Page 1 of Cocked Hammer

Prologue

Lina

“Mom, please. I don’t want to go with you again.” My hand jerked out of hers, and she sighed. “They scare me,” I lied. Kind of. The men who hung out at her cousin’s house didn’t really intimidate me; it was more the thought of being around them made me feel sick. I didn’t understand why I had to go with her to the house when they were there anyway. I wasn’t an idiot; they were sleazeball perverts who, if given a chance, would snap the innocence right out of me. There weren’t any other girls there, only two boys close to my age, Stefan and Alek.

It made no sense. What mother in her right mind would willingly take her thirteen-year-old daughter around those types of men? She wasn’t naïve. In fact, on many occasions when we were around them, it ended in a fight because one of them tried to herd me off into a room by myself. We had gone there too many times to count, and the only time I protested was when I knew it wasn’t a normal social call. There was something off about the way Mom paraded me around in front of the men who visited her cousin. The boys’ parents did the same with them.

“Galina, darling, these men are different ones. They’re going to protect us and get us out of here.” Her hand brushed my long blonde hair behind my ear as she ran a brush through the strands with the other. Tears streaked down her face, but she was fast to swipe them away and stepped behind me so I wouldn’t see the fear in her eyes. I did, though. “Besides,” she gathered my hair on top of my crown and wrapped the rubber band around it three times, popping a bow in front to add flair. I’d stopped liking bows when I was twelve, but it made her happy, and if I had any chance of getting out of this, it was with a hideous, gigantic pink bow stuck on my head.

“Soon enough, we won’t have to worry about being afraid of anyone. This is our new beginning. A fresh start, Lina.” She beamed before clearing her throat. “We’ll finally be free. Together.”

I wondered if she believed the words coming out of her mouth at all. I didn’t. There had been too many times and too many men who promised us safe passage away from my dad. There was an argument to be made that this wasn’t a promising idea. We always suffered from her elaborate schemes in one way or another. Even the strongest person had a breaking point when it came to my father’s ways of persuasion, also known as torture.

The urge to deny her wishes was so strong within me, it pounded with every tick of the grandfather clock in the hall, the echo of the clunks reverberating in the bathroom. The need to get away from Dad was stronger. It wasn’t something that could be ignored. If we didn’t get away from him, we would probably be kidnapped, sold, used as leverage, or killed. He was the most feared leader around. Mom and I weren’t given any special treatment because, to him, everyone was expendable, including his family.

I huffed and fought as the tears burned beneath my lids, wiping them away as soon as they appeared. Much like my mother, I didn’t want to be weak. We were stronger than this, mostly because we had to be. Our life wasn’t easy by any means, but it was not as shitty as it could be.

“Okay,” I agreed, letting defeat sink down into the lowest parts of my soul. None of this is what I wanted for my life, but I hadn’t been given much of a choice. My freedom was never mine to hold on to; it belonged to someone else. I wasn’t sure if it was my dad who pulled the strings leading up to this point or if it had somehow been my mom all along. The only thing I was certain of was if Mom’s plan was somehow successful, it didn’t matter what kind of life we had because we would be together. She promised. Neither Mom nor Dad was what one would consider an award-winning parent, but Mom was the better option of the two. It was clear she loved me, but I honestly thought she had lost too much of herself to understand how to completely care for another human being. There was always something attached to anything we did, like a dark cloud looming over us at all times.

“Be a good girl and come with me. I’ll keep you safe,” the man pledged, his hand landing on the small of my back, and my skin shuddered. I wanted to vomit or at the very least punch him in the junk, but I didn’t. It would be okay. Mom would save me. My pleading eyes connected with Mom’s, begging for her to make all of this stop. I wanted to leave. I didn’t care if we had to go back to stay with Dad. Instead of whisking me into her arms and rushing us out the door, she gave a nod of approval while she let the other man do the same to her.

Shock rattled into my bones, forcing my lips to clamp shut in silence. She was not an idiot. She’d never allowed anything to go this far before. Maybe she was waiting for the right moment to strike? She always had a plan and stuck to it. That had to be what was going on right now. The seconds passed as I waited for her to rescue me, but they didn’t find an end.

“Don’t hurt her,” Stefan barked, balling his hands into fists, and jumped in front of the man and me.

“Better them than us again,” Alek brushed him off with a criticizing shake of his head and pushing him to the side. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I didn’t like it at all. The sickening feeling that always swam in the pit of my stomach at the mention of these men was back, but only a thousand times worse.

“I won’t hurt you,” the man reiterated his point, ushering me into the room beside the one Mom was being shoved in by the other man who was whispering into her ear.

“No!” she screamed through the wall as soon as the door was closed behind us.

“Listen, little girl,” had barely left the man’s lips before an ear-piercing shriek echoed from the room beside us and vibrated through my body. Panic twisted within me, and although I couldn’t be certain what was happening, something told me Mom wouldn’t be keeping her promise to me.

“The deal was she stays with me, Dimitri. We’re a package deal,” Mom screeched over a crashing noise, and my heart hurt so bad that it felt like if my hand hadn’t been clutching my chest, it would burst through at any moment.

“What does she mean?” I spoke to the man for the first time since we had arrived only because I had no other choice.

“As I was saying,” he rolled his shoulders and patted the couch beside him after he took a seat, unfazed by the screams of my mother, “we’re going to be your new family. If you don’t do as we say, I’ll give you back to your father. We both know he’s a very bad man.”

“Mom!” I cried forcefully, my sides shaking, and my throat hurt instantly.

“Galina! Run!” Mom sobbed.

His arms wrapped around me, and his hands covered my ears. “Shh. There now. You don’t want to listen to this next part.” Thinking as quickly as I was able, my eyes darted around the room in search of anything to help. There was absolutely nothing in this room other than the couch we sat on and the man. Where was my cousin? Why wasn’t there anyone else here to help?

My body flailed within his grasp, and his hold tightened. I had to do something to save her. Anything was better than letting whatever was going to happen, happen. My teeth sank into his arm, and he released me immediately.

“Fine. If you want to hear it, go ahead. But remember,” he paused, getting to his feet, a wicked smile flashing onto his face, “I warned you.”

1

Sledgehammer

Circa 2003

Tin Man’s head shook with distaste as he slowly walked across the clubhouse floor to where my elbows leaned against the smooth wooden bar. A loose board squeaked as he crossed it, and I swallowed the gigantic lump of nerves rising in my throat. A permanent frown seemed to have taken up residency where a relaxed expression usually sat on Tin Man’s face.

“It’s time,” he said in a monotone voice, tapping a spot in front of me with his worn fingertips.

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