Page 46 of Gatling
“This fucker’s afreak,” I grumbled.
On a shelf above us were stacked boxes labeled in thick marker that read,unfaithful.
My instincts flared. That can’t be good.
I reached up. Pain sliced across my torso as the stitches tore. Doubling over, I pressed a hand against my stomach, oozing fresh blood.
“Damn it,” Blackbeard said. “This is why you’re supposed to be resting.”
“I’m not sitting on my ass and twiddling my thumbs when Kelsie is with some psycho bastard like him.” I grimaced and gestured at the closet wall. “Just check to see what’s in that box for me, would you?”
“Fine. But don’t get your blood on anything.”
He tugged the box down and lifted the lid. Inside were more pictures of Kelsie, mostly candids, taken when she was out shopping or at lunch with friends. All of them were defaced. Her eyes scratched out with black marker. Or red crayon slashed across the pictures, reading WHORE and SLUT.
“This is why he turned violent.”
Blackbeard held up a picture of me, climbing out of Kelsie’s apartment window. That night I stayed at her apartment for protection. Right before we were almost caught by Noah. I could see part of her face, like the curve of a half moon, gleaming in the shadows. Her hand rested on my thigh, and the adoration in her eyes was so obvious that it made my heart lurch.
“It looks like Olson didn’t appreciate competition when it came to Kelsie’s affections.” Blackbeard dropped the picture back into the box. “So he got desperate to take her away from you as soon as possible.”
I sucked in a shaky breath, blaming my aching lungs and the lingering effects of inhaling so much pepper spray. But it was more than that.
If this son of a bitch found out that Kelsie was pregnant with my baby, would that push him even deeper into his mania?
“Check this out.” Crash emerged from the living room with a stack of mail in his hands. “Looks like Olson is doing some kind of big building project. He got a bill in the mail for five thousand dollars worth of construction material—steel, electrical wiring, a pump for drainage.”
I glanced around the apartment.
“What the hell would he need that shit for in a dump like this?”
“Run it by Credence,” Blackbeard said. “There’s bound to be a paper trail he can follow.” Then he pointed at me and gestured to the door. “You. Out. If you get blood in here, we have to clean it up and that’s a waste of precious time we can’t afford right now. Get Baby Doll to fix those stitches you tore.”
I opened my mouth to protest but Blackbeard cut me off.
“No arguing. I don’t want to hear it. You look like hell, by the way. I’d hate to see the state of your lungs if your face is anything to go by. It’s a miracle you’re standing upright at all, let alone mobile.”
With a huff, I rose to my feet.
“Bossy,” I muttered.
“I heard that.”
“Good.”
Blackbeard flicked a glance in my direction before he shooed me out the door. As I made my way out to the cage waiting at the curb, I wondered if this is what it felt like to have a big brother who actually cared. Someone who fussed over you while being a pain in the ass at the same time.
Chapter fourteen
Kelsie
I woke to the bite of metal handcuffs around my wrists, lying on a frigid cement floor. Someone moved nearby, shuffling around. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and my thoughts were still sluggish from the tranquilizer as I pieced together what had happened.
Kidnapped by my stalker.
Ryker. Bleeding.
The baby.
