Page 65 of Shattered

Eventually, Jared’s screams stop, and a heavy silence fills the car.

“Is Jared dead?” I ask, knowing he is.

After a pause, Bane nods, his face pale, and my heart drops. The sick part of me doesn’t care that Jared’s dead. All I can think is that if he’s dead…

Lila’s next.

“Asher?”

A taunting voice from the video grabs my attention, and Bane passes it over slowly. I hold it to my face, watching Rocco stare into the camera as Rooney approaches Lila. He runs his hands over her naked body, and she squirms, wincing beneath his touch as he fondles her tits.

“Are you watching? If you’re watching, call my phone, or your girl pays the price.”

“BANE!” I cry.

He’s fast, knowing we can’t use my phone and still watch. He dials and holds it up to show me it’s Rocco’s number. But when he holds up his phone on the screen, nothing happens. And I see the very moment the desperate hope on Lila’s face fades.

“Wow, Lila. I was sure he’d follow the rules. He sounded desperate to get you back, but he’s not putting in the effort to make sure that happens.”

Lila sobs, overwhelmed to the point that she can hardly breathe.

“I guess you’re just another disposable whore,” Rooney says.

“Which is good news for us. We don’t like giving back our toys. Never have,” Rocco says.

“ARE YOU FUCKING CALLING HIM!?” Turner roars, making Bane and I both jump.

“He must have us blocked. He’s playing with us,” Bane says.

“What the fuck did you two do?” Turner snaps.

“It doesn’t matter right now, okay? We’ll explain everything later; we need to get her out of there first,” I say as my phone beeps, the battery dying. “Fuck… Do you have a charger?”

“No.”

“Send me the link,” Bane says.

I do as he says, but the link won’t open on his phone, and my battery is at fifteen percent. If it runs out…

“Let’s check the comments and see where we’re at,” Rocco’s voice says, grabbing my attention again. I watch as he reads off his phone, terrified of what he’s about to say. “Hans wants us to start hot. Hans, you’re funny. That was a given. Will wants to see you bleed.”

“How much fucking longer is this drive?” Turner asks. He’s angry, but I can hear the fear making his voice shake. He clearly cares about Lila. I don’t have the heart to tell him that even at the speed he’s going, we’ve got at least another two hours to Kingston, and we still don’t know where she’s actually being held.

When I watch Rooney dig in a cabinet, my chest seizes. When I spot the grisly knife in his left hand, my breath hitches.

When I spot the torch in his right, I stop breathing altogether.

Chapter 23

Lila

You think you know what fear is, and then you realize you had no idea.

I’ve only met Jared once. But watching him die had me screaming enough to blow out my own throat. It was so violent, so cruel. The way he gurgled as he choked on the burning fluid was enough to make me gag with terror. They even poured it into his eyes, and I watched as the fluid smoked and reacted to his body. I can’t imagine a worse way to die.

Now he’s dead, and they’re approaching me.

I wanted to hold onto the slightest hope that maybe they wouldn’t kill me. Maybe they were just fucking with Asher, trying to scare him. But there’s no hope in this prison. The casual way theykilled Jared without thinking twice has me in a chokehold. There was no hesitation, no mercy.

---