Page 85 of Lacey's Fight

“Well, I’m a SEAL.”

“Like the animal?”

“Nope, like in the Navy.”

“Like GI Joe?”

“Just like GI Joe.”

“My brother likes GI Joe.” The girl moved so she was sitting in the passenger seat. “The Master left him behind when he took us. Is he okay?”

“I don’t know, honey, but if you tell us your name my friends can find out.”

After a short hesitation, the girl nodded. “I’m Miranda, and this is Alicia. Our brother’s name is Jeff. Can you please find out if he’s okay?”

Ben nodded at Ghost who immediately pulled out a cell phone and began to type out a message. Then he focused his attention on Miranda again. “Was there a woman there?”

Miranda nodded. “He brought a lady, he said she was going to be our new mommy, but I don’t want a new mommy, I already have a mom and I want to go see her.”

Tears brimmed in the child’s eyes and he hated pushing her, but he needed answers before she fell apart. “Do you know where she is?”

“She told me to take the keys and take Alicia and find the car. It was right where she said it would be. I wanted her to come with me, but she said she had to stay behind.”

“Why did she say that, honey?”

“Because she said she had to keep The Master busy.”

Miranda’s words sent an icy chill through him because he knew exactly how Lacey planned on keeping Mervin busy.

By letting him hurt her.

CHAPTER TWENTY

August 15th

9:09 A.M.

Right now, Lacey was rethinking her love of sun, sand, and surf.

Not that she could see the sun from this dark underground room. There wasn’t any sand here either, the floor was rough concrete. No surf either. In fact, there was no sound at all in the small cell.

More an oversized coffin if you asked her.

It certainly felt like a coffin even if she knew The Master—Merv but she wasn’t used to thinking of him as anything other than The Master—had no intention of letting her die down here.

Nope, he’d just put her down here as a punishment.

One she was well and truly used to.

While she didn’t know what he used to heat the room it was unbearably hot. If she had to guess the temperature was well above one hundred degrees. Maybe if she was at the beach, floating in the cool ocean shallows, sipping on a chilled raspberry juice, she wouldn’t mind the oppressive heat.

But down here it was hell.

Literal hell.

Okay, not literally since she’d never been to hell although she enjoyed knowing that Merv would burn there for all eternity.

Still, the horrible heat would eventually kill her if she didn’t get out of here. The Master would wait until she was dehydrated but not so badly that she would need a hospital. He had extensive medical knowledge and had had his own little hospital set up at his place in Alaska, she assumed he had the same set up here. Once she passed out, he’d come in and get her, hook her up to an IV so he could replenish her body’s fluids, and cool her down with ice to lower her body temperature.

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