by C. M. Owens
Snake hisses out a breath, and Rush turns the volume back down while messing with some keys again. He doesn’t say anything, but Dash does.
“Still don’t trust her?” he asks Rush.
Rush doesn’t respond as he plays the video again, and Eve raises her voice, making it easy to understand her this time.
“Fuck. You.”
She starts laughing in that smoker’s rasp again, while coughing violently at the same time. That kills me all over again. I have to fight to stand up.
That’s all I can take right now, so I lean over and pause it myself. “I’m going back to Eve. I’ll watch the rest later. Let me know if you figure anything out,” I tell them.
I glance over at Drake who is snoring loudly, and I walk back out, barely slowing down. All the guys move out of my way, and Sarah eyes me when I walk in.
Axle’s eyes find mine, and he frowns when he takes in my expression. I shrug out of my cut, pull off my boots, and gingerly climb in the small, uncomfortable-as-nails bed next to my girl.
She’s whimpering in her sleep, but the second my arms go around her, a sigh leaves her lips, and she relaxes against my chest as her head settles in. Axle doesn’t speak. He leaves the room, and I know he’s heading in to find out for himself what I just had to watch.
Sarah leans back in her chair, and Colleen takes the seat Axle just vacated. Eve sighs again, whispering my name in her sleep, and I concentrate on not holding her too tightly against me.
“Drex?” Colleen whispers, drawing my attention.
“What?” I ask, clearing my throat when I hear how thick my voice is.
“When you find them, I want you to live up to your name,” she whispers coldly.
No one wants Ben to suffer more than I do, but I don’t point that out. Instead, I just nod.
Eve’s voice draws my attention back to her as she sings in her sleep in her strained, hoarse voice.
“Up… Up above the world so high. Like a… diamond in the sky…”
Chapter 24
EVE
I’m not sure how long I’ve been out when I wake up, but I do worry that I’ve finally breached insanity. My eyes hurt against the bright sun that is filtering through the window. There’s no window in the basement.
Warmth… So much warmth is around me, but it’s not an uncomfortable heat. In fact, it’s comforting as it surrounds me.
Something stirs against me, and it takes me a second to realize someone is holding me to their body. I tense, but almost immediately I relax as the familiar scent engulfs me.
It’s not a hallucination. Drex is really holding me to him. When I lift my gaze to the arm closest to me, I see the telltale tattoos.
“I don’t think it’s wise for you to stay here right now,” I hear someone saying.
I hold still in Drex’s arms as his grip tightens.
“I don’t give a fuck what you think is wise,” Drex growls.
Herrin. That other voice is his father’s.
My mind races as I try to take in the sights I can see without moving. Sarah’s eyes meet mine, and at the same time, I realize the sterile, white room I’m in is a hospital. And Drex is in my hospital bed with me.
Sarah looks away, feigning boredom—probably for Herrin’s sake.
My head is killing me. My mouth isn’t so dry, but it isn’t exactly normal either. My hand… my hand hurts. It takes a second to realize there’s still a needle in it… No. That’s a new needle.
“She has a target on her.” Herrin’s loud, booming voice snaps me out of my own inner appraisal. “You’ve already been here for over eighteen hours.”
Eighteen hours?
“The fact she has a target on her is why I’m not going anywhere. I’d be dealing with the actual problem right now if not for that. I’m not fucking leaving her until she can get out of this place.”
Drex’s lips brush against the top of my head, but I remain still, not letting him know I’m awake. I don’t want Herrin in here, and I hope Drex gets him out.
“Take her back to the warehouse if you’re so insistent on keeping her with you. Be fucking smart about it,” Herrin snaps.
Drex stiffens under me, and I almost feel the cold glare he’s shooting his father without having to see it.
“When the doctor says it’s safe for her to leave, then we’ll leave. Until then, get the fuck out of her room. Last I checked, you withheld a tip, and I almost died. Don’t act like you give a fuck about me now. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a small army camping out in the hallway. I’m covered here, Pop. You just worry about you. That’s what you do best.”
Something shatters, causing me to startle ever so slightly, and Drex tenses again as his arms tighten around me.
“Damn it! Stop talking to me like you’ve forgotten who I am, or I will remind you.”
A chill runs down my spine as the temperature in the room seems to plummet. Drex slowly kisses my head again, and he gently moves me aside as he stands. Obviously I continue to pretend to still be asleep, actually closing my eyes again.
He’s leaving? No. I don’t want him to leave me with—
“Feel free to start reminding me,” Drex says with an eerie tone that borders on resembling a psycho taunting a rabid dog. “I’ll let you take the first swing out of respect.”
He spits out that last word, and I open my eyes again, keeping them focused on Sarah instead of turning around to see the showdown. Sarah’s eyes meet mine again, and she scoots a little closer.
“This is the last time you disrespect me,” Herrin snarls, but a few seconds later, I hear a door slam.
“Find the doctor,” Drex tells someone. “She’s awake.”
I realize the charade is up, so I slowly turn around to see Drex’s back as Axle nods and walks out. My stomach clenches when the door opens to reveal a hallway full of Death Dealers.
As soon as the door shuts, Snake stands and motions with his head for Sarah.
“We’ll be just outside the door if you need us,” he tells Drex.
Drex’s back is still to me, and I watch as Sarah walks around, patting my foot on her way by. Snake’s arm drops to her shoulders as he leads her out, and I wait for the man who saved me to turn around.
He had to have saved me. There’s no way Ben brought me here and called him. That’s for damn sure.
I try to say his name, but my throat is too sore, so the words die before a sound can be made. Drex runs his hand through his hair, still staring at the door like he doesn’t want to face me.
I guess he saved me but that doesn’t mean we’re us again.
My mistake, I think dryly.
Trying to sit up proves to be a pain in the ass, and air hisses between my teeth when the motion tugs my IV too hard. In the next breath, Drex is right in front of me, looking me over to see why I just made a sound.
Holy shit, he looks like he hasn’t slept at all.
His eyes are tired as he examines me, and his touch is almost too gentle… as though he’s worried I’ll break. I don’t think I will. I feel a hell of a lot better than I did in that basement. I can actually hold my own head up, even if it does feel like someone is trying to drill a hole through it.
“I’m okay,” I manage to whisper.
His jaw grinds like I’ve said something wrong, but he doesn’t speak as he continues to examine me.
“So she’s awake.” A man’s voice has my head jerking away from Drex to look past him.
A doctor is walking toward me, carrying a transparent cup of ice cubes and a glass of water. Drex reluctantly moves out of his way, and I wonder why a nurse isn’t bringing me things.
On the bright side, my mind seems to be functioning properly once again. I guess eighteen hours of sleep and some fluids running into me via IV is a good cure for going crazy from dehydration, hunger, and sleep deprivation.
Drex sits down on the bed near my feet, and I quietly allow the doctor to go through the motions of inspecting my eyes with a
light, feel the outside of my throat with his fingers, and a few other random things.
“You, little girl, are one tough cookie. Glad to see you so alert and sitting up. Pupils are responding excellently, nothing seems to be swollen more than normal, and your blood tests have all turned out fine. The infection has been taken care of, but you’ll need to continue your antibiotics.” Infection? He turns to face Drex. “How was she sleeping? Restless? Peaceful?”
Drex opens his mouth to answer, but Sarah chooses that time to walk in and answer for him.
“She sleeps peacefully when Drex is with her. Not so much when he’s not.”
Drex grimaces like that’s a bad thing. It probably just has to do with comfort. It pisses me off that I need to feel comfort right now, but… Fuck. I’m not invincible. What really sucks is the fact he seems to hate that I’m apparently subconsciously comforted by his presence.
Bristling, I start getting annoyed with the doctor’s thorough inspection, especially when he messes with my tender wrists that are wrapped loosely.
“The wound dressings need to be changed. I can do that in just a little bit though. Do you know where you are?”
I nod but don’t attempt to speak.
He frowns like that bothers him, so I point to my throat, silently telling him it’s sore. That leads to him forcing my mouth open so he can shine his light into my throat.
“Just a little raw from dryness. Suck the ice cubes first. Then try to drink some water. Don’t drink it too fast though. Wouldn’t want you to upset your stomach. We’ll get you some soup sent up to see if you can manage eating something light. Nothing heavy for a few days until you work up to it.”
Drex finally speaks. “No offense, doc, but I don’t trust your cafeteria. Tell Sarah what kind of soup she needs, and she’ll get her anything.”
The doctor frowns but nods. Then he turns back to me.
“No sign of a concussion, but how do you feel? I have a psychiatrist who can come speak to you discreetly. She’s a close friend of mine, and she will be—”
“No,” I interrupt, whispering the word and wincing before grabbing the ice cup and sucking a few crushed pieces down my throat.
He frowns while looking over at Drex like he’s my freaking caretaker and in charge of my decisions.
“She needs to speak to someone. Normally it would be hospital policy.”
Drex looks at me, studying me. “If she wants to speak to someone, she can. If she doesn’t, then she won’t.”
Fairly sure I roll my eyes. I’m being talked about as though I’m not sitting right here.
“Very well, but it’s a standing offer if you change your mind.”
Clearing my sore throat, I speak again. It’s hoarse and strained, but it works well enough.
“I won’t give Ben the satisfaction of thinking he broke me.”
Both men look at me, and Sarah walks closer, smirking as she takes a seat on the bed. She looks over at Drex, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You boys keep forgetting we have to be tough to handle you.”
Drex’s jaw tenses, but he motions with his head for the doctor to follow him out so they can speak in private. The second the door shuts, Sarah turns to me.
“How are you really doing?” she asks sincerely.
Talking hurts, but I make myself. “I’ve seen better days. It felt like I was down there for a long time. Much longer than I probably was—”
“Four days,” she says quietly. “Almost five.”
“Felt like a month or two.”
She nods like she understands, but I don’t know how she could.
“When the nightmares come, and they will, learn to fight back in your mind. It’s the only way to defeat the nightmares,” she whispers quietly. “The nightmares are usually worse than the real thing was.”
My eyebrows go up, and she looks down.
“Really, Eve, you should probably talk to someone.”
“He starved me, kept me awake, and left me to dehydrate. It’s not exactly a few days in paradise, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I’m more grateful than anything that my worst nightmares didn’t come true.”
She smiles grimly while looking back at me.
“The paralyzing fear you dealt with or didn’t deal with… The helplessness of being trapped and alone with nothing to do but pray for rescue… That’s where the nightmares come from, Eve. Not the experience itself.”
“How do you—”
The door opens back up, and in walks Snake, the doctor, and Drex. Sarah bites her bottom lip, like she doesn’t want to continue the conversation. So I let it drop.
“Rush is going to stay here with you. I have to go take care of something,” Drex tells me.
That’s confusing, considering he was arguing with his father about staying here just a few minutes ago. Emotional whiplash isn’t on my to-do list, so I don’t even acknowledge him.
“Sarah, the doc wants to talk to you about what she can eat right now,” Drex goes on.
Sarah squeezes my hand affectionately before walking out with the doctor and Snake on her heels. Rush walks in with Axle, and I tense. I don’t like Rush, and Drex is leaving me with him?
“I should be in on that,” Rush growls at Drex, even though I don’t know what he’s talking about. “You can’t possibly be rational enough in there to get answers.”
Drex tenses as his eyes narrow to slits. “Axle is staying here because I trust him with my girl. You’re staying here because I know you won’t hesitate to fuck someone up if they walk in.”
“I won’t hesitate either,” Axle states dryly.
“Two people need to be in here when I’m not,” Drex orders. “I’ll be back as soon as I have something.”
My eyes stay fixed on Drex, waiting on him to speak to me. He doesn’t. Instead, he turns and walks out, leaving me with one guy I don’t trust, and another who has pity oozing from his eyes when he looks at me. I still don’t know how I got here, and no one is in any hurry to tell me what happened.
From one captivity to another. I hate hospitals.
At least I’m allowed to sleep here.
Chapter 25
DREX
My fist collides with Mikey’s face, creating a satisfying crunching sound that has my sadistic smile turning up. He spits blood out as he turns to face me, fear and terror in his eyes.
He only thought he was scared of Ben.
“Is Benny involved in this?” Sledge demands.
Mike whimpers while shaking his head. “Benny is clueless. He’s over his brother’s death—has been for years. Even said it’s part of the cycle. But we knew we could make you think it was him retaliating. He’s simple-minded and everything he does is done at face-value. He never has a hidden agenda because he’s too stupid for that.”
“Then why send us Eve?” Sledge goes on.
“Because he wanted the fucking file. Herrin was taunting him, hinting that he knew something about one of the guys in his crew being a rat. And he knew about Eve’s old man pissing you guys off. I don’t know how he knew, but he did. To him, it was a simple exchange of each person getting something they wanted. Revenge on a dead man for you guys; a file on a rat—that turned out to be a fed—for him; and money for Eve.”
“Why the gag if the basement was soundproofed?” Sledge asks him, moving on in the line of questions quickly, even though the gag is the least of my questions right now.
“Ben,” Mikey groans, spitting out more blood. “He said he couldn’t handle hearing her scream. The dumbass thinks he loves her.”
All that does is piss me off more, but Sledge pulls me back when I lunge at Mikey.
“I’d stray from all feelings Ben thinks he has for Drex’s girl,” Sledge grumbles, struggling to keep me back even when Dash comes to help him.
“I’m fine,” I growl, shrugging out of their hold.
Mikey looks like a terrified lamb in front of a lion. He has no fucking clue how close I am to losin
g it.
“You want to know where I keep the cars?” I ask him with an eerily calm tone. “You want to know how I fix them up?”
“No!” Mikey exclaims. “I don’t. I don’t want to know.”
“I plan to tell you all about it,” I go on, taunting him. “I’ll give you every fucking detail.”
“Please. Please don’t. I swear I will keep my fucking mouth shut and leave. You’ll never see me again.”
At least he’s smart enough to know me spilling secrets means a death sentence to him.
“You took his girl,” Sledge says emotionlessly. “Sounds like you wanted to know pretty damn badly.”
Mikey sobs, shaking his head. He’s restrained to the chair he’s in, tied up with unrelenting wire in the same position I found Eve.
“No. Ben took her. Not me. I swear I don’t want to know. I swear! Please don’t tell me,” he cries.
“If you don’t want to know our secrets, then spill yours,” Dash tells him. But he better be fucking bluffing. Mikey is dead. No debate. “Who’s your inside man?” he goes on.
Mikey tries to get his sobbing under control enough to answer.
“I don’t know his name. I just know he’s on your team.”
“What team?” Sledge snarls.
“No,” Mikey says, shaking his head emphatically. “I won’t tell you anything until you let me go. I’m not fucking stupid. Once you have all the answers you need, you’ll kill me.”
I look over at Sledge, and he frowns. He knows damn well I’ll never agree to that. We’ll figure it out some other way.
“In the video, you mentioned he gave you the idea to lean on Cecil,” Dash goes on.
That’s news. No one told me about that. Cecil? Fucking Cecil has been our rat this whole time?
“Cecil owed some money to one of the families upstate. He was two million short on his payment. Either he got a few broken legs and lost his tongue, or he paid it in full. His life was at stake next. He told Ben and the feds everything he knew, and then he left town—after our partner gave Ben the money to pay Cecil’s debts—so you guys wouldn’t figure it out. See? I will tell you all you need to know if you just let me go. As soon as I’m safe and have your word you won’t come after me, I’ll call and tell you everything. Then I’ll fucking disappear. You’ll never see me again.”