Page 17 of Pound

Meri knew the answer, but she asked the question anyway. “What do you mean, train?”

“I mean exactly what it sounds like. He trained me to do what he liked. My mother didn’t notice or ignored it. My father, well, he was doing the same thing when Leone wasn’t so… either way, it went on until I left. I met the most amazing man who loved me. Really loved me, I see that now. He was in the military and took me away from it all. But I was so messed up in the head, no distance was ever going to be enough. I could get away from most of them, but not myself.”

“I’m sorry.” It seemed lame, but it was all Meri could say.

Anna ignored her words. “Growing up, the only time a man was nice to me was when he wanted me to bow to his whims. I didn’t know how to accept Joe’s love, so I became violent. I took all my rage out on him, and he accepted it. He loved me so much that he let me hit him. I realized what I was doing, and I started seeing a therapist but didn’t tell Joe. I wanted to get better for him. Just when I was ready to tell him, Leone found me and picked up where he’d left off. I became increasingly violent toward Joe. I know he thought it was because I didn’t love him, but I was trying to get him to leave me. Leone wasn’t going to suffer for much longer, especially since being in love made me harder to manipulate.”

Anna dashed away her tears and glanced toward the exit.

“There’s no time to finish. I’ll help you escape. Leone will be away tomorrow night. I’ll come with Tony when he brings your dinner. They’ll be a cell key in your food, so don’t antagonize Tony, or he may drop your tray and discover it. Wait seven minutes. That should be enough time to get Tony in a compromising position, so he won’t hear you. Leave through the kitchen door and head north. You’ll avoid cameras and the road Leone uses. You should come upon some houses in about a mile and a half.”

Once again, she turned toward the exit. Footsteps were echoing off the ramp.

“You have to promise to give Joe a message. Tell him I’m sorry. He deserves to be happy, he deserves y—”

“You lying cunt,” Tony roared as he strode into the basement.

“How will I find this Joe? Anna…” Meri hissed, but Anna had already turned her chair to intercept Tony.

“No need to get nasty, I just didn’t want you to sully yourself with that. What would Leone think if you did? Come, come. I have need of your assistance.”

Anna wheeled past, not glancing back at her while Tony locked her cell. He gave her a death glare before following Anna out.

Once they were gone, Meri did something she knew would cost her if she didn’t get out tomorrow as Anna had promised. She ran to the waste bucket and threw up all the water she’d just consumed. The thought of a poor little girl being used and abused by the two men she was supposed to be able to trust most was heartbreaking. She’d been so ingrained with violence it was what she knew. But one thing was clear, she loved Joe, and he'd loved her.

Anna painted a totally different picture of her husband than Leone did. No big surprise in that. That brought on another wave of retching. He was jealous.

Gross.

Meri would come back for Anna as soon as she had backup. She wouldn’t leave her there with that monster. She did something else she never did, she prayed.

If there was a God, he would see her safely away, reunite Anna with Joe, and give Meri a real shot at happiness with Pound.

5

POUND

Anxious didn’t begin to cover what he was feeling. Pissed, homicidal, destructive, heart weary, just to name a few.

Pound felt helpless. And that was a bad mental headspace for him to be in. The years in the military, doing off-the-books missions, had taught him to compartmentalize like a champ. Check your emotions when you’re briefed and pick ’em up after debriefing and bury ’em deep. It was how he lived. It was how he survived.

He was finding it impossible to do so with the bombardment of emotions that had overwhelmed him since they had gotten to Reno. To be that close, but still just as far, was frustrating as hell.

The Travelers and the Phantoms had been combing the city and searching for Leone, but it was nothing but dead ends. Every piece of Moreno property they’d found and reconned.

Nada.

“We got something.” Whiskey came barreling into the common area, laptop in hand. “Chubs suggested I track—”

Pound rose, toppling his chair in the process. “We’ve tried to track everything already, from her cell phone to her work badge, and nothing. What else is there?”

Pound’s heart beat faster with hope when Whiskey entered the room, but his hope fled just as quickly. It was false hope. That’s what it was.

“As I was saying, someone suggested I track the odd things, things that might escape notice. Things like earbuds that might be in her purse or pocket. I used Trip’s phone data and the Find My app, did a little tweaking, and I got a ping on her smartwatch when it got close enough to us.”

The breath locked in his lungs. This isn’t false hope, this is something.

“It’s moving around. We need to get a man on it so we can follow it to where it’s going.”

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