Page 63 of Torment

“And a hell of a lot of a good it did her.”

James glowered at him, and Hunter was sick of all the mind-fucking bullshit games everyone was playing. What did a man have to do to get straight answers out of these people? One would think that since his daughter’s life was at risk, he wouldn’t give a fuck about the rules. But oh, no. Rules were this fucking man’s life it seemed.

Hunter broke the deafening silence between them first. “I don’t care what the fuck you’re going to do, but I’m going back to Chicago and I am going to find her. And then I’m going to break Brent’s fucking neck before I cut Riggs’s goddamn heart out.”

“We can’t do anything until we know why Rex is at the estate. Until then, we need to sit tight.”

This time, Hunter did try to pull his hair out of his skull, thinking he was about to lose his shit any second and try to rip Baxter’s head off.

“Are you fucking insane, Baxter? Scarlet is currently with the fucking psychopath who hurt her in the worst possible way. Who the fuck knows what he’s doing to her right now. And you want to sit down and lay out a plan? Would you like that in a Word document, or would you prefer it in a table format on a fucking Excel spreadsheet?”

James snorted. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You don’t know shit.”

James cocked an eyebrow. “I want to get her back as much as you do, Hunter. But if we’re going to be reckless and stupid, we won’t be rescuing anyone. We need to sit tight until we figure out what the hell Rex is doing there before we can make a move.”

Hunter crouched down to the ground, holding his face in his hands, screaming into his palms. This was not how it was supposed to go down. This was not supposed to fucking happen. He was supposed to keep her safe, just like he promised he would. Scarlet was supposed to be safe—at his side. Instead, she was gone. Taken by the man she had been running from for years, and all Hunter could do was sit there and listen to the shit Baxter was telling him.

Hunter stood up straight and peered at James. “I don’t care if the fucking president is at the estate. I don’t care if fucking Hitler got resurrected and decided to take up residence at Bella Vista, I’m going there, now, and I’m going to get her out.”

“Hunter, if Rex is there, you won’t even be able to get through the front gate without being shot.”

Hunter brushed past him. “I’ll take my chances. But I am not just standing around here and waiting for the fucking grass to grow while I have no idea what kind of hell Brent is putting her through.”

James turned around to face him. “Do you think this is easy for me? Knowing exactly where my daughter is being held by a man who raped her, and I can’t do shit about it?”

“Did you give a shit about her twenty-four years ago when you decided to let her grow up without a dad?”

“Judge me any way you like, but I did what I thought was right. And right now, it’s fucking killing me knowing that I can’t go help her this very second.”

“Then go help her!” Hunter shouted.

“I fucking can’t!”

Hunter and James were standing so close, glaring at each other with their faces inches apart. The atmosphere was thick with tension, the make-a-move-and-I’ll-take-you-down kind of tension. Both of them were breathing raggedly, fists balled and veins pumping fucking lava.

Hunter was first to speak. “Then what the fuck do you suggest we do? Sit around and wait for whoever to let you know it’s okay to go get her?”

“We just need to wait until we know the reason why Rex is there. It’s unlike him to move around in the open, especially making unscheduled stops at a place like Bella Vista. There’s a reason he’s there, and we need to know what it is.”

Hunter leaned in closer. “I don’t give a fuck why he’s there. I’m going.”

He was done chit-chatting. He spun around and headed toward the door when James called after him. “One day, Hunter. Just give it one day. If we haven’t heard anything by tomorrow morning, we’re going in. But I am begging you, just one day. If we go in there blind, there’s a big chance not one of us will walk out of there alive—Scarlet included.”

Hunter paused, hung his head, and cursed. The desperation in James’s voice was loud and clear, but the desperation in Hunter’s heart was clearer, more determined.

He turned around and gave James a challenging stare. “I’m going back to Chicago, now. So you have about three hours to figure out why this Rex character is there. If you haven’t figured it out by the time I get there, I’m going in. Even if I have to fucking kill every goddamn person on the motherfucking estate with my bare hands. I’m going to go get her.Now.”

Chapter 18

Scarlet couldn’t remember the last time she ate. But when Brent said those words, telling her how he was going tobreedher, she vomited. Her stomach emptied itself, and she spewed out her last meal right there on the barn floor.

“Oh, come now, Little Red,” Brent said when he gave a step back, narrowly escaping being covered in vomit. “Is it really that bad to think about having my child?”

She tried to wipe her mouth against her arm. “I’d rather spend eternity being tortured in hell than have your child.”

“Well, unfortunately, eternal torture is not an option for you right now. You will bear my child, which means I will fuck you…multiple times. Soon.”

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