SLAUGHTER

by Tessier, Shantel

  That was also when they moved in with us. They had no other family. Nowhere else to go. Since my father and hers were best friends, he took them in to live with us.

  “Presleigh wasn’t the only one who her brother tried to sell.”

  My mind is foggy. My chest tight. “Wait,” I say, waving a hand. “What do you mean sell?” Who said he was trying to sell Presleigh? I thought he wanted her for revenge?

  His smile disappears, and he huffs as if he is dealing with an idiot. I am at the moment because I’m confused as fuck.

  “Their father owned slaves just like your father.” I nod. I know that much. “Their father died in a plane crash. The news broke and said that the mother was with him, but she wasn’t. She was back at home. Preston was in debt. A lot at the age of seventeen. He already had a gambling problem and was into slaves just like his father. It’s no secret their dad was one of my worst enemies, so Preston sold his mother to cover all his debt.”

  No fucking way this is true. “I don’t believe it,” I say, shaking my head.

  He digs into his suit jacket pocket and removes his cell. He presses a few buttons and then slides the iPhone across the table. I pick it up when it comes to a stop in front of me. “Just press play.”

  I do as he says, and a woman comes into view. She kneels in the middle of a carpeted room. Her hands are tied behind her back with rope from her wrists all the way up to her upper arms. Her head is bowed, brown hair shielding her face from the camera. Whoever is holding the camera walks around her slowly, giving a three-sixty view of her. Damon stands in front of her, his hands behind his back, staring down at the woman.

  “I have some good news,” he says cheerfully.

  She slowly lifts her head, but the camera is now behind her, and I’m still unable to see her face. “You’re dying?” she asks dryly.

  He laughs at her insult and then smiles down at the woman. “No. I was just informed that your daughter has been kidnapped and sold for two million.”

  “No,” she whispers.

  “Yes.” He brings his hands around and claps once. “But I’m gonna offer three. Wouldn’t that be fun? Me, you, and her. I’d love to watch her scream like I have watched you all these years.”

  The woman jumps to her feet and runs right at him as a scream erupts from her lips.

  He reaches out and wraps his hand around her neck and slams her back onto the floor. “You …” He cuts off her air while she thrashes under his hold.

  And I feel the breath leave my lungs when I get a clear view of her face. Those same blue eyes that Presleigh has. Her dark hair has quite a bit of gray in it, and it is all different lengths as though someone just started cutting away and not caring about how it would look after it’s done. But there’s no mistaking … It’s her.

  “Carl, get the paddle and chains,” he orders. “It’s time to play.”

  I turn off the video unable to watch any more of it. I feel sick. I shove his phone back across the table to him. He laughs, not seeing the look of disgust on my face. “She’s always been a fireball, but since then, she’s been a fucking match.”

  I feel my cell vibrate in my pocket, and I dig it out.

  Three-minute warning.

  It’s a text from my brother. “I need to make a call,” I say. Standing from the table, I walk out of the room, not caring how disrespectful it is.

  Tristan picks up on the first ring. “What are you …?”

  “Call it off!” I snap.

  “What?” He sighs. “Avery, she’s not here. Nothing will happen to her. All you gotta do is duck …”

  “Fucking call it off, Tristan!”

  “No. This is our only chance.”

  “Preston and Presleigh’s mother is still alive. She’s Damon’s slave.”

  “What?” he asks, sounding just as confused as I was two minutes ago. “That’s not possible …”

  “I just watched a fucking video on his cell, and it was her,” I snap.

  “Maybe it was old.”

  “No. It was just recently. He told her that Bunny was sold.” She’s hasn’t even been with me for three weeks yet.

  “Fuck,” he hisses, finally coming around.

  “If we kill him, we’ll never find her, and Bunny will never forgive me,” I say, shaking my head. Some things I can come back from with her but not this. Bunny is my main priority right now, but I have to do something to get her mother.

  He lets out a long breath. “She doesn’t have to know. And why do you fucking care? You hate Presleigh, remember?” he snaps, getting irritated.

  I don’t know why, but I do. I can’t let this happen. “Goddammit, Tristan. I’m calling it off. Don’t you dare bring one man into my house or I will shoot you my-fucking-self,” I growl, and then I hang up.

  Walking back into the formal dining room, I find him scowling up at me from his seat. I take mine and place my forearms on the table. “Now explain to me what you meant by Preston was selling my slave.”

  He sits back and wads up his napkin, slamming it down on the table, showing his anger. But he says, “He’s in debt.” No surprise there. “Owes a friend of mine money and offered up Presleigh.”

  “How much?”

  “Five hundred grand.” He shrugs. “I must say, it’s a much better deal than what you paid for her.”

  Preston was trying to sell her for five hundred thousand dollars? But why?

  Make sure to grab the goods. That’s what Preston had told his men when he was about to leave after he ordered them to kill me in New York. I never paid much attention to what he meant. Until now. He was going to run with her. Sell her.

  Over my dead body!

  He nods to me. “Who did you buy her from anyway?”

  “Jensen.” I answer and hope he believes the lie. Jensen is the fake identity we had given Tristan.

  “And how did he get his hands on her?” he asks, taking a sip of his drink.

  I sit back in my seat and glare at him. “I never asked. All that matters is that she’s mine now. And she’s not going anywhere.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  AVERY

  I STEP OFF MY PRIVATE JET with my brother back in Vancouver as Kayn walks over to the parked Town Car with Marvin and gets in, starting it up.

  I’m fucking tired. I haven’t slept a wink since I had dinner with Damon last night. He has Presleigh’s mother. I can’t let her know that. She’ll try to do some kind of trade—her for her mom. She may have not felt much when she died, but if she knew her mother was a slave, she would do anything to get her out of that world. But that’s not what Damon wants. He wants them both, and I refuse to give her up. No matter who else’s life is at stake. She is mine. And mine only.

  I get in the car, and Kayn drives us to my house. I can’t wait to see her. I’m gonna pick her up and carry her off to my bed. I’m gonna wake her up with my head between her legs and then fuck her as though I haven’t seen her in years. My cock is craving her.

  “You can’t save them both, Avery,” my brother whispers.

  “I don’t plan on it.” Bunny is the only one worth saving to me. But I will try to pull strings for her mother.

  We pull up to my house. “What the fuck?” Kayn barks out.

  “What is it?” I ask, looking at him.

  “The front door is open.”

  My eyes go to the door and see it wide fucking open. It’s three in the morning.

  “Why would the door …?”

  I don’t even wait for my brother to finish that question before I jump out of the back seat and run up the stairs into my house. I’ve got my gun drawn before I step inside.

  “Bunny?” I yell, looking around the house. It’s pitch black. I turn on the lights. “Bunny?” I shout, then take off up the winding staircase and barge into her room. Her sheet and comfortable are tangled on the floor. Her nightstand turned over. Her fitted sheet is still on the bed but bunched up, ripped from the corners. And there’s blood on them.

 
My heart stops.

  I walk over to the bed and run my fingers through it. It’s not a lot, but enough to make panic rise. I rip the sheet off the bed and storm into her bathroom. “Bunny?” I shout. What has she done?

  “Avery …?”

  “Bunny?” I scream out for her, interrupting my brother entering her bathroom. It’s empty, and everything is in its place. Just how it was before we left for Rio. “What the fuck did she do?” I ask more to myself than him.

  “Avery, the cameras,” my brother reminds me

  I run back down the stairs and into my study. He follows me. “Did you find Darrell?” I ask Kayn when he enters.

  “Yeah. He’s been shot.”

  “What? Please tell me Bunny did it.” I’d rather her gone crazy and escaped than the alternative.

  He shakes his head with a heavy sigh. “No. It was recent. Said they just left twenty minutes ago.”

  They? No. No. No.

  I pull up my camera feed on my smart TV that hangs on the wall. I set the time I want it to start and go to the camera at the front door. A black two-door sedan pulls up and two men get out. They have their guns drawn as they make their way to the front door. They’re dressed in all black with black masks. They kick in the front door, and then you see the flash of gunfire.

  I move to the cameras inside the house. They split up. One man runs up the stairs while the other goes to the back hall. You see Darrell come out of his room and is immediately shot in the arm.

  I watch the man climbing the stairs two at a time. He enters Bunny’s room, and I see her jump when the door hits the interior wall with a bang. She shoves off the covers and goes to crawl off the other side of the bed, but he reaches over and grabs her by the ankle, yanking her back. She manages to kick him in the face, but he recovers quickly. He pulls a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket, and I watch helplessly as he grabs her hands and pulls them behind her back, securing them tightly.

  He then flips her over onto her back, pinning her arms underneath her, and she thrashes on the bed with her mouth opening and closing in screams. He slaps her across the face, snapping her head to the side. I fist my hands. Then he punches her in the face, and she spits blood onto her sheets.

  He crawls on top of the bed and straddles her hips. He pulls a pocket knife out of his jeans and flips the blade open. His free hand pushes down on her face holding it to the side, facing the camera. Tears run down her cheek and her body shakes from sobs when he pushes the blade up against her neck. He cuts her open like a fucking fish, and she screams from the pain. And then he reaches in and digs out her tracker. He throws it to the floor and then tosses her over his shoulder and walks out of her room.

  I continue to watch him carry her out my front door and throw her into the trunk of the car. He waits for his friend to return, and then they drive off.

  PRESLEIGH

  My head pounds, and my body aches. My arms are still cuffed behind my back, and I feel the blood slowly run out of the cut by my neck. I’m dizzy. Weak.

  I feel like I’m back in the bathtub all over again.

  I thought he was going to slit my throat.

  My head bounces as I’m carried over someone’s shoulder. It’s dark outside, and my vision comes and goes, so I can’t see much.

  I’m placed on my feet, but I sway. My hands are uncuffed, and I’m pushed onto a cold, stainless steel table. My head falls to the side, and I blink, seeing a few instruments on another table. But it’s blurry. I can’t focus on anything.

  I’ve been drugged. Was it Avery? No …

  My hands are brought down to my sides, and thick straps are wrapped around them. Holding me down as if my body could even fight them. I try to open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. My shorts are ripped down my legs, and my legs are spread.

  “Nooooo.” I choke out, my heavy eyes closing.

  Then that same leather feeling wraps around my ankles, securing them apart.

  I hear a door open, and then a bright light comes on above me. It’s harsh even with my eyes closed. I crack them open and look up. It reminds me of a hospital. An operating room. But I know that’s not where I am.

  “Hello, Presleigh.” I hear a man’s voice. “Long time, no see,” he says cheerfully, and I cringe at the smell of cleaner and vodka. “I’m just gonna stitch up your cut and then give you an exam,” he informs me.

  Exam? No. I try to fight the restraints, but I can’t.

  My backside still hurts from what Avery did to it days ago, and tears come to my eyes.

  Just like before.

  I feel a poke in my arm, and my eyes grow heavier than they already are. I fade in and out of consciousness. I don’t feel the prick of the needle stitching me up, but I feel pressure there as my head is held down, pressing my right cheek against the cold metal table. Then I feel my underwear being cut away. Tears roll down my face. I cry out when I feel fingers covered in rubber gloves roughly enter me.

  Then I black out. When I come to again, I’m being carried to another room. It’s darker than the last, and I welcome the darkness. I just wanna sleep.

  I’m laid down on a hard surface and then feel my shirt being pulled over my head. I feel coolness wrap around my neck that makes me shiver.

  My heavy eyes unable to open and focus on anything.

  “I’ll be back when this has worn off.” I hear another familiar voice, but it wasn’t the same as before.

  Then I hear a door shut followed by the sound of a lock being slid in place. I lie down and curl up in a ball as my body begins to shake. It’s so cold.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  AVERY

  “IT HAS TO BE HIM,” I SNAP, fisting my hands down by my side while pacing back and forth in my study.

  My brother shakes his head. “Damon had no way of knowing where she was at.”

  “He could have had someone follow us home from the party.” It has to be him. If not, how will I ever find her?

  “Then waited until you sent her off to Vancouver?” He shakes his head. “Plus, how would he have known where the tracker was?”

  I run a hand through my hair. The door opens, but I ignore whoever it is. “I don’t know,” I snap, frustrated. I’ve got to find her. She’s still injured from what I did to her … Fuck, I whipped her. I slapped her. Then I fucked her out of rage. I didn’t want Damon to get my little toy. Now he’s stolen it from me.

  I’ll get you back, Bunny!

  “It has to be an inside job,” he offers.

  “No. No one would betray me like that. They know I’d kill them,” I growl, looking at the floor. Still pacing.

  “Maybe they don’t expect to get caught.”

  “Oh, I’ll catch him …” I trail off, still pacing my study while he stands in front of the fireplace.

  “How many knew about the tracker?” he asks.

  “I don’t know,” I snap.

  He grabs my shoulders and yanks me to a stop. “You do too know. Calm down. Take a deep breath. We will find her,” he promises.

  “Sir?”

  “What?” I growl, turning around to see Kayn standing in my study. “Anything?” I ask.

  He and my men have been out looking for any trace of the car. Of her. I told him not to return until he had something helpful. If it’s Damon, as I think it is, she could already be on a jet and heading toward Cuba. The realization of that has my knees buckling.

  He shakes his head. “But I need to speak to you.”

  “Then get your ass back out there!” I bark, pointing at my closed door. “I don’t have time …” I pull my cell out of my pocket.

  “Who are you calling?” Tristan asks.

  “Fritz. I want wheels up in twenty.”

  “Where the hell are you going?” he demands.

  “Cuba …”

  Tristan snatches the phone from my hands. “You’re not fucking thinking clearly.”

  “I’m thinking that the fucking bastard …”

  “I agree with your bro
ther. It has to be an inside job.” Kayn interrupts me.

  I run a hand through my hair. Fuck, Bunny! Just hold on. I’m gonna find you.

  “You have an idea of who it is?” Tristan asks.

  “I do.”

  I walk over to him and grab him by the collar of his shirt. “Then fucking spit it out!” I shout.

  He stays calm. “I need you to promise you won’t act …”

  “I’ll rip his fucking throat out!” They all know I don’t make promises!

  “Right away. If I’m right, he will take us to her. But you have to be patient.”

  How the fuck am I supposed to be patient? Someone could be raping her. Beating her. She could have already been sold. And I’ll never see her again. The thought is paralyzing. I release Kayn and stumble back a step. My brother grabs my arm, but I pull away.

  “Who is it?” Tristan asks.

  He takes in a deep breath. “Darrell.”

  “No!” I say, shaking my head. “He wouldn’t touch her.” I know he had hit her, but he knows firsthand what I would do to a man who would dare take her from me.

  “Sir, please. Just hear me out.”

  The plea in Kayn’s voice makes me pause. I’ve never heard him ask please before. The man is six-foot-four and almost three hundred pounds of solid muscle. He takes what he wants. He doesn’t beg or plead.

  “Why him?” I ask, and my throat tightens. Kayn’s been by my side for years, and he doesn’t fuck around. If he thinks Darrell is behind it, then he has reasons. He wouldn’t make that accusation lightly.

  “By the way he is with her.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I snap.

  He doesn’t flinch from my harsh tone. “Have you watched the tape from yesterday?”

  “Yes. I’ve watched it fifty fucking times, but what does that have to do with anything?” I can’t watch them cuff her, cut her, and take her anymore. I can’t do it.

  “No, I mean the tape when we all returned home.”

  “No,” my brother answers, but I’m already going over to my screen to pull up the surveillance from when I know they arrived.