Page 116 of Trapped
“So you’ll just let me go after you get your sick revenge.”
His eyes roaming my body again turned my stomach sour. “I didn’t say that,” Al said as he nodded. Two hands reached around my head and shoved the gag back in my mouth.
In the bedroom, the guy cuffed me to a chain wrapped around an exposed beam in the wall.
After he closed the door, I tested the chain and the beam. No luck. I had neither the strength nor the skills needed to escape.
It didn’t matter. Even if I could escape the cabin, I wasn’t a capable-of-surviving-in-the-woods kind of girl. Especially not with night coming and a psychopath and his henchmen chasing me.
Idiot. I took out the gag and, afraid they’d use it again no matter where I put it, stuffed it in my pocket.
The cabin couldn’t be a residence. It didn’t have electricity or running water.
I regretted not wearing a watch, so I’d know how much time passed as I waited.
Trying not to panic. And failing.
Telling myself not to cry. And failing.
Thinking of ways I could be my own hero and escape. And failing.
They left me alone until it was time for dinner. My stomach rumbled when Al brought me a sandwich and a bottle of water. I ignored him as he set them down on the cot and moved out ofreach. He sat on the only other piece of furniture in the room, an old wooden chair that squeaked when he dropped his weight on it.
“What time is it?” I asked. The metal cuff on my wrist chafed my skin, so I rubbed it.
“Just after six. Why, you have a hot date?” He laughed.
I didn’t. Instead of celebrating my negative test result with Nathan, I was chained in a room and talking to a madman.
Don’t let him know you’re scared. I shrugged. “Just curious.”
“I know you’re hungry. Eat.”
My stupid stomach wouldn’t shut up, so there was no point in lying. But that didn’t mean I’d eat.
“We didn’t drug it, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his legs out.
That’s when I saw it. The black rose tattoo on his forearm.
“Why would I trust you?” I asked.
“I told you. You’re not my target, so you’re safe.”
For now. He wasn’t subtle when he suggested I was fair game for his men once he’d exacted his revenge.
“What’d Nathan do to you, anyway?” I knew the answer, but wanted to keep him talking and maybe find a weakness I could exploit.
“He was a mole.” Al touched his right thumb to his index finger. “He brought the feds to my doorstep.” Thumb to middle finger. “He shot me.” Thumb to ring finger. “He killed my brother in cold blood.” Thumb to pinky.
“You mean in self-defense.”
Al leaned forward slowly, put his hands on his now bent knees, and glared at me. “He slit Tommy’s throat.”
He had to be fucking with me. Did he really think it was acceptable to torture Nathan for weeks and then label him the bad guy for fighting back?
It was foolish to argue, but I wanted to know what he’d say. “So you think it’s okay to torture someone, but not for them to defend themselves.”
This time he stood, closed the distance between us in two fast steps, and grabbed my face. He squeezed my cheeks so hard that tears formed in my eyes. “Nathan deserved what he got. He’s a liar. A rat who tried to ruin our business.” He whipped my head to the side when he released my face. “And he deserves what he’ll get for killing my brother.”
