Page 61 of How to Hack a Hellhound
“They’re all dead,” I stated flatly.
Emmett laughed. “Nice try, Q, but you don’t have those kinds of connections.”
I just stared at him, and he must have seen something in my face.
“How did you get away from Marcus? What happened?” he asked.
“Fuck you,” I spat out.
“How did you find the other men? What did you say or do to get them to abandon their homes and jobs?”
“Fuck you,” I said again. I wasn’t going to give him shit.
He shot up and stalked toward me, slapping me across the face.
Fuck, that hurt. Stung like a fucker. I took a deep breath, and then I started to laugh. I was probably a little hysterical sounding, and Emmett backed up a step, staring at me.
“Oh, Em, you’re going to find outexactlywhat happened to all of them. Don’t you fucking worry. And I’ll be right there to watch it happen.” I laughed again, because fuck, I would have Liam strip his skin from his fucking body for doing this.
“I’ll leave you alone to stew a little. When I come back, I’ll bring my friend, and maybe then you’ll find yourself more helpful,” Emmett said, and then he backed towards the door, opened it, and shut it behind him. I heard a lock click shut.
Fucking asshole.
I really hoped Liam hurried the fuck up.
I struggled a bit with the zip ties, but yeah, they weren’t going anywhere. I contemplated trying to break the chair, but the door was locked and the room had no windows, so that wasn’t going to do me much good at all even if I could manage it.
I had always vaguely disliked Emmett. He was kind of an asshole who thought he was better than everyone else. He was subtle about it, but he couldn’t totally hide his disdain. And he definitely didn’t appreciate my snarky attitude. I had always annoyed him, and I knew it.
When I thought about it, I guessed he made sense as the buyer’s connection. He wasn’t really besties with anyone. He was kind of a prick, but most of the guys liked him—he paid for a lot of drinks. He listened when people talked and loved gossip, which was probably how he knew who to choose. He flashed money around, but he was subtle about it. And no one really knew too much about him.
What a fucking betrayal. It was bad enough that he was scum and was selling men from our community into sex trafficking. I mean, obviously that was fucking horrible. But we had been sort of friends. We had hung out all the time. We had been on each other’s socials. I would be missed in our friend group. And he had set me up to be kidnapped and sold. Why? Because I’d had sex with someone he wanted? It was all so fucking petty. And it was probably the stupidest thing he’d done, because we were linked together.
I heard a thump outside the door, and then it was swinging open, and there was Liam.
“Well, it took you long enough,” I snapped. “My fucking wrists are gonna get sore from the fucking zip ties.”
He smiled broadly at me.
“Hello? Fucking kidnapped here. Stop smiling like a loon and get me free before fucking psycho Emmett comes back,” I complained.
He came over, still grinning like a weirdo, and I felt warmth at my ankles and hands, and suddenly I was free. Well, that was handy.
“Alright, we gotta find Emmett—” I started, but Liam pulled me in and kissed me fiercely.
When he pulled away, he said, “Dexter took him already. He’ll meet us at home. He just knocked out the guard, because he’s not totally rotten yet, but there’s two more innocentsupstairs. Oh, and we’re going to have company in about thirty seconds.”
“Company?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.
And at that moment, I heard a bang from somewhere in the house, and a loud voice yelled, “Police! Everybody freeze!”
I looked at Liam. “Police? Really?”
He just shrugged. “Dexter may have been speeding a bit, and we didn’t feel like stopping. We had enough of a head start to take care of things.” Then he raised his hands and called out, “Down here, Sheriff! We’re unarmed!”
What. The. Fuck.
I just sighed and raised my own arms. Well, this would be interesting. I was sure Liam could somehow talk his way out of this, but I had no idea how.
