Page 69 of Redemption's Inferno

“Shut up!”

“Then tell me what you want,” Emilie repeated. “Money? Something else?”

“The only thing I want is Gary…and we both know that’s not happening.”

“What else? There must be something else or you wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”

“Trouble?” Franny laughed. “This hasn’t been any trouble.”

Emilie grit her teeth to hide her annoyance. “Tell me where you are,” she encouraged softly. “I can meet you there… We can talk.”

“Oh, honey, I’ve been waiting for you—I just didn’t think you’d come in until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Emilie pressed down on the gas pedal. “You’re at Inferno!”

“Of course! I wasn’t sure you’d figured it out, but I was planning to leave a little surprise for you to find when you got in to work because it was time. However, since you seem anxious to come in on your day off, I suppose letting you watch him die wouldn’t be terrible. Not quite as dramatic as you finding him already dead, but probably equally gut-wrenching.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Emilie.”

“Yes?”

“Come alone, or you won’t have a chance to say good-bye, much less save him. The outdoor cameras give me a view of every entrance and the entire parking lot. If they’re hiding in your trunk, or parking up the street and walking over, I’ll see them and Chains will be dead.”

“I understand,” Emilie whispered, her heart racing. “I’ll be alone. I swear. Please don’t do anything until I get there.”

“I’ll think about it.” Franny disconnected.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Emilie drove as fast as she dared.

* * *

She pulled into the Inferno parking lot and quickly got out. She knew exactly which way to go because she only had about 30 seconds where she would be in an area the cameras didn’t cover. She ducked into the loading dock door and yanked out her phone, keeping it in her hand as she hurried through the hall. Joe and Chains had decided management needed a secret escape route in case they were ever raided or attacked. They’d designed it when they’d first bought the building and only Dante, Becca, Joe, Chains, Emilie, Viggo and Jamie knew about it. She wondered if Franny would ever get the irony she was going to be outsmarted because she’d refused to become a manager; had she accepted their offer, she would have been told about the escape tunnel.

Emilie walked into her office, grateful they’d purposely kept security cameras out of there. She nudged her desk out of the way and pulled up the hatch under the rug. She lowered herself to the ground, grumbling about her aching back and feet, but managed to find the handrail for the staircase that would lead her to the dungeon. Letting the hatch close behind her, she navigated the stairs using the flashlight on her phone until she was on flat ground again. She walked 20 steps to the door that led to the dungeon and slowly pulled it open just a crack. Franny had turned on the red lights that were used when the equipment was being utilized, and there in the middle of the room was Chains. She swallowed hard when she saw him. He was chained to the spider web, arms above his head and legs out to the side. He wore nothing but a pair of jeans and most of his body was covered in blood. Franny was standing next to him now, a fistful of his dreads in her hand.

Steeling herself, Emilie let the door softly close and she hit the speed dial button for Joe’s phone.

“Emilie!” He answered immediately.

“I’m at the club,” she whispered. “Franny’s got Chains in the dungeon. I’m in the tunnel right now but I don’t know how long before she kills him.”

“We’re coming!” Joe was yelling. “Keep her talking—do whatever it takes to keep him alive until we get there.”

Emilie was nodding to herself; keeping him alive was definitely the plan. She needed a weapon, though, and she cracked the door again to see what was nearby as she thought about what Chains had told her.

“Any weapon is better than nothing,” he’d said. “A stick, a rock, a bloody vase of flowers—anything you can use to defend yourself or hurt your attacker is worthwhile. Going into a fight empty-handed is foolish unless you have absolutely no choice.”

She looked around and spotted a can of WD-40. That would have to do, so she stuck it in the back of the waistband of her yoga pants, hoping her bulging belly would keep Franny from noticing it. Once inside the dungeon, all she needed was to get her hand on one of the whips on the wall; it wouldn’t do much against a gun, but she could protect herself against almost anything else with it.

She paused, wincing at the stinging pain in her back. The baby had somehow managed to sit on her sciatic nerve and it had been bothering her for weeks. Tonight it was the worst it had been to date and she massaged her back for a moment, whispering to the baby to please move into another position, just until she could get to Chains. After a few deep breaths, she opened the door and stepped inside.

Franny spun around, glaring at her. “Where did you go? How did you get in here?”

“I know every nook and cranny of my club,” Emilie replied calmly.

“Your club! Ha! This is Dante and Becca’s club—millionaires who don’t care about anyone or anything except money.”

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