If they’re watching they’ll think I’ve lost it. Maybe that’s a good thing. They might underestimate me.
On the other hand, maybe I really have lost my mind.
She tried to lift her arms but didn’t get far. The chain on the handcuffs was looped through another chain anchoring her in place, or maybe another set of cuffs. She wiggled her hands to determine how tightly the handcuffs were on her. Whoever cuffed her had left a little room, but not much.Perfect. If they decided to move her, she might be able to get out of them.
If they move me, it’s to one of two places—the room where they killed Tom or to hand me over to the cartel. I don’t know which is worse.
All Sylvie knew was that she’d fight them like hell when they did.
Head throbbing, she lowered her chin to her chest. If they were going to leave her here, she might as well try to sleep in the hopes that her headache would be gone when she woke. Just when she thought she couldn’t possibly fall asleep, she drifted off.
* * *
Sylvie woke to footsteps.Her neck was too stiff to move it and someone had replaced her bladder with a lead weight, but her headache was gone. She had no idea what time, day—or hell, even what year—it was, only that she needed water desperately. And if she didn’t pee soon, her bladder would explode.
“So, this is her?” An unfamiliar voice said.
“It is,” the man responsible for killing Tom answered him.
Sylvie’s throat felt hoarse. “I need water and to take a piss.”
“Told you she had some spunk.” Tom’s killer sounded amused.
Someone grabbed her chin and yanked it up. She struggled to see something—anything—through the black cloth covering her face.
“I bet you’re pretty under there,” the second man said, his face close to hers.
“She’s a knockout. Maybe Del Rio will think so too.” She heard Tom’s killer walk until he was behind her. “They might decide to sell her instead of just kill her outright.” She sensed him bending until his head was right next to her ear. “That would be worse, wouldn’t it?”
“All I know is I’ll die right here if I don’t get a bottle of water and a bathroom in the next thirty seconds.”
Tom’s killer laughed. Then he pulled on the chain holding her handcuffs and pain shot up both her arms, cutting through the numbness. She bit back a scream.
“You’re not going to fuck around with us. What you’re going to do is be a good little girl and march along. If you cooperate, I’ll let you use the restroom. If you don’t, you can go ahead and wet yourself. Understand?”
Sylvie nodded.
“Are you going to be a good little girl?”
Another nod.
“Excellent.” He caressed the bag over her face before she felt the end of a gun pressing against her cheek. “Because otherwise, you’ll be joining Tom.”
Then came the clanking and rattling of chains followed by the sound of two snips as someone cut the zip ties.
“Can you stand?” He sounded amused again.
Sylvie’s hands were still cuffed together behind the back of the chair. She couldn’t feel her feet.
“I don’t know.” She tried to get up, moving awkwardly since she couldn’t brace herself against the arms of the chair.
One of the men grabbed her upper arms and lifted her. She tried to take a step forward but stumbled when she couldn’t feel her feet. The second man caught her, laughing. He half-dragged her out of the room. Her bladder was in agony, and she concentrated on that instead of the humiliation and the pain in her arms and the prickling in her feet as they slowly came back to life.
“Bathroom’s here to your left.” He shoved her and her waist connected with the edge of a vanity. Sylvie felt him standing there watching her as she kicked around until she found the toilet, then struggled to pull her pants down from the back. Someone had taken her belt so she didn’t need to worry about trying to undo it.
He can only humiliate me if I let him. He’s less than a worm and I don’t give two fucks what he sees. She concentrated on her own blessed relief. When she was done, she managed to pull her pants back up. He grabbed her again and continued down a hall.
“Steps,” he said.
