Page 78 of Prince of Tides
“Go get her,” he said.
“I will. And I’ll tear down anything that stands in my way. This, I swear.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Laurie
“You don’tactuallythink you’re going to get away with this, do you?” I spat, struggling against the ropes that one of Eric’s goons used to tie me to the metal chair. “Please tell me you aren’t that stupid.”
Eric chuckled nastily, the sound echoing in the empty warehouse he’d brought me to on the edge of town. “Oh, I’m sure your father will be open to negotiating … eventually.”
“He’s not going to negotiate a thing with you, shit for brains. He’s going to hire a team of professionals to come here and blow your fucking head off!”
Eric lifted his hand as he stepped closer as if to backhand me, then decided against it. “We’ll see about that,” he said. “Though I suspect he might change his tune if we give him proof that we’re serious.”
I shivered at the malevolence in his eyes.
“Any response to our demands yet?” he asked, looking over at one of his other henchmen.
“Nothing. Not even acknowledgment of the message.”
“He doesn’t believe we’re serious,” Eric said. “We need to send him a more poignant notice that he should stop fucking around and pay up.”
“Like what, boss?” asked the same goon.
“I’m thinking maybe a finger. Start with her pinky, but we can work our way up. If he still hasn’t paid up by the time we’ve sent him all five, we cut off the other hand.Thatshould be enough to show he should just pay us. Otherwise, we can go for the feet after that.”
“You’re sick,” I said.
Eric smiled down at me, a brittle thing plastered on his face by force. “Not sick. Just eager to be done with this.”
“What do you think is going to happen from here?” I challenged. “You get your money, let’s say, and off you go. Then what? Heknowsit’s you, Eric. You can’t stay here. You’ll have to leave the country.”
“I will,” he assured me. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ve got it all planned out. I’m not stupid.”
I laughed in his face.
He smacked me.
“Don’t you laugh at me, bitch,” he snarled, spittle hitting my face as he leaned over me. “This is all your fault. You fucking did this! If you’d just married me like a good little bitch, then this wouldn’t have had to happen.”
“You really have fallen far,” I said, licking my lips. I didn’t taste any blood, but I was sure if he hit me again, it would be harder.
“Just shut up,” Eric said, turning away to bark at the other men. “Why hasn’t he responded? Someone find me some bolt cutters. We’re going to take the bitch’s finger off.”
The shiver that ran down my spine wasn’t just from the temperature of the warehouse. I had to stay positive and believe my dadwouldsend his team to extract me before anything bad happened. That was what I had to believe. I couldn’t let myself get wrapped up in fear.
“Do you have any water?” I asked, feeling thirsty. “I need some water.”
“Shut up.”
“You took me from the hospital, Eric. Use your brain. I was there for a reason. I need fluids. Unless you want me to start projectile vomiting everywhere again.”
He looked at me. I stared right back.
“Someone get her water.”
“A lot of it,” I said. “I go through a lot of it.”
