I wonder how Kai is holding up. I’m certain he’s seen the notifications from the security cameras by now.
I hope someone is there for him.
Butcher.
Grudge.
Anyone.
The old mineshaft Paltrow has led us to feels like a weak hiding place, and it suggests to me that he doesn’t really have a plan.
The light source is an oil lamp he pulled from the back of his truck, and it swings gently on a hook from the beam. The constant motion makes the mine walls feel alive, as shadows crawl along the rock face.
Worse, it illuminates Paltrow’s features. There are severe burns up the side of his head, courtesy of the man I intend to make my husband as soon as this is over, but it’s the unrelenting darkness in Paltrow’s beady eyes that gives me the chills. In a fair fight, I would have him disarmed and shot through the head for what he’s put Isla and Kai through.
“You okay, Sunbeam?” I say quietly.
She runs her fingers through my hair. “How can you ask me that when you look like you do? Are you okay?”
“Trying my best not to think about it.” I offer her a watery smile. It’s the best I can do. He’s already humiliated both of us. He made Isla take a piss in front of us both and made her take my cock out of my jeans so I could do the same as we hiked to the cave. “I’m sorry about your nanna’s house.”
Her breath hitches. “Her jewelry. It spilled out of the box when I dropped it. It’s such a small thing, but I keep hoping nobody stands on it all. Like, what if Kai comes home in the dark and doesn’t?—”
“Isla,” I say gently, but firmly. “You can’t think about it. Put it to the back of your mind. We’re alive. You and me. And there’s no way the club doesn’t know we’re missing right now.” I wince as I try to move to get comfortable…well, less painful. I manage to shift to a seated position, my back to the wall. “The only thing that matters is we stay alive for them to find us. So, let’s stay focused on that.”
Isla’s hands are tied together in front of her, and she loops them over my head and hugs me. It hurts like a motherfucker, but I bite down on my lip and wince instead of making her feel worse.
Paltrow chomps down on an apple, and my stomach complains with every crack of its flesh. I’ve barely eaten today. Just coffee and a quick sandwich I made for lunch. My insides feel raw.
He turns fully toward me, and the smile he gives me is all teeth. He’s got those full-on donkey chompers that take up his whole mouth and then some. No wonder he could eat that apple in five bites. He waves the apple at me. “Hungry?”
“Not for anything you’ve had your mouth on,” I say. “I know where you like to put it.”
I can’t say the punch comes out of nowhere, but I can’t do anything to prevent it from making contact. My head snaps to the side, stars bursting behind my eyes as bone meets bone. I cough, spitting blood onto the floor. “You always were touchy in every sense of the word.”
“Garrett,” Isla warns. But she doesn’t know I need it. I need the anger and pain and hurt to cling on to. To keep me awake. To stop me from drifting off again. Because if I close my eyes like I did earlier, I won’t be able to see if he hurts her.
“You think this is funny?” he asks, the words tight. There’s a rage in them that’s blooming. And rage makes ordinary men do extraordinary things.
“No.” I shake my head but the motion makes me feel dizzy. “I think it’s tragic. You should’ve just counted your blessings that you lived and walked away. Because, from today on, whether I live or die, Jackal is going to find you. You won’t have a minute’s peace. The rest of your life will be accompanied by the steady chirp of the deathwatch beetle.”
He grabs the end of the rope tying my hands together, thrown over the old wooden beam, and tugs down hard.
“Fuck,” I yell as my body contorts. My arms weren’t meant to bend this way, and the position throws me forward, so I’m suspended with my knees just off the ground, feet bent beneath me, my head dangling forward. Vicious bolts of pain make it impossible to try and transition into a crouching position.
“Enough,” Isla yells. “Please. Put him down.”
She’s on her knees too, just out of reach. Paltrow made her tie me up with the rope, and then, he tied her up. There’s soot and dirt on her face, which is streaked with tears. Her eyes are huge and wet and furious, all at once.
Beyond the mess her feet are in, she has no other injuries.
At least, not yet.
When this is over, I’m gonna get Wren to find the kind of trackers you can put under our skin. Because having them on our bikes and trucks means nothing in a situation like this. And the trackers on our phones are useless if we’re taken somewhere they don’t get signals.
“I’m fine, Sunbeam,” I grunt.
Paltrow laughs. “You really think so, do you?” His footsteps pass in front of me, his gun loose in his hand by his side. “See, I’ve been watching you since I heard from someone in Florida that you were up here, now. Had to double-check I’d heard her straight. Thought Jackal hated the cold.”
