Chapter 34 Her Only Hope #2
Lyle moved over with the glass and went to hand it to her, the rat still in his other hand. She lifted both of her hands and grasped it, trying to bring it to her mouth.
The inside of her cheek burned when the liquid touched it. Her teeth must have cut her flesh when she was hit.
Nothing she hadn’t felt before either.
“That’s how you found me?” she asked. “When I was pulled over?”
Randy looked at Lyle who shrugged and replaced the rat when Randy nodded his head to the cages again.
“Yes. He caught it a day or so later. We didn’t think you’d be in the area, but had to risk it.
Once he realized audits were being done on evidence, the walls were closing in.
I don’t need Stiles framing me for this.
The clock is ticking and he needs his product returned before he’s caught.
Do you know what they do to cops in prison? ”
Now she understood this.
It wasn’t the money, it was the product he had to put back. Drugs he was stealing from the police station evidence room.
Seriously?! Even if she’d taken them, did they think she’d be holding onto them a month later? They were all complete morons.
Product she never saw and didn’t know a thing about.
“That’s not my problem,” she said. “But I’m not your person. I’m telling you, look at Oliver. He hated you.”
“My cousin idolized me,” Randy said, his face turning several shades of red.
“You’re deluding yourself. All those times you talked down to him. That you told him he was a piece of shit. He talked in his sleep all the time. I know what he really thought of you.” At least that much was the truth.
“He listened to me. He didn’t have the balls to take care of you or anyone else he brought home. I taught him how to keep his women in line.”
She should have known. She’d seen signs of it.
It didn’t diminish what Oliver did to her though. Or to any other woman.
The pain he inflicted when his cousin wasn’t around.
“You couldn’t have taught him well enough if he was stealing from you.”
Who the hell knew where the courage came from to have those words slipping out?
No, she knew. It was Ford. He’d tell her to do everything to fight back and all she had were words.
Randy moved closer and backhanded her. She expected it, but she needed him to believe her. Her defiance had to sell the truth.
Ford taught her to be strong.
She wouldn’t go down without a fight, even if it got her killed in the end.
She spit the blood on the floor. Might as well leave some DNA while she was at it.
“My cousin wouldn’t dare,” Randy snarled.
“This bitch doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Bobby said.
“I don’t know,” Lyle said. “Oliver did just buy that sweet whip.”
The more she talked, the more things were being said between the three of them. Planting doubt had been the goal and it was working.
“See,” she said. “Oliver has been talking about some fancy truck he’s always wanted. He just needed enough cash down. He doesn’t have it. He never did.”
Randy yanked his phone out of his back pocket, then dialed.
He almost threw it when it went to voicemail. “I’ve got your bitch here, Oliver. She’s saying you took the pills. That you’ve been skimming off the top all along. I want some answers about how you got that ride. Call me now!”
She had to build more doubt. “He won’t call you back,” she said. “He might even leave town.”
“He won’t go anywhere, because I’ll make sure Stiles is watching him now.”
Randy stalked out of the room, leaving her with the two men who’d brought her here.
“Let me go,” she whispered. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear, I won’t.”
“It’s too late,” Bobby said. “People know around town we’ve been asking about you.”
“What did you find out?”
Please don’t let them know I’m dating Ford!
“Small towns like this, people talk. You have to go to the store. Have to get food. There aren’t many places around here to buy stuff. Show a picture enough and there you go, you’re recognized. One cashier was really chatty and said you were always buying food for your job.”
It ended up being something as simple as talking to a friendly cashier she saw weekly. Dropping her guard and feeling like part of the community.
“They told you where I worked?”
“Yep. Bragged about the place. I had to try it out myself to know,” Lyle said, laughing. “You waited on me one day.”
How could she have not realized that?
“You were in the cafe?”
“We both have been,” Bobby said. “I missed you on a day off and went back another time. Couldn’t figure out where you lived, but we knew where you worked and saw a big truck in the back the days you were there. Figured it was yours.”
“We couldn’t go back again,” Lyle said. “Some big dude on the property stopped and stared us down yesterday when we drove by. Been past too many times already. Scary motherfucker. He was at the gates locking them, so we knew we had to make the move.”
Please let Clay have figured this out.
Please, please, please.
He’ll go back and look if it’s been days they’ve been in town.
“What are you two fuckers yapping about in here?” Randy said when he returned.
“Just told her she’s not as sly as she thinks that we knew where she worked and have been waiting for her to leave.”
“That’s right,” she said. “I’m working today. They will worry I’m not back. Did you think of that?”
The guys looked at each other as if it didn’t occur to them. They were desperate and desperate people get sloppy. “No one is going to give a shit about a drifter,” Randy said. Though he didn’t look too confident about that statement.
“How long have I been here?” she asked. Reenie had no idea where she was or how long she’d been out. She’d have to feed on that information.
“It’s been a few hours,” Lyle said.
“Do you guys have fucking diarrhea of the mouth? Shut up!”
He was unraveling. She knew what that felt and looked like and it was her only shot. “What’s wrong, Randy? You know I’m right about your cousin, don’t you? Just let me go. I won’t say a word.”
“I can’t!” Randy shouted. He was pacing. As if he knew this was a big cluster fuck. “I’ve got orders. Until Stiles can figure it out with Oliver, you’re with us for a bit.”
“Why?” Bobby asked. “Just take care of her now and we can go.”
“Because someone is lying and we need them both alive to figure it out,” Randy said. He came at her with the knife, grabbed her arm and sliced her fast.
She screamed out in pain and gagged, some puke coming up that she emptied next to her.
“Who is going to clean up that mess?” Lyle asked, shrinking back from the blood pouring out of her arm.
“I don’t give a shit.” Randy looked at her. “There is more where that came from, so think long and hard what you want to say the next time I ask you questions.” The three men left her there alone after that statement.
Her chest was heaving, her sobs escaping, the pain excruciating.
If she didn’t get out of here, they were going to kill her.
She put her head back against the wall and tried to calm the sobs and think.
There had to be something she could do.
It hit her, the knife that Ford made her carry.
She tried to focus and see if she could feel it against her hip, but couldn’t in her position on the floor.
She moved her arms to the side, gritting her teeth through the pain and the blood dropping on her jeans and floor, but got her hand close enough to feel it still hidden there.
The door opened again, her hands moving back. At least they didn’t put the rag back in her mouth, but Lyle had a plate with him.
He put it on the stained carpet next to her vomit and she saw the peanut butter sandwich. “That’s all you're getting today.”
“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” she said.
“Too bad,” Lyle said. “You’re not leaving this spot tonight.”
He walked out and hit the lights on her, the window providing the only source of light now. She didn’t think she could eat, but if she didn’t, she wouldn’t have the strength to do what needed to be done.
With her hands tied in front, she angled her body and rolled over trying to get the sandwich, then snagged it and pushed herself back to the wall.
While she chewed and forced it past the lump in her throat, she scooted closer and closer to the window, then tried to stand and look out.
Fingers on one hand letting go of the sandwich, she reached up to touch the necklace that she’d never been without since Ford gave it to her. It’d give her the strength she needed.
It wasn’t easy to stand, so she got on her knees and could peer out the bottom of the glass.
Nothing but woods behind her.
If she got out, she might not survive in the wilderness.
But if she stayed she wouldn’t survive here either.
She slid back down, dropping the rest of the sandwich onto the plate.
Four bites had been three too many. Quietly, she pulled out her knife and worked at the ropes around her ankles, cutting just enough to loosen them.
Not enough to raise suspicion, but enough that, with a burst of strength, she could break free and run when the moment came.
She did the same with her hands, turning the knife around and hiding it in her palms cutting that way. Then she closed the knife and hid it inside her jeans again, but this time hooked it by the button of her jeans so she could reach it faster when the time came.
The sounds of the TV behind the door and the rats running on wheels in the cages must have lulled her to sleep, because the next thing she heard was shouting.
“Why the hell is there a sheriff’s car coming down the driveway?” someone shouted.
“I’ve got it!” Randy yelled. “Everyone relax and act normal.”
Ford. It had to be.
The door to her room opened, Lyle coming in. “Don’t make a noise.”
She slipped her hand in and grabbed the knife without him noticing. As he reached to shove the rag back into her mouth, she lunged, blade out, plunging it into his side. At that same moment, her arms broke free of the restraints… and a knock sounded at the door.
She started to scream as she snapped her feet apart and ran toward the open door.
Bobby grabbed her as Clay got Randy in some hold and had him restrained and then out on the floor in no time. Ford’s gun was drawn while he charged her.
She stomped on Bobby’s foot, shoved her elbow into his gut and tried to slam her head back to break free.
She was nearly to Ford when he fired at Bobby. Then more shots rang out from all directions. Ford’s body jolted, and her heart stopped as she saw the man she loved stumble.
He got to her, covering her body, just as Clay turned and shot Lyle who was tripping into the room holding his side, a gun in the other hand.
She looked around at the bodies lying like destruction and disease in the room.
The only one she cared about was the man holding her tight, who rolled to the side and clutched his leg.
“You’re bleeding,” she screamed.
“Fucker got me in the leg,” Ford said. Blood was seeping out faster than it should be in her mind.
Clay pulled his shirt off, tore it into shreds and tied it around Ford’s thigh in quick efficient movements. “Good thing his aim isn’t as good as mine. You’re going to be fine.”
“Asshole,” Ford said, but his voice was weak. “Clay?”
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“Take care of Reenie.” His eyes shut.
“Don’t pass out on me,” Clay yelled. He was moving frantically to stop the flow of blood. “Call an ambulance!”
Police were swarming in now. It felt like hours had passed, but it might have been less than a minute since they’d arrived.
They were rushing to Ford and pulling her off of him.
The sight of him on the floor bleeding had everything going black around her.