Behind her, Drew muttered a curse and yanked her upright, then backward enough he could get in her face. “Watch your fucking step, Hodge. We’re almost at the stairs, and you better not trip, or Iwilllet you fall. And won’t that be a mess?”
Her heart thundered in her ears and she found herself bobbing her head in agreement. Drew had always been a prick, but the man who’d already turned his stare from hers was something worse. Something darker. She was pretty sure the monster that had stared into her eyes just then would have no qualms shooting her in the spine if she somehow managed to get out of his vice-like grip, so she decided to cooperate a little longer.
The cave opened up like a beast’s maw around a short series of steps. There was nothing particularly suspicious or amazing about the outward facing portion of the cavern, in Jenna’s opinion. But she knew that almost immediately behind where the darkness swallowed everything, the cave sloped and turned. It was like stepping into another dimension, blindly.
That was what it had been like to her as a teen, anyway. As an adult she preferred warm kitchens and sinking her hands into soft dough rather than scraping them on rocks she couldn’t see.
Drew pushed her to the ledge of the stairs and hissed in her ear, “I meant it. Don’t test me.”
Jenna nodded, wishing she could at least reach the railing, and carefully twisted so that she could lower one foot down safely. She was moving at a snail’s pace and Drew was sure not to tolerate it long, but she had no desire to discover how much it would hurt to crash onto the rocky ground at the bottom. Drew was growling and grinding his teeth by the second step as if his immediate frustration weren’t entirely his own damn fault. She managed not to say that. She did her best to ignore him, to keep her breathing steady, and focus on her feet.
It was the longest five steps of her life.
When they reached the bottom, Drew gave her arm a rough yank and marched ahead, into the cave. “Come on. Could you have taken longer? Jesus fuck.”
“So sorry,” Jenna said, unable to keep biting her tongue. “The asshole kidnapping me expected me to walk down a rusting staircase without the use of a handrail. His circulation-choking grip is also throwing off my balance, too.”
Drew spun on her, seething. “You’re lucky I didn’t just toss you over the edge and let the rocks break you!”
She probably was, actually.
“¡Eh!” a voice shouted from deeper into the cave, invisible in the darkness. “Drag thatputain here. We’re waitin’ on you, Parker!”
People.More people. There were people ahead, beyond the curve in the cave, where Drew was taking her. And those people were waiting for them.
For her.
Jenna’s blood ran cold and her feet stumbled, sneaker-covered toes dragging across the uneven cavern floor as Drew pulled her along. “Jon,” she whispered. She licked her lips, because she felt too frozen to even cry. “Jon, please hurry.”
She thought she saw Drew glance her way again as the darkness swallowed them and he became both her kidnapper and her only anchor for orientation. They continued moving forward, she felt the ground slope, and she was actually startled to hear him speak to her again. “Call for your lover all you want, Hodge. He can’t hear you. And even if he were here, all that’s here is dry rock. What the fuck could he do to save you?” Drew chuckled, the sound lacking any warmth or amusement. It might have been a low chuckle, but in the thickening dark it reverberated around them. “Maybe I’d consider it, if he offered to let me kill him. In front of you. Yeah, maybe for that.”
Sweet Jesus.Drew was more corrupt than she’d ever given him credit for. But he was still just as overconfident.
She might have told him as much, but she thought she could see a pinprick of light ahead. It was either light, or her straining eyes playing tricks on her. Except then there was a second, and they were getting larger.
Rather, she was coming closer to the source. She was getting closer to Drew’s spot—the interior flat area of the cave that was completely enclosed, and high enough for most adults to stand upright. She’d heard the stories, heard mixed opinions on how successful his parties were, and when she’d come out with acouple of friends to investigate the scene herself out of morbid curiosity, she’d decided it wasn’t all that awesome.
It was far less awesome with a twisted ankle, two feet full of stubbed toes, arms that were going numb, and the realization that probably half a dozen armed men were hanging around and watching their approach. The lights she’d seen were construction lights, undoubtedly running on batteries she couldn’t see. They were angled to flood the center of the space, and when Jenna looked past the armed men, a strange combination of bile and glee swelled inside her.
There was a large cage positioned so it was about half in the light, a canvas tarp puddled off to the side, and inside the cage … was Steph.
Someone barked something in Spanish and one of the men took Jenna from Drew’s grip, dragging her straight to the cage. Another man slammed the butt of his gun against the cage as if to chase Steph away from the opening, then unlatched it so the first man could twist his hand in Jenna’s hair and shove her roughly inside.
Jenna went as willingly as she could. And the cage that had looked large seconds earlier suddenly felt cramped.
The door was slammed and latched before she’d figured out how to straighten herself, and then she realized she’d been caged with the damn handcuffs on. A sob threatened to burst from her, but she held it in. She would not give these trafficking, murdering, probably raping bastards the satisfaction.
Steph sniffled at her side and whispered in a haggard voice, “M-Ms. Hodge?”
Jenna attempted to find a smile for the girl she’d been so worried about. She couldn’t believe Steph was still so close to home. “We’ve been really worried about you,” she whispered back.
Steph pressed her lips tight together in a weak smile as her eyes glossed over.
Male voices drifted to them, amplified by the cave surrounding them, and Jenna looked outward. Thanks to the lights, she could see Drew speaking to a few of the men who absolutely had to be part of that cartel.
“PJ says if this doesn’t cool things down, we’re pulling out tonight,” one of the men said. He was the one who’d hollered to them.
Drew rested his hands on his hips. “Tell PJ not to worry. I know that asshole. He’ll take the bait. And in here, with all your guns, you can’t lose. My old man’s shoring up the other end of the problem as we speak. Hell, he’s probably done by now.”
