“Remember,” Carter says. “Give him what he wants. We’re right behind you.”
“Right,” Carmen says absentmindedly, too busy calculating the distance between us and the warehouse.
There’s a barbed-wire fence a few meters away that loops around the perimeter of the building. The darkness prevents me from seeing around it, even when I step out to get a better look.
“If we can’t go around it, we’ll have to go through it.” Carmen disguises her nervousness with sarcasm.
Another gust of wind blows, sending her soft, brunette curls up into the air. My hand twitches, wanting to grab them and steer her back to where it’s safe.
But she’d never forgive me.
“Scream as loud as you can. Do everything he says, unless he tells you to take off your clothes.”
I want to melt Carter for putting that thought into my head.
But I want to melt Conrad more. I’ll strip him naked, throw him into a bathtub of boiling water, and celebrate with popcorn.
But then Carmen disappears from my side and nothing else matters. I watch my love walk into the arms of a monster, and all I can do is hold my tongue from shouting for her to come back.
20
CARMEN
The place islike an industrial oasis, a lot bigger than what I had in mind.
I climb over the barbed-wire fence and half wish I was back at home losing a staring contest with my neighbors.
If there is one person more insufferable than those child-hating pests next door, it’s Conrad O’Neill.
So much has happened since the parking lot. I’m millions of dollars richer, and I no longer have to stack shelves and deal with the backache that comes from that. I’m also pretty sure I’m falling in love with the three men who saved me from Conrad’s auction.
I can neither confirm or deny the latter, since I don’t really know what I’m talking about. In the department of love, I’m a beginner. I can only assume that it’s love I’m in, since it haunts me to think about losing them.
I enter the run-down distribution yard. Desert winds have reduced the shipping containers down to skeletons. All thatremains are stacked tires from trucks that are also deceased, and a bunch of warehouses.
I take a step in and the buildings feel like they’re closing in. Wind howls through the yard. It slams against a tinny warehouse wall and makes me jump out of my skin.
Conrad must be near. I always seem to jump when he’s around.
I’m still pissed at him for being the reason I dropped my coffee.
I take quiet steps, my booted feet echoing against the concrete floor.
A gray rat pops its head out of one of many tires, its disgusting body running across the ground.
I didn’t know Conrad could shape-shift.
“Carmen.” His voice sounds even more unnerving in real life than it did on the phone. “It’s nice to finally see you again.”
“Where is he?” I demand.
From what I understand, this man is the crime king of Vegas. That means he has the power to do whatever he pleases.
But while he has my son, I have no regard for my own safety. I’ll do anything—run into his arms until the stench of pedophilia and cold-blooded murder catches up.
At that thought, I take a step back to keep my distance.
“Steady on. You’ll fall over.”
