Page 43 of Lord of Debauchery

“Hey, boss man. She’s gone,” Jeff said.

“What do you mean gone?” I spun around and scanned the entire shoreline.

“She was there when I looked thirty seconds ago. Then she wasn’t.”

“Fuck. Get more soldiers down to the water.” I dropped my drink onto the desk and flew from the room onto the deck.

If anything happened to her, I would hunt down and slaughter every single human being involved.

CHAPTER 12

Kenya

Acting on instinct.

I’d learned to do that a long time ago, although in recent years I hadn’t followed the heavy-handed training that had been forced down my throat. If I had then I would never have gotten mixed up with Daniel. Of course, that had been in my desperate search for normalcy, which I had never found.

False hope could be deadly.

Maybe not as much as this moment as I raced through the trees toward some unknown destination. All I knew was that I’d sat on the beach waiting for some kind of answer or indication of what I should do, and it struck me hard that that had been my problem over the last three years. I’d taken a backseat to my life.

Look where it had gotten me.

I’d studied the house in the distance for some time as the sun continued to fade, finally noticing someone had turned on several lights inside.

I hoped the waning sun wasn’t just playing tricks on me.

It was a spur of the moment decision to flee the safety of being smack in the back of the powerful man’s house, seeking something like rescue from an unknown party. I bounded through the trees, not caring that several limbs slapped me in the face or that I wasn’t likely to get away with this.

Both of the soldiers had turned in the opposite direction, chatting together as if talking about the latest basketball game. I’d noticed Beckham had retreated further into the house as I’d stood slowly, taking my time backing toward the forest.

No one had paid any attention to me. I was likely just some nuisance no matter what he said. And I knew from experience that those considered expendable were eliminated after their usefulness wore out.

Maybe Beckham truly believed he could own me, but after a while he’d grow weary of me constantly fighting him. After that, I knew exactly what he’d do.

Kill me.

I refused to allow that to happen.

So I continued running, refusing to look back, trying not to panic even if I had zero clue what I’d do or say once I knocked on the stranger’s door.

For all I knew they adored their neighbor and would lock me up until Beckham arrived.

But I had to try. I had to do something. My life was in my hands, not the man who’d… saved me from certain death.

I kept pushing, fighting the panic that was steadily increasing.

As I pushed my way through some additional underbrush, I caught sight of a clearing just up ahead. When I was at the tree line, I stopped to catch my breath and to ensure I hadn’t been followed.

After a few seconds, I ventured out onto the sand, staring up at yet another huge house. My entire body was trembling as I made my way toward the back of the house, creeping up the stairs and trying to figure out where best to knock on a door. There were so many. With the deck being a wraparound, I moved slowly from one side to the other, peering in every few seconds. I couldn’t see anyone. Not a single person. Maybe it was best to try to use the front door.

I scanned the area once again before heading around the last corner, moving stealthily to the front door. By now the bastards had to know I was missing, which meant they’d called out the cavalry. I likely had little time to try to find help.

Still shaking, still uncertain, I knocked on the door, fighting the urge to scream as I waited as patiently as possible. Hearing nothing, I pounded my fist on the door, saying a silent prayer. When I heard footsteps, butterflies swarmed my stomach. I could get through this. I would find help and I’d eventually have my life back.

I dropped my head, trying not to figure as the heavy footsteps inched closer. And as the door was unlocked, I took a step back, trying my best to hold my tongue.

The door was suddenly flung open and I couldn’t react in any way.

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