Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Steff muttered as she walked out of her therapist’s building into the bright sunlight. She squinted as she rummaged around her bag for her sunglasses.
The receptionist had been insistent that Steff had phoned and cancelled her appointment. She knew for a fact that she hadn’t. She wouldn’t, not after all the progress she was making with the sessions.
She enjoyed coming to see Donelle now. What the receptionist said didn’t make sense. Of course, her appointment time had been given to someone else, so all Steff could do was make another appointment for next week.
At least she could see Cynthia earlier and extend their shopping time together.
“I need to get a smaller bag,” she muttered once she found her sunglasses and popped them on, blinking in surprise when she saw who was standing in front of her. “Cynthia! I was about to call you. There was a mess up with my session.”
“I know,” she snapped, her eyes darting left and right as though she was looking for something. Or someone.
Steff gripped her bag a little tighter, concern for her friend mounting. “Are you okay? You look a little frazzled.”
“I’m fine. Great in fact. Come on, let’s go.” Cynthia grabbed her arm in a tight grip.
“Cyn? What’s going on?”
“You’re being followed,” she said quickly, and hurried them down the street.
“What?” Steff looked over her shoulder to see if Cynthia was right. She couldn’t see anything.
“Stop looking,” she hissed, and tugged on Steff’s arm, picking up her pace. Steff was almost running, fear building inside her.
She should call Dalton. Let him know. He’d tell her to find somewhere safe where they could hide until he could come and get them. He’d let Fox know as well. All she had to do was remain calm, thankful that Cynthia had been there.
It seemed a little strange that she was waiting for her, but Steff didn’t worry about the ‘whys’, she was there, she was just grateful she was.
Cynthia yanked them around the corner into an alley.
The stench of rotting garbage almost had Steff gagging.
She was pushed against the wall, her head banging against the bricks.
She opened her mouth to ask why Cynthia was being so rough, when her friend’s hand covered her mouth, cutting the words off.
This close, she could see the manic look in Cynthia’s eyes, and it concerned her. She’d never seen her friend look this way.
Was Cynthia having a PTSD episode?
Is that why she thought Steff was being followed?
Is this what she looked like when she was in the middle of one?
A little of her fear dissipated. All she needed to do was try and calm her friend, like the way Dalton always calmed her and gently pulled her out of the tunnel she’d sunk into.
“Give me your earrings.”
“What?” Her response was muffled behind Cynthia’s hand. Reflexively, she moved to touch the earrings, the ones she’d given Dalton so much grief regarding wearing them. She hadn’t taken them out since she first put them in.
“Give. Them. To. Me.” Cynthia enunciated each word and held out her free hand.
Steff had been mistaken, it wasn’t a manic look in Cynthia’s eyes, it was disgust and … hate.
She wasn’t in the middle of a PTSD attack. Everything Cynthia was doing was calculated.
Oh my god! It was Cynthia all along!
How was that possible!?
What about Fox? Did she even like him?
The thoughts slammed her mind in quick succession, but she couldn’t let Cynthia know she’d worked out that she was responsible for all the horrible things that happened to Steff.
The last thing she wanted to do was give her the earrings. Cynthia knew what they were, because Fox had given her a pair.
Yet, Cynthia wasn’t wearing hers.
“No.” It didn’t come out as strong as she hoped, because how could it with a hand pressed against her mouth?
“I’ll rip the fucking things out if you don’t! Now be a good girl, and give them to me. My patience is starting to wear thin.”
There were so many things Steff wanted to ask Cynthia, but doing so would show her hand. She had to keep them locked down until she had a better idea of what the hell was going on, and how she was going to get herself out of the situation she found herself in.
And she would. She’d hadn’t come this far with her life by giving in so easily.
Her heart rate was increasing, and black spots were forming in the corners of her vision, but she wasn’t going to succumb to a panic attack.
It would be the worst thing that could happen in this moment, and wouldn’t do any good.
She had to keep control.
Think of Dalton.
Remember the feel of his arms around you.
The way he always tells you you’re safe.
She mentally scoffed at the last one, but she was a fraction calmer.
“Steffanie!”
The person standing in front of her wasn’t the Cynthia she’d known in the past. That person was gone, and Steff mourned the loss, knowing that the reason for it was because of what happened to them. The trauma they’d gone through.
Maybe there was a chance she could talk her friend down. If she did what Cynthia wanted, there could be opportunities to change her mind from the course she’d decided to travel down.
Steff nodded and, once again, reached up to her ears, this time she removed the earrings and held them out for Cynthia.
“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She opened her hand and let the jewelry fall to the ground, before stomping on them. The crystals disintegrated in a spray of shards.
She couldn’t hold back a whimper at the loss of any chance of Dalton being able to find her.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure your knight will do everything possible to find you. In fact, I’m counting on it.”
That didn’t make any sense at all… unless—she slammed the door on that thought. Steff had to believe she had a way to get through to Cynthia, to stop her from whatever she had planned.
“I’m going to remove my hand. Do you promise not to scream?” Cynthia pressed her hand harder against her mouth, which in turn squashed her head against the wall.
As much as it may seem weak to others, compliance was the best course of action if she had any hope of surviving.
Whatever Cynthia had planned, wherever she was going to take her, Steff was going to look for any means of escape.
She nodded once again. Cynthia dropped her hand, allowing her to suck in some deep breaths. Steff cringed, inhaling the foulness of the alley they were in.
“I’ll need your phone now.”
Of course she did, and her phone was about to end up the same way as her earrings. Digging into her purse, she handed the device over, closing her eyes, not wanting to see the destruction. Hearing the clatter as it landed on the ground and the shattering of the glass was bad enough.
“Thank you for being so co-operative Steffanie, there is hope for you yet. Let’s go.” Cynthia grabbed her arm, squeezing tightly. “And when we leave this alley, don’t try and get anyone’s attention.”
“I won’t.”
As if she was satisfied with her response, Cynthia dragged her toward the street. Once there, she changed her hold and hooked her arm through Steff’s, giving the impression they were two friends just out for the day.
If only that was true.
Steff’s head was pounding by the time they reached wherever they were going.
Cynthia had driven them out past the city limits.
The last sign she’d seen had been for Acton, and they’d traveled along the highway for a bit before turning down a dirt road, and had now stopped out in front of a cabin that had seen better days.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Don’t ask a silly question. I know you saw the sign for Acton, but we’re at a cabin; can’t you see?” Cynthia pointed to the structure. “Come on, let’s go.”
Steff got out, happy to stretch her legs after being confined for so long. She followed Cynthia to the cabin, looking around to see if there were any other signs of life. To see if Cynthia was working with anyone or was doing this all by herself.
There was an air of emptiness about the place, as if it hadn’t been inhabited for a while.
Surprisingly, when they entered the structure, it was relatively clean. There was a cot in the corner that looked like it had clean bedding on it. Along with a couch, and while the fabric was faded, it looked like it was in good condition.
“What’s going on Cynthia? Why have you brought me here? Is there anyone else coming?”
“So many questions, and yet I’m surprised you haven’t asked the obvious one.
” She reached into her bag and pulled out a black box, placing it on the table.
It wasn’t large, and didn’t look like it could contain a firearm.
Then again, Steff wasn’t well versed in the size of handguns, so it was possible it could hold a small one.
Surely by now Dalton and the others would know that something was wrong.
The moment she hadn’t texted him to say she’d finished her session with her therapist and had met up with Cynthia, he would’ve immediately gone to Cass to check if her earrings were transmitting.
He would’ve found out that they weren’t and would’ve started looking for her.
At least she hoped he would. He could’ve been called into a meeting and hadn’t been able to check his phone.
Anything was possible, but she continued with the belief that he was looking for her.
“What’s the obvious one?” Steff countered, even knowing what Cynthia was alluding to.
“Am I responsible for everything that happened to you?”
Steff shrugged and wandered over to the couch. “Considering what’s happened in the last few hours, I don’t need to ask. I know.”
“But aren’t you curious as to why?”
Cynthia was fishing for something with these questions, as though she wanted to gloat about how clever she was.
“I guess, but I’m more curious on how you pulled it off. I’m guessing you paid people to do it.”
Cynthia slow clapped. “Give the girl a gold medal. But you know what nerdy guys who spend all their time in their mom’s basements want the most?
They want sex. It’s amazing what you can get when you spread your legs.
You may not have enjoyed your time when you were held captive, but I did.
I loved it. And then it all got fucked up because of Fox and his friends. ”
Steff couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had to be wrong. “Are you telling me you wanted to be shipped off to some horrible place and be someone’s sex slave?”
The very idea seemed abhorrent to Steff, and one she never thought her friend would willingly be open to.
Cynthia stormed over to her. “My life was finally going to be perfect, and then Teresa had to fuck it up with her investigation. I was supposed to be living in luxury, but here I am still stuck here. But I wasn’t going to give up. I was going to get what’s owed to me.”
“I don’t understand any of this. Why target me?”
“I got invited to Angelica’s stupid party as well.
I didn’t want to go, but I was intrigued why she would reach out to me after all this time.
I decided to check it out anyway. I saw you arrive.
I almost knocked on the door, but decided to bide my time.
” She went back to the table and ran her finger over the black box.
“I’m glad I did, because I saw you leave with that asshole Jag.
Let’s just say the rest is history. I knew you were my way in.
Not to mention, there are still plenty of people who would love to have someone like you at their beck and call. I know what my clients want.”
My clients?
What the heck was she talking about? And what did Cynthia mean that she would be perfect? Perfect for what?
Had what happened to her and Cynthia been more than Gomez Ramirez wanting to make Teresa back off from her investigation of the cartel?
Was it possible that Cynthia had been more involved with them being taken than anyone thought? Or known?
Steff was aware that Cass had run background checks on everyone close to her; Jag had told her, but everyone had come up clear. Nothing about Cynthia had raised a red flag.
How was that possible considering the information Cynthia had given her?
Had Cynthia been the reason why she’d been treated the way she had when they’d been taken?
“I can see you turning things over in your mind.” Cynthia opened the black box and pulled out a smaller one, this one Steff recognized. “I’ll continue once I put these in.”
Cynthia put the earrings in that Fox had given her.
“Why are you doing that? You know that’s going to bring them all here?”
She smiled evilly. “That’s what I’m aiming for.”
“Wait.” She thought about it all, and hope blossomed in her chest that help was closer than she thought it could be. “If you’ve had them with you, they would’ve been tracking us the whole time.”
“Oh Steff, sorry to break that little bubble of hope, but you see this?” She pointed to the box. “This device blocks the signal. They’ve been sitting in there ever since I got them. My other set, the ones Fox knows I wear, are at home. If anyone checked, they would’ve seen where I was.”
“But they knew I was meeting you. If Cass, for any reason, checked and found my earrings had stopped working, there’s no way she would’ve kept that information to herself, she would’ve told Dalton and the others. Fox would’ve tried to contact you.”
She shrugged. “He would’ve gotten my voicemail. He knows I sometimes turn my phone off. I told him I don’t like to use it much.” Her voice turned young girlish at the end.
“But you want them to find us?” Steff was getting confused with Cynthia’s motives and how she was going about it. Not to mention it was still the two of them. Unless whoever Cynthia was working with were going to send some backup to take out Dalton and his team.
Was that what Cynthia wanted?
For them all to be hurt? Or worse, killed?
“I do. And when they come, it’s going to be epic,” she said gleefully.
Steff stumbled onto the couch, wishing she could warn Dalton.