Page 127 of Lotus

I’m greeted with the blurry barrel of a handgun merely two inches from my face.

“Welcome back,” says the man holding the weapon, his voice and image still obscured in shadow as reality slowly begins to solidify. “Again.”

“Sydney.”

She’s my prime concern.

Pain radiates through me, from the roots of my hair all the way down to my fastened feet, but I manage to twist my head to the right and discover Sydney lying beside me, her own hands tethered to the bedpost behind her back. Her mouth is obstructed by aNirvanabandana, her mascara streaking down cherry red cheeks, a throaty, screeching sound stifled by the fabric.

We’re in her room, bound to the bedframe.

My body reacts on instinct, and I repel the gruff twine wrapped snuggly around my wrists and ankles, legs kicking, torso struggling against the headboard through a grunt.

“Don’t hurt yourself now, Oliver.”

I whip my head towards the assailant, his voice and features finally assembling into something familiar. The mask dissolves, the shadowy blob for a face disintegrating into a man I’ve come to trust.

The Faceless Man has been unveiled.

“Travis,” I whisper hoarsely. My mouth is not wrapped in cloth, and I’m certain it’s because the double-barrel revolver aimed between my eyes is intended to keep me quiet. “What is this?”

Travis releases a prolonged sigh of vexation as he sits perched on the edge of the mattress beside my legs. “This,” he reiterates, gesturing his arms to the chaos he’s created. “This is what I like to call loose ends.”

Spitting a mouthful of blood to my left, my insides knotted much like my limbs, I find his hard gaze fixed on me as he holds the gun with a steady grip. Confusion bleeds with betrayal, but those things are overridden by the heart-rending worry I feel for the woman I love lying helpless beside me.

Sydney is writhing in place, her entire body tremoring with tears and terror as she unsuccessfully tries to escape. “I’m going to get us out of this,” I tell her, holding her stare with mine. The tinseled sparks I normally see reflecting back at me have perished into ash. “I’ll save you. I always save you.”

Cold metal kisses my chin, pulling my attention back to him. Amused laughter follows as Travis taps the side of my jaw with the barrel of the gun. “Ah, yes,” he says easily, smirk in place. “Your comic books. You always had a very vivid imagination, Oliver.”

“Please don’t hurt her,” I beg, tugging at the ropes. “God, please, let her go.”

“I respect the noble request, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

A surge of protective anger courses through me, culminating in a savage growl that tears through my lips. I try to lunge at him, but Travis flips the gun in his hand so the butt collides with my jaw, sending a mist of blood across the linens.

Sydney erupts with more repressed screams, the bed shaking violently beneath her ministrations. She’s shouting my name through the wadded-up bandana in her mouth, and my God, I want nothing more than to quell her fear, ease her pain, and kiss away the tear stains that glisten her cheekbones.

Travis stands from the bed, the gun still pointed at me. “I assure you, this is not the festive celebration I had in mind when I woke up this morning,” he drawls, holding one hand up in mock defense. “In fact, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this at all.”

“What is this about? Why are you attacking us?” I demand through clenched teeth, chest heaving.

His weary sigh travels over to us as he scratches his head with the weapon. “You’re not supposed to be here, Oliver,” Travis replies. “And I wish I could bring that cowardly son-of-a-bitch back to life, just so I could bash his brains in again for leaving me with this mess.”

“Bradford.”

“Yes,Bradford. Ray Ford, the man I foolishly trusted to take care of my problem.”

I shake my head, drowning in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t,” he says with a halfhearted chuckle. “Imagine my surprise when my son informs me that your memories were wiped clean. I thought for damnsureyou were going to spill my secrets to your little girlfriend about what you saw that day. I thought I was done for. Hell, I even had my suitcases packed, ready to start over in Belize under a shiny, new alias.”

Travis stalks over to me, forcing the butt of the gun against the side of my head. I wince through a hiss of contempt. “You attacked her.”

His shoulders shrug with indifference before he pulls back, chomping on a piece of chewing gum. “It wasn’t my intention. I avoid getting my hands dirty whenever possible, but Ihadto be sure she didn’t know anything before I uprooted my life.”

“So, you decided to beat the answers out of her?”

Travis paces the bedroom, cool and collected. “I was only there to bug her computer—I was in the middle of installing a listening device when she had to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. She forced my hand, much like she’s doing right now.”

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