“Any of you gentlemen got a spare T-shirt for the lady?” Cole asks, flicking a cigarette into his mouth and lighting up. “Don’t want her getting cold now, do we?”
One of the younger men stands up, removes his cut, and pulls off his T-shirt, throwing it at Cole, who then turns and holds it out to me.
“Here you go, darlin’. Don’t say I ain’t a gentleman.”
I don’t want to take it, but he’s ripped my dress, I can’t put that back on, so, what’s the alternative? I remain naked? I take the T-shirt from him and I pull it on, thankful that it’s way too big for me and therefore covers more than I thought it would. But I don’t feel any safer. I think this was just an introduction to the shit Cole Rockwell has in store for me.
“OK, brothers. Let’s leave the little lady in peace. We got some drinking to catch up on. Some celebrating to do.” He looks at me, and he winks, that ugly sneer once more taking over his face. “Time’s up now, ain’t it?”
Theo
The van, I can hear it, in the distance. Dom’s prison van, and I feel my heart start to slam even harder against my ribs. I swear, I have never felt so terrified, or so hopeful, Jesus, every emotion I can think of I’m feeling them all, and I just want this to be over now.
“You ready?” Mack asks me, and I nod, checking my inside jacket pocket to make sure all the documents Cole gave us yesterday are still there, all safe and sound; that the one bag I have is by my side, ready to grab when we leave this van and run to the plane that’s on its way to take me and Dom to safety. One bag. From having everything, to my entire life disappearing before my eyes, to be replaced by a new one that starts with one bag.
“OK. On my word get ready to spring those doors and pull your brother inside, y’hear me, kiddo? Get him in here, then we go. We get you to that plane, and we get you outta here.”
“And what about you, Mack? I mean, the cops aren’t gonna let this go, are they?”
“I told you, Theo, we can handle this. Cole, he’s done this shit before, he’s got it all in hand.”
I’m not so sure. We still haven’t seen Cole, haven’t heard from him since that last call he made to Mack, but maybe Mack’s right. In a matter of minutes none of that shit is my concern anymore. I’m leaving it all behind. I’m starting again.
The sound of tires screeching and raised voices suddenly fills the air, and the expression on Mack’s face doesn’t fill me with anything other than dread. Is this how it’s all supposed to sound? All those voices? All that shouting? The sound of guns being fired…?
Chapter Sixteen
Gabriel
“Where is she?”
Mack Slayer looks at me, but he keeps his mouth shut, he doesn’t answer my question.
“Jesus, Mack, I know you’re a cold bastard but if that low-life prick has Skye…”
“I ain’t saying nothing ‘cause I know nothing, all right? And that low-life prick – he just fucked me over big time, so if I knew anything that meant I could take that piece of shit down with me, I’d tell you. OK?”
I step back and rake a hand through my hair. She’s been missing for hours now. And even though we got Mack Slayer, we got Theo and Dom Blane; we got some of them. But Cole Rockwell is still out there, and he has Skye.
“Hey, Gabriel. A word?”
I glance over at the door as Phil jerks his head toward the corridor outside. I throw Slayer a look and leave the room, slamming the door shut behind me.
“Anything?”
Phil shakes his head.
“I’ll have a word with him.”
I start to make my way toward the room we’re holding Theo Blane in, but Phil puts a hand on my chest to stop me from going anywhere, and I look down at it, then back up at him.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t think you should go in there.”
“Why the hell not? You don’t get to tell me what to do, you’re not my goddamn boss. I’m running this show, not you.”
“You really think it’s a good idea? For you to question him?”
“What’re you trying to say, Phil? That because he fucked her a couple of times I’m gonna go all bad cop on him?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“You still think I slept with her?”
He doesn’t say anything to that, and I take hold of his wrist and yank his hand away from me.
“I’m gonna talk to him. You go in there and see if you can get anything out of Slayer as to the whereabouts of Sam Wheeler. He’s shutting down on that subject, but I want that bastard’s father, too. If he won’t talk, get his wife in. In fact, bring her in anyway. She knew Sam before Mack even had any idea he was his father. They’re close. Get her to talk. We’re gonna take that son-of-a-bitch down for any fucking thing we can.”
Skye
I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep. I’m too scared to close my eyes, I don’t know what might happen if I do that. So I’m just sitting here, trying not to think too much. And then the door opens, and Cole walks in carrying another plate with another sandwich on it, and I can smell bacon over the stench of stale beer and damp that fills this room.
I turn to look out of the window, and I notice it’s getting light outside. It’s almost morning. I’ve been here all night. It’s possible I may never actually leave here, but I think when I shut down last night, when that bastard took me without my permission; I don’t think I really came out of that trance. I think keeping myself in that state is the only way I can cope now.
“You ain’t eaten anything in hours.”
I look up as he sits down next to me, and I narrow my eyes as he picks up the sandwich and offers it to me. I don’t want it, but at the same time I know I need to eat, I need to stay as strong as I can, so I take it from him and I bite into it, swallowing down a mouthful of greasy bacon that sits in my stomach like a lead weight.
“Good girl.”
“That video you have. Of me and Gabriel…” I trail off, because I don’t need to finish the sentence. He knows what I’m going to ask.
“I ain’t done nothing with it. Yet.”
“Please. Don’t.”
He looks at me, and he laughs before he gives me that smirk again and I feel my stomach turn over, that bite of sandwich still sitting there, threatening to come straight back up. “You begging me, darlin’?”
“If I have to. He doesn’t deserve that…”
“Whoa there, baby girl. He don’t deserve that? That man deserves every ounce o’ shit that’s coming his way.”
“I’ll do whatever you want, Cole, but please, don’t do anything with that video.”
He narrows his eyes and he laughs again, a cold, almost disembodied laugh that makes me physically shudder. “You’ll do whatever I want… You really are willing to go that extra mile to keep your man in his filthy job, huh?”
I drop my gaze and pick at the hem of my borrowed T-shirt. But I stay silent.
“What’d he promise you, darlin’? Huh? A new life? A new identity? A safe haven in a place someone like me ain’t ever gonna find you?”
Still I say nothing. He already knows the answers to his questions.
“But me? I ain’t gonna make you no promises, sugar. ‘Cause I ain’t sure what I’m gonna do with that video yet. But, y’know, if you’re offering to do whatever I want, that just might go a long way to helping your cause.”
I look up, and he’s already unzipped himself, already released his semi-hard erection. And then he takes my hand and he places his cock in my palm, curling my fingers around it, and again I have to swallow down the nausea.
“On your knees, baby girl. And let’s see if you can work as much magic with those fingers as you can with that pretty pussy.”
I drop to my haunches and crouch down between his legs, running my fingers up and down his cock until it’s hard and rigid, and as I stroke him and grasp him and cup his balls I’m grateful that, once again, it takes him just seconds to come, and as he pumps his
filthy poison out into my hand I really do have to try hard not to throw up. I’m disgusted and scared and frustrated that I even got myself into this situation, but I haven’t got time for regrets and self-pity. I have to do every dirty, twisted thing he wants me to do, and even then it could all be for nothing.
I let go of him and stand up, wiping my hand on the T-shirt because there’s nothing else to clean myself up with. And that in itself disgusts me. They’re making me pee in a bucket that I have to tip out of the window myself while they watch, making sure I don’t try to escape; wash from a bowl of water they give me, and they haven’t brought a fresh one in this morning.
I walk over to the window and look outside. It’s light now. I don’t know what time it is exactly but the sun’s quite low so I’m guessing it’s still early. Have they been looking for me all night? Did Theo get away? I don’t know what the hell went on last night…
“You not gonna ask about our ex-lawyer boy?”
I swing around, and he’s up off the couch now, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.
“Thought you might wanna know how all that went down last night.”
The look on his face tells me everything I need to know, and I feel tears start to prick at my eyes but I can’t let them fall, Jesus, this asshole sees me crying, what kind of message does that send out?
“Your law enforcement friends, they’re gonna make sure he gets what he deserves, too.”
“He doesn’t deserve that,” I whisper, and I didn’t actually mean to say that out loud, it just slipped out, and he laughs.
“You seem to think no one deserves anything, Skye. But I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them, darlin’. They’re alive, aren’t they? And me and my boys, we ain’t got no blood on our hands. Thanks to you. You must’ve been sent from heaven, our own beautiful baby angel, giving us a chance to do a job we’ve wanted to do ever since those Soldiers set up home in a place they had no right coming anywhere near. And no one had to die.” Another laugh. And he reaches out to run his fingers over my cheek, cocking his head to one side as he looks at me. “Not yet, anyway.”
He pulls away and walks out of the room, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke behind him. And I fall to my knees, and I cry.
Theo
I was right all along. About Skye. She was working for the FBI, cut herself a deal for freedom in return for Mack Slayer, Cole Rockwell, and Sam Wheeler. Me, I was just a bonus. The reason they put her in there in the first place. She spent every second she was with me lying to my face while I let myself fall for her. But I saw through it, in the end. I started to see the cracks, and I should’ve stuck to my gut instincts.
I stand up and kick the table in frustration, punching the wall, Jesus! I’m fucking better than this.
“You might want to calm the hell down or we’re gonna cuff those hands of yours to that table.”
I turn to see a tall, tired looking man with a short dark beard and slightly ruffled hair walk into the room, his hands in his pockets, his face impassive. He seems different to the other agents I’ve had in here so far. Calmer.
“Sit down.”
He indicates the chair I’ve just vacated with a nod of his head, and I do what he says. There’s no point arguing.
“Where’s my brother? Because no one’s telling me anything.”
“Your brother’s in another room.”
“He’s innocent.”
“Well, he’s innocent as far as killing that man was concerned, because we all know who really did that, don’t we?” His expression remains impassive as he lowers himself down into the chair opposite me, keeping his hands in his pockets. You could almost describe him as relaxed with his tie hanging loose around his neck, his shirtsleeves rolled up, and his laid back manner. It’s a strange vibe he’s giving off, and it’s slightly confusing. “You know we have you on tape, confessing to that killing?”
“You heard everything, huh?”
“We heard enough.”
Of course they did. And I wish to God my instincts had kicked in sooner, but I guess I let myself be blinded by her. By the distraction I wanted her to become. But, y’know, they were probably gonna get this out of me anyway, eventually, because the guilt was never gonna leave me. So maybe this was always gonna happen. I think I know that now.
“Where is she? Where’s Skye?”
“That’s really not your concern.”
I narrow my eyes and I stare at this man. He seems oddly cold toward the subject of Skye. Is he really capable of becoming so emotionless?
“Cole Rockwell has her, doesn’t he?”
“Like I said, this has…”
“Nothing to do with me?” I lean forward and I look him straight in the eye. “I care about her. She may have lied to my face, helped send me to jail, she may have done all of that but I still care about what happens to her. And if that twisted freak has her…”
He shoots me a look that silently tells me to calm down, and I sit back and sigh quietly, dropping my gaze.
“You heard everything, right?”
I look up, but his face is still hard. Expressionless.
“So you heard what that bastard made her do. What he made us do. And if he has her, and he knows she’s an informant…”
His eyes burn into mine, but his voice remains steady. “We’ll find her.”
“Alive? Or doesn’t that matter?”
He doesn’t respond to that, he just holds my gaze for a few more beats before he speaks again.
“Think very carefully, Theo. Did Rockwell or any of his men mention anything about places they might use; out of the way places…”
“No, Jesus, I’m telling you what I told the other guy who was just in here, I don’t know anything. If I did, I’d tell you, I mean, hell – it’s not like I’ve got anything left to lose.”
He pushes back his chair, runs a hand through his hair and stands up, leaving the room without another word.
Cole Rockwell has her.
And they haven’t found her yet.
She helped send me down.
But maybe I deserved that.
What Cole Rockwell could be putting her through right now; what he might have already done – she doesn’t deserve any of it. No matter what she did to me…
Chapter Seventeen
Skye
Cole’s just left the room. But I can still feel his cold, clammy hands all over me, his hot breath still there on my skin.
I lean back against the wall and pull my knees to my chest, staring straight ahead of me. I don’t even know how long I’ve been here now. I just know that every now and again Cole will come in, sometimes alone, sometimes with a handful of his men in tow, and he’ll violate me in some vile and twisted way and I take it, because to fight him would be pointless. Dangerous. So I take it, and then I wait, for the next time. And I don’t know how long this is going to go on, how much he’s going to make me take before he kills me. Because he will. He’s as good as told me that’s what he’s going to do. It’s my punishment. It’s what I deserve.
Outside the roar of motorcycles pierces the otherwise eerily peaceful surroundings, and I close my eyes as I hear more voices beyond the four walls of this make-shift prison cell I’ve been thrown into. Are they going to come in here, too? Watch Cole perform his sick acts? Because that’s all anyone else gets to do – watch. Cole’s the only one who touches me, the only one who’s allowed to come anywhere near me but he doesn’t mind an audience. Sometimes. Other times it’s just me and him.
He’s taking everything from me. My dignity. My strength. My hope. I don’t know if anyone will find me in time, but I know they’ll be looking for me, and I have to hold on to that. But at the back of my mind I’m preparing for the worst. I’m readying myself to never leave this place, to die on the floor of this damp and filthy hell hole in a way I can’t even begin to imagine.
He’s taking everything from me.
But what do I really have left to lose?
Gabr
iel
“You and Sam Wheeler, you’re close, right?”
Izzi Slayer sits opposite me, a stunningly attractive woman with an abundance of tattoos and an attitude to match the hard exterior she’s displayed ever since we brought her in a couple of hours ago. But I know she hasn’t always been this woman. I know all about Izzi Slayer’s past, what brought her to this life. She’s one messed up woman with a hell of a lot of baggage, and she’s certainly learned how to be the almost stereotypical old lady to her president husband. Say nothing. Keep quiet. Don’t get her man into trouble, except, it’s too late for that. He’s in it up to his over-inked neck, so she can’t save him. But she can help save Skye.
I lean forward and lock eyes with her. “Listen, Izzi, I get that as far as Mack’s concerned you’re never gonna open that pretty mouth of yours. But this, here, this isn’t about Mack. This is about Skye. Cole Rockwell has her, and Sam Wheeler, he’s known that man a long time. And we need him to tell us anything he can…”
“That’s bullshit. You want to bring Sam in too, take him down the way you’re taking my husband down.”
“He deserves that, darlin’. And you sitting there blindly defending him isn’t gonna change what’s coming to him. Your cozy little club life, that’s gone. And let’s not forget, sweetheart, that we have a whole heap of shit on you, too. Because you’re not exactly a good girl, are you? Oh, I know you used to be. In fact, I know quite a bit about you, Mrs. Slayer. But I’m willing to let all that slide, because we have your man. I’m willing to ignore your crap but in return you’re gonna do what I ask you to do, or believe me, darlin’, your kids aren’t gonna have either of their parents around to drag them up.”
She narrows her eyes, the stare she gives me exuding pure hate. But she knows I’m not bluffing here. She isn’t stupid.
“Sam Wheeler’s like a father to you, right?”
Bound (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 3) Page 18
