Page 73 of Hitch
“You just don’t want to be wrong,” Braden says. “You don’t want to admit that you were wrong about her. But think about the bigger picture, Duane. We can still fix this.”
For a few seconds, it’s quiet. Braden shifts, and the gravel gargles under his feet. Todd breathes into the microphone.
The evidence leads to Reggie. I can logically see that.
But my chest tightens, unable to truly grasp it.
“Let’s go talk to her now,” Braden says.
My whole world sharpens. Air catches in my lungs.
“Where is she?” I ask, rage building in my fingertips.
“She’s safe,” he says with a gleam in his eye. “I told you. If you don’t take care of this, then I will. And this is how we’re dealing with her from now on.” He tilts his head to the side. “Interrogation with the entire court. Let’s get Todd here too.”
“I’ll be there soon,” Todd says. “Don’t do anything without—”
I hang up. I’ve got more important things on my mind.
Like my fucking girl.
“Show me,” I growl.
Inside of the house, Braden leads me to an extra room off the ground floor. He pulls aside the coats, and on the carpet, boxes line up, hiding the bottom of a hidden door.
I remember this room from when I first bought the house, but we had so many secret rooms that I had forgotten about it. We pull aside the boxes, and then Braden opens the door.
Stairs lead down to a basement. Braden hits the switch on the wall, and the lights flicker on, illuminating a woman in loose, baggy men’s clothes, duct tape covering her mouth, her hands taped behind her back. Her ankles bound. She’s as fetal as she can get, her eyes stirring as she gets used to the lights. Dirt streaks her skin, makeup caked around her eyes.
Reggie.
Red paints my vision.
“You touched her,” I say.
“She sold us to the fucking cops!” Braden shouts.
I punch him in the jaw, knocking him to the floor. Braden rubs his chin, glaring at me, but as soon as I step closer, he kicks out his leg, throwing me off balance. I kneel down, taking him with me, and I swing my fists. For a while, he fights back. Reggie screams behind the duct tape, but I don’t stop. My knuckles crack on his skull, and his eyes puff together. His nose bleeds, and his fists fall to his sides. After a while, he doesn’t even try to hide his face as I punch him again, and again, until his head is nothing but a bloody pulp.
“Damn it, Duane. You know weneedhim, right?” a male voice says, interrupting my actions.
Todd stands in the doorway, scowling with irritation.
Now, Braden is just a mash of red blood and pink skin. Matted red hair. A pile of human flesh. He’s not a person I’ve known since I was a kid anymore. He’s a victim who betrayed me. Just like he tried to convince me that Reggie betrayed me too.
Maybe she did.
But that doesn’t matter now.
Reggie crouches in the corner, hiding herself as best as she can as she blinks at me. Terror floods her eyes, like I’m more monster than man, and maybe I am. Maybe I’m nothing more than a collection of primal instincts. Desire. Violence. Control. A hunger for dominance overher.
And yet, seeing her like that, an instinct twitches awake inside of me. There’s something else there, buried deep inside too. The need to protect. To watch over Reggie, even if she rejects me.
Reggie has too much power over me.
Chapter24
Duane
