Bound Forever

by Hanna Peach

  I sit and the second guard makes a show of tying my hands onto the arms of the chair. I tense my forearms as he ties me up too tightly. When he finishes and I relax, the ropes have slackened, but they are still too tight to wriggle out of. He then moves around to my feet and ties each of them to the chair leg. I have to force myself not to kick at him. My whole body is reacting, remembering the last time I was tied to a chair like this.

  Blood coats my body like a second skin. I slump over in the chair, dizzy from all this pain. But it’s nothing compared to my heart.

  My little girl, my sunshine, my Lily is gone.

  Jacob Tyrell, the monster who took her away from me, steps up to me. His finger lifts my chin so I am staring right into the dark eyes of the Devil. “It’s been fun, Harper. But I really must go.”

  “Are you going to kill me?” I ask, part of me hopeful that he does.

  Jacob grins. “That would be too easy for you, wouldn’t it? No. You don’t get to die. You get to live with the fact that the person you loved more than anything in the world was taken from you, like you did to me. Just know that it’s your fault your daughter’s dead.”

  He blames me for taking her away from him in that warehouse. He blames me for not coming back with her. That’s why he killed Lily. My Lily. My single ray of light. Gone. Because of me.

  Jacob lets go of my chin and my head slumps to my chest. I have no more energy to keep it up.

  His footsteps echo as he walks away. “But I will leave you with something to remember me by.”

  I hear a dull roaring noise and despite my fatigue I’m startled enough to look up. I recognize the man standing in front of me as Snake, one of Jacob’s closest. He walks so silently that I didn’t hear him enter the room. He’s holding a long-handled iron branding stick with Jacob’s crest on the end. I assume they use it to mark their crates. He’s holding a blowtorch in the other hand, aimed at the crest at the end. The blue fire twinkles at me.

  The door shuts behind Jacob and I’m left alone with Snake.

  “Harper Boone,” Snake says, his voice sharp and pointed with a guttural sounding accent. “Do you want to know why they call me Snake?” As he speaks he turns the brand over so that it heats up evenly. The metal is beginning to glow a violent orange.

  “‘Cause you’re cold-blooded?”

  “Excellent answer. But no. Please, guess again.”

  I sigh, close my eyes and let them fill with tears. Lily’s innocent face flashes before my eyes. My baby. My Lily. My heart sears with so much pain that I almost stop breathing. Let him do what he wants to me. Nothing can possibly hurt any worse than this does.

  “I can’t hear your answer, Mr. Boone.”

  “‘Cause you’re a dirt crawling, slithering piece of shit.”

  He chuckles. “Another good answer. But no.”

  I open my eyes. The whole crest is a mix of searing white and orange now. Snake turns off the torch and holds it out. A figure darts from the shadows and takes it from him. We’re not alone here, I realize. Jacob’s men are in the shadows. They’ve been watching. They’re watching now.

  Another two figures appear in my periphery and hold my arms and shoulders back so that my chest is open and pushed forward.

  Snake takes another silent step towards me. “It’s an old Albanian saying about the snake. It goes, ‘Beware the snake’s smile. For the only time you see the snake smile is before he strikes’.”

  I start involuntarily thrashing, my body reacting already to the feel of the heat and smell of searing metal as he approaches me. A sick smile stretches across his face.

  I don’t want to, but I start screaming when I smell my hair burning, then my flesh burning before I pass out from the pain.

  I blink, pulling myself out of that memory. It feels so much like déjà vu. At least she is safe and far, far away from here. I just have to bide my time.

  The guard finishes off the ties around my ankles.

  “Well,” a voice calls from the door. “Isn’t this just a wonderful little reunion?” My skin prickles when I recognize it.

  Jacob Tyrell.

  Immediately my body rushes with so much adrenaline that I shake in my chair, making it thud against the concrete flooring.

  Jacob chuckles as he walks through the doorway. “I would have thought that you had learned by now not to get involved. I’ve heard some disturbing things, Harper Boone.”

  The name I took when I was a cop makes me flinch internally. This isn’t good.

  He indicates to me with his fingers and a guard moves forward to stand at my side. “Open his shirt.”

  “Sorry, Jacob, but you’re not my type.”

  “Do it.”

  The guard grabs my shirt and rips it apart, buttons pinging across the concrete floor. He steps aside revealing my messed up chest to Jacob. My skin burns as Jacob’s eyes find the familiar crest etched in scars across my torso, marred only by two scars and the healing wound.

  “See, I own you. Like I own her.”

  The way he flicks his tongue after he says her makes me lose my mind. I snap forward with my teeth, missing his flesh by inches as he snatches back. I thrash about, willing these ropes to break apart. But they hold me still. A momentary flash of fear crosses Jacob’s eyes, like he believes for a second that I may actually get loose and mess up his face.

  “I hear disturbing things about your involvement with my little princess.” His voice chills to an icy deadliness. “You can’t expect me to believe it just happens to be a coincidence that where she is, you are.” He leans forward into my face. “Exactly how close is your friendship.”

  I say nothing.

  “You’ve decided not to talk. That’s fine. I know everything I need to know.” Jacob starts to slide a number of thick metal rings onto his fingers. Makeshift knuckledusters. “I’m going to enjoy this.” He steps up and throws his first punch.

  The first hit causes a burst of pain on my left cheekbone. Then another punch whips my head to the other side. I can feel blood oozing from my broken skin as he continues to beat me. I refuse to make a single noise. I just take it. I can only hope that Sevastian and his friends from The Church get here before Jacob kills me.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Yesterday…

  I’m on the way to Dixie’s apartment, driving along a long dusty road between where I’ve come from and where I’m going. It’s still a few hours’ drive to Freemont. Up ahead I spot a single black car parked to the side of the road looking like a black carcass. I slow down as I approach, peering inside the vehicle as I pass it. Well, at least, I try to see inside. The windows are tinted so dark it might as well be nighttime.

  I pull up a few meters in front of the other car, the dust swirls up around the car like a mist. I turn off my engine and stare at the silent vehicle behind me through my rearview mirror. Just in case, I tuck my gun into the back of my pants and get out. I shut the door of my car, leaving it unlocked, and lean against it.

  The front door of the other car opens. I swallow and try to calm my nerves. A dark figure steps out from the driver’s side. He’s tall like me but with a leaner build. While I look like a wrestler, he looks like a swimmer. He has midnight black hair and piercing blue eyes and he’s dressed as I have only ever seen him – in a suit. Even in this warm weather.

  I figure some women would call him handsome. But I know too much about him to agree. Don’t ask me how I know him. You don’t want to know.

  We walk towards each other and meet in the neutral zone between our two cars.

  “Hello, Mister Thaine,” he says. His voice has a slight accent to it. Eastern European if I had to pick it. I believe it’s his real voice. But I never know with him, he’s a master of accents and has a collection of voices that he uses. “Long time.”

  I nod. “Sevastian. I need your help.” I don’t beat around the bush. I don’t have time to.

  He scoffs. “You Americans are so direct. No small talk. No niceties. You’re not going to
ask me how my family is?”

  “You have no family.”

  Sevastian smiles but it doesn’t look friendly; it looks like it would be poisonous. “You’ve been checking up on me. Very smart.”

  “I always check up on people I work with.”

  I can see the interest flare in Sevastian’s eyes. They shine like sapphires in the sun for a second. “Interesting. So this is business call.”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s the job?”

  I slip out a folder and hand it to him. Inside is a photo of Jacob Tyrell as well as one of Dixie and Jeff that I took when I was casing Dixie’s bar months ago. Also in there is the location and floor plans of the warehouse complex that I know is owned by a dummy corporation of the Tyrells. This is the warehouse that my contact claimed had a section of the office area recently fitted out with a luxurious bed and various other high-end furniture and electronics equipment. I suspect that this is where Jacob is hiding out while he’s in this country.

  Sevastian opens it up and flips through it, humming tunelessly as he does. At first I don’t recognize it. When I do it makes my hair stand on end. It’s a nursery rhyme: rock-a-bye baby.

  And for a second I wonder if getting involved with a man like Sevastian again is such a great idea. But I really don’t have a choice. I need someone on my side who doesn’t have a conscience.

  “What is this location?” he asks.

  “I suspect this is where Jacob is hiding out, but I need to be sure before you go in.”

  I hand him a small smartphone-like gadget.

  “I have a GPS tracker on my body. Somewhere they’ll never look. You’ll be able to track me from this. I’ll let myself get caught and they’ll take me to Jacob. I need you to give me some time to get caught, let’s say twelve hours, and then−”

  Sevastian looks amused. “Where exactly is this elusive tracker on your body?”

  I ignore this question. “I need you to come in and release me, the woman and the boy. I suspect they’ll hold us together.”

  “Come on. You’re not going to tell me? Did you swallow it? Implant it?”

  I’m not going to let him get to me. “The woman and the boy are to live. They are innocents. Kill everyone else, all of Jacob’s men. It needs to be done discreetly so as not to raise any alarms.”

  “I know. You shoved it up your asshole?”

  I flinch. “You think this is a joke?”

  Sevastian smiles. “If I don’t joke, then I might start taking myself too seriously and if I did that, things might get a little too fucking loco in my head. It’s not good for anyone if I get a little crazy, don’t you agree, Mister Thaine?”

  I match Sevastian’s stare with a glare. I see the little glint of insanity in his eyes and I think, it may be a little too late for you. But I know better than to say anything at all. “Kill them all. Except Jacob Tyrell. Jacob is mine.”

  It unnerves me that I can talk to Sevastian about killing off a bunch of men who all probably have families and wives and children and he doesn’t bat an eyelid. Lord help me if someone ever decides to turn Sevastian against me. For a second I feel a little guilty over sentencing these men to their deaths. I remind myself that anyone employed by the Tyrells are all criminals and murderers and rapists and the world would be better off without scum like them. “I assume you know who the Tyrells are and that you don’t need any more justification for taking this job.” Sevastian has this strange rule about taking jobs. He won’t accept a kill unless he is convinced that the target needs to die. For a man who is little more than a high-end hired gun, this rule of his seems strange to me. But hey, who am I to judge. I have my own rules. I know better than to ask Sevastian about his.

  Sevastian nods. “Yes, I believe that they deserve to die.” He raises an eyebrow. “A bold move, taking on the Tyrells. They are a very powerful family. They always employ a lot of men.”

  “Are you saying you can’t do it?”

  “Not at all. I’m saying I’ll need some help from other members of The Church.”

  I nod. “Do what you have to.”

  “I always do, Mister Thaine.”

  Chapter Fifty

  The present…

  My face snaps to the side again as Jacob’s fist lands another blow. I can feel the edges and grooves of the metal rings on his fingers leaving their marks along my face and ribs. Sevastian should be here soon with other members of The Church. I just have to hang on. Just have to hang on.

  I watch Jacob shake his hand slightly and I take a small amount of pleasure in it. His hand hurts from hitting me. Good.

  Someone moves to his side and whispers something in his ear before sliding back into the shadows. Jacob turns his soulless eyes to glare at me. “You’re lucky we’ve run out of time.”

  Run out of time?

  I spit out coppery blood from my mouth. “Why? You have a manicure appointment now?”

  Jacob scowls. He accepts a small towel from one of his lackeys. He removes his rings, setting them on a silver tray someone holds out, then wiping his hands of my blood and tossing the towel aside.

  He indicates to his men and they start to untie me as Jacob walks from the room. They jostle me to my feet and someone throws a towel at my face. “Clean yourself up.” It’s the same towel that Jacob wiped his hands with, already smeared with my blood. I dab the parts of my face that sting with the clean sections of the towel.

  Then my hands are tied in front of me. I’m led from the room and through the warehouse, where a black tinted sedan and a black unmarked van are waiting. Jacob and Snake disappear into the black sedan. I’m thrown into the back of the van. One of Jacob’s men is already sitting inside waiting for me, holding a gun pointed at me. I peer at him and recognize his thick build, his dark skin and his dreadlocks. It’s Garfield. Jacob’s other personal guard. Another guard gets into the driver’s seat of the van and I feel the rumble underneath me as the van starts moving.

  I have so many questions, but I doubt any of them will be answered. Where are we going? Where are they taking me? Is Jacob coming with us?

  I listen for the sounds that Sevastian and his friends may have arrived and will stop this vehicle before we leave the warehouse compound. They’re due soon. Soon. But obviously not soon enough.

  I sit in nervous silence. Whatever is happening is throwing a big, dirty spanner in my plans.

  I hate spanners.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Kitten

  As I turn the car down this gravel road about a thirty minute drive from the city my nerves ratchet up to an even higher level. Leaves and low hanging branches swipe along the car, almost like the world is reaching out to me, trying to pull me back from the place I am going. The place I might never return from.

  Every time I think about turning around I picture Caden’s face and I keep driving. I’m not leaving him behind to die in my place. I won’t.

  The sun is setting. The twilight makes this place seem gloomy and dusty. At this time of day the world is cut in half; the light of day fighting every last breath as it’s slowly consumed by the black night.

  I pull into the small gravel parking area next to a large shed at the abandoned airfield. Thick trees are encroaching the perimeter and the shed looks uncared for, but it looks like the field has been mowed and maintained.

  I don’t see anyone here yet. It doesn’t mean that nobody’s watching. I steel myself and get out of the car. Because if I stay inside I may not have the guts to go through with this. I stand dressed in black, like I’m going to a funeral. I stopped briefly on the way to change. “Dress sexy.” I shudder as I remember Jacob’s instructions. Over the long skirt and fitted top, I wear my black leather jacket, and on my feet are black combat boots. The skirt skims over my hips and drops to the ground with a split to mid-thigh. Tucked into one boot is another gun. But the cool metal, my old friend, he doesn’t comfort me. Nothing can comfort me at this moment.

  Through the trees a black sedan approac
hes, a black van close behind it. I watch as it makes its way towards me. My heart thuds louder and louder as they approach.

  The two vehicles park several meters from me. I notice immediately that they parked so that they block the road. Shit. I can’t stop this bad feeling. This bad, bad feeling. I wipe my palms on my skirt.

  The driver door of the sedan opens and the driver gets out, a man I don’t recognize. At the same time, the back door opens and a figure steps out. He’s too thin to be Jacob. When he turns his head my stomach drops. It’s Snake. Snake catches my eye and I shudder. His piercing expression doesn’t change.

  Snake snaps his fingers at the driver and makes a motion with his fingers towards the other back door. The driver runs over to the door and opens it. A man steps out of the car, buttoning his suit jacket as he does. My heart stops for a moment as the monster from my nightmares is made flesh before me.

  Jacob Tyrell. The dark-eyed monster, once-thief of my heart. My whole body screams at me to run. Run! Run as fast as you can. But I don’t. I grit my chattering teeth and I stand my ground.

  Snake steps around the car to stand by his side, his hand half in his jacket, where I’m sure he has a gun. Jacob just studies me for a long while, his eyes violating me with its lustful and possessive stare, comparing my body and my face to how I looked three years ago. His gaze rests on my breasts. I want to cross my arms, but that would show him that I want to hide from him. I do. I want to hide in a dark, warm place where he’d never find me. But I can’t show him I’m scared. I swallow hard and lift my chin higher in the air, feigning the confidence I wish I had.

  He smiles wide, a hyena’s smile, full of sharp teeth. He’s still handsome but now I recognize the evil madness in his beautiful eyes and I fight a shiver. That smile used to bring me to my knees. “Hello, princess. So glad you could make it. I’ve missed you.”

  “Where is he?” I call out.