Page 37 of Carter's Battle

Her uncle smiled icily. “Yes, and do you know why?”

She could only stare. All this time she’d thought it was Bobby. That wasn’t exactly true. She’d half-thought it was Bobby. The other half of her believed the cops when they said it was an accident. And all this time, her own uncle was responsible for killing her parents.

“Because of what your mother did?”

“What the hell could she have done that was so bad?” Mia demanded. “She was your sister. Your own flesh and blood.”

Makaio slammed his hand on the desk, rattling the tea set. “Yes, she was, and I hated her. She was always the favorite. Always got everything she wanted. Always had our father’s favor. But I could live with all that. I would have happily gone on ignoring her. But she crossed the line. She interfered in my world and for that she had to die.”

“I don’t understand. How did she interfere in your world? She avoided you just like you avoided her.”

Her uncle poured himself more tea as if he discussed murdering his family members every day. But Mia caught thetremor in his hand and the flush on his cheeks. He was seriously angry. It made Mia’s throat close, and she struggled to pull in a deep breath.

“She did right up until her daughter started to gamble and then she stepped over the line.” Makaio met her gaze with his own frigid stare.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. She and Dad staged an intervention, and I stopped gambling. What did that have to do with you?”

Her uncle snorted. “An intervention, ha. I guess she wasn’t so sure it would work, or she just didn’t trust your word. Your mother ratted out Bobby Kamaka’s gambling ring.Shetold the cops where to find him.”

Mia was confused about so many things. “But I thought Bobby didn’t work for you then.”

“I didn’t know about his gambling ring at that point. He managed that on his own,” her uncle agreed. “But he was running drugs for me and when your mother gave the location of the next game to the police, it happened to be when Bobby was moving a large shipment of drugs for me. They were confiscated and I had to pay the owner of those drugs for the loss of them and another fee on top of that just to keep him happy. I don’t like having to pay out and not make anything back. That was on your mother. What kind of a businessman would I be if I let the people who caused me problems get away with it?”

Mia wanted to hurl the cup and saucer at her uncle. The teacup dipped dangerously in her fingers thanks to her sweaty palms. “But you waited a long time to get your revenge.”

“I wanted to make sure if there were any issues that Bobby would be able to take the blame. Fortunately, there were none. It went smoothly.”

“I hate you,” Mia blurted. “I hate you so fucking much I want to kill you.”

“I’m sure you do but you’re not going to get that chance because we’re here now to determine you told the police about Peter and the gaming room at the warehouse. If it was, then you will suffer the same fate as your parents, only yours will be so much more painful.”

The door opened and Donny walked in, followed by the man who’d been at the warehouse when her uncle first walked. What had Carter called him? Bascom. Carter had said Bascom was a powerful man with lots of connections in Washington. She didn’t want to know what he had to do with her uncle.

“They’re here. It’s time,” Bascom announced.

Her uncle stood up. “We’ll continue this later, Mia. Have a good long think on what we’ve spoken about.” He gestured toward the goon who had been standing in the corner of the room waiting on her uncle’s next command. He came toward her.

“Donny,” her uncle added as he turned toward the other man, “go find Bobby. I want to speak with him later.”

Donny left the room, followed by Bascom and her uncle.

The man who’d kidnapped her took the teacup from her and set it on the desk. Then he stood her up, zip-tied her hands behind her back again, and put the bag back over her head. He pushed her down on the sofa where she fell over onto her side. She swore silently as pain flared from her ribs.

At least he hadn’t put the gag back in her mouth.Be thankful for small merciesher mother would always tell her.It’s hard to be thankful at the moment, Mom.Tears clogged her throat as she thought of her parents. She swallowed hard and then pushed those thoughts away. She didn’t have time for that now. She needed a plan to get out of this mess and it had better be good because things weren’t looking so great for her, and she was determined to make sure her uncle didn’t get away with murdering her as well as her parents.

Mia opened her eyes.The bag was still over her head, but the office was dark now. She’d spent the day on the couch with her hands and everything hurt. Her arms were numb. The man who’d kidnapped her had taken her to the restroom twice, and she’d been allowed to have some more tea, but that was it.

She raised her head and waited a beat, but no one yelled or said anything. Maybe they’d left her alone. It wasn’t like she could go anywhere. Or so they thought. Mia had other ideas. She swung her legs down off the couch and tried to push herself into a sitting position. It was much easier now that her feet weren’t tied together. The trips to the restroom had taken care of that. The goon had re-fastened her hands but not her feet. She still sent a silent thanks to Emery and Dahlia for making her workout. Those core muscles really came in handy.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to slow her heart rate to a normal rhythm. “Okay, you can do this,” she murmured to herself. She strained to see through the bag but the darkness in the office made it impossible. Closing her eyes, she pictured the layout of the office. Thanks to the conversation with her uncle earlier and her trips to the restroom, she was pretty sure she knew where everything was. All she had to do was get on her feet and move to the desk.Sure. Easy peasy.Then she just had to push the cup and saucer off the desk.Not a problem.But after that it got tricky.Or maybe downright insane.How the hell was she going to be able to get down to the floor and pick up a piece of the china to cut the zip ties? Yeah, that part of her plan needed work.

The sound of footfalls on the stairs sent her heart racing.Too soon.She needed to escape before her uncle came back. She’dtried to come up with a plan all day until exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep. Now she was kicking herself for sleeping.How could I be so stupid?

The door opened and the lights came on. Mia tensed, waiting for her uncle to tell her it was time to die.

“We’re alone at last,” Donny said as he walked over and ran a hand down her arm. She tried to shy away from him, but it was hard with her hands still tied. None too gently, he jerked the bag off her head, and she blinked in the sudden light. Donny ran a hand down her cheek, and she willed herself not to vomit at the touch of his blunt fingertips.

Donny took a couple of steps back and leaned on the desk facing her. Sweat glistened on his forehead and he huffed and puffed after climbing the stairs. His girth had grown since she first met him. The fluorescent lighting wasn’t kind to him, showing his wrinkles and jowls in all their glory. He looked closer to her uncle’s age than Bobby’s. Revulsion filled her and she had to swallow to stop the vomit from coming up this time.

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