Prologue
Lauren
Three years ago
The plastic ties trapping Lauren’s hands behind her back sliced into her wrists. She strained against the binding that locked her to the chair. The burning lines on her raw skin and the tremors rattling her frame were reminders she was still alive.
For now. She could barely breathe with the rag pulled tight between her teeth.
The two men standing behind her in the dark room shouted at each other. She sucked in thick breaths through her nose as she pressed her eyes closed. Tears pushed past her lashes to stream over her cold cheeks.
Help me, God. Please. Please. Help me!
The tears soaked the rolled-up rag that silenced her. The ache in her jaw from biting the fabric had almost made her entire face numb.
God, please. Save me. Please!
A man behind her roared, “Stop!”
Lauren jerked at the sudden outburst, and her whimpers began anew. She could barely hear the men over her own cries. How long had it been since they’d taken her from the parking lot? How many times had she walked to her car after work without being grabbed and thrown into the back of a truck?
“She doesn’t know anything! I can’t believe you did this without knowing who she was first,” the same man bellowed.
“I know exactly who she is, and shedoesknow where he is,” the other man snapped. Each word a snarl, grating against Lauren’s humming nerves.
A loud smack caused her to jerk again as the men fought behind her. That sound was all too familiar. It still ricocheted in her head from half an hour ago when the back of a man’s hand made contact with her cheek.
The first man’s tone was heavy enough to turn Lauren’s blood cold. Each word was laced with a carefully controlled rage. “Touch her again, and I’ll kill you.”
“If anyone is dying, it’s her!” the other shouted back.
“You’ll get us both killed. I won’t let you hurt an innocent woman. She’s not part of this.”
“She’s not innocent, and she saw you. You really think we can let her go now?”
Lauren thrashed against her restraints, whimpering as loudly as the gag would allow. She hadn’t seen anything but darkness since the two men had taken her. Even with the lantern at her feet, she’d only made out shadows. If they’d just take the rag out of her mouth, she could tell them that. Maybe they would let her go.
Lauren’s tired muscles melted. Who was she kidding? They weren’t going to let her go. She hadn’t seen her cousin in months, and she knew just as much about where Anthony was as these men trying to find him.
Anthony had been running down a dark path for years, but she never expected to get caught in his mistakes. He’d spent his whole life protecting her. He was her closest childhood friend, and he would have done anything for her.
Now he’d gotten both of them in trouble. It wasn’t like him. In fact, he’d taken the blame for wrongs he hadn’t committed plenty of times.
The fact that these men were looking for Anthony and couldn’t find him fed a sickening fear she’d been pushing away for weeks. Anthony might be dead for all she knew. Now, she wasn’t far behind.
“Blackwater PD!” The shout was muffled by the door between them, but the curses of the men in the room were distinct.
Lauren concentrated on her disjointed prayers. Sheknew how to pray, and she was good at it after all these years.Thank you, Lord.The police were here, and freedom was just outside the door.
“Blackwater PD. Come out with your hands up!”
Just do it. Please surrender.
Lauren’s eyes flew open as her chair tipped to the side. A strangled cry ripped from her chest, suppressed by the gag. Suddenly, the chair righted, and her heart continued to hammer.
“Stop it!” This time it was the other man—the one who’d been pushing to kill her.
Two uniformed police officers entered the dark room with weapons ready. The barrels of their guns pointed in her direction as the men holding her captive remained behind her.
