“It’s only ever been about revenge for me,” Kovic hissed. “You never took me seriously did you, Keith? You thought I was some sort of joke.”
“You were,” Keith said before he could stop himself. “You still are.”
“You’re going to pay for that opinion,” Kovic said, his tone going dark with bitterness. “And once I’m done… you’re never going to cross me again.”
“Kovic—”
“There’s someone here who wants to speak to you,” Kovic interrupted.
There was some static on the other end, and then he heard panicked breathing that he recognized instantly. “Keith,” Kristina’s voice was wrought with fear. “Keith!”
“Kristina,” Keith said hurriedly, every question on his mind tripping over one another in an effort to be answered. “Are you ok? Has he hurt you? Where are you?”
“Keith, I… I don’t know where we are… Keith!” she shouted, as the phone was wrestled away from her and he could hear Kovic’s measured breathing again.
“No,” Keith hissed, his hand was tight around the phone. “No!”
“Heard her precious voice did you, Keith?” Kovic asked quietly. “Well, listen to me carefully because I’m going to make you a promise. I promise that in three days’ time you will be reunited with your sweet love. I will drop her off for you. Those beautiful blue eyes of hers will be wide open and unblinking, her face will be contorted in one fixed expression, and her body will be twisted and mangled and scarred.
“At first you might not even recognize her. You might think it’s someone else, but you won’t be able to deny who it is once you’ve looked into those eyes. You can undress her then and take a look at her body and when you do, you can imagine all the things I did to her. You can imagine the reason behind every single scar and burn and bruise on her body. And while you’re looking at the artwork I’ve created, remember that it was for you. Every single mark on her body was for you. Every single scar and bruise, all the pain she endured… was for you.”
Before Keith’s mind could even process that deplorable thought, the line went dead and he was left with empty sound and endless fear. “No,” he said to his phone. “No, no, no.”
“Keith?” Tucker’s voice was quiet and concerned. “What happened man? Who was that?”
Miles was standing right next to Tucker, and Keith wondered for a moment how they both got there. He hadn’t even noticed that they had approached him.
“Keith?”
“It’s happening again,” Keith whispered, as his knees gave way and he sunk to the floor. “He’s got her.”
“He’s got her?” Tucker repeated, looking between Miles and Keith.
“Kristina,” Keith whispered. “I failed. Kovic has her.”
“He threatened to kill her?” Miles asked.
“It wasn’t a threat,” Keith said shaking his head. “He is going to kill her. But first… he’s going to make her suffer.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
Kristina
Kristina could hear Keith’s voice on the other end of the phone, and for some unknowable reason, she was comforted by it. It wasn’t as if he had any power to save her from her current predicament, and yet, she felt a sense of safety at the sound of his voice. She knew that feeling would dissipate the moment Kovic cut the line, but she clung on to it anyway, trying to find strength by whatever means she could.
Kovic was describing in glaring detail how he was going to return her back to Keith. Somehow his words barely touched her, and Kristina realized that she didn’t truly believe him. It had nothing to do with Kovic himself, and everything to do with her life up until this moment. These kinds of things were not part of the world Kristina had grown up in, and to that end, she had a hard time wrapping her mind around the reality of the moment.
There was a thought lodged in the back of her mind, and she couldn’t shake it no matter how hard she tried. She believed whole-heartedly that someone would find her before Kovic could actually set his sadistic plan in motion. She believed that by some twist of fate, either Keith or the police would find them and stop Kovic before he could leave any kind of mark on her body.
Right on cue, the bruise on the side of her head tinged with pain, almost as though to remind Kristina that naiveté would not help her in this case. She raised her hand to the bruise and rubbed it slowly, sparking a jolt of pain that seemed to rush around her head before settling. Kristina blinked twice and realized that Kovic’s eyes were on her, and a smile was playing slowly on his lips. He had that smug look of self-satisfaction that Kristina had seen on many men. This was the first time it sent chills down her spine. She wondered momentarily if the bruise Kovic had left on her head had also left a concussion. She felt curiously different, something her body had not experienced before. She felt as though her movements and words and thoughts were just not coming fast enough.
“What?” she demanded.
“Your boyfriend is well and truly frightened,” Kovic replied, as though he had been waiting for her to ask the question. “I’ve never heard Keith frightened before.”
“He’s not,” Kristina said confidently.
“He’s not what?” Kovic asked stupidly.
“He’s not frightened,” Kristina said with disdain. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”
Kovic seemed amused by that. “He’s not.”
“We’re friends,” Kristina replied automatically.
Kovic laughed. “I don’t give a fuck what you are to each other. What matters is that you mean something to him, and that means it’s going to hurt when I take you away.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Kristina said.
“You realize I have you, right?” Kovic asked conversationally.
“I’m in the back of your shitty car,” Kristina nodded. “In the middle of nowhere… but you don’t have me. You will never have me.”
“Did you think I was joking before?” Kovic asked pleasantly.
“I hope it wasn’t a joke… your comedic timing is a little off.”
Kovic bent his head to the side and regarded her with cold eyes. “I can understand why Keith wanted to fuck you. I can’t understand why he kept you around afterwards though. You are exhausting.”
Kristina rolled her eyes. “Typical… I pegged you for the kind of man that couldn’t deal with a strong woman.”
Kovic’s eyes narrowed. “Strong or weak… it doesn’t matter… I will break you, just like I broke Natalie.”
Kristina felt the hair on her body rise when he mentioned Natalie. It struck her suddenly that he was responsible for Natalie’s death and that realization was more chilling than any other. He was capable of murder, and he was capable of getting away with it. All of a sudden, Kristina’s mind was forced to consider the possibility that this adventure of hers might end in disaster.
“That shut you up, didn’t it?” Kovic asked. “I thought it might. Apparently everyone needs a reminder of who they’re dealing with.”
“What happened?” Kristina asked abruptly.
“What?” Kovic looked at her in surprise.
“What happened with Natalie?” she clarified her question.
Kovic regarded her with interest. “Keith didn’t tell you?”
Kristina felt herself bristle at the unspoken insinuation in his tone. “No,” she said, trying not to sound as though she was bothered by that fact. “He only mentioned that you were the one responsible for her death.”
Kovic bowed his head as though he were accepting a compliment. “I was.”
“You are a monster,” Kristina hissed.
Kovic laughed. He was about to speak when a lone car sped past them. They were hidden among a thicket of trees, but daylight had well and truly crept in and they were visible from the road. “We can continue this conversation later,” Kovic replied. “We need to get moving.”
“Where are we going?”
Kovic gave her a sideways stare and then slowly, another sadistic smile spread across
his lips. It transformed his face and somehow made him look less human and more terrifying. His white blonde hair took on an artificial gleam as he turned onto the road and the sunlight slanted through the windshield and into the car. He was smiling, but his eyes were dead serious.
“Somewhere no one can hear your screams,” he replied.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Keith
“What are you doing here?” Marie demanded the moment she had opened the door.
Keith pushed himself inside the dorm without an invitation.
“Hey… what the hell?” Marie cried, but she was unable to keep him out.
“Marie, I need your help,” Keith said without hesitation, hoping she would hear the urgency in his tone and pay attention. She seemed to notice just that because she fell into silence for a moment and stared at his face.
“What’s happened?” she asked. “Where is Kristina?”
“That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about,” Keith said. “And Marie… this is a matter of life and death.”
She stared a moment longer, and then she sank onto her bed as though the effort of standing upright was too much for her at that moment. “Kristina’s in trouble, isn’t she?” Marie guessed at once.
“Yes,” Keith replied without mincing his words. “She’s in a lot of danger, and I think you’re the only one who can help me.”
“Me?” Marie asked incredulously. “What in the name of God makes you think that?”
“Because you can get the police involved,” Keith said.
“So can you…” Marie started, and she trailed off once realization hit. “The police are only going to see you as some low life criminal, aren’t they?” she asked.
“Yes,” Keith nodded. “But you on the other hand—”
“Wait,” Marie said loudly. “Stop and start from the beginning. What has happened to Kristina? And why is she in so much danger?”
Keith took a deep, internal breath and plunged into his story. He didn’t take short cuts, and he didn’t try and paint himself as the innocent. He told the story exactly as he remembered it, no changes, no tweaks, and no painting over the details. He told Marie exactly whom Kovic was and exactly what he was capable of.
She listened silently. She listened intently, but Keith could see her body tensing as he continued to speak. He could see the fear grow in her eyes. He didn’t stop or pause to allow her time to process what he was telling her. He motored on, focused only on taking action as fast as he could.
“Kovic has Kristina now,” Keith finished. “And he is definitely going to hurt her… unless we get to her in time.”
Marie nodded once. Then she nodded again. “Ok…” she said slowly as though it had just sunk in. “Ok… but why is he doing this?”
“What?”
“Why did he take Kristina?” Marie asked. “She’s new in your life compared with the families of your gang members. Why not go after one of them?”
Keith swallowed and spat out the words. “He has a personal vendetta against me,” Keith replied.
“Why?”
“It’s a long story,” Keith replied. “And I can’t get into it now. Marie… I need your help. Kristina needs your help. Please…”
Marie sighed deeply. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Go to the police and tell them that your friend is missing,” Keith told her. “You’ll have to tell them that she’s been missing for over twenty-four hours otherwise they won’t act immediately. Tell them that in the last few days she was being followed, and then you’ll need to describe Kovic to them in detail.”
“I don’t know what he looks like.”
“That’s ok,” Keith replied. “I will give you his description.”
“Should I give them his name?” Marie asked.
“That won’t be necessary,” Keith replied. “Once they have his description, they’ll figure out who it is… and then they’ll start looking.”
“And you’re sure they’ll be able to find Kristina in time?” Marie asked desperately.
“No, I’m not sure,” Keith replied. “Which is why I’ll be searching, too.”
“I can come with you,” Marie said suddenly as she rose. “I’ll come with you.”
“No,” Keith said immediately. “You can’t, Marie.”
“Why not?” Marie demanded. “I want to help, I can’t just do nothing.”
“You’re not,” Keith reminded her. “With the police searching for him, Kovic is going to have a hard time hiding. I’ll handle the rest.”
Marie stared at him with wide eyes. She looked as though she was shocked to be having this conversation in the first place. “How dangerous is this man, Keith?” she asked, her voice was soft with a mixture of emotions that Keith recognized well.
“Dangerous,” he replied, unwilling to lie to her.
“She’ll be ok… won’t she?” Marie asked, as her voice shook slightly.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that Kristina gets out of this unhurt,” Keith said, hoping against hope that he was right to make that promise. “You believe me… don’t you?”
Marie stared at him for a long time without saying a word. For a moment, Keith actually believed she was going to shake her head no or slap him in the face. Either one of those actions he would have been deserved, but instead, Marie surprised him by nodding her head. “Yes,” she said at last. “I believe you.”
Keith didn’t know why those words triggered something in him, but whatever it was, it spurred him to action and convinced him that he could get Kristina out of this if he simply focused and kept a clear head.
“I’m going to get her back,” Keith said forcefully. “I’m going to get her back, and the only person who’s going to be sorry is Kovic.”
Chapter Twenty Nine
Kristina
The cramp in her leg was what woke Kristina from her uneasy sleep. She blinked her eyes open and tried to focus on her surroundings. It took only a second for the memory to come screaming back to her, and when it did, she had a hard time believing it hadn’t been just a dream.
She was holed in the back of Kovic’s car, and it smelt of smoke and alcohol. Her stomach growled with hunger and that somehow sent another wave of cramps through her leg. Kristina moaned and leaned back against the seat. Kovic had tied her hands together, and they were now well and truly bruised from the tight knot he had fastened around her wrists. She was feeling so many different kinds of uncomfortable that she could barely keep up with each new tinge of pain.
The driver’s door was thrown open suddenly, and Kovic slid into the seat. He turned back to glance at Kristina and shot her a condescending smile. “Slept well?” he asked.
“Fuck you,” Kristina spat.
“I’ll say this much for you, at least you have spirit,” Kovic went on, uncaring of her discomfort. “Natalie was not quite as… vocal.”
“You talk as though you knew her well,” Kristina asked.
“Oh I did,” Kovic nodded. Then he dug his hand into the brown paper bag he had brought in with him and drew out a sandwich cocooned in glad wrap. He threw it back at her without warning, and Kristina barely managed to catch it in time.
“Can you untie my wrists?” Kristina asked, trying to mimic politeness. “It’s going to be hard to eat this way.”
“Try,” Kovic said uncaringly.
“You are such an evil fuck,” Kristina spat.
Kovic laughed. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
Kristina thought about refusing the sandwich, but she was too desperately hungry to seriously consider doing it. She tore away the glad wrap and bit into the sandwich. The bread was stale, and the filling was chicken mayo that had a strange kick to it, but Kristina barely cared. It was food, and her stomach needed filling. Within a minute, she had finished her meal and she was licking her fingers greedily, her hunger far from satiated.
“You can eat,” Kovic said, with his eyes fixed on her
face.
“Do you have another one?” Kristina asked.
He threw her another sandwich, and she started on it immediately. She could probably have done with another one or two, but she decided not to push her luck. The edge had been taken off her hunger and that was enough to keep her going. Kovic was still staring at her.
“What?” Kristina demanded.
“Just trying to figure something out,” Kovic replied in a thoughtful voice.
“Are you going to tell me what that is?” Kristina demanded. “Or are you just going to keep staring at me like some creepy fucking pervert?”
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