by Zoey Parker
“You’re going to die.”
“Oh. I was dreaming.” I sat up slightly.
“Some dream.” He chuckled, still focused on the TV. I made a face at the back of his head.
Gigi was waking up, too. She was sleeping a lot. I thought it had to be the stress. She couldn’t handle it, just like I evidently couldn’t. Why else would I fall asleep when I needed to be on alert, keeping her safe from him?
“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom,” she whispered. My heart sank, and my nose wrinkled at the thought of what the bathroom had to be like. The room itself was bad enough.
“She’s got to go,” I said, louder. He shrugged without turning around. “Hey. Unless you want her to pee all over the bed, you’re gonna let her go to the bathroom.”
“Go, if you want to. But I’m gonna count to thirty. If you’re not outta there by the time I’m finished…”
I snorted. “You’ll what? Didn’t you already say you won’t touch the merchandise?”
He swiveled, glaring at me. I told myself it might not be the wisest idea to laugh at him. He didn’t look like the type to let it roll off his back.
“Come on.” I stood, stretching. My back ached from the position I’d been in, wedged up against the headboard. My arms ached from holding Gigi so tight, though I wouldn’t have let go for anything in the world. I took her by the hand, leading her to the bathroom.
It was just as disgusting as I’d imagined. “Oh gosh,” Gigi moaned, holding her nose.
“You gotta go, you’d better go.” I closed the door behind us, cutting off The Scarecrow’s words. He was worse than a wild animal. There went any attempt at an escape—I could hardly breathe in the filthy bathroom, much less take the time to plot.
I couldn’t let her sit on the seat, so I held her up over the bowl while she squatted with her feet on the seat. I heard him counting outside the door, loudly. I urged Gigi to hurry as she went. “I’m trying,” she whispered. I felt so sorry for her. She was panicked, but trying to keep it together. I knew how she felt.
We were out of the bathroom by the time he hit twenty-nine. “Good thing,” he muttered as we climbed onto the bed. “I would’ve had to come in after you.”
“You’re a pig. A filthy pig.” I didn’t care how he glared at me, or how angry he was. It didn’t matter anymore. He wanted to play head games with me, intimidate us both. I had to show Gigi I wasn’t afraid so she would take a little strength from me. It was all I could do for her since I was such a helpless failure at rescuing her.
I sat beside her on the bed, running my fingers through her tangled hair. I hummed a song my mom used to hum while she brushed my hair after a bath. I never knew the name of it, but it had a pretty, lilting melody.
“Stop humming,” he muttered, face to the TV. I stared at his back and hummed louder. “I said stop.”
I didn’t stop. I kept going, even louder than before.
“What the fuck is your problem?” He wheeled around, glaring.
I held his stare. “Nothing. I wanted to hum, that’s all. I thought I would make Gigi a little more comfortable.”
“Yeah? It’s making me uncomfortable.”
“Sorry. You can let us go if it’s such a problem.”
“You know it ain’t gonna happen, so stop talking about it.”
“Then I’m going to have to keep on humming.” I went back to my business of getting the snarls out of Gigi’s dark, wavy hair, humming as I worked.
“Bitch.” In an explosion of movement, The Scarecrow lunged at me. I pushed Gigi away while he took me by the throat. “I’ll make her watch me snap your neck. You want her to see me do it?”
“No.” I shook my head. He wasn’t strangling me, only holding tight enough for me to know he meant it.
“You.” He looked at Gigi. “You wanna see me snap her neck?”
“No!” She wept.
“It’s okay, honey.” He had my arms pinned between our bodies. If only they were free, I could hit him, claw him, get us out of there. His weight made it impossible for me to pull them out.
Then I felt something even more menacing than his hand at my throat. His dick started getting hard, pressing against my thigh. I turned my head in disgust, my stomach roiling. He snickered. “What, you like that? You want it? Huh?
I opened my eyes to find Gigi staring at us in complete terror, tears streaming down her face. The thought of getting raped while she watched was a very real threat for a split second. I couldn’t let that happen. I owed it to her to stay calm, to protect her as I protected myself.
I made eye contact with her and smiled. “It’s okay,” I said.
“What?” He pulled back.
“I said, it’s okay.” I sat up, disentangling myself from him. “Thanks for the offer, but no thanks.” I held out my arms and Gigi tumbled into them. I focused on calming her, ignoring him. I could tell it made him crazy that I wouldn’t crumble in front of him. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking shaken up, even as my insides quaked.
***
Headlights outside the window. I froze, staring at them. In my heart, I prayed it was Lance coming to save us. Something told me my prayers weren’t going to be answered so easily.
Gigi had drifted off again, and my arms tightened around her. Like hell would I let anybody take her from me. They’d have to kill me first. I would protect her to my last breath.
I looked down at her, kissing her head, holding her as tight as I could without scaring her. I gathered her in my arms until I was nearly on top of her, my back to the door. That woke her up.
“What’s happening?” she whispered, her voice thick with sleep.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.” I didn’t know who I was trying to convince, her or me. “I’m gonna hold you really tight, okay? Don’t let go of me no matter what. I’m gonna try as hard as I can to keep you with me.”
“Okay.” Her voice was strangely calm. She trusted me. Poor thing. I didn’t even trust myself anymore.
“But listen to me. If they get you away from me, I want you to fight as hard as you can. Got it? Kick, scream, punch, do whatever you have to do. Hurt them. Kick them between the legs if you can. I mean it. Hard, baby.”
“Okay.” She looked up at me. “Are they going to take me?”
“Not if I can help it.” The door opened, and I flinched at the sound. Gigi gasped. I pressed her head to my chest. It was only The Scarecrow going outside to greet his guest. I heard their voices.
Lance, Lance, where are you? The two men came in, The Scarecrow and the buyer. Gigi started to shake. I reminded myself to be strong for her.
“Let’s go,” the other man said. His voice was deep, resonant. I had hope, though. If it was only one person, Gigi might be able to claw at him. Or me. One of us.
“Remember,” I whispered. “Do whatever you have to.” I felt her head nodding against my chest, and kissed it. “I love you.”
“Come on!” The Scarecrow pulled at my arms, but I wouldn’t let go so easily. He rolled me over onto my back, Gigi in my arms. I screamed, kicked out, but kept my arms locked around her.
“No! No! You won’t! Get off me!” I did whatever I could, while Gigi screamed in my arms. I felt like a wild animal, adrenaline pumping through me. The other man, a short, squat little person, pulled at my feet until I fell off the bed, landing on my tailbone. I had the brief flash of knowledge that it would hurt like hell once all was said and done, but I didn’t feel it in the moment. Nothing mattered but fighting.
I kicked at him, losing a shoe but making contact with his arm, then his head. He reeled back, cursing and sputtering. I saw murder in his eyes when he came for me again.
“Let her go,” The Scarecrow growled, working at my arms again. He took one, the buyer took the other. Gigi clung to me, still screaming.
“No! No!” I screamed, twisting, kicking still, trying to bite their arms, their hands. I didn’t think about what I was doing—it was all instinct. I tried t
o roll away, on top of Gigi, but they held me down.
“Let go!” The buyer finally pulled back and punched me across the jaw. I saw stars. It was just enough to stun me, just enough to get me to loosen my grip for a split second. It was all they needed to pull my arms away from Gigi.
“No!” She shrieked as the buyer took her in his arms.
I came to in an instant. “Fight him!” I screamed, struggling to get to my feet. The Scarecrow tried to stop me, leaning down, pushing me to the floor. I took a piece of my own advice and punched him in the balls. He cried out, falling back onto the bed.
I jumped to my feet to find the buyer opening the door. Gigi screamed and kicked, clawing at him. It made no difference. She was too small. I lunged for him, pulling him back by the greasy collar of his jacket.
“Fuck!” He choked, falling back a step or two. It was enough for me to grab for Gigi, sliding my hand between her body and his. With my other hand, I clawed at his face in desperation.
“Let go of me, you bitch!” His scream mingled with ours, the three of us struggling. Gigi kicked, pummeling him, but it didn’t seem to matter. I had one arm around her, pulling her to me. He wouldn’t let go, his arms like steel.
“Let her go! Give her to me!” I shrieked, going for his eyes with my nails. He roared in fury.
I had her. He loosened his grip to reach for his eyes. For a split second, I was victorious. I felt her moving toward me as he let go.
Then, everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lance
“What are we doing?” Flash asked, waiting for my word. He sounded tense. I knew how he felt—I thought my heart might explode from the tension. I was stiff from waiting behind the car, too.
I looked from one side to the other to be sure everybody was in place. They waited for my word to charge the room. Slate gave me the thumbs-up from his position. I could hear him breathing in my ear. He was excited, ready for action, just like everybody else.
I wondered if any of them felt as desperate as I did.
“We can’t wait anymore,” I said. “This is crazy. We have to go in.”
“What about the people he’s waiting for?”
“I want at least three people on both sides watching out for anybody coming in. I want you to fire off a single shot when you see anybody, and I mean anybody, approaching. It shouldn’t take long to get the girls from him if he’s alone. I think he is. I haven’t seen anybody else.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going in first, though.”
“I don’t want you going in there alone,” Flash warned.
“It doesn’t matter. I go in first.”
“You need backup.”
“Then you’ll need to be fast, won’t you? I’m gonna kick the door in and hope I take him by surprise. That’s all we have right now. Surprise. Okay?”
Silence.
“I said, okay?”
“Okay,” Flash said. He didn’t want to agree, but he didn’t have a choice.
“Good. I’m going in.” I took two, maybe three steps toward the room when a car pulled into the parking lot. Its headlights lit up the lot as it got closer.
“Shit!” I scrambled off to the side of Jamie’s car, leaving it between the new car and me. I hoped the driver pulled up on the other side, or I was fucked.
“We waited too long,” I muttered.
“No, we didn’t. Now we know who we’re dealing with. Just wait for them to come outta the car.”
I waited, and was relieved when the new car pulled up on the other side of Jamie’s. I ducked, going to the back of the car again. Waiting for the driver to get out.
“Who is that?” Slate muttered.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “But it’s just him. He’s the only person in the car.” We watched as a short little guy got out of the car, looking like he just rolled in a pile of shit. My nose wrinkled. He’d better not try to touch either of them.
“He looks like the type who would sell women, doesn’t he? Probably couldn’t pay a woman to touch him,” Slate muttered under his breath.
“What are we doing?” Flash asked again. He sounded more panicked this time. The short guy waited outside the room after knocking on the door.
“We’re waiting to see what he does,” I said.
“We know what he’s gonna do, damn it. He’s gonna take them.”
“Right, and The Scarecrow probably has a gun. We gotta be careful.” That wasn’t like me. The old me wouldn’t have waited. If it was somebody else’s kid, somebody else’s woman, I wouldn’t have stood there, watching. I would’ve rushed the room, gun in hand, ready to blow somebody’s brains out. My priority was making sure neither of them got hurt. We could take that little shit with no problem, but I didn’t want The Scarecrow holed up with the two of them and a gun. If he knew we were waiting, he’d keep them both, if he didn’t shoot them right away.
The door opened, and a man stepped outside. “That’s him,” Slate muttered in my earpiece. “That’s The Scarecrow.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve seen him before.”
The two of them talked, and I watched the little guy hand a stack of bills to The Scarecrow. I wondered which one of them the money was for. It might have been for both of them. My stomach turned.
They went inside.
“Lance! We’ve gotta to!” Flash’s voice rang in my ear.
“I don’t want to put them in any more danger,” I insisted.
I heard screaming. That was all I needed.
“Let’s go!” They didn’t need me to say it twice. We all took off at a run from all directions, guns drawn.
The door flew open, and the little guy came out. He was holding a kicking, screaming thing. Gigi. I screamed, too, and that got his attention. He stopped, then looked at me running at him from behind his car. He looked left, looked right, saw my crew coming for him. He lunged for the driver’s side door.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I went for him, gun to his head. “Let her go!”
“Get off! She’s mine! I paid for her!” He yanked his arm out of my hand. He still thought he could get inside the car. I pulled the gun away from his head just long enough to fire a shot into the air, then pressed it harder against his skull. I looked at Gigi for a second—she was fighting still. Kicking, punching. That was my girl, all right.
“Let her go,” I growled. “Or I’ll put a bullet in your fucking head so fast you won’t know what happened. Put her down.”
He dropped her. She landed on her stomach. My instinct was to go for her, to pick her up. I stopped myself. I had to hold onto him. No way I’d let him drive out of there.
“Run!” I tried not to scream at her. I didn’t wanna scare her. “Go to the guys! Go!” She scrambled to her feet and took off. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it wasn’t over yet. I held the buyer against me with an arm around his neck.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” I growled.
“It’s not personal!” He trembled. It sounded like he was gonna cry.
“You worthless piece of shit.” I didn’t shoot him, but I did bring the butt of the gun down hard on his head. He fell at my feet like a pile of bricks.
The rest of the club was at the door, standing at either side. “Lance!” Flash waved me over. I wondered why nobody went inside, then I saw what he was so careful of when I looked through the door to the inside of the room.
The Scarecrow. He stood there with a gun in his hand, pressed against Jamie’s head. He held her up—I could tell she was barely conscious, knees loose, feet dragging on the floor. Her head lolled from side to side. When it did, I saw blood on the front of his shirt. From her. Something screamed inside me. I glared at him, gun in my hand. My finger itched to pull the trigger.
“I’m coming out with her,” The Scarecrow hissed. “I’m gonna get in my car, and I’m gonna drive the fuck away. You’re not gonna stop me, or I’ll blow her head
off. I swear to God I will. She doesn’t mean shit to me.”
“Let her go,” I said.
“No way. Give it up. Say goodbye. She’s gone.” He sneered and walked to the door. I didn’t have a choice—I had to back up, let him come out.
I walked slowly, talking to him as I did. “You don’t need her. You can have all the money you want. I’ll pay Rae’s debt.”
“Oh, you know about that?” He laughed. “She’s a lying bitch. So she’s still in town? I’ll deal with her, too. I don’t like people getting in my way.”
