Page 52 of Power Term

“Ponder?” I mouth. “It was Ponder?”

Trey nods, pressing his lips into a thin line, telling me he has more to say on that topic.

“Ah, see, that was a surprise to me too. I didn’t place him on her security detail, someone else did. Someone else wants her dead, whereas I wanted her… vulnerable. He was to abduct Trailer, help me ensure her compliance during our escape—”

“Is that what you call beating the shit out of me? Making me compliant?”

A shoulder rises and falls with Shawn’s unconcerned shrug. “It worked, didn’t it? I will admit they found you sooner than I expected, but that was why I had a plan C in place on the off chance our location was discovered before we could escape.”

“That’s why you blew the entrance to the tunnel—”

“The warehouse, not just the tunnel entrance. I didn’t want to lead the Secret Service and FBI to investigate why I chose that warehouse in the first place, or then they’d know where the tunnel ended. See, the FBI raided that warehouse years ago. A known human trafficking ring utilized it to receive their shipments, then the tunnel to export them without anyone knowing. Not that it matters now, because even if they do discover the tunnel’s exit, we’re far from there now. Far from anything, actually.” That icy stare narrows in my direction. “No one to hear you beg except me.”

“All this for what?” I croak. “For revenge.”

“No, Trailer. Like I said earlier, for restitution. Which I will bleed from your boyfriend first, then you. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to take my time so you have a chance to say goodbye.”

I swallow down the tears clogging my throat. “I’ll do it. I’ll call Sam, make him take you on as the VP. Just give me a phone. I’ll make the call.”

In three slow, calculated steps, he pauses in front of my face. Twisting to lean against my bound hands, I stare up at him. A wide smile splits his face—a knowing smile.

“Oh, Trailer. It’s too late for that. There is nothing left, no bargaining chip you hold to stop what’s to come. Not that it ever would have.”

I feel my face pale. He never expected me to make that call. It was a distraction. A reason to beat me into submission and taunt me with what’s to come. Fuck, I should’ve known that wasn’t his endgame after all. There’s no way it ever could’ve happened.

This right here, right now, was his plan all along. Me, alone and vulnerable. Trey and Tank finding me so fast just offered up a little bonus for Shawn and his evil plot. They played into his hands without even knowing it.

Now for the final stage of his diabolical plan.

Trey’s death.

Then mine.

Chapter Sixteen

Randi

Shawn’s humorless chuckle seems to echo long after he climbed the stairs and slipped back through the unseen door. The entire conversation runs on repeat as I stare with glassy eyes up at the unfinished ceiling.

My hair slides along the sheets as I shift my angle for a different view of the exposed floor joists and wiring. It’s that exposed wiring that holds my rapt attention.

“You know, one time when I was still living with my mom, our trailer almost caught on fire.” Shifting again, I study the various rubber-coated colors differentiating the wire’s purpose. “It was the burning rubber that I smelled first. Thank the unicorn gods the side window was open or I wouldn’t have noticed something was off before it was too late. Two frayed wires near the electrical output we were hooked up to had caught fire, the flames slowly working their way along the rubber coating toward the trailer.” Laying my cheek along the bed, I catch Trey’s obvious confusion as to why the hell I’m bringing this up. “Did you know you can’t put an electrical fire out with water? It has to be some kind of flame suppressant like… flour. It’s only by sheer luck we’d learned about it the week before in science class.”

“Ah, so you were in science class that day, not bent over the bleachers like that fuckstick upstairs.” A mischievous gleam flickers in his gaze.

“No, Ben was not fucking me on the bleachers.” Trey’s responding possessive growl somehow eases the fear strangling my lungs. “Hey, you said it, not me.”

“Don’t say his name again.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I bring this up because that wiring above us is exposed and runs along the wall behind you. None of the walls are finished, so everything down here is exposed.”

“You’re suggesting we catch the place on fire.”

I attempt a shrug only to grimace as the motion tugs at my bindings. “If we had a way to cut out of these zip ties and fray the wiring without electrocuting ourselves… yeah. But we’re not that lucky.” If we were, we wouldn’t be sitting down here waiting for our deaths.

“I might have something that would work.”

“Okay….”

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