Page 110 of Trip Through Your Wires

“Get your fucking hands off her!” I snap, wanting to rip off his arm and beat him with it.

She moans slightly and her eyelids flutter, but they don’t open. If I’m still feeling the effects of whatever we were given, then it will probably take twice as long for it to wear off on her.

“Tell me, Mr. Chambers…” He drops his hand and her head slumps down. “While you and Ms. Miller were snooping around my club, did she happen to tell you why she has been working for me?”

“You mean, why you are blackmailing her?” I sneer.

“Blackmail is such an ugly word. Especially when I am simply seeking the justice my son deserved.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Your son was a psycho who got what he deserved.”

Richardson’s eyes flash as he wags his finger. “Careful, young buck. I have your future in my hands. You would be wise to remember that it is I who calls the shots here.”

“You don’t call shit.” The fog in my mind is lifting and with it the weight in my bones. My nerve-endings are beginning to fire on all cylinders again; a burn kindled by the intrinsic need to protect the one I care about, igniting my adrenaline. “But when I get out of these restraints and shove your head up your ass, you will be eating it.”

The longer I keep him talking, the less attention he will pay to Jenica, and that’s my goal. I didn’t like the way he looked at her just now. It was beyond antipathy. It was a dark loathing that told me he was capable of doing anything.

“Tell me,” I shift in the chair, pushing against the rope. “Did your son have a fascination with roadkill when he was a kid? Hold magnifying glasses over insects on hot days?”

“So much brawn and bravado,” Richardson shakes his head, looking at me in pity. “It would be admirable if it wasn’t so pathetic.”

I shake my head and laugh.

“Is there something funny?” he asks.

“Yeah, you.”

“And what about me do you find so comical, Mr. Chambers?”

“That a man who sells young girls to old men has the nerve to call me pathetic.”

I didn’t see what Jenica did looking through that keyhole, but I heard enough to know he was selling young girls to older men. Men in positions of power.

He looks at me and grins. “Those girls are given a life they could never dare to dream.”

“Given a life?” I repeat incredulously. “You take their lives away.”

“Those girls were nothing before we saved them. But with a new look and some nice clothes, they welcomed their new purpose with open arms.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “You’re sick.”

“No,” he shakes his head. “The sickness is this country and places like Cherry Cove. That’s why I plan to fix it.”

This guy can’t be serious. He’s still got a martyr complex after everything that happened? Unbelievable.

“Face it, Mr. Chambers,” he continues. “Ms. Miller was born to serve a purpose. And now that she is mine, she will fulfill it.”

“She is not yours.” I clench my teeth in anger. “If you think I am going to let you or any of your pervy friends touch her…”

He comes over and grips my forearms, leaning in. “You won’t have a choice. After tonight, you will never see her again. She will have a new name and a new identity. She will be as good as dead to you.”

“You piece of shit.” I jerk in the chair, trying to get free.

“He’s…not…worth it,” Jenica says sleepily.

Richardson’s eyes whip over as do my own; a rush of relief hits me, seeing she’s coming to. It’s short-lived when I see Richardson pull back and shift his attention from me to her.

“Ah,” he smiles. “There she is. Miss Delta Dawn. The most expensive piece of ass in Georgia.”

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