Page 31 of Leaving Lando

It makes my throat swell with emotion. I’m glad we’re doing an instrumental piece. Things were really hard after Dad died; the three of us stuck together, but we felt so alone in the world.

Now it looks like we’ve been adopted, by so many relatives we’ll never run out. Never be homeless again, no matter what happens.

A muffled boom shakes the house. Some of the children start to cry, the sound mingled with men shouting and feet running. We give up all pretense of trying to play.

Cait runs toward the front door, and I follow to find her standing by the security screen, flipping through the views, trying to see what’s going on outside. When she gets to the view of the driveway, there’s a car at the gate.

I gasp when I see the drawn, fearful expression on the driver’s face. “That’s Detective Holland; she works with Lando. She must have an update.”

Cait hits the button to open the gate and I dash for the front door. “Bree,” she says behind me, but I’m already gone, running as fast as I can down the long drive. The car meets me around the first curve past the house, and I rush up to the driver’s side window.

Holland already has it down. “Brianna, thank god. Hurry; I’ll take you to Lando.”

I run around the car and pile into the passenger seat, and Holland reverses before I even get my seat belt on. “What happened? Where’s Lando?”

“It’s bad. They ambushed us.”

“Oh, fuck!”

“He’s in the hospital. I told him I’d bring you.” She reaches the gate, which automatically rolls aside to let us out. I pat my pockets, searching for my phone so I can text Jade and Quinn, but I don’t have it with me. I’ve left everything in the house.

“Can I borrow your phone? I need to let them know—”

Too late, I see the stun gun in Holland’s hand. I twist away, but there’s nowhere to go.

“Sorry, Callahan.” She presses it into my side.

Pain fills me an instant before everything goes black.

* * *

I cometo with my head pounding. I’m lying on a cold, hard surface and the air around me is freezing. I’m in nothing but my jeans and t-shirt; all my warm clothes are back at Tonio’s house. I feel like I’m going to puke, so I take shallow breaths and try not to let on that I’m awake.

It doesn’t work. Something hard bumps me, none too gently, in my ribs. I flinch away and cry out, then roll over and lose the contents of my stomach. I’ve barely finished when another hard shove in my side sends me over onto my back again.

A light flares on. I squint at the two silhouettes looking down at me. “Pretty,” a man’s voice says. I don’t recognize it. “We’ll have fun with you.”

The other man leans close. “Santiago told us to take our time with you. We’ll film it all, send it to your boyfriend. Then we’ll send him pieces of you.”

I roll onto my side, moaning. The first man shoves at me with his booted foot. “On your back, bitch.”

“Tie her up?” the other man says.

“Nah. She’s too weak. We’ll shock her again if she gets feisty.”

More lights come on around me. Now I can see where I am; they’ve brought me to the ruins of our farmhouse. I’m lying on the ground in part of the original house. It’s open to the sky, but its stone walls are largely intact.

There’s no sign of Holland. How fucking stupid of me to not suspect a woman. If I somehow survive this, I won’t make that mistake again.

At least I know Lando’s alive for them to send the recording to. There’s a camera on a tripod a few feet away, pointed at me. With the added illumination, I can tell that both men are wearing guns.

I’ve never seen them before. Not surprising if they’re Santiago’s henchmen. One of them is holding a long knife, its blade glittering. Ice fills my veins.

The man drops to his knees beside me. “Gonna cut your clothes off, bitch. Eventually.” He settles his weight on me, forcing my thighs apart, and the knife rests against my throat.

The other man is watching us through the camera. I left my left hand drift up, slowly, until it brushes the holster on the knife man’s hip. The camera’s to my right, the knife man’s body shielding my action from the camera’s view.

“Ever had a blade up your snatch?” Knife man grinds himself against me. Bile rises in my throat. The next time his hips jerk, I unsnap his holster.

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