Page 22 of On the Rocks
“I don’t know.”
Weak, hoarse, and full of bullshit. “How the fuck can you not know? This is your fucking plan. Now where is she?”
“B-Butcher drugged her…at the spa…” He sways and tumbles over again. Barely audible with his hands covering his mutilated face. “…inserted the device and then took the…”
What the god damn fuck? Genuine fear slices through me sharper than a blade. “What device?”
“In her arm…giving her amnesia…said it would be easier that way...to control her.”
They’ve hurt her. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. I need to kill this bastard so fucking bad. Both of them. But I have to hear the rest. No matter how fucking horrible it is. So I can find her.
“…took the cash and disappeared…cut off all contact…don’t know where he took her.”
He falls limp. His hands droop to the ground revealing the damage that’s not nearly savage enough. That doesn’t punish him enough for harming my sunshine. Unconscious but I don’t give a damn. I’m not fucking finished yet. I fist his shirt and jerk his sorry ass awake. “How much?”
His head lolls side to side from the force. “What?”
“How much did you pay him to take her?”
“Five million.”
Son of a fucking bitch. I toss him to the ground. Almost falling on my own ass with dread. Nearly vomiting from my own terror.
That’s enough to go anywhere. Do anything. For a long time. He doesn’t need McAdams anymore. He has plenty of cash to live comfortably for the rest of his life. The rest of her life.
She’s no longer a pawn.
She’s his prisoner.
And he doesn’t want anything to set her free.
8
Chapter Eight
Lightning.
Lightning bolts sear through my head. I roll over, chasing relief from the cool side of the pillow. Yelping instead from the burning in my arm. Agony like I’ve never known before surges through my forehead, squeezing behind my ears and down my neck.
Sweat dampens my fingers massaging my temples. Maybe Advil will help. Or some food. Or a shower. Dread swells in my chest. I’ve never been in so much pain. What if nothing works?
The mattress dips, and I tip toward the center. Someone’s with me. Fear races through me like a wild fire. I have no idea who’s in my bed.
“Good morning.”
An unfamiliar hand caresses over my hip bone, trying to tug me against him. I lurch toward the edge, scrambling off the mattress. Slamming down onto the cold tile with my foot tangled in the thick blanket. “Stay away from me!”
“Jesus, Cat! Are you okay?”
No.
Who’s Cat? Tremors engulf me as my mind races. Who am I?
I don’t know him. I don’t know this room. I don’t know…anything.
My fingers twist the white t-shirt I’m somehow wearing. With nothing else. This isn’t right. I sleep in...I have no idea.
He towers over me as I lay sprawled on the floor. His gaze lingering on my nakedness before drifting lazily to my eyes. “Come here.”
