by J. A. Owenby
Overwhelmed with fear for Layne’s life, I lunged toward Mathew and the gun. Before I reached him, muffled shots went off, and Matthew’s body jerked backward. He slumped against the wall, his blood streaking the dirty white wallpaper.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I hurried to Layne and kneeled next to him.
Jack waved his gun at me. “We gotta go. Now. Tell your boyfriend goodbye.”
“You killed Matthew,” I hiccupped through my tears.
“He would have killed you. No one gets to do that except me.” The corner of Jack’s mouth twitched.
I kissed Layne’s cheek and realized he was no longer unconscious. “Don’t ever forget how much I love you.”
Layne attempted to talk behind his gag, but it was useless.
“Where are we going?” I asked, attempting to give Layne some information in order to find me.
“You’ll see.” Jack grabbed my arm and jerked me forward. “Quit stalling. Let’s go.”
My heart hammered against my rib cage as he escorted us out the back door. What does he want from me? Is Layne all right? Where is my bodyguard? A cry nearly escaped me as I spotted several huge garbage containers blocking the view on three sides. Even if my bodyguard was patrolling the area for me, he wouldn’t realize there was a door there.
Jack stopped at a black Honda Accord and opened the back door. Suddenly, I felt a sharp sting in my neck. Complete blackness filled my vision as I tumbled to the floor of the car.
24
My head pounded as I pried my eyes open. Sharp light blurred my focus and I blinked rapidly. When I attempted to move my arm, panic shot through me. I couldn’t move my arms or legs. Jack had taken me. I was tied to a chair. My heart raced and my breathing became erratic and labored.
“Ah, Sleeping Beauty is finally waking up. Did you have a nice nap?” Jack asked.
The stench of vomit and urine burned my nose. I peered around at the small room, my nostrils flaring in fear. My throat burned from lack of water as the events of my evening fell into place. “Where am I?”
The last thing I remembered was being at Barney’s, then nothing. Layne. Oh God. I hoped someone had found him. At least he wasn’t dead when Jack had forced me to leave, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t come in after we left and finished him off. I didn’t have time to panic about him, though. I had to figure out how to get the hell out of there.
A soft, weak moan reached my ears, and my head snapped up, surveying the room. The space was set up similar to a medical facility. A table was covered in plastic, and a tray full of tools I couldn’t make out from a distance was directly in front of me. A large drain was in the middle of the cement floor, which was cracked with years of wear.
“Fuck.” Next to the door, a woman was curled into a fetal position, shivering. Her stringy black hair covered her face, but nothing else. She was naked, and her pale skin was completely exposed. She moved, peering at me with one horror-filled eye. It was then that I realized she was chained to the wall like an animal. Bile burned the back of my throat, threatening to spill over as I stared at her.
“Jack. What are you going to do to her?” Although the words escaped my lips, I didn’t want to hear the answer.
The metal legs of the chair scraped against the floor as Jack positioned himself right in front of me and straddled his seat. “If you’re good, I’ll untie you. Don’t even think about running. We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere, and it’s almost two in the afternoon. Even if you made it out the door, the sun would set in a few more hours, and you’ll freeze to death.” He folded his arms on the back of the seat and grinned.
My stomach dropped to my toes. “We traveled all night?”
“Yes. And it was a lovely first trip with my daughter if I do say so myself.” Jack stood and widened his arms. “Welcome to training camp, Victoria.”
“That’s not my name … Dad.” Although I wanted to spit in his face, I would have to try another tactic to stay alive, and I checked my tone before I spoke to him.
His laugh echoed through the room. “Nice try. I told you we were a lot alike. Calculating.” He tapped the side of his head. “Right now, I bet you’re trying to analyze the situation to see if you’ll get out alive. Don’t bother. As long as you do what I say, you will. But her on the other hand …”
“Let her go,” I pleaded. “I’ll do anything you want, but let her go.”
Jack knelt in front of me. “You’re not putting it together yet, are you? Maybe I drugged you with too much propofol.”
No wonder I felt like shit.
“Let’s give you some time first. You still look pretty groggy. If I untie your hands, do you promise to be the well-behaved daughter I’ve always dreamed you would be?”
“I promise. And do you have any fresh water? My throat is horribly dry.”
Jack walked behind the chair, leaned down, and began to untie my hands. His breath grazed the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine.
“Thank you.” I immediately began to massage my wrists, hoping the feeling would return. I must have been tied up for a long time.
Jack unzipped a backpack and removed an unopened bottle of water, then closed the bag again. “Make it last.” He shoved it in my face.
I struggled to grasp it. My hands still weren’t working. I glanced up at him. “Could … would you open it and help me? My fingers are really tingly, and I can’t get it.”
Jack sighed. “I suppose. If I’d been in your life all these years, I’m sure I’d have opened lots of things for you.” He twisted the top off, placed the bottle to my parched lips, and tilted it back slightly.
I gulped greedily before he pulled it back.
“You’ll puke if you don’t slow down.” He twisted the lid back on and sat the container next to me on the floor.
“Why did you leave?” My voice shook with my question. I’d dreamed of being able to confront him for years. Now he was right in front of me. “You left me with a drug addict. Do you know what happened to me as the years went by?” Anger swirled inside me.
“I don’t, but I can guess. You were probably raped, beaten, or pimped out. Maybe all of it. Or maybe an amazing family adopted you, and you turned out to be a well-adjusted young woman.”
I searched his face. There was no remorse, no sadness … no feeling at all. His expression was completely void of any compassion for what his daughter might have gone through.
My mind scrambled for any way to reach him, any way to connect with a small part of his humanity. If he had any.
Swallowing hard, I massaged my hands. “Tell me about yourself. What did you do after you left Mom?” If I could keep him talking about his favorite subject—Jack Flannery—it might buy me some time to figure out how to get the hell out of there.
“I worked and traveled for the most part. I was in sales, so it was pretty easy to scope out my victims, especially at conferences.”
I attempted to wiggle my toes in my tennis shoes. “What did you sell?”
“Anything they wanted, but most of the time, it was attention. Adoration. Wealthy women work a lot. They don’t have time for a husband since they’re married to their careers. First lesson, Vic … Tensley. Everyone has a weak spot. It’s my job to find it, then become exactly what they need to fill that hole inside themselves.”
“Teach me how to read people like that.” I swallowed hard, hoping he would think I was trying to work toward the loving father-daughter relationship most girls would long for.
The chain scraped the floor, and my eyes landed on the captive.
“Her.” I pointed. “Tell me about her.” I’d seen on some crime show that personalizing the victim might save her. It was worth a shot, although I wasn’t sure Jack had a soul to be reached.
He rubbed his hands together, an evil smirk twisting his expression. “It’s a shame she has to die. She was a lot of fun.” His laughter filled the room.
“Fun?” I tried to hide my feelings of horror and focused
on maintaining a neutral expression. It had been a few years, but I was a master at hiding my emotions. It was time to tap into that skill again. It might save our lives. There was no way that Jack would allow me to walk out of there in one piece if I didn’t agree to become his student. My stomach twisted in knots at the mere thought of harming someone.
“Lola. Such a beautiful woman. You should see her when she’s going out for the night. We had amazing sex too. She loved it up the ass, and I was happy to oblige. Lola was even down with two guys at once. Who knew such a sophisticated, wealthy beauty would love being tied up and blindfolded while she was being fucked by one man and sucking off the other? She begged for it.”
“It is fun.” I leveled him with my gaze as it dawned on him what I’d said. “Two men touching you, fucking your tits, licking your pussy. I’ve done it all.” My heart was screaming at me to stop and not meet him on his level, but it was the best opportunity I had to live.
“Are you a whore, or was it for survival?” He tilted his chin up in the air, assessing me. “Think carefully. One response I’ll skin you alive for, and the other I’ll congratulate you over.”
“It’s funny. I used to pray every night I’d die, but God just sent me to voice mail. Now I have the chance to end it right now, but I want to live. I want to know how much alike you and I really are. And to answer your question, I did anything for survival I had to. You can’t rape the willing.”
Jack grinned and grabbed his crotch through his jeans. “All this talk has my cock hard.”
I winced. Fear ripped through me.
The sound of his zipper broke the silence. “Lola, let’s have one last fuck, shall we?”
I slammed my eyes closed and begged a nonexistent God that Jack wouldn’t touch me or make me watch.
Jack moaned. “That’s it. Suck it harder.”
Wet sucking noises filled the room, and I mentally tried to block out the images my mind was producing. I tried to focus on Layne.
Lola grunted, and from the slapping sound of skin on skin, Jack was fucking her doggie style. The chain scraped the floor again, and I flinched. I’d seen a lot of shit in foster homes, including full-on sex parties, but this … I couldn’t even imagine how Lola felt now that she knew what a monster Jack was. Or maybe, if she were lucky, she was too far gone to comprehend or care anymore.
A slap echoed through the room followed by Jack’s zipper. “Where were we?” he asked as if he hadn’t just raped a woman chained to the wall in front of his daughter.
I didn’t miss a beat. “You were telling me where you met her.”
“A cancer fundraiser. She’d just lost a friend to that dreadful disease.” He didn’t even try to disguise the sarcasm in his tone.
“So she was lonely and vulnerable.” I focused on not showing any emotion as I responded.
He snapped his fingers. “Exactly. Easiest job in the world to comfort a grieving woman and be a good friend. Just a friend. No touching, no kissing, no fucking. Before she realized what was happening, Lola asked me on a date … to France. She’d fallen in love with me.”
A quiet sob caught my ear, and I peered over at the trembling, crying woman. I wanted to throw a blanket around her and tell her it was going to be okay, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t even sure I could save myself.
My focus traveled back to my father. “Was France as spectacular as everyone says it is? I’ve never left the country.”
“What? Well, that’s just another trip we can take together. We can visit some of the most exquisite cafes and wineries while we scope out our next victim. I’ve found traveling often keeps me out of prison too.” He grinned. “Are you tired of sitting yet?”
“Yeah. My ass is numb.”
“All you had to do was ask.” He strolled over to me as though it was the most natural thing in the world to have your daughter tied up. I willed myself not to kick him in the face as he bent down and untied me. My legs were too numb to run, and I would only make things worse for myself. I needed a calculated plan. I needed to see Layne again … if he was still alive. My heart skipped a beat at the mere thought. There had to be a way back to him. There had to be a way to free Lola and take out this disgusting pig that called me his daughter.
“There.” Jack stood and extended his hand. “You’ll need some help. We can walk around outside for a few minutes, get your blood flowing again.”
I nodded, welcoming the idea of fresh air. It would also allow me to see if he’d lied to me about where we were. I took his hand, and he easily pulled me out of the chair. I staggered forward, trying to find my balance.
“Easy does it. Good. Just stand there for a minute while the blood begins to flow again.”
I wiggled my toes, willing my limbs to work correctly. Hopefully, if I behaved myself, he wouldn’t tie me up again.
He patted my hand as though I were a little girl. “Are you ready?”
“I think so. Can we take it slow?” When I stepped forward, my body shook from hours of not moving.
Several agonizing steps later, we reached the door. Jack flung it open, and a burst of freezing, fresh air blew past me.
“Shit.” I rubbed my arms. “It’s cold.”
“At least you had your coat on when we left Barney’s. It will help a little bit. The temperatures at this level are much colder.”
My hand clenched into a fist. He made it sound as though we were out for a Sunday drive instead of him killing Matthew and forcing me into a car.
Dried leaves crunched beneath my feet as we stepped outside. The early evening sun broke through the leafless trees, and I inhaled deeply. I had no idea when he would make us go back inside to Lola and the overwhelming stench.
“Isn’t it lovely up here?” He searched around as though he were enjoying the great outdoors, but I suspected he was surveying his surroundings in case we’d been followed.
Apparently we hadn’t. Whatever Layne had planned, it hadn’t been fast enough.
I squeezed Jack’s arm affectionately. “How did you and Matthew meet, and who was he to you?”
We stopped, and he dropped my arm. His cold gaze connected with mine. “I’d not kept tabs on you until you were eighteen. It was then I realized that you and I might have a lot in common. After your unfortunate events in high school … well, I knew you were in Spokane. I made my way there a few times, and one night, I was at Barney’s. This was before the FBI had identified me, so I could still be seen in public whenever I wanted. Matthew had a certain quality about him. You’ll understand soon enough. As I said, I’ll teach you what to look for. Anyway, it was late, and we were the last two people there. I explained I was trying to keep an eye on my daughter, told him who you were, and he offered to help. Over the last two years, he’s given me updates if I had to be gone for a while. By the way, he hated that boyfriend of yours, but it made things easy for me when I told him I needed direct access to you. His feelings were easily played on.”
“Matthew let you in the door in the office, didn’t he?” It was all coming together: how he’d found me, how he’d gotten into the bathroom with me at Barney’s, and the help he’d had to abduct me.
“He was good to work with. It was such a shame I had to put a bullet in his head. When you lunged at him, his finger was on the trigger. I couldn’t take any chances. As I said before, if anyone is going to kill you, it’s me.” He tsked, then looked at the sunset.
I tilted my head up to the sky. My face warmed from the fading embers of the evening sun, and I wondered if it would be the last sunset I would ever see. My pulse spiked as I scrambled for a way out of this mess.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked, looking at me. “I know we have so much to catch up on, but we have plenty of time.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a fatherly hug. “I’m looking forward to it.”
I couldn’t decide if he was so narcissistic that he assumed I was on board with his plans or if my acting ability was better than I’d suspected. I’d had years of
practice, but I thought I’d found Jack’s weak spot. More than anything, he wanted me to join forces with him.
I plastered an adoring smile on my face. “Me too.”
“That’s my girl.”
We stood quietly for a few minutes as the sky darkened and the moon peeked between the trees.
The stench nearly doubled me over as we entered the small building again, and Jack closed the door behind us.
“Let’s get to work. Torturing one-oh-one.” He rubbed his hands together, excitement flickering in his eyes as he stared at Lola. “I know you’re still a bit tired and weak, so I’ll put Lola on the table and strap her down. Why don’t you get into my bag and grab the gag for me? Although no one is around, her screams will become irritating. It will help muffle the sound a little bit.”
I nodded, unable to find any words, unsure of what was about to happen. Fuck. Is he going to kill her now? Training. Shit. Shit. Shit. He was going to teach me how to skin a victim alive. Apparently, the drug he’d given me not only numbed my body, but it had muddled my brain. I clenched my jaw together tightly, forcing the bitter bile back down.
I located the backpack, unzipped it, and rifled through the contents. I spotted the gag but kept searching through his belongings. Maybe there was something that would help Lola and I escape. My eyes widened as I recognized my phone. I groaned inwardly. There was no way I could conceal it on my body. I attempted to power it on. “Come on, come on.” I glanced over my shoulder to see where Jack was in the room. Hoping like hell there was battery left, I shoved it back where I’d found it. Cold metal touched my skin, and I sucked in my breath. Jack had left a scalpel tucked away in a pocket. Was this a test, or had he not remembered there was a surgical tool—a weapon in his bag? I slid it into my coat sleeve and hoped like hell he didn’t catch me.
“Did you find it?” Jack asked, interrupting my progress. The chain hit the floor with a clank and he threw Lola over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing. Since she’d been curled up, I hadn’t realized how petite she was.