Chapter Thirty-Two
Rachel’s whole body was sore and shaking by the time they reached the bottom of the mountain. She’d been thrown around in the wagon, and the slaps from the men that sat in the back with her didn’t help. She felt sick to her stomach. It was freezing cold, and she couldn’t stop shivering.
How was she supposed to get out of this?
She had no idea what would happen next, or whether she would get out of this situation alive.
The fact they were happy to drag her along despite not having anything to do with the Silver Lantern—as far as they knew—was enough to show they didn’t care what happened to those who could make a profit for them.
She knew Daisy was scared, too. She was huddled beside her, sobbing quietly. Rachel couldn’t blame her
Soon, they were at a large building that seemed to be their destination, barely visible even with lamps dotted around it. She could see the line for the roof as the sun started to come up, brightening the sky. As it grew brighter, the light began to reveal the building.
The saloon. Rachel’s stomach dropped. How would she get out of here?
The wagon stopped around the back, and the door opened as the men jumped out. A huge, hulking man appeared in the doorway. Vane approached him, shaking hands with the man.
“I got her,” he said proudly. “And we got someone else in compensation.”
“Who?” The large man looked past him toward the wagon. “Who did you manage to snatch?”
Then Rachel was unceremoniously lifted out of the wagon and let go.
She tumbled to the ground, hitting the snow and gasping as the cold went straight through her clothes.
It was so shocking that she momentarily forgot how to breathe.
She heard a scuffling behind her, and then Daisy was dropped onto the snow beside her.
She was crying quietly, her head bowed, her body shaking.
“What do you think?” Vane went to Rachel and lifted her head up by her hair. “Beautiful, isn’t she? And she’s the marshal’s wife.”
“You kidnapped the marshal’s wife?” The large man’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you trying to get us shut down?”
“She’s a feisty one, and I wasn’t about to leave her behind. Not when she could easily bring something in for us.” Vane let go of Rachel, who slumped back to the sodden ground. “She reminds me of someone, but I can’t think who. I have a feeling she’s going to be a good one, Edgar.”
Edgar. She realized it was Edgar Pike. Rachel’s stomach dropped even more, and she wanted to be sick. The more she heard, the more she wanted to get away.
She felt the terror the girls must have experienced when they realized things weren’t going to go as they thought.
“Well, seeing as she’s here, we might as well make her useful.” Pike jerked his head inside. “Bring her in. Daisy needs to be disciplined after what she did. They can keep each other company.”
“No!” Daisy cried, making Rachel jump. She was struggling hard. “Let me go! I don’t want to…”
“Shut up,” Pike said, barely reacting to her outburst. “Get them inside before we cause a disturbance. I don’t want our other patrons to know that our girls are being disobedient. It’s bad for business.”
Rachel tensed. She was about to scream, to let everyone be aware of what was going on, but then a hand was clamped over her mouth, and she was lifted to her feet.
She tried to be dead weight, and it didn’t work.
She was hauled over the threshold after Daisy, who was still wailing, despite it being muffled by a hand over her mouth. Then they were taken upstairs.
There was a wooden door that looked far too sturdy at the far end of the corridor.
Pike unlocked it and opened it enough for the brutes to throw Daisy and Rachel inside.
Rachel landed on top of Daisy, who moaned loudly and curled into a ball.
Their hands were untied, and Rachel was sprawled on her back, her arms finally free.
Pike looked at them with a smirk that made her skin crawl.
“Get yourself comfortable. You’re going to be here for a long time.”
Rage filled Rachel more than terror, and she managed to scramble to her feet and launch herself at the door. But then it was closed, and she fell against it, pounding her fists on the door as she heard the key turning in the lock.
“Let us out of here!” she screamed, thumping the door hard enough to make her fists sting. “You can’t do this! Let us out!”
“They’re not going to let you out just because you said so.”
The voice came out of nowhere, and Rachel spun around, her shoulder blades slamming into the wall.
There was a woman lying on the single wooden bed at the other end of the room, a thin blanket pulled over her.
She looked like she’d been there a while, her face so thin her cheekbones were sticking out, and a hollowed-out look to her eyes.
She lifted her head and watched them with wary eyes.
“Sandra!” Daisy scrambled up and went over to her. She fell to her knees beside the bed and clutched her hand. “I… I thought you were dead.”
Sandra gave her a tiny smile.
“I might as well be. Given how long they’ve locked me up in here. I gave up shouting for help a long time ago.”
Rachel stared at her, unable to comprehend what was happening. Was this woman saying she had been held prisoner? Then she recognized the man. She moved closer to the bed.
“Sandra. Sandra Hughes?”
Sandra blinked up at her.
“You know who I am.”
“My husband does. Nate Calloway.”
Saying that felt like the most natural thing in the world. Rachel hadn’t realized she’d been getting comfortable with saying Nate was her husband. Sandra’s eyes widened, and she managed to sit up. She shivered as she tugged the blanket around her, brushing her greasy hair from her face.
“Nate? He’s still around?”
“He’s Mercy Creek’s marshal now. And he knows that you’re missing.” Rachel swallowed. “He’s not forgotten about you.”
Sandra’s mouth formed an unsteady smile, relief behind her eyes.
“I didn’t think he’d forget about me. We were such good friends. Him, me, and Jack. Is Jack…?”
“Married to Nate’s sister.”
“No surprise. He always had a thing for Isabelle, even though he did his best to hide it.” She licked her dry lips. “Have they been looking for me all this time? It’s wishful thinking, I know…”
“They know your situation now, and Nate will get you out of here.” Rachel sat on the edge of the bed and took Sandra’s hand. “They’re not going to run out on any of us. They’ll come.”
She knew that to be true, but her words still sounded hollow. Nate had to know they’d been kidnapped by now, but would he be able to rescue them? From what she saw, Vane had dozens of armed men protecting the Silver Lantern. They would be difficult to fight off. Unless Nate and Jack had backup…
That had to be it. Nate wouldn’t come on his own, especially up against a gang like Edgar Pike’s.
“Why are you in here, Sandra?” Daisy asked. “Why were you locked up? It’s been weeks since anyone saw you.”
“I…” Sandra swallowed, her voice coming out raspy. “I was trying to get to the ledger.”
Rachel’s ears pricked up.
“What ledger?”
“It’s called the debt ledger. Where our debts are written down, and Pike keeps track of each and every time we supposedly pay it down.
I thought that mine should’ve been paid off already, and I wanted to see.
But Pike refused to let me look, saying he knew what he was doing and I should trust him.
” She snorted at that. “I haven’t trusted him since the day I was brought here.
I knew that I’d paid my debt, and I wasn’t staying a moment longer.
But he caught me trying to get into the room where he keeps it. ”
“And you’ve been here ever since?”
Sandra nodded.
“It’s been about two weeks now. I get food, but it’s not much. I think he’s expecting me to break down and beg for mercy, but not this time. I just want to get out of this completely.”
Rachel wanted to cry for her. This was just horrible, and she couldn’t believe that someone could be so cruel. Sandra shouldn’t be here, and yet she was forever a prisoner.
Fear was beginning to grow. It was getting stronger, threatening to overwhelm her and make her panic. But Rachel couldn’t do that. She had to remain strong. For Daisy, who was sobbing quietly beside her, and for Sandra, who looked like she was going to snap at any moment.
“I’m not strong enough to outwit them now,” Sandra continued. “If I had some strength, I’d be able to get around them, but I can’t. I’m so weak from hunger. I wouldn’t be able to snatch the keys to get us out of here.”
“Keys?” That got Rachel’s attention. “What do you mean by that?”
“The keys for this room. They have the keys hanging from their belt, and they seem unconcerned that I can see them. Almost as if they’re goading me that they had the way out and can’t get it. Either that, or they really don’t care and think it will be safe to not watch them too much.”
Rachel’s mind was starting to turn over. She could see the possibilities here. They had a chance to get out, but there wasn’t much they could do unless they got the element of surprise. Even then, they would have to be quick.
And then what? Did they start back up the mountain to Mercy Creek, hoping they didn’t freeze to death? Or did they find a place to hide until help came?
They had to do something themselves. And get that book. Whatever was in it would be enough to stop the operation. Edgar Pike and Isaac Vane couldn’t carry on as they had been without it.
Daisy was still crying, Sandra now putting her arms around the girl.
“It’s going to be all right,” Sandra said soothingly. “We’ll get out of here.”
“How?” Daisy looked up. “You’ve been here for two weeks, and you look close to death. Is that going to happen to us?”
“Of course not.” Rachel reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “You managed to get out of here once. You can do it again. And we’ll be coming with you.”
She was hopeful of that. They needed to be.
Then she heard the key turning in the lock, and she stiffened. A moment later, the door swung open, and one of the hulking individuals stepped into the room, carrying a tray with a couple of plates and what looked to be stale bread on top, along with a jug.
“Breakfast,” he said gruffly, placing the tray on the table. “Eat up.”
Then he left without another word. Daisy whimpered, and Sandra held her more tightly.
Rachel’s heart pounded in her chest as she stood and went to the door, pressing her ear up against it.
She could hear shuffling outside, indicating that the guard was still present.
She put a finger to her lips as she tiptoed back.
“We’ll try and eat to preserve our strength,” she whispered. “And then we’ll get ourselves ready.”
“Ready for what?” Daisy asked.
“For us to make a move.” Rachel took a deep breath. “We’re not going to make it easy for them.”
She wasn’t about to let anyone walk all over her.