He didn’t want to hear more, but he had to. Because of his job, he knew how bad it could be. He just hoped they could find Elowen before she learned how bad it could get.
Chapter 32
Elowen hadn’t wantedto eat, but she’d been starving when he brought food down so after he left the tray beside the bed, she’d shoved the food into her mouth, hoping it hadn’t been drugged. He hadn’t touched her, but he hadn’t given her clothes, either.
How could she survive this? Every chance she got, she searched for an escape. When he left, he turned off the lights, so she only had the chance to look around when he was down there, and because she was naked, she sat curled in a ball, trying to hide from him.
The door opened above, and the light flashed on. She looked around before pulling her legs up tight to her body, hugging them close.
“You’re still awake. That’s good.”
She wrapped her arms tighter around her legs. He had water, which she needed, and a comb for her hair.
He placed the water bottle on the floor beside her. “You need to drink. And I brought you a comb.”
He sat down in the chair and stared at her. Her hands started shaking and her stomach tightened.
“You should comb your hair.”
She didn’t know what to say. Instead of moving to grab the comb, she stayed in the same position.
His eyes narrowed, and she saw a tick in his cheek. Then his fists tightened. She pushed back against the wall.
Suddenly, he stood. The chair let out a terrible shriek. She jerked back, but there was nowhere to go, so her head slammed into the wall.
“I said comb your hair. Now!”
The words bounced around the room and she shrank even more. He grabbed the comb by the handle and raised it above his head. Tears sprang to her eyes as fear leaked in. He lowered it slowly and held it out.
“Comb your hair now.”
She took the comb and ran it through her hair slowly, pain erupting from the wound on her head. This man was crazy. No question, she was in deep shit.
The other side of her head didn’t hurt as much to comb and she slowly worked through the tangles. She kept her eyes off his face, not wanting to let him think there was any connection.
“The other side.”
A whimper escaped her lips as she moved the comb slowly through the hair on the injured side of her head. Anger grew with each pass of the comb over the injured spot. She could slam his head into the wall if she could get a jump on him.
Of course she was naked, and he was bigger than her. She was strong, but everything felt off, like the bed was slipping away because the floor was slanted. When had everything become tilted to the right?
She blinked and her gaze rose so she was looking at him. Everything around him seemed fuzzy. There was no way she could take him on, not feeling this way.
“What did you give me?” Her words slurred together, and the room started to spin.
His laughter filled the space, bouncing around the hard walls. Her hand with the comb fell to her lap. Helpless against the drugs, she melted into a puddle on the bed, her head thunking into the wall. She didn’t feel the hit, but thought she might the next day, if she woke up.
Chapter 33
Griz staredat the wall that held a lot of the information about the first two missing women. The women were pretty, young, and they seemed like they had great lives. Just like Elowen, they did stuff alone.
The first woman, Gracie, went jogging alone. The second woman, Christy, lived alone. Why couldn’t women just be alone and not get harassed? He knew why, but he hated the reasons. He’d met plenty of guys in the military who acted like assholes when they saw a woman. He tried not to be an idiot, but he knew when he was younger he wasn’t a great guy all the time.
But being an idiot when you were twenty and out at a club was much different from murdering women. And he had no doubt both Gracie and Christy were gone. Maybe that was why the asshole had taken Elowen.
“You okay?” Thario asked as he stepped into the room.
“Fuck no. I mean, I’m good for what it is, but no, I’m not okay. I don’t think I’ll be okay until after Elowen is in my arms.”
