The guy grunted. When he got Melody to the edge of the van, he pulled her up and out, setting her on her feet. Beth winced as Melody cried and tried to find her footing.
“Let me help her.” She jumped out of the van and moved to put her arm around Melody, only to be hauled away by a rough hand gripping her bicep.
Demo.
He started walking, dragging her with him. His strides were so long, and his grip was practically lifting her off the ground. She had to run on her tiptoes to keep up.
“Slow the fuck down,” she demanded, looking over her shoulder. “Where are you taking Melody?”
Demo laughed. “I’d be a little more worried about where we’re takingyouif I were in your shoes.”
Ice slid down her spine. She knew exactly what men like him did to women they had power over.
She’d survived one monster.
She could survive another.
She had to.
Unable to do anything for the other woman, Beth shifted her attention from Melody and onto her surroundings. If she could learn as much as possible about where she was, maybe she could find a way to escape.
She blinked as she glanced around. “The sawmill?” When she was a kid, this place ran a thriving business. She’d never forget trips here with Copper to pick up lumber. He and Rocket built her a playhouse in the backyard when she was six. Together they’d made trips here, and Copper would let her ride on the flatbed cart. She’d sit on a pile of lumber and direct him where to go. The place closed a handful of years ago as the area’s lumber industry declined.
Demo didn’t respond, just yanked open a heavy door and shoved her into the building.
From darkness to bright light to dark again. Beth blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust faster. The place was mostly empty. Some ancient, dust-covered pieces of equipment werebolted to the floor in various locations around the large warehouse. A fluorescent light flickered overhead with an insistent hum that would drive her crazy any other time. Today, she had bigger problems.
The air still smelled of sawdust and something else, something chemical and sharp that burned her nostrils.
About a dozen men sat at folding tables, weighing and packaging white powder while others supervised. A few looked up when she entered. Their eyes tracked her body with the casual assessment of men who’d done terrible things and would do them again.
Beth’s skin crawled.
“Why am I here?”
Demo towed her over to a chair, shoving her to sit. “My boss wants to talk to your father.”
She laughed out loud. “What? You do know they’ve wanted to meet with him for a while now, right? You could have just answered the text instead of all this drama.”
“We don’t operate on Copper’s terms.”
“Let me guess… you operate on your boss’s terms. Must be nice, being somebody’s errand boy.”
Something flickered in Demo’s expression. Just for a second, there was a tightening around his jaw, a flash in those dead eyes.She’d hit a nerve.
“I’m not anybody’s errand boy, princess.” He leaned down, close enough she could see the thin white scar running along his hairline. “I’m the guy who does the things even the boss doesn’t want to think about. The guy who makes problems disappear. Your daddy’s club has been a problem for a long time.” He straightened. “But I’m patient. Grew up with nothing, learned how to wait. Your old man’s had his kingdom for thirty years. I can wait another thirty to take it.”
Beth snorted. “So… what? This is some kind of dick-measuring contest? Your boss thinks snatching me shows he’s king of the Smoky Mountains?Please. The Handlers have ruled this area for decades. You’re—”
She never saw the slap coming.
The world tilted, and she was on the floor before she registered the blow, the crack of his palm against her cheekbone, the explosion of pain, the way her vision went white, then black, then spotted. Fire bloomed across the left side of her face. Her ear screamed with a high-pitched ring that swallowed every other sound.
Get up. Get up. Don’t let him see you broken.
Her arms wouldn’t cooperate. She lay there, gasping, hip throbbing from where it had slammed against the concrete.
Somewhere in the room, a man chuckled.
