“Stop it!” I snapped, turning to face her. I was sure Cedric and Marco were monsters in their own right, but maybe I could reason with them. Maybe I could buy us more time.
Or maybe . . . maybe they were as ruthless as Memphis made them out to be. Maybe his time—our time—was up.
When I woke up this morning, I never imagined this day would be my last. Fearing for my life, I prayed to anyone who might be listening that I was getting ahead of myself, that Allie’s prophecy of a true crime drama was not about to unfold in our tiny, wholesome town. But most of all, I prayed that somehow Sam would know I needed him.
I searched the room for my phone. I had to get to him. I had to let him know what was about to happen. But before I could locate it in the mess Memphis had created during his pursuit, there was a loud pounding at the front door that shocked all three of us still.
There was no running now. All we could do was pray.
London
“NO! WHAT DO we do now?” Allie broke the silence with a blood curdling shriek.
“Shhh!” Memphis warned, rushing over to her and clasping his hand over her mouth.
Stunned and disgusted with his spineless behavior, I stomped toward him and flung his hand out of the way. “Get off of her. She shouldn’t even be here! She was trying to help you!”
Reluctantly, Memphis retreated, pacing the room.
I wrapped my arms around Allie and hugged her tight. “I am so sorry I involved you in this, but don’t worry, I’ll talk to them. I’ll make sure they know this has nothing to do with you. You’ll be okay. I promise.”
It was an empty promise, but it seemed to calm her some nonetheless. Her response was a wordless nod of her head, more tears coating her ashen cheeks.
Guilt overwhelmed me for allowing this to happen. I should’ve known better than to take her up on her offer to talk to Memphis. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have kept her far away. And now, here she was, tangled in this mess.
If anything happened to her I would never forgive myself.
“I really am so sorry, Allie.”
“It’s okay.” She flashed a faint smile. “We’re in this together.”
“I wish you two would be fucking quiet!” Memphis whispered in demand.
“It’s a little too late to cower in the fucking corner, Memphis, don’t you think?” I hissed back at him, still searching the room for my phone. It was nowhere to be seen and while I was starting to panic, I didn’t want it to show. Someone had to keep their head on straight. I guessed that someone would have to be me because Memphis was useless. It was only a matter of minutes before they found us. “We have to do something. I’ll call 911.”
“No!” he shouted, taking his phone from me and stuffing it into his back pocket. “We can’t call the cops! That’s not how this works, London. We call the cops, we die. It’s a guaranteed death wish. You think Cedric and Marco are the only ones we need to worry about? There’re dozens more where these guys came from. Involving the police will only make matters worse. Trust me.”
“Trust you?” I snickered. “I will never trust you again.”
“Now’s not the time for this shit, London. If you want to hate me, go ahead but—”
Memphis was cut short by another series of wild knocks coming from downstairs, followed by the unmistakable sound of the door being kicked open and slamming against the wall.
“Shit!” he whispered, his eyes darting between me and Allie.
“We know you’re in here, Monroe!” a deep voiced bellowed.
All three of us turned toward the open bedroom door, but it was clear that none of us had a game plan. We were sitting ducks. There was nowhere to run and there was no way to know if giving ourselves up was a suicide mission.
“What do we do?” Allie asked again, looking to me for an answer.
I wanted so desperately to take her fear and make it mine, but before I could offer any kind of solace, Memphis whooshed past us. “Stay in here and don’t make a sound.”
I held my breath, which wasn’t all that hard. It felt as if my heart was lodged in the narrowed column of my throat, ready to explode and preventing me from making even the slightest movement. The fervent pace at which it thumped nearly deafened me, but I could still hear the clomping, looming footsteps from downstairs. And they were getting closer.
Memphis went to pull the door shut behind him as he left the room, but it was already too late to conceal us.
They were here. We were face to face. There was no hiding now.
A tall, dark, burly man stared at me from outside my mother’s bedroom, a wicked grin curling his lips. “Well, who do we have here?” he asked, enticing another man to join him at the top of the steps.
This one was even taller. He was leaner but no less intimidating. His neck was covered in tattoos and he wore a baseball cap that hid his eyes so it was impossible to make out their color. There was a deep scar on the left side of his face that dragged from the corner of his mouth up to his earlobe. I could only imagine that if he survived an attack as vicious as the one that mutilated him, he was even more dangerous and powerful than we first thought.
“That must be Thompson’s ex-wife,” he said to the darker man. “London, right?” He entered the room, zeroing in on me with each step closer.
My heart pounded with such violent haste, I was sure everyone in the room could hear it. I wouldn’t answer him. I couldn’t. But then he caught sight of Allie who was quaking in hysterics to the right of me and my fear suddenly quadrupled.
What’s he going to do to us? Dear God, who are these people?
“Oh, would you look at that, Cedric? Two for the price of one. Who’s this pretty little thing?” He approached a shaking Allie and tugged on a piece of her long blonde hair, wrapping it around his finger and bringing his nose down to take a whiff.
“Leave them alone,” Memphis finally spoke up, puffing out his chest and standing tall.
By process of elimination, I surmised the man taunting Allie was Marco. At Memphis’s first act of courage, Marco dropped his hand, releasing Allie’s hair. She let out a temporary sigh of relief as he focused on a new target. But her rapid breathing kicked up again when he stalked toward Memphis and backhanded him across the face.
“Goddamn it,” Memphis muttered, folding over in pain and clutching his cheek.
“Shut the fuck up. You’re in no position to be giving orders, Monroe. Now, sit your ass down—all of you—and tell me where your buddy Thompson is.”
We all did as told, sitting in a line on the edge of my mother’s bed. With Memphis and Allie flanking either side of me, I felt no more protected than I had a moment ago when Cedric was eyeing me like I was a piece of fresh meat for the taking.
It was then that I spotted my phone underneath the dresser. It was lighting up with an incoming call or text. I was never more thankful that it was on silent. It was our only lifeline. I just had to find a way to get to it and text Sam.
Everything was happening so quickly, there was no time to think or react. It was a wonder I could still carry out the simple act of breathing because the world around me was a foreign one—a scary, never-ending nightmare that I feared would keep me from ever telling Sam how much I loved him. From ever being with him again.
Sam
With Hunter one step ahead of me, I gripped the railing as we crept up the steps as quietly as possible.
If ever I wished I owned a gun, it was now. I had no idea what we were up against, but if I had a gun, the unknown wouldn’t be a concern. I would have no qualms about putting a bullet in anyone who dared to hurt London. But I didn’t have a gun, did I? I was already at a loss, already failing her.
Clambering to the top of the landing, my heart sank to my gut the moment I caught sight of her through the open door.
“London!” I shouted, not caring that I’d just revealed our presence to whomever it was keeping her hostage inside her mother’s bedroom.
Our eyes locked and th
e terror seeping from her helpless brown irises momentarily stole the breath from my lungs.
She was seated on the floor, her legs crisscrossed in front of her and her arms tied behind her back. Her mouth was bound with some kind of fabric I couldn’t make out. And she was crying, so hard her body convulsed with each sob.
“Fuck. No! London!” I was desperate to get to her, but my body would not cooperate. No matter how hard I tried, I was still too weak.
Hunter ran inside the room before I could, but the need to save her empowered me to push through the pain impeding my willpower. I would not give up. I would die trying. There was no other choice but to get to her. One foot in front of the other, I miraculously caught up to Hunter and headed straight for London.
But I was forced to stop short once the entire scene came into focus.
Memphis was face down on the floor. Allie was tied up, like London, on the other side of the room. And two large, unfamiliar men were in obvious control of the situation as they both had guns—one pointed at Hunter, the other at me.
“Nice of you to show up.” One of the men inched toward Hunter, holding him at gunpoint.
“Let them go,” Hunter demanded. “They have nothing to do with this!”
“Do you have the money?” the other one said, flashing a vicious grin but keeping his arm steady with his weapon aimed at me.
“Not yet, but—”
“But nothing,” the taller one spat, particles of saliva flying onto Hunter’s face. “We’ve waited long enough. You were one hard fucker to nail down. Now, we finally hunt you all the way to the other side of the goddamn country and you still don’t have it!”
Fisting Hunter’s T-shirt with his free hand, he pulled him closer so they were nose to nose. “Where’s. The fucking. Money?”
“W-we need more time,” Hunter stuttered.
I should have been leery of the gun aimed at my chest, but I could not take my eyes off London. I wanted to whisk her to safety, but even if I could somehow summon the strength to carry her out of here, everyone in this room was at the mercy of these men.
Memphis was already unconscious—or worse, for all I knew. And there was no way I could single-handedly free Allie and London without risking all of our lives.
So, there was only one other way to handle this like a man. There were no other options I could think of. No better way to make this go away.
“I have the money,” I blurted in the most confident, commanding tone I could muster.
In a split second I found myself staring down the barrel of not one, but two handguns as both men pinned me in place.
“If this is some stalling tactic, you’re making a big fucking mistake,” the darker thug warned.
“I’m not stalling,” I said with my hands in the air. “I have the money. All of it. Just let the girls go and I’ll get it to you. I swear it.”
“Who is this guy, huh, Thompson? Your guarding fucking angel?”
“Something like that.” Hunter heaved, breathing in and out rapidly. “He’s not lying. He’s a man of his word.”
Even under the strain of the circumstances, it was something to hear that Hunter had that kind of faith in me. Then again, it wasn’t as if he had many choices but to believe me.
By the look of relief on everyone’s faces, I knew I’d been granted my wish. I was the hero. I could make this all go away. There was only one problem.
I didn’t have fifty thousand dollars.
London
THE MOMENT I saw him, I knew everything would be okay.
I should never have doubted his ability to swoop in and save the day. He’d done it so many times before, never ceasing to amaze me, never failing me. Not like the other men in my life.
But there was a small window of time after I managed to sneak my phone from under the bed and text Sam to send help when visions of my life burst in vibrant colors right before my eyes. Bits and pieces of happy, carefree memories, and flashes of the fulfilling future I longed for.
The last thirty minutes in this room were the most frightening I’d ever experienced. Worse than witnessing one of Bryce’s outbursts, more terrifying than sending Sam and my mother off to surgery and awaiting the unknown. The horror of being tied up and held at gunpoint even surmounted that of seeing my mother in a coma and fearing she would never wake up.
In those minutes before Sam and Hunter arrived, Marco pressed a gun to my brother’s temple and forced him to watch while Cedric tied the cable wires around my and Allie’s wrists. When she cried out for mercy, he secured our mouths shut with two blouses he found in my mother’s closet. The idea of being restrained by something of Mom’s was . . . chilling. I could smell her lingering scent on the fabric. It made me feel as if she were present, protected by her somehow. But knowing those moments could be my last overwhelmed any sense of false comfort.
Memphis fought to break free, cursing and threatening both men. He became enraged, thrashing his arms and legs, and Marco and Cedric struggled to keep him in check. But even I knew there was no way they would let him loose. It was a losing battle. And without warning or sympathy, Cedric bashed Memphis in the back of the head with the grip of his gun.
Allie’s muffled scream sent shivers down my spine. Watching Memphis freefall to the floor brought on a whole new level of panic. It was clear he was hurt; he was passed out cold. But was it worse? Did he need immediate attention? Would he be okay?
“Please. Let me go to him,” I tried to say but the blouse stifled my plea.
Cedric leaned down then, so I was face to face with a monster. His icy blue eyes void of any compassion pierced what was left of my resolve as he laughed at me. “You’ll keep quiet if you know what’s good for you, sweetheart. Otherwise, I’ll have to shut that pretty mouth of yours for good. We don’t want that, do we?”
The promise of his threat and the way the word sweetheart rolled off his wicked tongue made my insides churn with repulsion.
It was just us and them now. There was no telling what they would do. They came here for one thing and Memphis didn’t have it. Would they seek their revenge on us? Would they take something else—someone else—as punishment?
Those horrible, unsettling thoughts were beginning to root themselves in my overcharged brain just as my eyes locked with his.
Sam? Oh, my God, Sam’s here!
I started to cry. Partly from relief, and partly because I knew he shouldn’t be here. Sam was not himself, he wasn’t strong enough to deal with these men. He should be home recovering, not here playing hero. I hated myself for needing him this way, but just seeing him made this whole nightmare bearable. I could breathe again because he was here.
Thank God, Sam is here.
Hunter walked into the room first, shock registering on his face as his wide eyes inspected the scene and gauged the dire situation.
Cedric wasted no time stalking toward him with the gun aimed at his chest. “Nice of you to show up.” He chuckled, taking pleasure in making all of us suffer.
Hunter’s worried gaze darted between me and Allie, unaffected by the dangerous weapon pointed at him. He closed his eyes after staring at an unmoving Memphis for a beat, finally focusing on me again as he inhaled a deep but shaky breath. “Let them go. They have nothing to do with this!”
“Do you have the money?” Marco barked, his gun also raised and ready.
Hunter’s jaw ticked with tension when he admitted, “Not yet, but—”
“But nothing!” Cedric cut him off, getting within an inch of his face. “We’ve waited long enough.” He rambled on and then grabbed Hunter’s T-shirt, yanking him closer still. “Where’s. The fucking. Money?”
Unfortunately, I knew the answer. Everyone in this room knew the answer. There was no money. We were fucking doomed.
Hunter glanced my way as if to apologize before saying, “W-we need more time.”
And that’s when I knew it was the end. For all of us.
They didn’t have the money, but they did
have us. That’s how these kinds of things worked. I’d seen the movies. I’d read the headlines. There was no hope for any of us. We would all be dead in a matter of minutes. I just hoped it would be quick and painless. I prayed they wouldn’t drag it out or put us through any more torment. And most of all, I wished with all my might that four lives were enough to repay this debt.
Please don’t hurt my mother, I cried to myself. Please have mercy on her.
Devoid of hope and helplessly immobile, I closed my eyes and waited for the gunshots because there was nothing else I could do. There was no time to say good-bye, no time for one last I love you.
Your last thoughts before you died should be happy ones; your soul should somehow be at peace. The person responsible for taking that right from you should burn in hell for all of eternity. I had no doubt in my mind that these men had already secured themselves a seat right next to the devil himself, but that did not bring me comfort in my moment of darkness. It only made me sadder that the last of my joy—my peace—was stolen from me so viciously. There was so much more I wanted to do. So much more I longed to be. The promise of a perfect, fulfilling future was now inaccessible, ripped away unfairly.
With my pounding heart breaking into pieces and my will to survive crushed along with it, I took one last look at Sam and tried to speak to him with my eyes.
I forgive you.
I’m sorry.
I love you.
“I have the money,” Sam blurted out, shocking me to the core and earning everyone’s undivided attention.
I let out a wail of relief that was softened by the gag but it broke through the nail-biting silence nonetheless.
Sam’s eyes were glossed over as he pinned them on me and answered Marco’s questions. “I have the money. All of it. Let the girls go and I’ll get it to you. I swear it.”
He was a man of his word. He had protected me from the time I was nine years old. He would die defending me if he had to, almost as if that was the reason he was put on this Earth.
If Sam said he had the money, I had to believe that he did. He was our only saving grace. And since the hope of everyone in that room was dangling by the thinnest of thread, we held on to it like a lifeline because there were no other options.
Take My Breath Away (The Every Breath Duet Book 2) Page 17