I drag the chair back over to the corner where it came from and leave the room. He will come and get me as soon as he has more information. I have very little knowledge in computers unless you count Facebook, so I will leave Hutch to the computer sluicing.
I have spent a few hours out at the indoor gun range. I have gone through hundreds of rounds and so many targets, there is tattered papers littering the floor. I thought putting rounds through my guns would calm my brain. Bring a calm over me that I only find at war. Channel some of this energy towards perfecting my craft to protect my loved ones.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The rhythmic sound of my handgun soothes my anxiety enough that my heart doesn’t feel like it is going to beat out of my chest. I’m finally calm enough that I realize Nyx left her shirt here from our date. I pick up the black t-shirt and bring it to my face. Inhaling her warm scent brings back the memories of that day, and I just cling to those memories and the faith we will find them.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see Hutch’s mug on the screen.
“Yeah, what have you found?” I answer the call.
“Where the hell are you? I have searched every corner of this house, and you are nowhere to be found. Your truck is here, so you couldn’t have gone far.” He sounds worried, and I really didn’t mean to cause him more worry.
“I’ve been at the range. I was hoping the smell of gunpowder and the repetition would calm me.”
“Did it help?”
“It quieted the racing thoughts for a moment, but I know you haven’t been searching for me to discuss my mental health.” I start to clean up my spent brass and the destroyed target paper.
“You’re right, Dee, come back up to the house. I found some info on Nick.” He hangs up the phone, and I make sure to lock up my guns before heading out. The remainder of the brass will need to be cleaned up later. Finding Nick to rescue Nyx and Kyra are more important.
CHAPTER 42
NYX
Now with my blindfold off, and their identities discovered, I know the likelihood of escaping are slim. I have been handcuffed to this damn bed for at least a day. It was midafternoon when we were taken, and outside of a couple of guarded trips to the bathroom room I haven’t been able to move off this damn thing. The mattress is so musty and the springs are constantly stabbing at me, I am shocked that I am not bleeding.
I have heard them having conversations when they think I am asleep. I haven’t been able to make out much of what they are saying, but I know Jack is concerned. He is having second thoughts. I can see it in his face every time he looks at me.
Outside those original slaps and the gut punch, Nick hasn’t laid a hand on me. He’s been actually uncomfortably nice. Saying things like, “Babe, imagine the gorgeous life we could live,” or “Our children will be absolutely gorgeous with your dark hair and light complexion.”
He thinks things will just be fine, and I will go crawling back. Not only did he cheat on me, which I would never forgive him for, but he has now kidnapped my best friend and I. Not many checks in the pro column for him. I am pretty sure they have leftthe cabin, and it is just Kyra and I trapped here. Not long after we heard the truck start up and drive away, I knocked on the wall next to the bed and Kyra knocked back.
“Hey Kye, are you doing okay over there?” I speak loud enough to be heard through the wall.
“I’m alive over here. Jack seems to want to keep me as a plaything but still has enough of a conscience to have not raped me yet. Although I’m not sure how long his morals will last.” She sounds like she has stopped crying, but I can still hear the fear in her voice.
“Well, that is a blessing. Nick has stopped hitting me, so there is that, but he seems to want to ‘take care of me’ despite being chained to this bed ninety-nine percent of the time. I do think Jack is feeling conflicted about everything. I can see it in his face.”
We both try to just keep each other company for a while. We share stories. I tell her more about Dee and Graham. She tells me her dreams of opening a bookstore one day. We will get out. I refuse to spend our last days here. I need to see how things go with my men. She yawns loudly.
“Get some sleep, Kye. Rest up while you can.” I tell her. I know I won’t sleep, I have to find a way to escape.
I zone out for twenty minutes, or it could have been two hours. It’s hard to tell when this cabin is in the woods, and I barely can see the sun. I hear the truck pull back down the driveway, and everything in my body tenses. They are back.
“Baby girl, I’m home.” Nick calls from the front door. “Did you miss me?”
I open my eyes, and he is standing in the doorway to the bedroom with an evil smirk on his face. Not the type that makes you fall for the villain like in the books but the kind that makes your skin crawl and wants to stab their eyes out. That last part may be just because I hate Nick with everything I have. Theasshole destroyed every single book I own, including my signed and special editions. You don’t fuck with a book girls books. I don’t care why you touched them.
“Oh look, the tiny dicked man with a God complex is back.” I roll my eyes and look at anything but him. I know I’m in no position to be a bitch because he could just kill me, but I’m hoping he wants me too much to do too much damage.
His boots slam against the creaky wood floor as he storms across the room. His open palm finds my face.SMACK.Goddamn it, he slaps like a bitch in a catfight. The split on my lip re-opens and I can taste the tangy metallic of my blood.
“What do you want, Nick? No amount of hitting me, or slapping me like a damn bitch, will make me do anything you want.” I wish this was one of those cartoons so I could see the smoke rolling out of his ears. His face looks like a beet, that furious gleam in his eye could light me on fire if we were in a fantasy world.
