Chapter Nineteen #2
“Ah, I see,” Susan said, cutting through my thoughts.
“I can’t live without it. Grew up on the stuff.
It’s almost a family tradition. Speaking of, I’m on my way to Lloydminster to see family.
It’s not far from Edmonton. We gather there every summer.
It’s a mess, but a good mess. Barbecues, fishing, hiking, kids everywhere, chaos and laughter. Do you have kids?”
“Uh… no,” I said, holding my stomach.
Not long ago, the idea of not having children hadn’t mattered. Now, I wanted to be a mother. I wanted to give a child every bit of love I’d never had; to share all the things I missed with my own mother.
“Oh… It’s fine. You’ll have kids one day. You look so young. It’s never too late, you know? Kids bring so much happiness.” Susan’s voice was full of warmth.
She kept talking, weaving stories about her kids, about camping in the backyard, chasing them as they fought over flashlights and wrestled with the dogs.
She looked at me, hope shining in her eyes. “And this trip—do you ride the bus often, Venus?”
“No,” I said, my voice clipped. I didn’t want to give her a single detail about where I was going.
She nodded, thoughtful. “Must be exhausting, huh? I prefer my car, but the bus is good when you don’t want to drive.
And I hate traveling alone. Just like my kids.
Especially my daughter. She hates being by herself.
When she goes to school or summer camp, she messages me every hour. It’s exhausting but comforting too.”
She talked and talked and talked, voice rolling through more family memories. I let her go on, answering with one word whenever I couldn’t dodge a question. She filled the silence with stories, until the driver finally announced a short stop at Canmore.
“That’s perfect. I was starting to go numb and I need a bathroom break,” Susan exclaimed, bouncing out of her seat. “Still got a long way to Lloydminster, so I’m using every chance to stretch. Want to come with me? Let’s try to find a restroom.”
“I think I’ll stay here. I stopped at Banff earlier,” I said, hoping she’d let it go.
She nudged me. “Banff was about an hour and a half back. Come on, keep me company. I’ll even give you more beef jerky.”
She grinned, and I gave in, letting her pull me down the aisle and off the bus.
The city was beautiful, surrounded by mountains with green stretching in every direction. We headed straight for a hotel near the station where Susan ordered a coffee so we could use the bathroom, since there were no public toilets for miles.
We each took a stall. I was quick, eager to get back to the bus. At the sink, as I washed my hands, Susan came out too, looking satisfied.
“You were right. That was exactly what I needed. Ready to get back on—”
“Raise your hands. Nice and slow. Let me see them and don’t make a sound.”
Susan’s voice was cold, hard as stone, nothing like the woman from the bus. The barrel of her gun pressed against the small of my back. My heart exploded, the shock holding me still. I’d never seen it coming—she’d been so kind, so ordinary.
“Who are you?” I asked, lifting my hands just as she demanded.
I met her eyes in the mirror. All the warmth she’d shown along the road was gone. Her stare was merciless, professional. She patted my pockets, searching for weapons.
My eyes darted to my backpack sitting on the counter, barely three feet away. I measured the distance, wondering if I could grab my Glock before she shot me, but she saw where I was looking.
“Don’t even think about it.”
She leaned over and grabbed my bag, her gun never leaving my spine.
“What do you want? Money? There’s cash in there. Take it all, just let me leave.”
“Oh, you want to get rid of me already? After all that bonding on the bus, with the jerky, the family stories?”
“Who sent you? Was it Konflict?”
“Enough with the questions—”
She didn’t finish before I smashed my elbow into her nose.
She staggered back and hissed in pain. I spun, trying to grab the gun, but she held tight, twisting and fighting.
Kicks and punches were flying as we were both desperate, both angry.
All those lessons from Kate came back in flashes because she’d made sure I knew how to fight, not just shoot.
I landed a blow to her arm, and the gun dropped, skidding across the tile.
We both dove for it. She clawed at my hair, yanking off my wig, and my glasses fell and cracked.
We crashed to the floor, rolling, tangled, scratching, biting.
Susan was trained and strong, landing more hits than I wanted to count, but I fought back, shoving her off and landing a punch to her stomach that knocked her backward. Her head slammed into the wall.
I scrambled up and snatched the gun, aiming it at her. “Who sent you?” I shouted.
But I didn’t get an answer. Someone put something on my nose and pressed hard, making me breath in the dizzying scent and then everything turned black.
“Sleeping Beauty, it’s time to wake up.”
A voice reached me through the haze and something shoved my shoulder until my eyelids cracked open. My head spun, vision blurry, but after a few seconds I managed to focus.
“There you are, finally awake,” said a voice I barely recognized.
“Eleana Sawyer…” I muttered, my voice raspy.
“That’s right. Surprised to see me?” she questioned, flashing her gun in my face.
My gaze darted around the room and it was filthy, walls cracked and the air heavy. My wrists were chained tight around a steel post, cuffs biting into my skin. I tried to move, but there was no slack, no hope.
“Honey, you’ll need this if you want out.” Eleana dangled a tiny key in front of my eyes, her lips curling in a mocking smile.
“Where are we?” I asked, heart pounding in my chest.
“The basement of a lovely lakeside cottage at Ghost Lake. There’s a view, you know. Spectacular water, blue mountains. Shame you’ll never see it.”
She crouched to meet my eyes, her expression turning hard, eyes icy and mean.
“And out here? You could scream all you want. No one would hear you. No one’s coming, Serenity.”
I drew a long breath, steeling myself, refusing to show her even an ounce of fear. She didn’t deserve the satisfaction.
“What do you want?”
She rose and began pacing, gun swinging in her hand.
“What do I want? Oh, honey, you and I have unfinished business. You didn’t think I’d just let you walk after everything you did to me, did you?”
A grin crept across my lips, taunting her. “Still nursing that bum shoulder, Eleana? Thought you’d have gotten over it by now.”
The look on her face twisted to rage. She stormed over and slammed her fist across my jaw. Blood dripped from my nose, pain exploding in my skull.
“You better lose the attitude, Serenity. You’re not in charge here. You’re not untouchable. I can put a bullet in your head right now and no one would miss you,” she spat.
But I kept my smirk, meeting her stare with my own brand of poison.
“Don’t tell me you dragged me down here hoping to see me beg.
Is that it, Eleana? All this trouble, just so you could watch me fall apart and ask for mercy?
Is that why you had me tracked down and snatched, locked in a basement, just so you could pretend you finally had the upper hand? ”
“Shut up!” she screamed, striking me again.
I felt the sting, tasted blood, but I refused to let her see me break.
“You’re putting on a show, but I know you’re scared, Serenity.
Eleana scowled as she reached for my Glock on the table and waved it in my face.
“I took your little toy, the one you love so much. You won’t get a chance to use it tonight.
Me, though…” She stepped in front of me and pressed her gun against my head.
“I’m ready to put a bullet in your head, Serenity.
That way, you’ll never stand in my way again. ”
Steel pressed against my temple. Her hand was steady, but I kept my composure, still refusing to give her the satisfaction of fear.
“So that’s what all this is about? I’m in your way? Let me guess—you want Konflict?” I said, a mocking smile twisting my lips.
Her jaw clenched, her knuckles whitening on the grip. That was all the answer I needed. I laughed, loud and cruel, just to watch her lose control.
“Shut up!” she screamed, her mask cracking. “If it weren’t for you, he never would have rejected me. Everything was going fine. I was this close. He was going to get rid of you and marry me, but then he went back to you, even after hating you.”
My grin widened, cutting deep. “Oh, poor thing. All this because a married man chose his wife over his side piece? Bet that stings, especially after he burned down your family’s estate right after you showed up at his wife’s casino.
That must have hit your ego hard. Remind me again, what did you brag about the other day?
‘He fucked me all night, Serenity. He was all mine.’ Yeah, then he torched your crib.
Guess my husband really is a little bipolar, but I bet you didn’t think you’d get to see just how ugly that could get. ”
“I’ll pull the trigger if you don’t shut your mouth,” she threatened.
But I kept going, pushing her right to the edge.
“Do you even know how to use that thing? Because you look like a kid trying to play with grown-ups. All this for some dick? You know what, Eleana? You can have him. We’re not even married anymore as of today.
The divorce is official. I left the signed papers for him.
Take him. I don’t want him anymore.” My tone was pure mockery.
“Oh, right... He doesn’t want you either.
And since you disrespected the Korven name, he wants your head.
Tough luck. Guess sleeping with a married man doesn’t always get you what you want.
Or maybe your pussy was such a disappointment, he dumped you like yesterday’s garbage. ”