“It took a while to build a stable, but people were scared enough when I took his name not to ask questions.”
Sweetums did it. She killed him. I want to cheer for her success, but she’s not here to do it with. “What happened to her?”
“I couldn’t keep a boss killer around. So, I made sure she’s going to spend the rest of her life in a cage.” He shrugs. “But you’re nothing like her. Trixie, this is Fiona. She’s the most docile property ever owned. She knows her place.”
Trixie!?! The woman who took care of Gemma.
“Watch, I’ll show you.” He walks over to my cage and unlocks it. “Fiona, go put your hand in that cage.” Mouse points to the cobra that’s hooded up and striking at him.
If I put my hand in there, I’m going to get bitten. These aren’t semi-tame, like Maddox’s pets. They make anti-venoms. If Vex finds me in time, I might live. If I don’t do it, who knows what will happen.
Be brave. I walk over, crack the lid open, and slide my hand in.
The cobra strikes immediately.
Only there’s no pain.
Mouse starts laughing hysterically. “See, I told you she was docile. Take your hand out. He can’t hurt you. I had him defanged.”
“So, we can do anything with her that we want, Spidey Baby.” Trixie sidles up to him.
“I haven’t decided yet. She would fetch top dollar as a slave.”
“But she could be our slave.”
“Hmmm, maybe. Go sit in that corner and be quiet until I decide what I want to do with you.”
With my eyes down, I walk over, not to wait for his decision but to plan my escape. They never checked my boots for weapons. They hardly frisked me.
All they saw was a broken woman.
Dyce and her desire to ensure we were all able to protect ourselves might be the only reason I get out of here alive. It sure doesn’t look like the tracker worked, or Vex would have been in here by now.
I’m on my own.
Where Is She?
Max
Trying not to lose my mind is harder than I thought it would be. Waiting and worrying about my woman, who is about to get herself kidnapped by a human trafficker, shouldn’t be on the list of things I should ever have to worry about.
The phone rings. I click before it finishes.
“That is one fine, crazy woman. I like her,” Fly says.
You can’t kill the idiot just because you’re angry at the world. “Is she still alive?”
“She was when I dropped her off thirty seconds ago. But they were looking at her funny. I rolled away real slow as a van drove past me in a hurry.”
An unknown number rings on my private phone. That never happens. “Hello.”
“They took her,” Everett says.
I click off on Fly without a word. “Tell me you have a tracker on her.”
“One of the best in the world.”
What does that—The one in his back. “What does that mean?”
