Page 51 of Swallow Your Fear
It made sense. He was probably waiting there right now, and I was wasting my time searching a rotting house. Brynne took over every coherent thought in my mind, and all I could focus on right now was getting to her, but I wasn’t being smart. Henley was a fucking saint.
I placed stiff palms on either side of his face, Brynne’s bandana wrapped around my fingers, and shook him slightly. “You’re a goddamn genius.” My hands dropped, and I was slipping past him in a hurry. “Get Austin and meet me at the truck. I’m leaving with or without you.”
Henley hurried after me and parted ways to grab Austin, who was lost in conversation with McKenna. By the looks of it, she was upset, and he was comforting her. They could do that sappy shit after we found Brynne. But even if Austin decided not to come, I’d still walk into the flames to find her.
Not a minute passed after I’d made it to my truck when Austin and Henley came running up to the doors to hop in. Thankfully, Austin had left McKenna with her cousin. I didn’t need more people getting in the way. It’d killed me to give them those sixty seconds, but I didn’t know what I was walking into when I got to the park, so having at least one of them by my side was the smart thing to do.
With the truck already started, my tires peeled out of the gravel lot, and then we were heading down the highway to the unknown, and my girl.
Chapter 21
Brynne
Stay quiet and don’t scream. That’s what he wants me to do. He wants a reaction, and I’m not going to give it to him.
My body jostled side to side in the back of what I assumed to be a vehicle. I wasn’t in a seat, nor was I crammed uncomfortably in a trunk, which meant it had to be a van. I wasn’t skilled in figuring out my surroundings without seeing where I was, but I had to learn real quick how to sense anything and everything with a cloth tied over my eyes.
“Wonder what she’s got under that sweatshirt,” a man said with a nasally voice.
A raspy chuckle sounded from my other side. “Bet her boyfriend wouldn’t mind if we had a little look.”
“Boss said to leave her to him,” another male called back from somewhere behind me. He must be the one driving the van.
The other two had to be at least two or three feet from me, on either side of the vehicle. My hands were boundbehind my back, making it hard to stay upright with each bump and turn, but I refused to lose my balance. It’d only make me look more vulnerable if I did.
I’d woken from the hit only minutes ago, and as soon as I did, I’d scrambled to this sitting position, with my back pressed firmly against the metal wall behind me. This was the first they’d spoken, and I couldn’t decide if knowing they were in here with me made me feel better than the suffocating silence. To die alone or with an audience was a decision I didn’t think I’d ever want to make—not that they’d let me have a say, anyway.
“Well, the boss ain’t here right now, is he?” nasally guy shot back.
“We don’t even need to touch her to get a show,” the raspy one said, then added, “Her ass is practically spilling out of those shorts.”
I swallowed hard, shifting where I sat to try to hide their view of my ass, but without being able to see, I didn’t know if the position I moved into was enough to block it. I mentally cursed McKenna for making me wear this slutty cowgirl costume. I’d thought the outfit would be cute to taunt Booker with—not to end up getting eye-fucked by some creeps.
Brakes squealed as the van stopped moving, but the engine didn’t turn off. Silence stretched for too long before the sound of a door opening filled the space, and the vehicle dipped slightly as someone must’ve gotten in.
“You listen to my instructions?” a deep, unsettling voice asked. Somehow, it seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I blamed the hit on my head for making me imagine things.
“Yes, boss. Got the girl in one piece, just like you asked,” the nasally one answered.
“That amount of blood on her face and you think that’s one piece?” the one I assumed was the boss questioned.
I folded in on myself slightly with the knowledge that there was blood on me. I hadn’t realized I was that injured with my focus on where I was and who was with me. Pain was an afterthought.
“Gun nicked her head when I hit her,” the raspy one said.
“I don’t give a shit. Get the fuck out.”
Rustling filled my ears before the van dipped again, and then the doors were shut. Behind me, the peep door must’ve been closed as well as a scrape sounded. But I knew I wasn’t alone.
“Quiet one, aren’t you?” the boss asked, but with his tone, it was clear he was taunting me, trying to get a reaction.
I wouldn’t give in.
Two footfalls, and the cloth was ripped from my face. I blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings. I was correct in that I was currently in a van, and by the smears of old blood on the wall, I could tell this wasn’t their first time holding someone in here.
I refused to look up at the man standing before me, so I kept my gaze on the door just past him. A rough hand gripped my chin, forcing my face up, but I didn’t give him my eyes. He wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing any hint of fear in them.
“Stubborn little bitch, aren’t you?”
