Page 237 of Mad As Hell

“That’s… That’s my boyfriend,” Kasey managed through clenched teeth. “Can you help me?”

“Yeah.” I took her by the arms and carefully guided her toward the car.

“Backseat,” she told me when I started to open the passenger door.

Without thinking, I opened the backdoor and turned to help her into the car. “Okay, Kas—”

Something sharp pinched my arm. Instinctively, I reached a hand up, rubbing it and wondering if I’d been stung by a bee.

Kasey stood behind me, her face perfectly calm as she watched me.

“Are you…” A wave of dizziness damn near knocked me off my feet. I fell into the side of the car.

Kasey rolled her eyes and looked into the vehicle over my shoulder. “A little help? I’m not lifting her into this thing by myself, Ev.”

“What?” Confusion muddled my thoughts. My eyes focused, just barely, on a tiny needle in her hand. “Did you…” My tongue became thick and clumsy in my mouth, not forming words.

Drugged.

The bitch had drugged me.

No, no, no.

My vision blurred, darkening at the edges as I heard someone get out of the car and walk around to our side with heavy footsteps.

“I got her,” a male voice replied, his tone cold and familiar.

I blinked up, fear plunging into my heart like a dagger when I saw Evan standing in front of me.

He shook his head at me. “You should’ve just done what he said.”

I sagged against the doorframe, my knees turning to jelly as I started to slide down to the ground.

Evan grabbed me under the arms, and I tried to push him away, but my arms wouldn’t move. He lifted me into the backseat of the SUV, and everything faded to black before he even closed the door.

CHAPTER 65

MADDIE

My mouth was full of cotton and ash when I started to wake up. The tiniest shafts of light from a small window above my head felt like icepicks being driven into my eyes. A whimper slipped from me, and I turned my head to escape the pain.

What the hell had happened?

I tried to reach a hand up to cover my eyes…but couldn’t.

Prying one eye open, I looked down and saw my hand was cuffed by a leather strap to the railing of the bed I was in. I gave it a futile jerk, but it didn’t move. I tried my other arm, but it was tethered the same way.

Panic and fear woke me up as adrenaline surged through my veins. I looked around the room, my breathing coming out in desperate, ragged pants.

The room was a sterile beige color. There was a small bathroom area with a sink and toilet, but no door. Other than the twin bed I was cuffed to, there wasn’t any furniture.

No pictures, no clock. No way to tell where I was or how long I’d been here.

A door behind my head opened, and I craned my neck to see who was coming in.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” A slender woman with graying hair twisted into a knot at the base of her skull stepped into the room with a clipboard. She leaned out the open door, murmuring something I couldn’t make out.

Moments later, a man in pale green scrubs brought her a chair and a cup of water with a straw. He set the chair by my bed and left, closing the door.

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