“Yes, we’ve met before, although some time has passed. The first time was at your home. The second time you were with those imbeciles who were trying to protect you.”
“You killed them. You tried to kill me.” Her words were slurred and garbled, but she was certain he understood her.
“Yes. You’re a more formidable opponent than I gave you credit for. I have to say, I’m sorry to see the chase end. To think, you were holed up in some backwater town all this time. For a stupid little girl, you covered your tracks well. Kudos to you.”
Snippets of memory flashed in her mind’s eye, but they weren’t enough for her to piece together and understand. Trying only made her head hurt more.
“You shouldn’t fight the effects of the drug. It will wear off soon enough, and then the fun can begin.”
“Who are you?”
His laugh was pure evil, ringing in her ears until she winced.
“My name is not important. Few people know it, and you won’t have time to use it.”
“I don’t…understand.” The room was spinning, and spots appeared in front of her eyes.
“You will. When our friend arrives.”
“So…tired.”
“Yes, I’m sure you are. You should probably get some sleep. That sounds good, don’t you think, Paige?”
She was already slipping into the bliss of unconsciousness. She figured the man wouldn’t expect an answer anyway. He seemed to already know what she was thinking and feeling without her saying a word. Her head fell forward, and her eyes closed. She drifted into slumber away from the pain and the torment of her situation.
The slap struck her with enough force to whip her head back and jerk her out of sleep. She moaned as her head fell forward, her neck no longer able to hold it up.
“You think I’m going to let you sleep, you little bitch?”
Paige jerked when the man shouted, and a moan slipped from her lips because of the ensuing pain. “Why…why…”
He gripped her chin and wrenched her head up at an unnatural angle. Beady eyes stared down at her in disgust.
“Why am I doing this to you? That’s a good question. And you’ll have an answer very soon.”
She whimpered when he released her. She needed to do something, but she couldn’t get her body or her mind to function through the fog she was in. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. Since her hands were bound, she couldn’t wipe the tears away, so she closed her eyes tightly to stave off the flow.
“I see you need some help staying awake. I happen to have something right here that can help with that.”
Something sharp pierced the skin of her bicep through her shirt and drew downward, leaving searing pain in its wake. Paige cried out, using the last of her will to turn her head. The cut was deep, the blood escaping in thick spurts. The man thrust one more time before withdrawing the blade. A gleam lit his eyes, and a smile curled his lips. He was pleased, almost happy, with the injury he inflicted.
Paige felt her resolve strengthen even as her body grew weaker. The man delighted in her pain and was just beginning his long torture of her. She’d unwittingly given him what he wanted, and as impossible as it felt in her diminished state, she couldn’t show him how she suffered. She couldn’t let him see the depth of her pain.
Of course, that was easier said than done, she thought before she fainted.
∞∞∞
“Talk to me, brother.”
Ben stayed silent. His brain had shut down to everything but the investigation. It’s what he had to do. To open himself up tomore meant he would lose his mind. His Paige was in the hands of a murderer who promised to subject her to horrendous things because she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite their best efforts, Ben hadn’t protected her the way he promised.
If he allowed himself to contemplate the enormity of how much he let her down, he couldn’t function.
“Nothing to say,” Ben muttered, hoping Jackson would let the matter drop.
“I need to know where your head is at.”
Ben pierced his brother with a hard stare. “You know where my head is at. You’ve been here before.”
