Page 70 of Steal My Breath Away

Mark grabbed my hair from behind and pulled me up. “Well, that’s a good start.”

I don’t know how long I’d been tied to the office chair when Mark and Tom finally returned. I’d lost track of time when they started beating me in places they decided would quickly show bruises. One of my eyes was swollen shut and I could barely see out of the other. My ribs ached and my throat burned every time I swallowed. I was so desperately thirsty my tongue felt like sandpaper. I tasted blood on my lips from the slow trickle coming from my nose but at least I could no longer smell the rot in the room.

They’d tied my arms to the back of the chair and my wrist throbbed every time I took a breath. I still couldn’t believe this was really happening, and part of my mind kept insisting it was a dream. Except for play fights with Matt, no one had ever hit me before. Despite all my misadventures, I’d never broken a bone.

Mark shone a flashlight in my face, making me squint. “I think we did our job too well. You bruised up almost too much.” He gestured behind him. “Tom’s got a whiteboard. You’re going to read what’s written on it while I record you. If you go off script, we’ll add another few bruises and start again.”

“Water. Please.” Hoarse and scratchy, my voice was unrecognizable even to me.

“Say your lines and I’ll give you a sip.” He held up a bottle of water. “Make a mistake and it goes on the ground.”

He walked behind me to adjust the light and then came back to hold up the camera. I silently read the words on Tom’s whiteboard and my stomach twisted in a knot. They wanted my mother to resign her Senate seat, publicly announce her withdrawal from politics, and affirm her support for another candidate from her party in the next twenty-four hours or they were going to kill me. If she involved the police or FBI or tried to find me, they also would kill me.

The hope that had sustained me through the kidnapping and the beating flickered and died. I’d seen their faces. I knew their names. Once they got what they wanted, I would be a liability. There was no chance they would let me leave the warehouse alive. I’d never see my mom again. I’d never get to tell Paige I was sorry. I was never going to hear Ace say “I told you so” or tell him I forgave him and trusted him with my heart.

“You’re going to kill me anyway so I’m not going to say that on camera,” I spat out through swollen lips.

Mark slapped me so hard my head jerked to the side and the burst of pain speared through my already throbbing jaw. “Try again.”

“No.” They couldn’t kill me until they got the video. I just hoped they knocked me unconscious, so I didn’t have to feel any more pain.

Another slap. A punch that made my jaw crack and my ears ring. Mark walked behind me, grabbed my hair, and yanked my head back. “How about a different kind of necklace?” He ripped off my locator and tossed it on the ground, then slowly dragged the tip of his knife across my neck.

The searing pain ripped a scream from my throat and the sharp smell of blood filled the air. My vision blurred. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my fear at bay, but it was too much, too great, even for the black box that had kept me safe, a tidal wave of terror crashing over me, sucking the air from lungs.

Mark’s phone buzzed with a message. He released me and pulled out his phone as my betraying body forced me to draw in a breath. “Fuck.Luis said someone’s coming down the road. Go check it out.”

Tom tossed the whiteboard on the couch and pulled out his gun before disappearing into the dark warehouse. Moments later I heard a thud, and then a gunshot rang through the silence.

“Tom?” Mark pulled out his weapon and stepped out of the office. I heard the crack of another gunshot and he flew backward, crumpling on the ground.

“Haley?”

I knew that voice. So deep. Smooth like whiskey. So familiar. Emotion welled up in my throat and his name, when it came from my lips, was barely a whisper. “Ace.” I drew in a deep breath and put all my effort into a shout. “Ace. I’m here.”

A figure darkened the doorway and then Ace stepped into the light. Beautiful Ace. But he wasn’t smiling. Instead, his face was a mask of horror. Was he not happy to see me? A wave of dizziness hit me, and I wondered if he was real.

“Oh God. Haley. Fuck.” He turned away and the last words I heard before the darkness took me were “Bring them to me.”

Paige arrived at the hospital shortly after the ambulance brought me in, and then all hell broke loose. She shouted, wrangled, cajoled, and threatened until she was satisfied I was being properly looked after.

“I was an idiot,” she said, holding a cup of water for me to drink. “Feel free to beat me up when you’re better. I was wrong about Ace, and I’ll regret doubting him for the rest of my life.”

“I think there’s been enough beating people up for one day.” My voice was hoarse from screaming and my lips and tongue swollen from all the blows. “I’m sorry, too. I don’t know why I went off on you.”

“Because he’s Ace,” she said. “Your feelings run deep. I justcan’t help hating on someone who hurt you. I wish those dudes who kidnapped you hadn’t been shot, because I would have liked to do it myself.”

“Stand in line.” I tried to laugh but my ribs hurt too much. “They beat me just to intimidate my mom. But the worst part was, I believed the guy was a record exec. He knew the industry. He dropped names. He knew my back catalog. When he called me, our conversation didn’t ring any alarm bells. And when we met up, his business card looked legit. He came up to me in the alley and we talked about how scary the whole thing had been, and then he suggested we go to the coffee shop to discuss my career. And I said no. I said no, Paige, even though I thought it was my big chance. I wasn’t stupid. I told him I couldn’t leave until I knew you were safe and Ace was with me, and that’s when he pulled out the gun. I’d been so excited at the thought that I was finally going to break into the music business, I didn’t realize I was in danger until it was too late. I feel like an idiot.”

“You were an idiot for sending Ace to get me,” she said. “You should have let him stay with you.”

“I couldn’t leave you in there when someone was shooting up the bar.” My throat thickened and I sipped the water to try and make the sensation go away. “It wasn’t an option.”

Paige kept me company through the check-ups, X-rays, and splinting of my sprained wrist. She finally agreed to go home to get some sleep when Mom arrived with Steve.

“I am so sorry, darling.” Mom pressed a gentle kiss to my temple after I filled her in on what had happened. “When Ace called—”

“Where is Ace?” He had insisted on riding in the ambulance with me, but I hadn’t seen him since I’d arrived at the hospital. “Is he okay?”

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