3. Lara
3
LARA
When we arrive at wherever we’re going, I’m pulled roughly from the car.
“You're hurting me.” My words are muffled beneath the burlap bag over my head, and the Murphys probably don’t give a damn about hurting or bruising me, anyway.
God, what are they going to do to me?
I’m thrown into a room, and I quickly remove the bag from my head, taking in my surroundings.
It’s a huge bedroom. A poster-sized bed sits in the corner, stripped bare of sheets.
I have no idea where I am. It felt like we were in the van for a long time, but that may just be the panic racing through my veins.
I try to take in a couple of deep breaths, but my chest feels tight, my arms aching from where they’d manhandled me.
“What kind of idiot are you?” Oscar says, his voice only slightly dampened by the door. There are thin walls in this place.
I glance at the window.
The sill is cracked.
Da has always taught me to scout out anywhere I am to find exit routes. And that window...
I creep over to it slowly, not wanting to make noise.
Oscar continues berating the other man. “That’s what I get for hiring a Scotsman.”
The Scotsman scoffs. “I’m not even Scottish. Scott is just my name.”
“Bloody well might as well be a Scotsman.”
I have their names now. This will be useful when I tell my family what happened.
“You’ll stay here with her,” Oscar says as I make it to the window.
I pull up at the window. It only slightly moves.
Damnit.
The door swings open, and I fall to my knees on the floor, as if I’m just terrified.
I am, but this window could be my only escape, and I don’t want them to take that away from me by calling attention to it.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you were easy to catch.” The man, Scott, laughs a little, and Oscar glares at him.
“Don’t engage with her. She’s the enemy.”
“What are you going to do to me?” My voice shakes, and that isn’t fake fear in my voice.
“We’re going to keep you here until the boss tells us what to do.”
Scott nods, leaning up against the doorjamb.
“You won’t hurt me?”
Scott shrugs. “Not unless Niall wants you hurt.”
Oscar gets in Scott’s face. “What did I just say?”
“What? It’s not like she doesn’t know who you are. If Niall didn’t want her to know who’d taken her, he shouldn’t have sent his nephew.”
Oscar throws his hands in the air. “I don’t even know why I hired you to do this.”
As they’re focused on each other and not on me, I slowly move my hands behind me, using my fingernails to remove the already-flaked paint that seems to be holding the window shut.
We’re on the second floor, but if I get lucky, I won’t break anything. Plan is to tuck and roll.
“It’s an easy enough job.” Oscar pokes Scott in the chest. “All you have to do is watch the Burke bitch. It’s not like she’s one of the men.”
That makes anger roll through me, but I have to stay focused. I have to get home.
Finally, the window starts to slowly open.
Oscar and Scott are still entangled in their argument and not paying attention to me, so I stand up quickly and rush out the window, tucking into myself and trying to drop into the bushes.
I hit hard on my side, and my hip aches, but I manage to get up as Oscar shouts.
Scott comes through the window, dropping right beside me, and I screech, taking off in a limping jog.
Fuck. I really hurt my hip somehow.
I can’t move very fast, and now Oscar is coming out of the front door.
I manage to make it around the side of the house, but then I run right into a huge wall of a man who chuckles as he grabs me.
He snickers. “I’ve got her.”
I have to keep fighting, so I kick and scratch at the man, finally able to get away from him by wrenching my arm free.
But Oscar and Scott have caught up.
Damnit .
I don’t stop fighting as they drag me back inside and up the stairs.
Finally, Scott slaps me across the face, and everything goes a little fuzzy around the edges.
I go limp.
“What are we going to do about all this? The window’s open.”
“She can’t escape if she’s tied up,” Scott grunts, and Oscar hands him a pair of zip ties.
A few minutes later, after more of my cursing and biting and spitting, my arms and ankles are tied, and I’m lying on my side, staring at the closed door as they continue to speak in the hallway.
Tears stream down my face, but I don’t stop listening.
Anything I can tell my brothers and my father will help them get them.
And I don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire.
Scott chuckles. “I didn’t think she’d be such a hellcat.”
“She’s a Burke. They’re all like that.”
I huff out a breath, rolling over onto my other side so I don’t have to listen to them. They’re clearly not going to give out any information.
I try to roll enough to get up on my knees, and I manage it, but even when I hobble over to the window, I realize I can’t get out and down without breaking my neck, not with my hands and feet tied.
I’m not going to get out of here this way. So, I’ll have to find another way.
I’m not losing hope.
But I can’t help thinking about what I’m holding out hope for. It’s not like I have much of a life or someone special out there waiting for me or trying to save me.
I only have my brothers and Da.
I frown. “You can’t think about how lonely you are now , Lara.”
My brothers will come for me. I know that they will. And all the men laughing and talking in the hallway will be bloodstains on the aging shag carpet in this house.
“She’s cute enough.” Scott’s voice is a bit louder now, and I freeze.
“Don’t even think about it. Niall says not a hair on her head is to be touched. Not until he gets what he wants.”
What he wants?
What can he possibly want from me? The only thing I can think of is all-out war, and I think we’re on the verge of that already.
If he wants Gray to make reckless decisions, he has another thing coming. Right?
Gray wouldn’t sacrifice our family for me. Would he?
A fresh bout of terror washes over me, and I sit there, trembling, unsure what to do.
I need to find another way to get out of here. Now. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Oscar curses.
“Ignore her. She’s lying.”
The thing is, I’m really not. The fear has made my bladder full.
“Please.” I let my fear and desperation shine through. “I don’t want to go in my underwear, please.”
A curse sounds, and the door swings open.
Oscar stands there, his brow furrowed.
Scott has his gun trained on me. “You’re not going to get away.”
Oscar comes forward and cuts the ties on my feet, and then, when I stay still, my hands.
“Put her back in restraints when she’s done.”
“I can’t go with you watching me.” I tremble once I’m finally on the toilet after they throw me into the room.
“Too bad.” Scott scowls.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes, letting my body take over in spite of my humiliation.
“And don’t even think about running. If you do, we’ll give you a bucket instead.”
Shock and fear make me pause, but I manage to wipe and get up, pulling my underwear back up as Scott looks lavishly at me.
I shudder.
If it wasn’t for Oscar, I think Scott might have tried something.
Thank God Murphy needs something from my family.
“Niall told you not to hurt me.”
“He said not to hurt you unless we had to,” Oscar corrects, and I swallow the knot on my throat as I wash my hands.
The front door has been left halfway open, and I want to sprint to it, but I can’t stop thinking about what Oscar said.
A bucket .
It’s not that I’m not still thinking about how to escape, but at this point, I want to keep what little comforts I have.
When I walk into the hallway, Oscar roughly ties my wrists and feet again, and I have to hop into the little bedroom.
I’m looking around for other exits, though, biding my time.
I sit down awkwardly, and Scott slams the door after giving me a creepy grin.
I hang my head, letting myself breathe.
I don’t know when or how, but I have to get out of here. Now.
Chapter Four