Page 43 of Savage Truth

One leg at a time, I squeezed myself through the hole I’d made. With a cautious push, I opened the door to the new room. After scanning the space, I sighed. It was empty. I still had to get out, though. I rushed to the closed drapes and peeked through a small crack, careful not to move the material too much. I could see the thugs smoking by one of the black sedans, far enough away that I could sneak out and take cover in the parking lot. There were a few cars I could use as a buffer if I crouched and stayed below their line of sight. It was a risk, but waiting was a terrible idea. Too bad the room hadn’t been occupied but empty. I would have been able to steal clothes as a disguise. As it was, I was wearing just shorts and a T-shirt.

I unlocked the door, eased it open, and carefully slipped through when a noise sounded at the other end of the sidewalk.Please don’t let that be Nick. I took a few quick steps behind the side of the closest car and out of sight. No alarm sounded—no pounding footsteps.

Without looking back, I pushed forward, clearing each car until I was at the last one. Then I looked. A jolt of pure fear hit me. Nick was with his goons, heading into the room he’d locked me in. As soon as the door shut, I took off behind the motel. We were close to some woods, and I sprinted as quickly as I could go with a head wound.

Pain radiated through the bottom of my feet from running full out on rocks, sticks, and who knew what else. I put everything I had into making it to the tree line. The first shout pierced the air just as I darted beyond the line of pines. Without looking back, I kept going. I had to put enough distance between us and then hide, hoping they wouldn’t find me.

If only I had my phone.

A gunshot boomed, and my heart about stopped. I didn’t feel anything, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t been hit. I kept going deeper into the forest, running on an incline and darting around trees. We were at the base of a mountain. Water roared to my left. I veered that way, hoping the sound would hide the noise I was making.

After another few minutes, I stopped and leaned against a tree to catch my breath. My head pounded like a drum, and my stomach rolled. I gagged but didn’t throw up. I was thankful—I needed that water to stay down.

Another shot rang out, but it sounded farther away. My body shook. I had no idea what time it was, only that the sun was going down, and I didn’t think anyone would find me in time. I hobbled forward, the pain in my feet acute after the adrenaline rush.

Two days had passed, and no one had found me yet. It was hard to stay positive. Blood coated my left sock, and I’m sure the blood provided an easy trail. I had to find somewhere to hide long enough to figure out what to do. Little black dots crowded the edge of my vision.Don’t pass out. I inched forward bit by bit, searching as I swayed. I spotted a couple of fallen trees with one crossing the other and almost cried in relief. They butted up to an incline in the mountain, and upon closer inspection, I realized I could crawl behind them and hide. It would be impossible to find me unless they found the exact spot and looked at the small opening in the back.

I squeezed myself behind the trees then contorted my body into a ball. I would sleep for a few minutes then try to find a road and help. I didn’t know exactly what Nick had planned, but I knew it involved me marrying some creep and something to do with my mom. He’d been trying to hurt her since she left him. And if he caught her again, I didn’t know if she would survive.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

COLE

The cops found her phone. It was something, but I wasn’t sure if we would get to her in time. Raelyn was like a caged animal. Dad had called a meeting, and I didn’t think he’d expected everyone to show, but Shane and Phoenix waded into the deepest trenches with us.

Raelyn sat on one of the chairs in Dad’s office, her leg bouncing and her eyes darting from corner to corner. He watched her warily as the four of us filed in. Damon shut the door behind us.

The detective and police were out looking for Riley rather than taking up space inside our house. It was about damn time. Nobody’d had a solid night’s sleep since she’d been taken, so two in the morning seemed as appropriate as any other time for us to convene and strategize. Aunt Cece had a shift in the ER but promised to call if there was any news or if a Jane Doe fitting Riley’s description came in.

“Where was her phone?” I wanted details.

“Along one of the mountain passes,” Dad said. “Nick shut it off and popped the battery before tossing it out of the car. They found her shoes a few feet from it.”

“She can’t make a run for it?” Shane asked.

“That, and in case something was hidden in them.” Raelyn grabbed the arms of the chair, digging her nails into them. “If he cuffs her, she doesn’t have anything on her to pick the lock or shoelaces to help break a zip tie.”

Damon’s head snapped back. “Whoa, she was prepared for that?”

“Nick Viareggio is Mafia.” Dad rested his elbows on his desk, his phone in front of him. “Raelyn’s brother prepared both of them for what would happen if Nick found them.”

I turned to Raelyn. “Where is your brother when she needs him the most?” I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice.

“He should already be here.” A tear slid down her face, and she shook her head. “The only thing that would keep him away is if Nick got to him first.”

“What is Nick to you, Raelyn?” I kept my voice low to mask the barely contained violence thrumming through me. “Husband? Lover?”

She pressed her lips into a tight line, leaching all the color from them, and seemed to gather herself for a moment. “He was a mistake. I snuck out of my very religious parents’ house to go to a party with some friends. I was barely sixteen. I knew my older brother, who was supposed to keep an eye on me, wouldn’t be there and thought I could get away with it.” She waved her hand as if to speed up the memory. “I drank too much, and Nick was watching me, filling my cup when it was empty. We weren’t anything. He’d shown interest in me, but my brother, Ronan, was very protective and warned him to stay away from me.

“Ronan wasn’t there that night, and I wasn’t thinking right. A few months later, I found out that I was pregnant. And when my parents learned about my condition, they went to a meeting with Nick and his father. I guess Nick wanted more with me. I was to marry him a few weeks after they all met. There was a contract because he was Mafia, and they compensated my parents.”

“That’s fucked up.” I glanced at Dad, but he didn’t seem shocked.He knew?He must have.“Did you go through with the wedding?”

She jerked her head in a nod. “I didn’t have a choice.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Two weeks after, I escaped.”

“So he’s your husband?” Damon asked.

She shrugged and glanced at my dad, but he was calm and clearly in the know. She met Damon’s eyes but then looked away. “Yes and no. Ronan is five years older than me and was already heavily entrenched in a rival syndicate. I went to my brother with the news, and he helped me when I was able to escape by hiding me in an apartment rented under an alias. I had Riley there, not in a hospital, with the help of a nurse Ronan knew. Nick learned that I’d miscarried through false information fed to him.”

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