Page 119 of Wicked Devotion
“Max, I'm one hundred percent sure you said something,” Logan says, pulling me aside while Rockwell holds his card to the keypad.
“Everything is going to be okay,” he says, taking my hand in his. “We’re going to bring her back. I promise we’ll find her, and we’re going to kill every single one of those bastards.”
I don’t know if he’s talking to me or trying to calm himselfdown because when I look into Logan’s eyes, there’s a storm brewing behind them.
“We’ll bring her back,” I say, squeezing his hand one last time before we enter the cell block.
Deeper down the hallway, Sam bangs his fists against Mr. Holton’s cell door, obviously unhappy he has to wait for the lock to release. The moment it does, both Sam and Logan scramble to be the first ones in the cell. Still, it’s Logan who loses the rest of his composure when Brady doesn’t even have the decency to turn around, lying on the thin mattress with his face turned to the wall.
“You’re gonna start fucking talking now, asshole,” Logan barks, grabbing Brady’s collar to yank him up like a ragdoll.
And Brady–Brady just stares at him, his eyes lifeless like those of a taxidermied animal, and it’s Charlie who voices what all of us seem to ignore.
“I think we should call a medic,” he stammers as Rockwell pushes Logan aside.
The moment Logan lets go of Brady, he slumps over, and I don’t know why Rockwell even bothers checking his neck for a pulse.
“Shit,” he mumbles to himself, shoved out of the way by Sam, who starts some form of CPR that is only a thinly veiled excuse to break Brady’s ribs.
“You’re not fucking dying before you tell me where my wife is,” Sam screams so loud it covers the sound of bones breaking.
Charlie runs out of the cell, and gagging echoes through the empty hallway while I’m frozen in place. It’s just when Rockwell yells into my face to help Logan get Sam off of Brady that I’m pulled back to the present.
We maneuver Sam out of the cell, slamming the door shut to prevent him from running back in there, and I can see the exact moment his rage subsides, making way for somethingmuch worse: despair. Sam sinks down against the wall until he’s sitting on the dirty floor, burrowing his face in his hands. Logan stays by his side, and Rockwell wraps his hand around my arm, urging me to take a few steps with him.
“Rigor mortis hasn’t even set in yet,” he says.
“This is anything but a fucking coincidence,” I murmur, glancing over at Logan, who tries his best to console Sam.
“I’d bet a good amount of money Sanders will be to first to get his fucking hands on the autopsy report.”
“We should hide the damn corpse somewhere–”
“Max, we can only fight one war at once,” Rockwell says, putting his hand on my shoulder. “So let’s raid the fucking armory, and then we’ll drive back to Cady to come up with a plan to get the girls back.”
43
LILY
Every attempt to free myself of the cable ties binding me to the creaky metal chair only makes them dig deeper into my skin. The welts around my wrists turn redder, hard plastic scratching over my skin until it tears and beads of blood begin to form.
I don’t know how long I’ve been in this room. Hours, definitely; maybe even a day or two. Men keep coming in and try to get me to eat or drink something, but I refuse. When Guy #5 leaves the room with an annoyed groan, slamming the door shut behind him, I’m sure they got the message.
They haven’t. My throat feels as dry as the desert when a familiar face greets me. So dry it scratches with everynoI mutter as Daryl comes closer.
“Lillian.” He sighs, shaking his head. “Making this awfully complicated for everyone involved.”
Daryl, whose name I learned during the drive, seems to be fond of me, and I’m trying my hardest not to think about the reasons why. He holds my nose until I’m forced to open my mouth, making me down half a bottle of water that has a disgusting aftertaste.
“See, wasn’t hard,” he murmurs, wiping a few drops of water away from my chin.
When his gaze lands on my scratched up wrists, he crouches down in front of me.
“You need to stop hurting yourself,” he says, tightening the cable ties. “The boss won’t like it.”
After letting his hand linger on mine for way too long, he finally leaves.
I wish Ruby was here with me. Unfortunately, it was Ruby herself who ruined every chance of the men keeping her and I together. Still, I can’t blame her. At least she tried to fight back, kept hurling insult after insult at our captors, and even managed to get out of her restraints while we were still in the car. When Daryl noticed, he hit her so hard her lip split open, which only pissed her off more.
