Page 56 of Finding Her Panthers

She taps her chin, eyes wide. “I want to have a family. I have always wanted a big family.” She looks like a little girl right now.

“I have too,” I say. I have to keep her calm.

“You have a family. You have Jax and James and Penny. You have always had the best luck.”

I have to stop myself from disagreeing with her. If I keep her talking, I may find answers. That’s what they do in all the movies, at least. Keep them talking. Who am I kidding? My plan was shit from the beginning. I thought I could fix this myself. I thought I had been doing it for years, so why should that change? I need to work on allowing my mates to help me. I’ll do that if I get out of here alive.

“Who do you want in your family?” Call it stupid, but I’m curious.

Her smile is blinding. “At first, I just wanted Jax and James. Now, we should expand. You could be my sister again. Daddy’s friend can be the dad, Scotty can be the brother, and Jax and James can share us. Wouldn’t that be great? We can be a real family again.” She cups her hands under her chin and looks at me adoringly.

“What about Mickey and Blue? Where do they fit in?” I ask carefully.

“Blue is not an option. He hates me. We can just get rid of him,” she says, wrinkling her nose. “Once Mickey gets out, he can join us. He can be the big daddy.”

I swear she is testing me. How do you let that comment slip by? “Big daddy?” I snort. If I respond to the idea of getting rid of Blue, I may go crazy on her ass. I love Blue desperately, enough to kill them all for.

“Sure, that’s what he likes to be called.” Like that's normal.

Moving on. “Is this special friend the one that poisoned Tyler?”

“Who?”

“The man that was outside your room. The one you kidnapped? Threw out on the street?” I ask, angry she didn’t even know his name.

“Oh, well yeah. He has the best drugs. He’s been developing them for years.” Pride poured from her.

“Did he give some to Penny?” I narrow my eyes.

“Not the same ones. He has certain ones for humans.”

Okay, I am officially scared. She’s so delusional. She believes all this shit. “Have they touched Penny?” I hold my breath.

“They did have to get rough. She didn’t come willingly. I have to say, for a human she’s pretty strong.”

I close my eyes and pray for patience. “Not in a sexual way?” I choke out.

“Not yet. I could tell Scotty wanted to, but Daddy stopped him. He promised he could after we found you.”

“I will do anything to stop it. I’ll even join your family, gladly.” Hopefully, it won’t come to that. I swore I would always protect her, so if I have to pretend to go along with this sick game, I will.

“Really? I’ve always wanted a sister. I had the two of you for such a short time. I miss it,” she says mournfully.

“What happened to the other little girl?” I've always wondered if she found a real family.

“She was bad. She fought Daddy all the time and wouldn't let him love her without him having to hurt her. She ended up taking a knife from the kitchen and hurting herself all the time. Eventually, she went too far. She slit her wrists. Daddy couldn’t help her,” she says with no remorse.

Bile rises up my throat. That poor girl. She deserved so much more. No matter what happens here, even if I have to go with them, I will find a way to kill them all. For Penny, for that little girl that just wanted a family, for all of the ones they hurt. Cindy wouldn’t stand a chance in a fair fight, Scotty, too. This unknown friend is what worries me.

“You don't find anything wrong with that?” Call me crazy, but I want to reach the sane Cindy.

“It’s sad that she died. She would have been part of the family. She would have had a much easier time if she just gave in and did what she was told.” She moves closer and twirls my hair with her finger. “Just like you should do now.”

I’m conflicted. How can I go along with this? Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to bring my legs up to her neck and squeeze. I stare at her, deciding what would be the best thing to do.

I need to give the guys time to find me. Hopefully, my scent didn’t get cut off when they put me in the car. I’m also curious as to who this friend is. We need to know, and we can’t let him go free to continue his plans.

“Does this friend love you as Mickey did?” Just give me one sign that she gets why this is so messed up.

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