Page 49 of Shock

There is plastic taped over every surface. Two plastic folding tables are set up in an open area, one with Hannah strapped to it and the other with an assortment of items on it.

From dildos to scalps.

“One more step, and she’s dead.” The woman from the bar says, and that’s when I see her and Richard.

He’s completely naked, and she’s only wearing heels and thigh-high stockings.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I can see Hannah moving as if she’s having a bad dream.

“Did you drug her?!” I yell as I go to move, but the gun this crazy woman has on Hannah gets closer.

Nova catches my eye and shakes his head.

“Why don’t we talk this out? What is your end goal here? It’s not like we’re going to let you go. Harm her and die immediately. Or take your chances with the cops.” Seer needsbetter negotiation skills, but I realize that he’s just buying time for Mayhem, who is creeping into view behind serial killers’ backs.

It’s plainly clear that Richards’s wife is the one pulling the strings here as he cowers in the corner, rocking. All the false bravado he always showed at the hospital makes perfect sense now. He needed to feel like a man somewhere.

“I shall decline your offer and make my own. My playdates are the only thing that makes my life bearable. So If I must give them up for jail or choose death, then I pick die with her.” My world slows down as my heart stops.

Mayhem knocks the woman’s shoulder as she fires the gun. The bullet whizzes through the curtain of blonde curls I love but misses her temple by millimeters. Hannah gasps awake and clutches at her neck as if she can’t breathe.

“HANNAH!” I rush to her as soon as my feet remember how to move.

There’s a struggle on the floor as Seer and Mayhem get the gun away from the woman. Nova stands near Richard and watches him closely in case he decides to help his wife, but I can see in his blanked-out eyes that he’s catatonic.

“Bella, slow, calm, breathe with me.” I take her hand and put it on my chest.

“In, out. Again, good. You’re ok.” She shakes her head and pulls on her legs.

I move quickly and release her, then gather her in my arms to continue helping her through the panic attack.

“RICHARD!” The woman screams once she’s subdued.

He doesn’t respond once to the dozen times she bellows and calls him nasty names. But Hannah grew more and more rigid at the sound of her voice. I’m about to ask Mayhem if he can gag her when she leaps off my lap and attacks the woman.

“Should we stop her?” I ask as haymaker after haymaker lands, finally stopping the woman’s voice.

“You want to? I have appointments tomorrow and can not afford a black eye or broken nose.” Nova rubs his jaw as if he knows the pain firsthand.

“Not it,” Mayhem says as Seer chuckles.

“We need to get moving before the cops show up,” I say, but they all shrug.

“Gunshots aren’t bringing cops here.” Mayhem shrugs at me.

“Maverick, your gun.” My head snaps to Hannah who stopped hitting the woman while we talked.

“Bella, you can’t kill her.” She looks at me, and I can see how wrong I am.

“Watch me. Or don’t. But this bitch is going to die. For Allie and all the others. Along with that piece of shit.” She points at Richard, who we all just forgot in the corner.

He’s still rocking and staring out into space, a shell of a broken man.

I nod and kiss her temple before letting her take the gun I’ve been holding. She walks over to Richard first and shoots him point blank, spraying the wall behind him. Next, she walks over to the woman and puts three in her. One in the head and two in the chest.

“The plastic makes sense now,” Nova says as he starts whistling and pulling at the tape.

“We’ll clean this up. Why don’t you wait with her in the truck?” Seer suggests.

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