McKenna looked at me like I was being ridiculous. “You did great, and look!” She pointed at where I was standing. “You’re still on your feet. That’s a huge improvement from last time.”
“Yeah, well, I guess that’s something.”
She waggled her eyebrows as I picked up my gym bag and slung it over my shoulder. “And just think, you’ll be able to put on a sexy little show for Micah in no time. Imagine the appreciation he’ll dole out for that.”
I let out a laugh and moved in to give her a tired, sweaty hug. “Point taken. I’ll come back for another lesson.”
“Good. And I’ll call you this week. We’ll do coffee. And hey, I’m glad you’re happy again, honey.”
Man, I had some of the best friends here in Hope Valley. “Thanks, babe. See you soon.”
I headed out of the studio and down the back hall of Whiskey Dolls. I pushed through the door to the alley where I’d parked when my cell phone started ringing.
Pulling it out of my bag, I answered and put it to my ear. “Hey, honey.”
Micah’s voice came out in a rush. “Red, where are you?”
“I’m just leaving McKenna’s club. I should be home in about fifteen. Is everything ok—” My words died when something hard slammed into my temple. Everything went black just before I hit the asphalt.
I came to with a pain in my head that felt like my skull had been split clean open. Something wet clumped my lashes together when I tried to blink my lids open, making my vision muddy as it dripped into my eye.
The full realization of my surroundings didn’t hit me until I tried lifting a hand to wipe it away and discovered they’d been bound together. So were my feet. And I had what felt like duct tape wrapped around my head, covering my mouth. I began to panic, thrashing around in my small, dark confines, yelling against the tape.
Whatever I was in was moving, because I was thrown around like a rag doll when it lurched to a stop.
Trunk, my brain registered. I’d been knocked out, was bound and gagged, and had been stuffed into someone’s trunk.
What the fuck?
I started screaming louder from behind the tape, kicking my legs out the best I could and beating on the lid of the trunk. It flew open a second later, and the sudden burst of sunlight made it impossible to see.
I blinked rapidly to clear my vision, finally able to see who’d kidnapped me at the same time I felt his hands close around my arms. I fought even harder, trying to get away. Curling my hands into fists, I swung them wide and hard, connecting with his nose.
Greg stumbled back, cursing, “Goddamn bitch!” He lunged back into the trunk and punched me in the same temple he’d hit the first time. My arms and legs instantly fell limp as stars burst in front of my eyes. “You keep fighting I’ll make this a lot fucking worse than it needs to be. And trust me, you don’t want that.”
I let out a pained groan as he hefted me out of the trunk and tossed me over his shoulder. All I could see were dead leaves and twigs scattered about beneath Greg’s feet. He climbed up a set of steps and kicked a door open. He moved inside the building and dropped me to the ground unceremoniously, knocking the breath out of my lungs and making my bones scream in agony.
I whimpered when he reached for a knife he had tucked into his belt. Every inch of my body protested as I attempted to slither away.
“Stop moving,” he gritted. Reaching out, he cut the bindings on my feet first, then the ones on my wrists. He unwound the tape from around my head, and I sucked in a sharp hiss when he ripped it off my skin, yanking out some hair with it.
Fear fueled my movements as I pushed to sitting and scuttled backward, trying to get away from him. My heart started beating dangerously fast when my back slammed into a wall. Glancing around, I saw we were in a cabin that looked like it hadn’t seen signs of human life in well over a decade. It could have been a set out of a horror movie, and I wouldn’t have been surprised.
Greg moved across the room, grabbing one of the dust-covered chairs from a small, crudely built table. He carried it closer, setting it down in the center of the room, effectively blocking off the only exit out of this hellhole, and sat down, forearms to his knees.
I couldn’t stand to look at him, so I shifted my attention to the side, sucking in a sharp gasp when I saw the bruised and battered body of a woman lying on the floor near the corner.
“Oh my God,” I cried, crawling across the floor and reaching for her. I sat back and rested her head on my thighs, prodding at her throat in an attempt to find a pulse, but my hands were too shaky.
“Relax,” he grunted. “She’s alive. For the time being.”
My head shot up, tears welling in my eyes, mixing with the blood that had dripped into them from the gash on the side of my head, created when he’d knocked me out. Bile slithered up my throat, making it burn as I asked, “What did you do?”
“Nothing she didn’t deserve,” he hissed through gnashed teeth. “This is what happens when you rat.”
Rat. Oh my God. Looking down at the woman’s face, I couldn’t make out a single thing thanks to all the swelling and mottled bruises everywhere. “Charlie?” I whispered, hoping this wasn’t the woman Micah had told me about only a couple days ago, the woman who’d endured more than anyone’s fair share of hell on earth. Her body gave a little jerk, and one of her eyelids opened just a fraction.
God, no. Desperation to get us both out of here began coursing through my veins.
My voice rattled as I told him, “You don’t have to do this. You can leave right now. Get in your car and drive away. You’ll be long gone by the time anyone finds us.”
He raised his arms at his sides and looked around. “You aren’t really in the position to be bargaining right now, beautiful.” That endearment made my skin crawl. “There isn’t a chance in hell of your little boyfriend finding us any time soon, and by the time he finally picks up the trail, I’ll be long gone and you’ll be dead.”
I wanted to cry. I wanted to curl up in a ball and beg and plead, but my pride wouldn’t let me. That fire that Micah loved so much forced my chin up and my eyes into a glare as I demanded, “Then why haven’t you done it yet, huh? What are you waiting for?”
He looked at me curiously, his eyes taking me in slowly. “There’s one thing I have to know first.”
“What’s that?”
“Why him?”
My head canted to the side in confusion. “What?”
“Langford. Why him? The man’s fucked and thrown over more than half the women in this goddamn county. What was it that made you pick him over me?”
“It wasn’t a choice. Despite what you’ve twisted up in your head, I was never interested in you.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter now.” he said, sending a sick chill down my spine. “Word gets around. I didn’t peg you for the kind of woman who likes it that rough.” His eyes did a sweep of my body in a way that made my skin crawl. A twisted smile curled his lips, making my stomach clench. “If I’d known that from the beginning, I’d have played it very differently.”
He canted his head to the side like he was studying me. “Maybe I still will. Been dying for a taste ever since you waved your ass all around that night at The Tap Room, just begging for attention.” He stood and took a step toward me. I slid back, but there was nowhere to go. “Maybe I’ll find out for myself how rough you like it before I put a bullet through that gorgeous face.”