Page 17 of Carter
My woman.
And I was going to hunt them down, one by one, until there was nothing left but ash.
19
Harper
The world came back in fragments.
Concrete floor. Damp air. The metallic bite of chains somewhere in the dark. My head pounded from whatever they’d pressed over my mouth; I was sure it was chloroform. The nausea was nothing compared to the sight in front of me.
Two women huddled against the wall. Beaten. Blood on their lips, bruises blooming dark against pale skin. One of them was barely conscious, chest rising shallow and uneven.
Something inside me snapped into place.
I pushed to my knees, ignoring the zip tie bite at my wrists. “Hey,” I whispered, crawling closer. “I’m Harper. I’m a nurse. I need to look at you, okay?”
The first woman flinched, but the second groaned, eyes glassy with pain. I pressed my shoulder to hers, bracing her upright. My fingers found her pulse—thready but there. I tore at the edge of my sleeve with my teeth, making a strip of fabric, and pressed it against the worst of the bleeding.
“Stay with me,” I murmured, the same way I would in the ER. “Breathe. In, out. That’s it.”
Her trembling eased a fraction. The other woman stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language, but when I reached for her, she didn’t pull away.
Footsteps thudded outside. A bolt scraped. My pulse spiked as the door swung open.
Three men stepped in, shadows heavy in the dim light. One carried a bottle of water, the others nothing but smirks. My stomach twisted.
The tallest set the bottle down with deliberate care, then crouched low, his face catching the light.
My breath stalled.
I knew him.
Not his name, not his story, but his face. Something about the angle of his jaw, the scar cutting through his eyebrow—it sparked against a memory buried too deep. Somewhere I’d seen him before.
But where?
He leaned closer, eyes raking over me with recognition that made my skin crawl. “Well, well. The nurse.” His smile was sharp, ugly. “Boss said you’d be trouble. I like trouble.”
I forced myself to hold his gaze, even as my heart pounded.Where do I know you from?
The answer stayed just out of reach, taunting. And until I remembered, I had no idea how deep this nightmare went.
20
Harper
The man’s smile lingered, sharp as broken glass. He stood, motioning for the others to leave the water bottle on the ground before turning back to the door.
“Be a good girl,” he said. “Keep your hands busy with them.”
The door slammed, lock grinding home.
The two women sagged beside me, one sobbing quietly, the other barely clinging to consciousness. I grabbed the bottle, twisted the cap off with my teeth, and coaxed a few sips into the weaker one’s mouth.
“Slow,” I whispered. “Don’t choke. Just let it sit.”
She obeyed, throat working, eyes fluttering. The other woman drank greedily, water spilling down her chin. I caught it with what was left of my torn sleeve and pressed it against a gash near her temple.
