Page 8 of Jase
“This can’t be right.”
The voice had me jerking my attention back to the monitors as the man leaned closer to his computer. Even with facial recognition, an identity still hadn’t come back for either one of them. The woman said her name was Kody Marshall. Had I been able to focus on anything else, I would have pulled up everything I could on her. As it was, my hands and concentration were the only thing keeping her from getting tenderized like a slab of meat.
“What the fuck!” I glanced up just in time to see the computer chair go flying across the room. Kody screamed and suddenly everything went dark. All the monitors turned into black screens and our connection was lost.
“No, no, no.” Dread was heavy in my gut as I went back to his system. What had he done? Where had he gone? Did he simply turn off the connection or did he plan to abandon everything digitally linked to him? Sweat began to cover my skin as I repeatedly searched him out. Minutes passed. Longer. I pushed from my own chair, raking my fingers through my hair as I gripped on.
What if I had killed her? Sure, she might have died anyway, but she’d only have been broken tonight had I not sabotaged the chat. That would have given me an extra day to try to find her. What if he didn’t get back online? What if he started over somewhere new?
Fuck, I was so confused on what to feel. Should I have tried to save her earlier? Should I have left it alone until the goddamn recognitions came back? Who’s to say they even would? I had to figure out the location his connection was coming from. I hated that I didn’t have it yet. Especially now. If he killed her…If he disappeared…how was I going to find him? I wouldn’t think that way. I wouldn’t stop. This man was going to suffer far worse than she had.
My phone ringing had me lunging to my desk.
“God dammit.” I pushed the button putting it to my ear…but I was already trying to see if the connection had returned. “Rian.”
“Well, you don’t sound asleep.”
“It’s late. What do you want?”
He paused. “I don’t like how we left off earlier. I wanted to check on you. Today was a big day and—”
“I told you I’m good. Really, I am.”
“Are you…what’s that sound? You’re typing awfully fast. Are you writing a novel?”
My breath held. I should have known to wait. Rian missed nothing.
“I’m a little busy.”
“Busy doing what? You didn’t—You wouldn’t.”
The monitors came back to life, and I quickly hit mute. I took a deep breath, slowly pushing to my feet. The sickness returned, but not because Kody was still on the fucking table. She was free in the dungeon, taking the beating of her life.
“Jase?”
“I gotta go.”
“I’m coming over.”
I blinked away the video and rage, trying to stay calm. “I’ve met someone.”
“Wait.” Rian got quiet. “Like a girl? Like an actual human being?”
“Fuck off. I said I’ve met someone. We’re sort of busy trying to get to know each other so call me tomorrow.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. Sure thing.Have fun.”
The line went dead, and I barely felt my arm drop. I hit unmute, taking it all in as the loud pops surrounded me. The bastard was still masked up, straddling her as she swung her good hand towards him. She wasn’t protecting herself much with being injured. Blood trailed down the side of her face from her nose and mouth. From what I could tell from the angle, it looked like she even had a knot coming up on the side of her forehead with another laceration there.
“I’m going to kill him. I swear on the graves of my brothers, this man will breathe no more. I’ll find him.” I walked closer. “I’m going to find you, motherfucker. I’m going to gut you alive;do you fucking hear me?”
Red hot rage returned to every inch. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been so angry in my life. It wasn’t fault or guilt that fed the need. It wasn’t even the fact that her beauty had such an odd pull. This was a woman who, according to her, was taken against her will. She’d been beaten and tortured, and it wasn’t going to stop until she was dead. No one deserved that. It happened too often around the world, with little to no justice for those who suffered. I’d seen it firsthand. I had experienced it. No more. Not if I could help it.
I needed a plan. I couldn’t keep the auctions at bay forever. At some point soon this man was going to run out of patience and Kody’s death would be imminent. I had to think. I had to outsmart him.
Kody sucked in a breath, sobbing, coughing, and gagging as he stood from her limp body. He grabbed a fistful of hair at her scalp causing her to scream as he dragged her back to the wall. The cuffs secured her arms over her head within seconds. There were no words, just pacing as he eyed her like prey. He wanted to go back. To hurt her even more.
“Come on, walk away.”
