Page 73 of Virtue & Vengeance

I hadn’t been in the bathroom more than ten minutes when Rodger was pounding on the door to hurry up.

“We don’t have all damn day!”

I sighed, looking in the mirror.

I was a mess.

My hair was dirty and matted from not having been washed for the last two days. I felt filthy and grimy from the hotel and the fact that I was still in the same stained clothes.

All I wanted was a hot shower and ten hours of sleep, but that wasn’t going to happen, so there was no sense in dwelling over it.

Instead, I cleaned the crusted blood from my face and hairline the best I could before opened the bag and emptied its contents on the counter in front of me.

I attempted to use the cover-up they had bought, but it wasn’t doing much good. Instead, it made my face look too dark and filled the broken skin of my face making the cuts more noticeable.

When I finished, I washed my hands, scrubbing the dirt and blood from my nails before I went to pull the door open. I stopped when I heard Winston and Rodger’s hushed voices filtering in from beneath the door.

“So, we’re taking her back with us?”

“That’s what Monty said. He thinks she’ll be more useful to him alive and in Arizona than dead here.”

My heart hammered against my chest and fear choked me.

They weren’t going to let me go after I attempted to get their money. They were going to take me back to Arizona with them and hand me over to some man named Monty. My choices were limited.

Either I was going to go with them.

Or I was going to die.

Unless, of course, I told Zander everything.

As much as I didn’t want to involve him, I knew he had the power to help me get out of this mess. He had money, and as he had said before, he had reach. I’d seen myself that he had a few very valuable people in his pocket. He was my only hope.

“All done,” I announced, coming back into the room.

“Finally,” Rodger grumbled.

With new resolve, I was more than ready to meet up with Zander.

I would go to him.

I would tell him what was happening.

And hopefully, he would help me out of this.

After that, I could disappear.

“So, you just drop me off at Empire Sevens, and I get the money?”

Winston stared at me funny. “Yeah. Do you think you can do that?”

I shrugged. “It’s not going to be easy.”

“Well, I suggest you do something that convinces him you’re worth it. If you get my meaning. You have until tomorrow morning. We’ll pick you up in front of Empire at six am.”

I nodded.

That was plenty of time to come up with a plan to get rid of these guys.

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