Page 40 of Trapped

I made out Hawkins’ command from an unidentifiable direction, my insides clenching at his words.They were taking Erin to his office?Even though there was no obvious threat from the instruction, I sensed her being hauled there wouldn’t be good news, and that, presumably, I was destined for some other destination, out of reach from the woman who’d become the center of my entire world.

“Put him in with the other one.”

The amusement laced in Hawkins’ tone should have worried me, but dragged across what felt like concrete, I was struggling too much with the escalating pain ripping through my body to notice.

“Yes, boss,” one of Hawkins’ idiots replied, grabbing at my collar as I was pulled on.

Biting down on the rocketing hurt, I vowed not to allow Hawkins the glee of knowing how much pain I was in.The son of a bitch had taken too much pleasure from the ordeal as it was.I didn’t have to be able to see to know that.I sensed the satisfaction coming off him in sickening waves.

Gritting my teeth, I winced when my body bounced off the edge of something hard.A curb, perhaps, although I’d never know for sure.

Just wait, Hawkins…The words steeled me as the pain intensified.One day, you’re going to get what’s coming to you.

I couldn’t fucking wait.

I’d spent the last few years trying to forget what he’d done to me, but the resentment had never really waned.Instead, it had stayed bottled up inside me, amplifying as the months crawled by.I hadn’t concentrated on just how much I loathed the moron until he’d shown up at the cabin, but as another painful jolt jerked through my body, it was the rage he inspired dominating my senses.

I had no idea how Hawkins had intercepted my message to Baron, but I knew him well enough to know his presence only meant harm—a message reinforced as I was lugged over an unknown threshold and into somewhere new.

I recognized the change at once, the floor inside the new place considerably smoother and kinder than the ground outside.It was small solace in the grand scheme of things, especially as I was still being half-choked by the moron yanking at my neckline, but silently, I thanked whatever fucked-up God was in charge for the improvement in my lot.Robbed of my eyesight and with my hands cuffed, there was still little I could do to rebel against the unexpected turn of events.

The slide along the interior floor seemed to last a lifetime, my hands hiking as high up my back as they could to avoid getting caught in the friction.The dull echo of the goon’s footsteps matched the pounding in my head; a relentless, thudding rhythm that seemed determined to break me, but my resolve only hardened with each drumming cadence.Inside the hood, time had lost all meaning, but the bitterness swelling for Hawkins ensured I never forgot why I was there.The snarling image of his face in my mind reminded me that however hard I was finding the trial, there was someone else to worry about, someone with no experience of the types of cretins he employed.Someone who was innocent.

Erin.

What was that fucker Hawkins planning to do to her?

She’ll be okay.I forced myself to say the words in my head.Shehasto be.I’ll get out of this and I’ll find her.We’ll both be okay.

Yeah, right.A sneering second voice cut through my false hope.Sure, she will be.Just like I’m definitely going to get out of these cuffs and take on all the goons Hawkins has hired with my bare hands.

“Here you go, asshole.Home, sweet home.”

Blinking around the blackness of the hood, I realized suddenly that the announcement meant the sliding had ceased.My brow rose as I gasped for breath.It sounded as though I’d reached whatever place was to become my new, short-term residence.

The sound of a creaking door permeated my darkness before I was on the move again, my weary hands trapped in the motion before I tugged them out of the way again.

“You’ve got a cellmate, asshole!”The cocky moron working for Hawkins raised his voice, as though he wanted to be sure I heard him.“Play nice, now.”

“Fuck off, you idiot!”another man responded, his tone cutting as I was dragged into the new space.Even through the damp rag that had become my hood, I sensed the atmosphere shift, the odor of old sweat and urine making me want to heave.

“That’s mighty brave for a bloke tied to a fucking chair.”I recognized the arrogant tone of the imbecile on Hawkins’ payroll.“Maybe I need to give your face another pounding.”

“Listen, I know you don’t have many brain cells floating around in that thick head of yours, mate, but surely you realize what Hawkins will do to you if you don’t run and report back like a good little dog.”

I turned my head toward the other man’s tone, vaguely aware that I might recognize his voice.

“You’re a mouthy waste of space!”the goon hissed.

“Maybe.”The second guy sneered.“But I’m not wrong, am I?Get this guy something to sit on and run back to your daddy.”

Despite the pain still ricocheting around my limbs, I couldn’t resist the smile that rose at the insults.My cellmate had probably taken his share of flying fists as well, but he seemed to be in better shape than I was.

“I ain’t got to do nothing you say!”spat the moron from beside me.

“You can’t leave him like that!”the new voice of sanity chastised.“Get him up off the floor.”

“Fuck you!”Anger reverberated from the minion.“He can fucking stay there, and another word from you and I’ll find something to shove in your gob!”

---