Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Luna
I float in a hazy fog of drug-induced nightmares, waffling between sleep and awake. The first time I open my eyes I’m in a moving vehicle and let out a shriek that earns me another pinch and more darkness.
The second time I’m more cautious. I don’t open my eyes right away but I’m fairly certain I’m not in a moving vehicle anymore.
As I slowly become aware of my surroundings, I realize my hands and feet are bound, and I’m lying on a cold, hard surface.
Slowly, I peek through my lashes but all I see is darkness.
Opening my eyes the rest of the way, I’m pretty sure I’m alone, but I have no idea where.
It’s cold, dark, and damp. Like a basement or something.
But in general, there are no basements in California.
Obviously, there could be a business or a specialty building that has one, so anything is possible, but none of that gives me a clue as to where I am.
I turn onto my back and see some boxes stacked in the corner, an old rusty wood stove, and what looks like an old work desk covered in tools.
A shudder involuntarily runs through me as it all comes back to me.
Neil. Candy.
Garth.
This is his doing, I have no doubt about that but can’t figure out why Candy and Neil would be involved.
Money, most likely.
Garth’s motivations have to be personal, but anyone else he dragged into this is most likely in it to get paid.
God, I was so fucking stupid. I never should have gone with Neil. It never occurred to me he would be in cahoots with Garth considering he and Candy are having an affair. But that might not be the case at all. In fact, I probably have no idea what’s really going on.
That’s what scares me.
The only reason I’m not completely freaking out is because I know Elliott will come for me. Daniil, Grim, and the others too. Daniil vowed I would always be safe if I went to work for him and for the most part, he’s been right.
This is my own fault. If I’d just gone straight to where Daniil and the others were waiting, none of this would have happened.
Stupid.
I’d been so caught up in what I was doing, proving that I was right, I walked right into Garth’s trap.
Dammit.
Tears sting my eyes even as I fight valiantly not to cry. Crying isn’t going to get me out of this. I have to use my head now, and do whatever is necessary to survive until Elliott comes for me.
Because he will.
He has to.
Even if our relationship doesn’t survive, he’ll come for me.
A noise startles me and I jump, looking around.
Then I see it—a rat.
Oh, fuck no.
I wiggle into a sitting position, looking around for anything I can use to fight it off if it comes near me. It’s small, so I’m not worried about it overpowering me—I’m worried about falling asleep and it deciding to eat me. Or maybe small parts of me.
Shuddering again, I wiggle until I’m against a wall, with my feet straight out in front of me. Luckily, Garth or whoever tied my hands in front and not the back, so I can be reasonably comfortable.
A sliding sound gets my attention and this time I know it’s going to be something much larger than a rat. I steel myself. There’s no point in pretending to be asleep. If he’s going to beat me and kill me, he’ll just do it.
“You’re awake.” Garth comes into the room still wearing his clothes from last night. Tonight? I have no concept of the time, so I don’t know how long it’s been.
“What time is it?” I ask.
He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Time means nothing to you now. Because you don’t have a lot left.”
I stare at him. “What do you want?”
“What do I want?” He stares at me, hands on his hips. “I want my money back. I want my fucking life back!” He kicks a random piece of plywood that’s on the floor. “Do you have any idea what you cost me?”
“Do you have any idea what you cost me?” I counter. Being nice isn’t going to fix this, so I might as well say what’s on my mind.
“Cost you?” He laughs but it’s a cruel, almost unhinged sound. “What did you lose?”
“My job. My reputation. Every dime I had. And even my ability to make money because I had a felony attached to my name!”
“Well, you broke the law.”
“So did you!” I shoot back.
We glare at each other. Then he chuckles. “Oh, this is going to be fun, breaking you.”
Breaking me? Ew. That sounds horrible but he doesn’t know me. He doesn’t understand that I’ll die before bending to a man like him. To any man really, but specifically him.
“I like feisty women. My Marissa, she was so damn sassy.” He smiles, another weird, unhinged smile that makes him look more disturbed than happy or reminiscent.
“That’s what made it fun to do what I did to her.
” He turns to me. “Don’t you understand?
Women today are so damn independent and bossy—they need to be brought down a notch.
A man needs to be the king in his own castle. ”
“By teaching men to rape women who are asleep?” I demand incredulously.
He rolls his eyes. “They didn’t know what was happening and didn’t remember when they woke up.
In my case, she was my wife so I had every right to take what I needed.
Especially once she got sick. She was incapable of giving it up because she was so sick, so I waited until she was asleep.
It wasn’t even that hard, she was so drugged up at that point. ”
Asshole.
I don’t say that, though, I just stare, letting him rant.
“It was win-win,” he continues. “I mean, she wasn’t aware, so how was it hurting her? She got to rest and I got what I needed.”
“Do you really not see a problem with raping your sick, dying wife?” I whisper incredulously.
He turns with a snarl. “What about me? I had to take care of her for four fucking years! Years! Always puking and crying and complaining. And Jesus, she was so ugly at the end. Bald. Skin so pale it was almost translucent. Broken fingernails. Chapped lips. Fucking her wasn’t as much fun as you might think. ”
“Then why did you do it?” I ask quietly. “Why not find a hooker or even a random stranger? You’re a good-looking man.”
He frowns at me. “And break my marriage vows?”
I’m amazed at the fact that he can still amaze me.
“We had a good thing going, and you didn’t just ruin it for me—you ruined it for all of us.”
“How?” I counter. “I’m the one who got arrested and banished into WITSEC. You guys could have picked right back up where you left off.”
“It wasn’t the same!” he yells. “The website got taken down and every time we tried to start a new one, the FBI found it. They were on to us, and it was impossible to hide.”
Cry me a fucking river, buddy. Your rape assistance program couldn’t find a new home? If I wasn’t in such a precarious situation, I would have rolled my eyes.
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask amiably. “You know Rage is going to come looking for me.”
He smiles. “I look forward to watching him suffer, knowing that the woman he loves is dying a slow, painful death.”
“He knows you put bets on the fight.”
“That’s not illegal.”
“It is when you try to control the outcome of the fight.”
He shrugs. “No one can prove that. Bronco won’t rat me out—he’s in way too deep.”
“Candy? Neil? They’re all going to keep your secrets?”
“Neil just wants Candy, and Candy likes money. She has a nasty cocaine habit that keeps her on the verge of homelessness every single day.”
I never considered drugs.
“The money from the fight will keep her going for a couple of years.” He looks around and picks something up from the tool bench. “Ah, yes. This is perfect.”
Uh oh.
“What do you get by killing me?” I ask slowly. “My life was ruined just like yours.”
“Yet you’re still out there, doing your thing while I’m reduced to running charity events, never knowing how I’m going to pay rent.” He turns slowly, eyes narrowed. Mean. Like a snake ready to strike.
Maybe this is it.
Dammit.
I didn’t plan to go out this way. Or any way. Not now, at least.
And I guess I’m never going to be a mom.
Or tell Elliott that I love him.
Or thank him for being the man of my dreams, even if we didn’t have nearly enough time together.
I press my back into the wall, like that’s somehow going to help me stay away from Garth as he approaches me, knife in hand. It’s old and rusty, which is gross in and of itself, but I guess it doesn’t matter if he’s going to kill me.
“This part will be quick,” he says, squatting in front of me. “The hard part will be later…when you’re too exhausted to fight them off and the rats are drawn to the smell of your blood.”
At this point, I’m too annoyed to be afraid—I’m sure that will come later too.
“You’re a dick,” I snap, scowling. “And I hope Elliott breaks you into tiny, irreparable pieces!”
He chuckles, and before I can react, slices that knife across the top of the toes of my right foot. I shriek, yanking my feet away but it’s too late.
“The rats will start at the top and slowly nibble on your toes. And you can watch them do it. Without food and water, you’ll only be able to fight them off another thirty-six hours. Maybe forty-eight since you’ve got some heft on you.”
For once, my overweight body might be good for something.
“Fuck you.” I glare at him because that’s all I have left.
He smiles. “You’ll be too gross to touch like that.
No thanks. Besides, this has all been about watching you suffer.
All the months of knocking and having someone hack your bank account…
sending you presents…screwing with you like you screwed with me.
” He reaches out and trails his fingers along the line of my jaw. “Were you scared, Shawna?”
I yank my head to the side, grimacing at both his touch and the use of my real name. “Fuck off.”
He just laughs.
Then he gets up and walks out of the room, closing and locking the door firmly behind him.