It all came flooding back to me.
The flat tire.
Waiting outside for the taxi.
Tossing my gun in my purse.
And then… I gasped for air. Then the attack.
I hadn’t seen it, but I’d felt the blow to my jaw as the pain radiated across my face. As I’d grabbed my chin, I was struck in the head. As the world had gone dim, my knees had crumpled and I’d fallen to the ground.
I had been so consumed by my anger toward Morgan that I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings.
It was my fault I was here.
I began to cry.
“Hello?” I whispered, so low that I barely heard it myself.
I held my breath, waiting for a reply, but heard nothing in response as tears streamed down my cheeks.
I need to take slow breaths and keep myself calm, I told myself over and over again.
I couldn’t do it.
Who the fuck could keep their wits about them in a situation like this? Seriously. I’d like to think I was pretty levelheaded, but right now images ofTexas Chainsaw Massacrekept playing over and over again inside my head.
Pulling at the restraints, I started to hyperventilate.
My heart beat so furiously that it was all I could hear.
A door opened, making me freeze.
“Ah, you’re awake,” said a woman from a distance.
I held my breath, waiting for my heart to explode as her heels clicked against the floor.
“Can you help me?” I whispered, remaining still.
She cackled, slapping the bottom of my feet. “Silly Race.”
I tried to flinch, but I couldn’t move an inch. The tender flesh stung where her hand had landed.
“Please. I’ll do anything you ask,” I said, my voice strained.
“You know, you’re not as light as you look.” She dragged her fingernails up the side of my leg, leaving fire in their wake. “Always the perfect skinny bitch with perfect tits and never a bit out of place.”
I gasped.
I knew the voice. The acidic tone was one I’d heard before.
Natasha.
The coworker I’d thought I was friends with.
She had to be Tyler’s wife.
“Where’s Tyler? Did he put you up to this?” I asked, trying to swallow but not finding enough moisture to make it possible.
