A black SUV pulled in behind my truck and Dallas Stone exited, along with another man who I didn’t recognize.
“Booker,” Dallas said with a nod. “My partner, Brock.”
I gave him a chin lift. “Can’t touch the club, Dallas.”
“Not here to bust the club, Book. Macey likes your girl, so we’re here off the record.”
I nodded and joined Train. “Where?”
Train nodded toward a blacked out industrial building about a block down from where they were standing. “They went around the back.”
I nodded and started toward the building. “Follow me.”
* * *
Danielle
Icame awake with astart, mostly because my head felt like an ice-pick was jamming itself into my temple. I opened my eyes... well, kind of... one of them didn’t seem to want to work, and I looked around. I was in a tiny room, tied to a chair, and my memory flooded back to me.
I had just stepped out of the house and was halfway up my parents’ driveway when I was grabbed from behind. I fought as best I could, my self-defense training helping, but ultimately, there were two men and each of them outweighed me by at least a hundred pounds.
What I did manage to do was piss them off, and I remember pain in my ribs and face before I blacked out.
I swallowed and tried to figure out where I was. Austin would come. I knew he would. I didn’t know how I knew; I could just feel it in my gut. I took a deep breath, grimacing at the pain in my ribs. Breathing was probably not a good idea right now.
For the moment I was alone, but I didn’t know how long that would last. I heard male voices near the door, so I dropped my head and tried to go as limp as possible.
“What the hell do you mean the guy canceled the policy? Fuck you, Bobby. We took this bitch for no reason? Well, then there’s no reason to keep her alive.”
I tried not to react even though my heart sank into my stomach.
“Yeah. Okay. Well, shit. A mil’s not even close to ten, dumbass. You don’t take a cut, I don’t tell where I got my information. Otherwise, everyone’s gonna know who the hell you are.” The man chuckled... a low, sardonic, and very creepy chuckle. “How about you fuck off and figure out how to make this right.”
I was in a weird enough position that even though I’d managed to open my good eye a sliver, I couldn’t see who was speaking. Since it hurt to try, I closed them again.
“Bitch’s dad canceled the policy and Bobby forgot to tell us,” the man who’d been talking before complained.
“Shit, Ken, what does that mean?”
“Her family’s loaded, so Bobby thinks we’ll get at least a mil for her,” Ken said.
“Fuckin’ idiot.”
“Yeah, Sal, I’m with you.”
“How long we gonna give the parents?”
“Six hours,” Ken answered. “Then we kill her.”
“You think they can get that much together in six hours?”
“I don’t care. She saw us, so either way, she’s dead.”
They continued to talk, but their voices faded as they walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. I looked up again and tried not to panic. I needed to keep my wits about me and get the hell out of here.
I tested my bindings and discovered the more I moved, the more it hurt. I was tied with plastic zip ties that cut into my skin. Each of my ankles was zip tied to a chair leg and a rope around my waist had me pretty much stuck to the chair. My mouth was covered with what I assumed was probably duct tape, and it didn’t budge when I scrunched up my face.
I had no concept of how long I’d been in the room. There was no window, so I couldn’t tell how dark it was outside. It was still light when we’d gotten to my parents’ place, but the sun was starting to set.
