Page 62 of Such A Bad Girl

“I don’t give a fuck, Rian!” I shouted. “I could go through ten dudes to get to Everleigh.”

“Yeah, well you might have to go through ten dudes with guns. And then they kill us, and Everleigh never gets saved, and West still doesn’t even know where she is. So, maybe we slow the fuck down and use our goddamned brains, what do you say?”

“Fuck!” I growled.

He shook his head and pulled out his phone. “Don’t fucking move. I’m calling West. We wait for back up, and then we go in and rip these fuckers heads off, you understand?”

Yeah, I fucking understood, but it was goddamned torture to wait another fucking second. I needed Everleigh back in my arms, now. How the fuck could Rian ask me to wait any longer?

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I closed my eyes and imagined Everleigh in my arms, her sweet face turned up to me, her lips just waiting for my kiss.

I had to hold onto hope now. It was all I had.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

EVERLEIGH

She was gone again. Earlier, I’d heard the door open and close. and the sound of a car starting up and pulling away.

Eerie silence had fallen over the townhouse, leaving me alone with my fear, trying to control my thoughts from falling into all of the worst-case scenarios that could happen.

I needed to think positively.

That was hard to do tied to a bed in a basement, but I was trying my best.

Was Theo even looking for me? West? Charlie, for fuck’s sake?

Surely, they’d all realized I was gone by now. I should have been on set hours ago. Charlie would have realized something was wrong as soon as he woke up this morning.

And yet, here I was still.

Miserable and alone and held captive by a madwoman who apparently had some sort of schoolgirl grudge she’d been holding onto all these years. I’d been thinking about it for hours and I couldn’t come up with one enemy I could have unknowingly had. I was nice to everyone; despite everything I’d gone through. I was well-liked as far as I knew.

Apparently, I’d been very wrong. Someone had slipped through the cracks. Why wouldn’t she tell me her name? The frustration was growing in my chest with each moment that passed.

I fought off the tears, telling myself I needed to stay strong. I tried to hold my anger close, knowing that would serve me best right now. I needed to stay sharp, not succumb to misery and tears.

Fuck, I needed to do something. Anything. I couldn’t move much, but I could at least make noise now that she was gone.

I started by screaming at the top of my lungs, followed by stamping my feet on the floor. Then I scooted over to the wall and began banging the soles of my shoes against the wall, hoping like hell someone passing by might be alerted.

“Help!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Help!”

The front door burst open, startling me. I braced myself for another attack from the crazy bitch.

When I heard Theo and West calling my name, relief flooded my heart. “Help! Down here!” I screamed as loud as I could. “I’m down here!!”

The door to the basement flew open, flooding the space with light. All the tears I’d been holding back streamed down my face.

Chapter Forty

THEO

Istayed back as West and Rian untied Everleigh, but my heart was in my throat as I watched. She looked okay — but scared and shaken.

She met my eye over her brother’s shoulder, and it took all my strength not to go to her, gather her in my arms, and never let go again.

“Are you okay? Who did this? Do you know where they are? The house is empty,” West asked.

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