Page 113 of Trip Through Your Wires

“The only one that is delusional here is you,” he says plainly. “You think you are getting out of here? Think again. The best you can hope for is to shut your mouth and spread your legs.”

A lone tear rolls down her cheek and I swear to God, I’m going to end this fucker.

“Face it, Ms. Miller. You are a pawn in a game older than you. A poor girl whose life has no value. When you are gone, no one will miss you. Just as they did not miss the others. All they once were, nothing more than a photo on a flier, which has weathered and floated away.”

“You’re going to pay for this,” I flex my forearm, feeling the tape give. “I am going to kill you.”

“Well, if the bitch is capable, so is the dog.”

He laughs and I don’t think I have wanted to kill anyone as much as I did at this very moment. Now I know what Cruz felt that night on the beach. That need to protect the person that meant most to him in this world, no matter what it cost. It brought an unspeakable rage to the surface. One that was capable of doing anything, because it had before.

With adrenaline pumping through me, I lift my arms and break through the duct tape, pushing the chair back with one kick. Richardson jumps back in surprise but my reach is enough to knock him off his feet with a sharp uppercut. He falls back, then down, out cold.

I turn around quickly, bending down in front of Jenica, untying the rope holding down her arms. Once they’re free, she throws her arms around my neck. With one hand on the back of her head, and the other wrapped around her waist, I run to the door.

After yanking it open, we pass through and I look around. It looks like the tunnel from earlier, which means we’re still at the club. With nowhere to go but forward I want to run as far and as fast as I can. Yet, I can’t help but think if I don’t go back into that room and end this, we will always be looking over our shoulders—our present forever tied to the past, unable to move into that future we both deserve.

“Can you stand?” I pull back to look at her. Her eyes are wide and crazed, but she nods.

Setting her down gently, I cup her face, scanning it quickly. There’s mascara running down her cheeks and her eyes are bloodshot, but she looks okay. Her heart, however, that’s another story.

“Sparky,” I brush both thumbs under her eyes. “I need you to listen to me. I need you to run down that tunnel and not look back. Do not do anything but put one foot in front of the other. When you reach the stairs, you get to my car. Here,” I reach into my front pocket and grab the keys. “It’s a white Pontiac. Parked in front. You drive as fast as you can and do not stop. Do you understand me?”

She shakes her head, eyes frantic. “Please,” I beg, pressing my forehead to hers. “I need you to go.”

She grips both of my forearms, nails digging into the shards of duct-tape hanging from the sleeves of my sweatshirt. “I’m not going without you.”

He won’t stop. If Langston Richardson gets out of here alive, he will blow Jenica’s world apart, and I can’t have that. I won’t. They will hunt her, just like they did Ellery. Family protects family, and I have to protect mine and end this for good.

“I have to finish this.” I grab her hands and kiss each. “I need to.”

“No!” She grips my hands and pulls me toward her. “Let the police handle this.”

“Why, so they can take a payoff from that son of a bitch?” It’s clear there are a lot of players in this little operation of Richardson’s. How does a place like this exist without help from the local authorities? “We don’t know who we can trust. Ellery may have blown Elmhurst to bits, but what remains has grown desperate. We have to stop him. Cut off the head of the snake.”

“When we do, another will grow in its place,” she pushes back. “Law of the jungle, Hot Shot. Survival of the fittest, and that asshole will make sure it’s he who survives, and not you.”

“Well,” I shrug, “I’d rather die trying than not try at all.”

“Jake…”

“Sparky, please,” I close my eyes. “I need to know you’re safe.”

She grabs my hands more urgently. “I will be if you come with me.”

The fear in her eyes is too much. “Please, Jenica. If you care about me, you will go.”

I let go of her hands and step back, turning for the door. “Jake!” she cries out. “Don’t do this.”

I stop and look over my shoulder, needing one last look at the girl that stole my heart. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Sparky, remember that.”

Before she can follow, I turn and stalk into the room and slam the door, reaching for one of the chairs, and sliding it under the doorknob. Hearing her fists pound on the other side, I turn and look at the man on the floor.

“I said you were going to pay,” I storm over to him and look. Clenching both of my fists, my knuckles pop, anxious. “It’s time to pay the piper.”

Jenica calls my name, the terror in her voice reaching into my chest. I want to open the door and run with her. But I can’t let this go. I have to end this. For her, and everyone else this piece of scum has hurt.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I crouch down and a calm, cool stillness wraps around my bones. That night on the beach I went into protection mode for my friends, doing something I never thought I would—cover up a murder. But now, I was in another mode altogether. I wasn’t just protecting a friend. I was protecting the girl I loved.

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