by Jc Emery
“I’ll be in the hallway. You two stay put,” Tall says. He pulls his phone back out of his pocket, puts it to his ear, and draws his gun up in front of him. With his phone tucked between his cheek and his shoulder, he slowly opens the door, steps through the frame, and then shuts it behind him.
“The guys will be here any minute,” I say to Mindy. “Then we’ll be safe.”
Mindy just shakes her head and gives me a disapproving glare. “Who are you? I mean, really? What happened to getting your life on track and making this your fresh start?”
Every muscle in my body tenses up, my temper rises, and I fold my arms over my chest. How dare she say that shit to me? “Who am I? I’m the idiot who spent two years cleaning up after your messes. I’m the moron who thought she could pull you out of your own filth, that’s who I am.”
“Great, so now it comes out,” she says. Her mouth forms a pout, and tears well in her eyes. “I knew you would throw that in my face eventually. I just knew it. Go ahead, Holly. Tell me how I ruined your life!”
“You didn’t ruin it,” I snap. Even angry, I can’t bring myself to say the things that are flying through my brain. “I made my choice. I stayed when I didn’t have to, I know that. But do me a favor and just get off my back, okay? I don’t tell you how you fucked up at every turn, do I?”
“No,” she bites back. “I don’t need your reminders. I feel it every single day. I’m a fucking junkie. My feet are so tore up that I can’t even wear sandals anymore. I have tracks in places you can’t even imagine sticking a needle. So no, Holly. I don’t need your judgment or your reminders.”
“Mindy,” I whisper in a plea. A tear falls down my cheek, unable to stay in any longer. This has been coming for years, but I’d hoped to continue to avoid it for a little longer. The old Mindy curses, but the new Mindy says silly things like wackadoodle and silly goose. The harsh words that fly out of her mouth scare me. They’re one big red flag that the old Mindy isn’t so deeply buried as I thought she was. “I’m so sorry.”
“Please just drop it,” she whispers and folds in on herself.
Time feels like it drags on and I start to worry for Tall. He hasn’t returned yet, and even though I have no idea if it’s been two minutes or twenty, I’m far too restless to stay in here like a sitting duck. Mindy says nothing as I grab the brick and creep to the door. Slowly, I open it and take a step out. Tall rounds the corner in that moment and shakes his head.
“Get back in the office. What the hell are you doing?”
“I was worried about you!” I defend myself and take a step back.
“Don’t worry about me,” he orders. A shadow casts on the wall at the end of the hallway and a strange man enters. He’s of average height, but his face is all sucked in and his eyes are wild. He raises a gun at the back of Tall’s head. I scream out at the loud bang. Dark red liquid coats my face and clothes as Tall’s eyes go blank and his body drops to the floor. Blood pools at the back of his head and he’s so still. I close my eyes to try to ignore what I’ve seen.
Chapter 27
IN SHOCK, I can’t move or scream anymore. I feel Mindy move behind me and let out a loud scream. The man at the end of the hall is joined by another, who also has a gun in hand. They advance on us, shoving us further into the little office. The man who shot Tall points his gun at my head, forcing me into the corner and to the floor. I hide the brick behind me, hoping he doesn’t see it. The second man has his gun on Mindy. She is still as a board and her face is blank. I know this look–she’s shutting down. And who would blame her? She just saw a man die—a man who was her friend on some level.
Tall’s dead.
I force myself to not feel what’s going on around me. I’ve never dealt well with blood, so I block it out the best I can. It’s water. It’s just water that’s on my face and arms.
These men don’t look like the smooth talking Italian that stuck us on the seawall. No, he didn’t use a gun or violence. He just asked for a favor in a way he knew neither of us could refuse. It was either cooperate or be hurt, so we cooperated. These guys look and smell filthy. A rich body odor emanates from them, and their movements are jerky. Neither looks healthy, and both remind me of Mindy when she was at her worst. My stomach rolls from the reminder.
“Nicole Whelan,” the second man says looking at Mindy.
“No, I’m not—” she says and shakes her head in confusion, but he isn’t having it. He lifts the gun and pops her across her cheek with the butt of it. “Shut up, whore. I didn’t say you could talk.”
Instinctively, I move forward, but the guy shoves the gun into my temple, making me freeze in place. They think Mindy is Nic. I open my mouth to try to correct them, but I don’t dare speak. The man with the gun to my head pulls out a cell phone and pushes a few buttons, then brings it to his ear.
“I got your bitch and Grady’s bitch here,” the man says. His speech patterns are all over the place, and the gun shakes as he speaks. They may not know who Mindy is, but they obviously know who I am. My chest constricts in panic.
“Nicole is going to pay for what you did.” There’s a beat of silence before I hear shouting on the other end. It’s Josh, and he’s flipping out, which is to be expected. Whatever is going on is clearly personal. These guys want Nic, not Mindy, but if they know she isn’t Nic, they might just kill her. The man at my side didn’t waste a second killing Aaron, and they have obviously done their homework if they know Grady and I are together, just not well enough to know they have the wrong blonde. “You let us do our job and we’ll leave, but if you come in here, they both die and your baby dies with them.”
The man on Mindy puts his gun on the nearby filing cabinet. His eyes roam Mindy’s body, and he licks his lips. Reaching out, he slaps her across her face twice and then grabs her head and pulls her face into his. She whimpers, but doesn’t move to defend herself. His lips smash against hers, and he walks her back into the wall behind her. She doesn’t move her mouth, she just squeezes her eyes shut as he bucks his hips into her. I close my eyes, refusing to watch what I fear is about to happen.
“Open your fucking eyes,” the man next to me says. I force myself to look up at him. He shoves his phone in my face and makes me grab it. “You’re going to tell her Old Man everything my buddy does to his woman.”
With the phone at my ear, I shake my head and whimper, “Please no.”
The butt of the gun pops me across my mouth just hard enough to hurt like hell but not so hard that I lose my grip on the phone. My mouth fills with blood.
“Just do what he says, Holly,” a familiar voice says from the other end of the line.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Tell him!” the guy shouts. Not wanting to, but knowing I don’t have another choice, I turn my head back across the room. The man has his hands on Mindy’s breasts and is kneading them. Her arms are down at her sides and her eyes are closed. Her cheeks are wet with tears. She is dead still. As painful as it is to watch this, I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.
“He’s touching her breasts,” I manage to say through the panic that’s closing in around my lungs.
“Holly, it’s Ian,” the voice on the other end says. “We know you’re at Universal Ground. We just have to see if we can get in there without getting you two hurt even worse, okay?”
“Okay,” whisper.
“So just keep talking,” Ian says. “We know Nic is safe. She’s with Ruby.”
The man on Mindy wraps a hand around her neck, squeezes, and then slams her head against the wall behind her. My gut lurches as she opens her eyes and cries openly. He reaches down and yanks at the button of her jeans, then pulls down the zipper. She jerks away and shoves at his chest, dragging her nails across his skin. Spots of blood appear in the scratches, but she’s not able to stop him. He punches her first in her stomach, causing her to double over, and then right in her nose. Blood sprays out and coats her chin and T-shirt.
“He’s hitting her
,” I say as steady as I can. My body shakes violently.
“More detail, you fucking cunt,” the man with the gun says. He uses his free hand to strike me across my face then grabs a rough hold of my breast and squeezes. I cry out in pain, but don’t move to stop him. Everything is just getting worse and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. He lets go and brings his hand across my cheek. “Or I’m going to fuck your face until you choke on my dick.”
“More detail, Holly,” Ian commands. His voice is a mixture of pain and anger. “Just tell me.”
The guy grabs Mindy by the back of her neck and shoves her face down onto the desk in the center of the room. Her arms splay out to break her fall as she claws at the corner of the desk to get away, but he grabs at her unbuttoned jeans and yanks them down to her ankles. She screams with such pain that I break out into uncontrollable sobs.
“He’s got her on the desk and he’s taking her pants off,” I cry into the phone. The man looks up at his buddy by my side and smiles wide.
“Gorgeous pussy. You should see this, dude,” he says and shoves her legs apart. He unzips his fly and pulls his dick out. Mindy scrambles to get away, but he brings his closed fist down onto the center of her back. Her entire body jerks in response, and she screams louder than before. He pulls her back by her hips, and with one hand, he pushes himself inside of her.
“He’s raping her,” I wail. My eyes close involuntarily and I scream out.
“Fuck,” Ian says. His voice is rough, and he clears his throat. “Hang in there, Holly. We’re coming in, we just have to be quiet.”
“Watch, you fucking slut!” the man with the gun screams in my ear. “Tell him, tell her Old Man!”
“Open your eyes,” Ian says. I do as I’m told. The man rams into her harder with each thrust. My stomach rolls from the sight of it, and I try to focus on Mindy, not the man violating her. Her strawberry blonde hair is mostly covering her face, but I can see that her eyes are closed and she’s gritting through the pain. Her jaw is locked, and her teeth are bared.
I reach forward and wrap my hand around hers. She jerks away, but I hold her hand tighter. Her tear-filled eyes open, and she gasps in agony.
“I’m here, Minds,” I say through my tears. “I love you, and I’m here.”
She says nothing in response, but she lets go of the edge of the desk and grabs my hand. She squeezes it hard and sobs into the desk.
Finally, the man stills and lets out a relieved sigh. He grunts and then blows out a breath. Mindy cries quietly on top of the desk. She’s holding onto me and the desk so tight that her knuckles have turned white.
“My turn, dude,” the man at my side says. The other guy zips up his jeans, and the men trade places. The man who killed Tall hands the gun over to his friend then moves to stand beside Mindy. He grabs one of her legs and one of her arms and yanks her onto the ground. She falls on top of the fallen desk accessories and screams out in pain. A cracked cup of pens is crushed beneath her face, and a tray of paper clips and other various small items is under her forearm. A sob escapes her as snot drips down her face and onto the carpet below.
“They’re taking turns,” I whimper into the phone. “Mindy’s on the ground.”
Sweat trickles down the face of the man beside me. He licks his cracked lips and gives me a satisfied smile. In a soft but menacing voice he says, “Tell him his baby is going to die. Go ahead.”
“He says your baby is going to die,” I mumble through my hiccups and sobs.
Ian’s voice in my ear is kind and encouraging, “There is no baby, remember that, Holly. We’re almost in the shop, so just hang in there.” He keeps his voice quiet and steady, though the longer this goes on, the more pain I hear from him. I know they’re coming, they have to. It’s just not fast enough. Mindy’s already so hurt. I don’t know that she’s going to survive this even if we make it out of here alive.
The man surveys the room before he finds something he likes. On the wall beside me is a miniature bat trophy that’s affixed to a diamond-shaped placard. He yanks it off the wall and pulls the bat off its base. Mindy sobs on the floor quietly, her face in the carpet. He throws the placard down, grabs her by her hair, and kicks her in her stomach. Then again and again.
“Stop,” I scream. “Please!”
A rough hand reaches out and closes itself around my neck. He squeezes just enough so that I can’t breathe.
“What’s happening, Holly?” Ian asks. I try to tell him, but it’s impossible. All I manage is a squeak. The man shakes me, shoving my head in to the wall behind me. My ears ring, and everything gets really blurry, but I manage to keep hold of my consciousness. He lets go, and I suck in a desperate breath.
The man moves behind Mindy. He lifts her hips, takes the bat, and shoves it inside of her. Her screams are deafening. My stomach churns at the sight. I can’t take watching this anymore.
I throw the phone down and shove at the guy beside me. This is too much. They’re going to kill her. I have to do something to at least distract them. The man beside me pushes me back into the wall and onto my butt. I hit the brick and scream out as the pain shoots up my spine. The brick. If I can get a hold on it, maybe I can do something to help instead of just sitting here and doing nothing.
“Keep her in line!” The man with the bat shouts. His eyes are increasingly wild, and he’s taking on even jerkier movements. He pulls the bat out and throws it across the room. It hits the wall. A Streaks of blood splatter across the paint. Mindy’s cries quiet, and her body goes still. She just kind of stops everything except for shallow breathing. He hurt her, and I did nothing to stop it.
I did nothing.
The man with the gun cocks it and shoves it into my cheek. His friend grabs Mindy by her hair again and forces her onto her knees. He stands before her and unzips his jeans. Her face is scratched up from the pen cup, tiny streaks of blood drying in place. Her arms are bright red from carpet burn. I don’t dare look down at her naked lower half. I can’t go there. This is bad enough. But bright red streaks draw my attention to her exposed thighs. The front of the man’s pants are splattered in blood, and his bright red hand stains her blonde hair.
He pulls himself out of his fly and leads her face toward it. With one hand around her neck and the other at the back of her head, he forces her to take him in. Her nails dig into his thighs as she tears at his flesh, but he doesn’t stop.
“And don’t bite him, or I’ll blow a hole in your friend’s face,” the man with the gun says. Mindy’s eyes turn my way, and she bursts out into tears again, but the man redirects her head and slams himself into her mouth. It happens twice more before her body involuntarily seizes and she hunches forward as she chokes on him. Vomit pours from her mouth, but still he doesn’t stop. He slams in again and again, not giving her a chance to recover. She gasps for air, but more vomit falls out. Her throat closes up, and her body shakes violently. He’s assaulted her in every way possible and it’s in this moment that I don’t give a fuck if they kill us anymore. In fact, I hope they do. I don’t want to live in a world where I have to have seen this happen.
It’s painful, what he’s doing to her—making her choke on her own vomit around his dick. I grip the brick under my ass and eye the man with the gun.
“Take me,” I say. “Just stop hurting her.” Tears fall down my cheeks, and my chest rises and falls in a frenzied state. I move the brick to my side opposite him. “Please, take me. Hurt me, just stop! Stop! Please!”
He moves the gun and reaches down for his zipper. I lift the brick and slam it inside the side of his face. He falls back and drops the gun. With unsteady feet and shaking arms, I climb on top of him and throw the brick into his face one more time.
The door to the office bursts open with such speed that it hits the wall behind it and bounces off. A gun goes off, but I can’t tell from where. A second later, the man in front of Mindy lets go of her head. She pulls back and falls to her side as he crumples to the floor. Vomit and saliva pour o
ut of her mouth. Her body shakes and she tries to expel the rest of the contents onto the carpet.
The man beneath me has stopped moving, though his chest rises and falls with shallow breaths. Grady and Duke rush into the room with their guns drawn. The moment I see him, I fall apart all over again. Sobs rack my body and I let out a scream so violent it tears at my throat on its way out. Grady doesn’t move. He just stares at me in abject horror. His mouth turns down and his eyes are wide.
The man beneath me twitches. His arm moves toward the gun. I take my eyes off Grady and look at the man, whose face is covered in blood and caved in on one side. He’s alive. I can’t.
I can’t let him go. He doesn’t deserve to live.
It feels like forever ago that Grady told me about the men he’s killed. Every one of them must tear at his soul. He says he remembers them all, and I know that, given half the chance, he’ll kill this man, too. That’s just another burden for him to bear.
Seven men he’s killed, but none of them just because he could. They all died for a reason, but it doesn’t matter. It weighs on him. My man does what he has to do to protect his brothers, the mother of his child, and me. I want to be good for him. I want to show him how much I love him and that I can handle this world. I want to be strong enough to take care of myself and to take care of my man. That means not letting him shoulder anymore burdens than he has to.
I won’t let this man be number eight.
The brick is heavy in my hands as I grip it with all my might and bring it down onto the guy’s face. I pound the brick in so hard and so many times that his bones crack from the impact and his features cave in. Blood coats my arms and clothes in a way that would have made me sick to my stomach just yesterday. The pungent smell of iron is everywhere, but I don’t stop until Grady crosses the room and pulls me off of the guy. The brick drops onto the man’s chest and it’s only now that I really look at what’s left of his face. There’s little more left than a swollen eyeball that’s been forced out of its socket and the opening of his mouth, though I can’t see any teeth through the blood and torn flesh.
