“Were you always Zeke’s bitch, acting as a spy like you accused me of? Or did you go running to him the second the Soaring Eagles kicked you out?”
I’ve hit a nerve. Mary Beth slaps me, hard. The blow is unexpected and sharp, stinging my cheek and making me cry out in surprise more than pain. Mia immediately begins crying again, loud, piercing wails.
“Shh, it’s okay, Mama’s okay,” I try to comfort her, but she only cries harder.
“For fucks sake, shut her up, will you, Mary Beth?” the driver barks.
Mia screams and wriggles in my arms, pulling away from whatever Mary Beth is trying to do. I immediately reach to remove the blindfold so that I can see what she’s doing, but she stops me. “Take it off, and I’ll shoot you.”
I freeze. Mary Beth’s tone tells me she’s not messing around. “Okay, please just don’t hurt my baby.”
“I’m not. It’s just a mild sedative. Perfectly safe. If you don’t shut up and do as you’re told, I’ll inject you with it too.”
As much as I don’t want this madwoman injecting my child, I also need to stay awake and alert. Plus, perhaps it’s better if Mia is asleep, unaware of what’s happening.
“Okay, do it.”
Mary Beth mutters that I don’t have a say in it either way. I hold Mia still, crying and telling her it’s going to be okay, she’s just going to sleep. After a moment, I feel her go limp in my arms.
Just as I’m wondering why they’d bother blindfolding me at all if they could simply sedate both of us as Mary Beth threatened, I feel a sharp stab in my arm. Almost as soon as I realize it’s the prick of a needle, I start to lose consciousness.
Mary Beth’s voice is the last thing I hear before the world goes dark.
“Shh, sleep now. It will all be over soon. I’ll make sure he makes it quick and as painless as possible. I’ll be a good Mama to her, I promise.”
***
I’m groggy and disoriented, but it doesn’t take long for Mary Beth’s chilling words to come back to me.
“Mia!” I shout, looking around the unfamiliar room I find myself in.
I’m lying on top of a four-poster bed in a tastefully decorated bedroom, complete with an ensuite. Even before I start tearing through the room, checking places I know deep down Mia won’t be—the bedside drawers, wardrobe, and shower—I know she’s gone. I helplessly cry out for my daughter during this futile search. When there isn’t an inch left of the room I haven’t checked, I sink onto the plush, carpeted floor and sob.
She’s gone. They took my baby.
“Where are you, Mia?”
I cry for my little girl, in the hands of a madwoman and a monster who believes she’s his. I cry for myself for getting into this situation, for not protecting my baby. I cry because of the overwhelming sense of hopelessness I feel. I cry because I can do nothing else. Zeke won.
No. I can’t let myself think like that. I can’t give up on my little girl. Not now, not ever.
I take a deep breath and dry my eyes. This time, when I look around the room, I’m searching for clues. Where am I? The view from the window reveals only a mass expanse of woodland as far as the eye can see. There are no other houses nearby. I have no idea how far we traveled, how long I was unconscious for. We could be almost anywhere. The guys might never find us. The thought is a bleak one, and I nearly slip back into a dark depression, one I might not be able to pull myself out of again, so I push it down. I can’t let myself think like that. I try the window, but it’s locked, and even if I were to break a pane, the gaps are too small to fit through. The door is also, unsurprisingly, locked.
I look around again at the room. It’s the kind of place you’d stay at during a romantic getaway, hardly a prison forsomeone you’ve kidnapped. I’d been expecting to be tied to a chair in some damp basement, like in the movies. Obviously, I’m glad to be held in relative comfort, but what does it mean? If Zeke is treating me this way, he must want something from me. Otherwise, I’d be dead already. He’s had ample opportunity to kill me, and if Mia was what he wanted, he has her now.
So why am I here? And how can I use that to my advantage?
Looking around the room it seems pointless. Everything is either impossibly heavy, made from solid, expensive wood, or nailed down. Unless I plan to have a pillow fight with whoever arrives, I’m shit out of luck.
But I don’t intend to go down without a fight. I’ll kill anyone who stands in the way of me and my daughter. If she’s harmed, I’ll burn this place to the ground with everyone inside.
If Zeke wanted a war, he’s got one.
Chapter 21
Rex
“Tell me everything again.”
