“Hey,” I whispered. “It’s okay.” She responded with a slow shake of her head. “Talk to me, Rayne. What’s going on? Where have you been?”
The girl hesitated before slowly lifting her gaze. A small gasp escaped my lips when her bruised and bloodied face came into view. Reaching above her head, I flicked on the table lamp, my eyes growing impossibly wider at the sight of her. I gently tilted her chin.
“Who did this?”
Dried blood was smeared under her nose and at the corner of her cracked lips. The white of her right eye was blood red, and the thin ring of green in her irises blurred behind tears before spilling over. Maybe she was strung out on something, and it was the reason for her paranoia.
“Eva, t-they took me. But I got away.” She grabbed my shoulders, voice panicked as her eyes darted from side to side. “But they followed me. They’re coming!”
Rayne sprung to her feet and peeked through the curtains.
“Coming here? Who?”
I placed my hand on my hip as she continued to pace from window to window, my pulse quickening and thoughts racing. Who the hell had she led to my home?
“They’re trying to kill me.”
“Rayne, slow down. Who is? And why didn’t you call the police?”
I patted my pockets, realizing I must have left my phone by the door.
Fuck.
“Eva, I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go. But I can’t go to the cops.”
“Rayne,I’ma cop. I can’t not report that I saw you and that you’re possibly in trouble.”
She crawled back into the corner and hugged her legs again while mumbling a string of unintelligible words. Rubbing my temples, I blew a calming breath and slowly knelt in front of her, placing my hand on her knee.
When she recoiled from my touch with a violent jerk, it seemed like a good indicator that she was high. I needed to call Sam.
“Listen, Rayne, I’m going to get my cell, and I’m going to get you help, okay? Please stay put.”
She shot forward and grabbed my shoulders again, fingers digging into my skin. “No! Don’t go over there, Eva. They’re coming, I swear it.”
This was the worst I’d seen her since that first day we dragged her half-naked, kicking and screaming out of an alley.
“I promise I’ll be fine. Stay here.”
Straightening myself out, I gave her one last look before heading to the front door. I must have dropped my phone when she burst through in a fury.
As I approached the dim foyer, the broad silhouette of a man appeared on the other side of the frosted glass. My breath caught, and I stared as he jiggled the doorknob.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
With the alarm system deactivated, my phone lost, and the closest gun in the kitchen, I felt helpless. In the next breath, the man began kicking in my door. I sprinted down the hallway toward the kitchen, but just as I crossed the threshold, another man, this one leaner, stepped out from the mud room.
A wicked grin tipped his mouth as he approached.
“Get the fuck out.”
“Shh. No need to get mouthy, sweetheart. We just want the girl.”
What were the odds of two assholes calling me by that infuriating moniker on the same damn day? A fresh rush of adrenaline pushed through my veins, and I knew where this was headed. I cursed inwardly at the realization that I hadn’t replaced my insulin pump as I’d intended. This ordeal needed to end before the spike I knew was coming caused any problems.
I eased forward, and he gave a throaty command, ordering my arms above my head. Doing as I was told, I lifted my hands toward the ceiling, which caused my shirt to rise about an inch above my navel. His lecherous eyes dropped to my stomach, grin spreading.
“You know, you’d make a great addition to the boss’s collection. Turn around,” he ordered, twirling his finger.
