Page 59 of Home Team Advantage
“Still alive, I see.” He chuckled like he’d made a joke. “I thought I’d lost you there for a while.”
She cracked her eyes open. As they slowly adjusted to the light, she took stock of her surroundings. She appeared to be in an apartment. Not the kind one would find in a fancy high-rise, but the second floor of an old house occupied by a low-rent boarder kind.
He grabbed himself a beer from a fridge that looked older than him and drained the can as if he’d been stuck in the desert for days. Then, he crushed it in his hand and tossed it into a blue tub with a recycling symbol on it. She hadn’t figured him as an environmentally conscious type, but people sometimes surprised her.
He turned around, put his hands on his hips, and stared at her. “Now, what am I going to do with you? I don’t suppose you remember your fiancé’s private number, do you? I could call his campaign headquarters, I guess. Tell one of his staffers that I’m a supporter and I have come across some potentially damaging information that could derail his bid for the governorship.”
He unwrapped more of the blanket until her cuffed hands and ankles were visible, then lifted his phone and pointed it at her. Click. Click. Click.
“Proof. And insurance.”
He looked at his watch and stretched. “Too late to do anything tonight though. We’ll start fresh in the morning.”
Anna mumbled around the gag in her mouth.
“Got something to say, princess?” He stepped closer and leaned over her. “I’m going to remove this, and you’re going to talk quietly. Anything above a whisper, and that last punch will feel like a tickle compared to what I do to you. Then, I’m going to have to kill that nice lady downstairs, and for the hell of it, I’m going to kill Elsa Campbell too. I’ve got nothing to lose. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Anna blinked and nodded her head slowly. Even that slight movement sent waves of nausea through her.
He removed the gag, which turned out to be a large handkerchief.
“Water,” she said in a croaked whisper. “Please.”
“Such manners,” he murmured. “But it’s a reasonable request. I suppose you want some ibuprofen too?”
He straightened and put his fingers to his lips in warning. She nodded again.
He got a glass of water from the tap.
“Small sips,” he commanded, lifting the glass to her lips.
Half of it dribbled down her face since she was prone. He didn’t seem to care. Then, he pushed two pills into her mouth and lifted the glass again.
“Not too much now. Don’t need you throwing up or pissing all over my couch now, do we?”
He shoved the wadded cloth back into her mouth. Checked the cuffs, and finding them secured, rewrapped the blanket tightly around her and tucked the edges into the couch. At least he kept her head uncovered. The glass was placed in the sink, well out of reach.
“Good night, Giovanna. Pleasant dreams. Or nightmares. Whatever. I really don’t give a shit.”
He laughed and shut off the light.
The shower came on a few minutes later.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew the pills he’d given her were more than just ibuprofen. Why else would he trust her to remain quiet and still, even with his heinous threats?
Instead of doing their thing in her stomach, those tablets were now jammed against her inner cheek, the rag absorbing enough moisture to keep them from dissolving too quickly.
The shower ran for a long time before turning off. More time passed. She counted off the seconds in her head, both to keep herself lucid and to measure time. She was up to twelve hundred—approximately twenty minutes—when the door opened again. Enough time for the pills to take effect. Anna let her body go lax and turned her head to the side. She sensed him standing over her, staring at her. Felt the pad of a callous finger stroke along her cheek. Apparently satisfied, he grunted and walked away again, presumably to his bedroom.
That was when she got to work.
Chapter Thirty-Two
MATT
Joseph Campbell had met his future wife, Donna, while attending USC on the West Coast. When Joe returned to Pine Ridge after graduation, Donna came with him. The wedding came shortly thereafter, and their son, Edward Joseph, was born shortly after that.
Unlike Joe, Donna was not fond of the East Coast. She did not like cold weather, snow, rain, or mountains. She had a particular distaste for her mother-in-law. The feeling was mutual, and this caused friction for Joe, who loved his mother and his wife and was often caught in the middle.
