Page 61 of Layne Closure Ahead

Layne aimed and fired off a shot into his stomach. The acoustics in the pool area seemed to amplify the sound of the shot enough that she may as well have used an air horn to announce her location.

The man who was struck in the stomach by her bullet dropped to the tiled floor, and before his cry of pain could continue, she re-aimed the lethal end of her gun at his forehead and silenced him.

With a heavier set of breaths coming from her, she had less than a few seconds before she heard a pounding echo through the pool area from up high. The muffled yells of her name were shouted. When Layne looked up, there was another floor up where offices overlooked the pool. Behind the large glass windows was Rebecca with her hands bound together in small fists banging against the glass.

Her friend was suddenly pulled back away from the window and Eric appeared there with a shit-eating grin etched across his face. In his hand was the receiver of a phone and his voice came over the speakers once more.

“You’re not very good at hiding, little harpy. I’m disappointed.”

Layne flipped him off with her non-dominant hand and her eyes set in a hard glare. Then, she saw three men emerging from various points around the pool.

“If I were you, I’d ditch your toys and let my boys bring you up here to have a chat about what to do with your friend. Alternatively, you can do things the hard way and I will just have to pass the time up here with Rebecca. I’ve been telling her all about my favorite room in my house while I’ve been waiting for you.” The way he spoke promised terrible things no matter which path she took.

Layne dropped her duffel to the floor with a light thud. She tossed her gun down on top of it carefully.

“Good girl.” The words he spoke didn’t have anywhere near the same impact on her as when Joey said them to her.

Though he couldn’t see it underneath her mask, a small smirk twitched at the corner of her lips and the glimmer of rebellion reached her eyes. She had him right where she wanted him: feeling confident.

Two of his crew members came up beside her, each grabbing an arm painfully hard. They led her away from the pool area and took her up a set of stairs right outside the humid room that led to the office one level up. The sole asshole that didn’t have his hands on her, separated from the group and took up the lead ahead of them. Eric must have been worried if he had four of his men ready to take her on, minus the one she left in a bloody puddle outside the locker room door.

When the office door opened up, she immediately scanned the interior of the office. Her escorts filed into the room with her and the door lightly clicked shut after the last of them. Inside, there were two desks, one wall of large floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the indoor pool, a television mounted on the wall, some filing cabinets, and a sofa.

The sofa is where Rebecca was seated with Eric next to her, his arm draped across her shoulders like they were old buds. Her hands were in her lap, visibly trembling while the wrists were secured tightly with duct tape. Her blue eyes were red from tears that had been shed.

Her voice shook as she looked over at Layne. “Layne, I’m sorry…”

Layne shook her head at Rebecca. “Don’t worry, you’re getting out of here.” Her eyes darted to Eric who had an arrogance wrapped around him.

He reached up to Rebecca’s face and took a handful as he squeezed her cheeks in his hand. “She’s just as cute as a button, isn’t she?”

“Drop the theatrics, Eric. You got me here. Release Rebecca and we can talk things over.” Her voice was emotionless despite the rage running rampant inside of her that he dared to lay a finger on her friend.

He laughed outright and dropped his hold from Rebecca’s face before standing up from his seat there on the sofa. Eric approached Layne, stopping directly in front of her, and waved off the two guys with their aggressive grasps on her.

“Theatrics, you say? Let’s not throw stones here, Layne.” His finger reached up to hook on the top of her mask and lightly began to tug it down. Before it got halfway out of position, she abruptly threw a fist at his smug face.

Her knuckles smashed into his cheek before his men were able to react quickly enough to snatch her back. Unfazed by her attack, Eric grinned as his fingers rubbed his face where she made the connection. “There’s the little harpy I know and love. You’ve got so much fight in you.”

He stepped up to her as she pulled against the grasp of the two brutes restraining her. The fires of violence lit up in her eyes. Eric’s hand yanked the skull mask the remainder of the way down her face. “It will be so much fun breaking your spirit.” Then, his fist thrust harshly into her stomach.

The blunt pain caused her to grunt out and double over. Immediately, a wave of nausea rolled through her causing her to cough and gasp for air simultaneously.

Eric nodded to his two men as they released their hold and dropped her to the floor. Layne placed a hand on her stomach as she winced. Before she could fully recover, Eric’s foot connected with her ribs in a kick that sparked another type of pain as Layne cried out and rolled in on herself. Immediately, she knew he had injured one of her ribs from the sharpness of the pain accompanying each breath.

With her hands hidden underneath her body, she covertly located the previously planted mini switchblade inside the waist of her pants. She encased it in her grasp while she was curled up in the fetal position.

Rebecca shot up from her seat. “Stop it, asshole! Leave her alone!”

One of the three hired hands inside the office shoved Rebecca back down onto the sofa to prevent her from interfering. His gruff voice barked instructions at her. “Shut your cockhole, blondie.”

Eric knelt and grabbed a handful of Layne’s hair to lift her head so he could look at her face. “Let that be a lesson of what happens when you step out of line. It seems that you didn’t learn anything after being left to burn. At first, I was furious that you hadn’t perished in the fire. I stood to inherit a pretty penny from the insurance policies you signed.”

Through clenched teeth, she struggled to breathe through the pain, including the pain that came with every breath she took. Her eyes met his, reflecting the resilience and stubbornness she was born with. Hell if he was going to be the one to snuff it out. Layne gritted her teeth and managed to push words out of her mouth. “What the fuck do you want, Eric?”

“Oh, you already know what I want.” An amusement dangling on his words before he released his hold on her hair.

She swallowed down a little more pain and nausea and nodded her head. “Okay, I’m all yours. Me and everything that I come with.” She propped herself up on one arm while the other hand remained on her stomach. Her eyes met Rebecca’s across the room and then looked up at Eric. “But she gets out of here unharmed first.”

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