Page 50 of Incoming Layne Shift

Layne scrunched up her face. “What?”

That’s when from behind her, a hand clamped down over her nose and mouth muffling her immediate yells as it yanked her back into a massive body. When she felt a sharp jab into her thigh, she initially assumed it to be a pitiful excuse for a knife. Following the impact was a burning sensation of something being injected into her. The drug rushed through her veins from her adrenaline pumping her blood fast and hard.

Each of her limbs, despite her will to keep them fighting, grew heavier. As pervasive as Layne’s stubbornness was, she couldn’t fight the dissociative anesthetic disarming her body’s ability to remain under her control. While her vision grew blurry, one of the last things she saw was Danielle’s sick smile as she stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

After her vision blacked out entirely, her body went limp in the arms of the man who had administered the needleful of the heavy dose of an anesthetic. The burly man easily scooped her up and hoisted her over his shoulder.

Noticing Layne’s phone sticking out of her back pocket, Danielle approached and plucked it from her jeans. She pitched it down at the concrete as hard as she could, ensuring the screen got all smashed up and rendered useless.

“Get her in the back of the van before anyone starts missing her.” Danielle gestured toward the grungy-looking van with some electrician’s faded logo on it.

The man Danielle had hired was a good little listener and brought Layne’s unconscious body to the back of the vehicle, tossing her into it carelessly like she was nothing but a bag of garbage being tossed into a dumpster to be disposed of.

After the crony got into the driver’s seat, Danielle joined him and just like that, they were gone before Joey or Gage could intervene.

Joey finished unscrewing the bashed-in paper towel holder from the bathroom wall and looked at Gage who was looking at one of the stall’s doors which was crookedly hanging on its hinges. “Layne said she was bringing back another box of bags, right?”

With a sigh, Gage gave up on trying to come up with a plan for the broken door. “Yeah, let me go see what’s taking her so long. The box should have been right there by the back door.” He wiped his hands on the thighs of his jeans and left the men’s room.

When he got to the back, he saw no sign of Layne and the box she was supposed to get was sitting right there in plain view. Gage’s gut began to form a knot of apprehension as his instincts immediately began to swirl like a cyclone inside him. Trying to be rational, he took a step out back to see if maybe she was throwing out some garbage or grabbing some fresh air.

After realizing she was nowhere to be found outside, his worries began to escalate. Before walking back inside he caught sight of something on the ground. He bent down and picked it up. The back of the phone case had the image of chains forming the shape of a shamrock on it. Upon recognition that it was Layne’s phone, his thoughts spiraled out of control. “Layne?!” He yelled as he spun around looking for any sign of her, and when he saw nothing to quell his fear he ran back inside.

“LAYNE!” He frantically checked the other rooms inside the club despite knowing deep down he wouldn’t find her there. He looked anywhere and everywhere, even places that were illogical for someone to be found.

Hearing Gage’s voice booming out for their girl, Joey came out of the bathroom nearly crashing into his brother. “What’s wrong?”

Gage was filled with a storm of emotions, his jaw ticking with anger at some unknown person and at himself. The guilt and worry only added to it all. “She’s gone.”

Groggily, Layne lifted her head that had been slumped forward, causing an ache along the back of her neck right into the base of her skull. Her brains felt so goddamned scrambled. Trying to lift her hands to her face, she found them unable to move. As her green eyes fluttered open, she noticed several ropes wrapped around her forearms, keeping her stuck to the uncomfortable metal chair she was sitting in.

Part of her just wanted to vomit after coming out of the fog of the ketamine dosage. She groaned and closed her eyes again. It was unclear if she took another nap or another minute or so passed by, but her eyes gradually opened again when her head was forced back by a grip on her hair. Layne found herself looking at the blonde bitch that worked for Gage at Cassidy’s.

“What…the…fuck?” Her mouth felt dry as shit and of all people to see in front of her, Danielle wasn’t who she expected.

Giving a painful tug on Layne’s hair, Danielle smirked. “Did you have a good little nap?” Her words came off her tongue in a mocking tone.

Progressively getting a little bit more of her wits about her, she winced at the pain tugging at her scalp on top of the headache that was making itself more known by the second. Hoarsely she spat out, “Fuck you.”

The next thing she felt was a harsh slap across her cheek. The pain helped Layne shake off a little more of the grogginess. It had been a lighter slap in comparison to the experience of a heavy smack of a man’s hand, but still left a stinging sensation and a red mark on her skin.

Looking around the room now that she was trying to piece everything together, she discovered that it couldn’t have been a space bigger than a single-car garage. The concrete floor had dirt and stains, and it was lit up with a single lightbulb in the ceiling. There were no windows and nothing else other than the bitch standing in front of her.

“You know what your problem is, Layne?” Danielle began to pace in front of Layne.

In response she couldn’t hold back a scoff, Layne could make a list of things that were her problems. Danielle was very quickly making her way to the top of that list. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Giving Layne a hard glare, Danielle continued her thoughts. “You don’t know when to give it up.”

“A character flaw, I know. I give it up to Gage just fine though.” Yes, Layne was feeling fucking sassy despite not being in a position to be sassing anyone. It helped keep her head focused to push buttons and assess just how much of a threat Danielle truly was.

Mission accomplished, blondie’s face turned bright red with anger, and stalked over to her getting up in Layne’s face. “You’re a fucking slut who slept her way into power! You’d be nothing but a sex toy like the rest of us if you didn’t go around opening your legs for anything that resembled a dick with money and resources!”

Danielle drew back a fist and unleashed it on Layne. The small hand connected with the corner of her mouth, Layne’s teeth cutting against the inside of her cheek and spilling the taste of copper inside. Layne spat out the blood toward the floor.

Layne’s face remained unfazed even as she was verbally assaulted with false accusations, and physically assaulted with a pitiful punch. “Is that what you think I did to get to where I am?” Her words were dangerously calm. This chick was walking a very fine line between injury and death once Layne figured a way out of the whole being tied to a chair situation.

She was curious as to what the hell Danielle was on and who everyone was that she referred to. “I don’t know what your game is here. If you’re just pissed because some guy doesn’t fawn over you or what. You clearly have some fucking mental issues, so why don’t you clue me in as to why you’re trying to take them out on me.”

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