Page 156 of Kings & Corruption

“Do you want to do it?” the other man hissed.

“Just get it done,” the first man said, turning to face the other man. There was something familiar about his voice, but it sounded artificially deep, like he was trying to disguise it. “You know what he said.”

I carefully felt around in my pocket while the two men exchanged words and was relieved that the gun was still there.

“Yeah, I know what he said.” The second man’s voice didn’t sound familiar, and he clearly didn’t give two fucks about trying to disguise it. He turned to look at me and a shiver ran up my spine. His eyes were so dark they were almost vacuous. He was bigger than the first man, towering over him by at least a few inches with big arms and broad shoulders. “I’m just saying, if you’d rather dig, I’d be happy to keep our little friend here company.”

“I’m not digging.” There was a note of finality in the first man’s voice that said he thought he was in charge, but of the two of them, it was the second man I most didn’t want to be alone with. “Just make it quick."

“Ground’s fucking cold,” the second man said. “I’ll work as I fast as I can.”

That’s when it hit me — they were talking about digging. In the woods.

They were going to kill me out here and bury my body where no one would ever find it. I’d be just another missing girl people talked about years from now.

Like Emma. Was this what had happened to her?

I forced myself not to think about it. I couldn’t find Emma if I let these men kill me, bury me in the woods.

I had to get out of here.

The second man left the cabin, slamming the door behind him. It groaned on its hinges, but I knew there was no hope of anyone hearing it. We were in the middle of nowhere and I hadn’t told anyone where I was going.

In my desperation to find out what had happened to Emma, I’d gambled and lost.

The first man stared at me, breathing heavily, like he was trying to figure out what to do next. I was struck again by the familiarity of his eyes, but they weren’t familiar enough.

I had no idea who he was.

“Who are you?” I said. “What do you want with me?”

“You were warned,” he said in that weird, abnormally low voice.

I had the crazy thought that he might be one of the Kings, that they were pulling out all the stops to get me to stop asking questions because they were involved in Emma’s disappearance.

But I rejected the idea almost immediately. Would I put it past the Kings to teach me a lesson? Even a hard one?

Hell no.

Would they hurt me doing it? Throw me against a wall? Scare me? Make me think I was going to die like Emma?

Also a hell no.

This was someone else.

“Did you hurt my sister?” I asked. “Did you… did you kill her?” I almost couldn’t bear to say the words, but they’d been stuck in my throat for two years. I couldn’t carry the question around anymore, not when I had the chance to ask it.

He started pacing, muttering to himself, or maybe to me. I couldn’t be sure. “I knew you were going to be trouble, knew this was a mistake…”

“Okay, listen,” I started, trying to keep my voice calm. The man outside digging my grave had acted like he was going to pick up milk from the store, but it was obvious this man — whoever he was — didn’t want to be here. Maybe I could still get out of this alive. “You don’t have to do this. I just… I just need to know what happened to Emma, okay? I can’t see your face. I have no idea who you are. I just need to know. Just… just tell me, and I’ll stop asking questions, I promise.”

“Do you think you have bargaining power here?!” he roared, stepping closer and resting the gun against my temple. “Does it feel like you have any power? Any leverage?”

I raised my hands, my heart beating so fast I was afraid it would jump out of my chest. “No! No… I’m sorry. You have the gun. You have all the power.”

The pressure of the gun against my temple eased up and he stepped back, putting a few feet of space between us again.

“You always think you have the power,” he muttered, pacing the cabin. “Like you deserve something because of what you have between your legs, likeyouget to make all the decisions, all the choices.”

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