Page 71 of Sawyer
The moldy mattress Hector had tossed her on smelled like decaying rats. Hector had carried her inside and dropped her there when they arrived. He made sure the zip ties binding her wrist were secure and then pulled out a longer one to use on her ankles.
She tried to struggle, though whatever he’d dosed her with in the car was wearing off, she still had some in her system.
When he made a grab for her tiara, she’d fought him hard enough to change his mind. “Keep your fucking crown,” he shouted. “It just makes you look even more pathetic. A grown woman has no business wearing a crown like a kid.”
“Every woman is a queen, and every queen deserves a crown. If I were a queen, I’d crown you with my royal scepter. Really hard right on the top of your head.”
His eyes went glacial. A cautionary shiver snaked down her spine. “You’re going to want to be nicer to me. I can make things more painful for you than you can imagine. Besides, if I want it, I’ll be able to get it later.”
The look in his eye when he told her he could get it later gaveher chills. It was time to face facts. Her stepbrother was a psychopath. At least she could take comfort in knowing she wasn’t the only one he’d fooled. The town of Elk Jaw had elected him mayor.
Too soon, Hector returned carrying a small silver box. It looked like a box you find fancy ink pens in, or even a fancy cigarette case, but that made no sense. It was tied up with a flesh colored bow.
“It’s time for us to part ways, Lele. Thanks to your laundering all that money through the video bar, I now have enough stashed in overseas banks to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I am moving to a seaside village on the island of Borneo. You are going to die in this barn where no one will ever find you.”
“You are not going to be able to do anything because my Daddy will be here any minute and he’s gonna kick your tail.”
Untying the bow, which turned out to be a fancy elastic band, he opened the box and pulled out a syringe of something clear. He held it up for her to see. “This is liquid fentanyl. It is extremely deadly. You will die quickly and painlessly. Well, relatively painlessly. I’m going to shoot this syringe full into the vein in your arm. After that, you should have about two minutes. So, unless he’s standing in this room with us,”—he made a mock show of looking around— “he’s not saving anyone.”
Lele tried not to panic. Where was her Daddy? She needed him to be here now!
Without a warning, Hector lunged for her, trying to hold her down while he used the rubber tube to make a tourniquet around her upper arm. Lele screamed and kicked and performed every disco move she knew. She ducked and weaved, even making a break for the door. He caught her a minute before she crossed the threshold. Spinning her around, he slapped her hard across the face, stunning her for a few minutes. That was all the time he needed to throw her to the ground. Pinning her arm with his knee, he wrapped the rubber tube around her arm.
He had to reach over her body to grab the syringe box. Once the syringe was in his hand, she kicked up, knocking his hand and causing the syringe to fly across the room. “Stop kicking! I’m trying to kill you humanely, you ungrateful bitch!”
Then he kicked her in the side, just under her ribs.
“I’m so sorry,” she panted out, each syllable drenched in bitter sarcasm. “If you give me your phone, I’ll nominate you for the Medal of Honor! My Daddy is gonna be here any second. When he gets here, he's going to break you into little tiny pieces and feed you to Winnie’s dog Rolo.”
And then he kicked her again in exactly the same place. She screamed, praying there was someone near enough to hear. Someone like Sawyer.
She curled into a ball, trying to protect herself in case he kicked her again. Pain shredded her like broken glass, slicing its way across her body from her ribs to her hips.
Pain froze her lungs and the muscles in her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She was too busy fighting back the sick that tried to slide up her throat.
Pushing to his feet, Hector kicked her in the side, knocking the breath she’d just started gaining back out of her. “Scream again, and I’ll show you what real pain feels like. Now keep your mouth shut. And you can forget about your knight in shining armor. If he knew where we were, he’d have been here by now. Nobody cares what happens to you. Not him, not those stupid girls you were hanging out with, and certainly not me. In a few minutes, you’ll be dead, and I’ll be headed out on vacation for the rest of my life. Face it, Lele. No one’s coming because no one cares.”
Hector thought his words would hurt her, but he was wrong. Just like what he’d said was wrong.
Her Daddy loved her. He was coming for her, and when he got there, Hector would be the one who learned what pain was.
She was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear.
He grabbed her by her collar and dragged her, still kicking and struggling to breathe from the kicks she’d received, back to the mattress. When he sat on her chest, she thought she might pass out from lack of air.
With a wicked grin, Hector said, “I think we can finish this up now, don’t you, little sister?” He cut the zip tie binding her wrists together. Before she could react, he shifted her hands, palm up to her sides, and pressed his knees on her wrist, putting his foot on her wrist, using his weight to crush them against the thin mattress. Holding up the syringe, he pushed the plunger until a drop of the lethal drug leaked out over the sharp tip. “Wouldn’t want to have any air bubbles in there.” With pure malice, he added, “It’s been fun knowing you, Lele.”
Still struggling, she managed to say one more thing. “Hector, as brothers go, you suck!”
CHAPTER 28
Sawyer pressed his back to the wall just down from where Hector stood. Within ten seconds of the first kick Hector had delivered to his Little girl's side, he thought of three ways to reach her and fifteen ways to kill that cock sucking sonofabitch.
The only reason he hadn’t pulled out his Glock 19 and shot Hector between the eyes was with all the fighting and struggling, he wasn’t sure he could have taken a safe shot.
But now that fucking asshole had a syringe filled with poison that would kill her almost instantly and was preparing to use it. So, he’d just have to find a way to do what Hector had done to Lele her entire life, be patient, and if it came to it, manipulate him into his death.
Sliding down the wall without making a sound, Sawyer set his bag down. He could have it open in seconds, but he’d wait. He was pretty sure his Glock would be all he needed for Hector.
