Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
“No! Stop!” Peyton thrashed against the restraints and jutted out her foot to catch Beanie in the shin.
His bark of pain was momentarily rewarding, before his knuckles slammed into her cheekbone.
Her head snapped to the side, allowing him to succeed at tying her wrists to the chair.
She heaved a breath of rage, and pain radiated from her cheekbone to her skull.
He’d pay.
Beanie smiled and knelt in front of her. He reached for her curled hand on the armrest and yanked her pinky finger from its tucked position. “Tell me Jenny’s location or I’ll break this pretty little finger.”
Her pulse slowed to a dull hum as she watched his thick fingers circle her knuckle.
“What do you think, Len? Should I break one first or give her a minute to talk?”
She wet her lips. Fear retracted to a spring at the base of her tailbone. Instinct told her to run, to scream, but she couldn’t do a thing. Not with her hands tied. He hadn’t bothered tying her feet, but if she kicked him again, he’d do far worse than backhand her.
“You’ve got nine others to work with. Maybe she’ll talk quicker if you take out the pinky first.”
She tried to curl her pinky back but he held fast. He pressed his other palm down on the top of her hand and lifted her finger straight up.
Then he slid his hand into the sensitive groove between her pinky and ring finger.
A mewl of terror pressed through her lips, and she shoved down a scream.
Squeezing her eyes together, she blocked out their mocking voices as sweat rolled down her neck.
Every tendon in her body straightened, anticipating the sharp, piercing pain of her bone snapping.
“You know what? I’m a nice guy. Don’t you think, Peyton?”
Tears stung the corners of her eyes. She didn’t dare open them. If he saw how terrified she was, he’d break every finger in her hand with relish.
“You know Jenny’s location, don’t you?”
Her chest fluttered on shallow inhales.
“Answer me!” His voice shook and spit flung from his bottom lip.
Saliva swarmed in her mouth and she used her tongue to force it down her throat.
Ice broke out on her skin, and the searing terror in her veins did nothing to cool it.
Admitting that she knew where Jenny was would only endanger Max and her further.
She had to stall as long as possible until help came.
Then reality crashed down around her. Rhett was likely dead. Grief ripped her heart open.
She’d never see Rhett again. Never hear his laugh or feel his mouth on hers.
He’d been in her life for such a short time, but everything he stood for was everything she needed—devotion and nobility.
His arms were big enough to swallow every fear and insecurity, to inspire new dreams and a sense of freedom in her.
There was no one to look for her now. But she could still protect Jenny and get Max out alive.
She lifted her lashes and stared over Beanie’s shoulder at Max’s slumped body.
He met her gaze through one puffy, blackened eye.
He blinked, seemingly pleading for her to give up the information, but her doing so wouldn’t help either of them.
She had to stay strong, even if Beanie broke her finger—it’d be better than giving up Jenny’s information and dying immediately.
Beanie dropped her hand and stood. “Fine. You don’t seem too concerned about your own well-being.” He took a step back and rounded Max’s chair. Resting his hands on her friend’s shoulders, Beanie leaned forward. Max cowered, and his face contorted with discomfort.
She shot forward in her seat, but the restraints kept her immobile. The muscles in her legs jumped, aching to carry her across the few feet that separated them. Beanie’s stiff fingers dug into Max’s shoulders, and her friend cried out. Her blood heated to a boil.
“As you can see, Max already has a broken hand.” Beanie twisted Max’s wrist.
Max’s scream reverberated off the concrete surrounding them, shaking the walls of her chest. Her heart raced and she closed her eyes.
“Stop!” The raspy plea ripped from her diaphragm.
Beanie dropped Max’s hand.
“I got a baseball bat upstairs. Maybe start with Max’s jaw.” Len’s suggestion released a wave of nausea in the pit of her stomach. The tears that had stung her eyes before seeped out and rolled down her cheeks.
“Leave him alone. He doesn’t know anything.”
Beanie’s mouth lifted into a snarl. “That’s right. But you can save him. Tell me where the envelope is or give me the address—I know you looked at it. You’re too fucking nosey not to have.”
Salty, hot tears coated her lips. She sucked back a sob and shook her head. “I don’t have the envelope. I gave it to Rhett.”
Beanie’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit. You were in Max’s apartment. You intended to deliver it to him.”
She straightened in her seat. “How do you know I was there?”
He waved away her question, but a vignette of awareness rippled through her brain.
“I paid Maxy-boy a visit to see if he had the envelope yet. I tried to get it from you first, but you ran at the hotel. Turns out that bitch Vicky was there, and she was a loose end we couldn’t afford to keep.”
Max wailed but grunted and stopped when Len kicked him in the knee. “Shut up.”
“So, you see,” Beanie continued, “all this could have been stopped if you’d just coughed up Jenny’s address like you were paid to do. Now you’re all going to end up dead.” He laughed. The sound was far too light for the moment.
“Jenny remembers you,” she blurted.
His eyes turned beady. “How do you know that?”
“Rhett told me. She keeps recalling images of someone else’s face and wants to rewrite her statement.” The partial lie rolled off her tongue.
“Fuck!” Beanie bellowed. The pale skin on his head turned beet red, and he swung at the air.
“So, you see,” she said, in a matter-of-fact tone, “if you’re identified, you’ll be nailed for Vicky’s death, Max’s, and mine. You should turn yourself in.”
He rubbed his palm on the front of his jeans.
Sweat dotted the skin next to his ears and his eyes darted around.
“No. No, she doesn’t remember. She was too fucked up.
She couldn’t identify me. It’ll never hold up in court.
” He turned his attention to her. “There’s still time.
” He closed the gap between them and caught her throat in his palm.
She coughed and lengthened her midsection to open her airway.
Pain scorched her lungs. The vessels in her eyes screamed.
“You’ve got ten seconds to give me her location, or I blow your brains out.”
Rhett stalked away from Moretti’s house.
His gut twisted in one direction then the other.
Calling Beanie could fuck things up even more.
If the bastard knew he was alive, Beanie would hold Peyton to his advantage.
Hell, if he really wanted to screw with Rhett’s head, he’d kill her right then and there.
Over the years, Rhett’s MO had been silence and stealth.
He’d never revealed his hand to his opponent, never overstepped the lines or the law.
All that was out the window.
Beanie would be pissed he’d survived. But he might be stupid enough to believe I’d make a deal with him. All he needed was to find out where he was. He scrolled through Moretti’s contacts and found Beanie’s name. His thumb shook as it tapped the screen.
Ring, ring, ring
Rhett gripped the phone until his fingertips ached. Jesus, if Beanie didn’t answer he’d go crazy.
“Hello?”
The ache in Rhett’s chest receded. “I believe I have something you want,” he said, skipping the pleasantries.
Silence ticked in his ear. The seconds stretched like minutes.
“Callahan.” Disappointment slithered over the asshole’s tone. Clearly he hadn’t expected him to survive. “I believe I have something you want.”
Rhett curled his hand into a fist at his side and turned toward the trees, away from where Mandy and Eric waited by the vehicle.
Beanie wanted to bait him, and part of him, the emotionally attached guy and not the FBI agent, nearly succumbed.
He summoned his strongest interrogator voice.
“Where do we go from here, Beanie? If you harm a hair on Peyton’s head, you’ll go to jail for a long time. ”
“That’s if you find me.”
Rhett stiffened. There was no telling what lengths Beanie had gone to in order to conceal his identity. With a senator as his employer, it would be far too easy for him to get a fake passport.
“Let’s keep this simple. I’ll give you the envelope and you give Peyton back in return.”
Silence ticked on.
And then, “It’d be a hell of a lot more fun torturing it out of your bitch.”
Beanie’s words punched through Rhett’s chest, and he dropped to his knees. The pavement slammed into his kneecaps. No. Beanie had tried to rape her once, and if he succeeded this time, Rhett would never forgive himself.
He had to find her.
Desperation sucked the air from him. He’d failed her.
Peyton needed him and he’d fucking dropped the ball.
He’d left her side in an attempt to protect her and hadn’t been alert enough to sense Beanie’s approach at the marina.
Finally, he’d found someone he cared about more than his career.
And now, because she’d fallen smack-dab into the middle of his investigation, she’d be tortured and murdered.
His sinuses tingled with unshed tears. Begging would only egg Beanie on.
There had to be a way . . .
“Since I’m a nice guy, I’ll let you say goodbye to her.”
He heard a scuffle and a small yelp. His breath expelled from his throat.
“Say hello to your boyfriend.”
“Rhett! You’re alive!” Peyton’s sob screeched in his ears. From behind his solar plexus, relief spread like a cosmic explosion.
“Are you okay, baby? Did they hurt you?”
“No.” Her voice trembled, and he smashed his knuckles into the driveway knowing it was a bald-faced lie. She’d likely already endured pain and torment from Beanie, yet she was concerned only about him.
“You need to think, honey,” he whispered hoarsely. “Give me some kind of clue about where I can find you.” This couldn’t be the last time he heard her intoxicating voice. Couldn’t be his last chance to express the emotions that had taken hold of him since the moment he laid eyes on her.
“Time’s up!”
“Wait,” she hissed. “If something happens to me, Rhett, please tell my sister Erica that I’ll always remember our days at the beach—”
Beanie’s snort sounded in his ear. “You know what’s going to happen to you, baby.”
Beanie’s salacious promise drove Rhett to his feet. “Don’t fucking touch her!”
“I’ll enjoy every minute of it.”
The line went dead.