on helplessly as Gable is held back by two men.
Ty shoves me back on the couch, touching the long, red marks down his forehead. He wets his lips and backhands me across the face, pain stinging across my cheek and blood filling my mouth.
“Touch her again and I will fucking end you!” Gable roars, his muscles straining across his bare chest as he tries to free himself.
Ty reaches into his pocket and pulls out a flick knife. My blood runs cold and I press myself back into the couch.
He points the weapon at Gable. “You’re going to watch, Gable, as I find out what your little girlfriend knows about the drive.”
“We didn’t even have it! How the fuck would she know anything?” Gable looks beyond rageful, still fighting his captors.
“No, but you had some hacker looking into it, didn’t you? You could know everything.” His dark eyes cut to me, and he grins. “I don’t like loose ends.”
“Do not fucking touch her!” Gable roars as Ty approaches me.
My body is trembling, my cheek stinging as I look up at Ty. He rests the blade of the knife on my jaw. “Cuff him.”
Gable’s shouts and threats feel so far away. There are yelps of pain from the other men as he fights some of them off, but not enough to prevent him being shackled to the radiator.
Ty keeps his attention on me, his expression one of delight, intrigue, excitement. He slides the cool flat of the blade across my jaw.
“I know this isn’t your world, Ella,” he says, almost gently.
“You write about it, but you’re not one of us, are you?
” I know what one of my characters would do right now.
They’d be sassy, smart-mouthed, brave—but I’m not a character, and I’m not invincible.
He crouches in front of me, resting a hand on my thigh.
“I really don’t want to hurt you, Ella. I’ll kill you because it’s my job, but I’m not one to draw out death.
” His smile is sweet. Kind. “Unless you don’t give me a choice. ”
I say nothing, picturing Matilda in my head. My friend. My best friend. Dead for weeks and I didn’t even know it.
Ty tilts his head, his mop of blonde hair giving him a deceptive, almost angelic look. “Do you know what’s on the drive, Ella?” He looks at his hand on my leg and squeezes gently. I remain totally silent. He sighs, a deep, mournful sound.
And buries the knife in my thigh.
I thought I would scream. Cry. Beg.
But as the pain races up my legs and spreads through me, I’m rendered speechless. Motionless. Time seems to slow as I stare at the knife handle sticking out of my pajama pants, and I’m searching for the memory of when I bought them.
I think they were in a sale online. I liked the red tartan look. They were pretty, so I bought them. Comfy, so I wore them to death.
The color hides the blood that’s warming my skin, spilling over me and probably staining the couch.
“Look at this girl!” Ty says, clapping, his eyes alight. “Not a fucking sound! Daddy would be proud.” He pulls the knife out and plunges it in again.
A small gasp leaves me this time, but it’s lost in Gable’s roars of anger, and Motor’s frantic barks from upstairs.
Tears spring to my eyes, but there’s no emotion behind them. It’s like my body wants me to react, and because I’m not, it’s forcing my tear ducts into overdrive.
“God, you’re pretty when you cry,” Ty says, cupping my cheek, using a thumb to wipe away my tears.
My chest jerks with sobs, but I hold back the sound, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
“Now, let’s try again. Do you know what’s on the hard drive, Ella?
” I can’t move. Can’t shake my head. He pulls the knife out, and my vision swims. “Ella. Don’t pass out on me now, sweetheart.
” He gently jostles my face. “Look at me. Do you know what’s on the hard drive? ”
Somehow, I shake my head. The room spins, and I grip the couch to stay steady.
Ty sighs. “You’re lying to me.”
I pull in a sharp breath as he drags the blade down my cheek. My hands fly up to stop him, to claw at him, but the damage is already done.
Warm blood seeps down my face, my jaw, my throat.
“This is fucking impressive,” Ty says, laughing as he looks at the man to his right before returning his attention to me. “But now all you’ve done is make me determined to hear your screams.”
He grips my wrist and pulls me to my feet before tossing me onto the coffee table. My back meets the wood, and a book skids off behind me.
And Ty grips my pajama bottoms and pulls at them.
“No—”
Gable is shouting.
Motor is barking.
The men are laughing.
Now, I scream.
I fight.
I kick.
I slap.
“That’s my girl.” Ty laughs as he yanks down my bottoms and throws them aside, leaving me in just my pajama top and panties. He seizes my ankles and yanks my legs open, and I slap his face over and over, my heart a violent beat, my tears gone. “Hold her.”
Hands on my wrists.
Knees between my thighs.
A belt unbuckling.
Panic. Such sharp, violent panic surges through me. Do I fight and risk dying? Do I lie still and drift away from myself?
Ty turns my head, pressing my cheek into the coffee table. I can see Gable fighting, pulling at his restraints, shouting, threatening. He looks so desperate, so angry, so afraid. He meets my eye, and I stare at him.
I hope he can read my expression. I hope he knows what I’m saying to him.
It’s okay. I’m okay.
“He’s going to watch,” Ty whispers in my ear. He kisses my cheek, and I feel him grip my underwear. “Let’s take these off, shall we?”
The doorbell rings.