Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“It’s Lopez. Think about it the way he would. Everything in one place. Fewer men, less attention. More profit.”
Luca spoke. “I think he’s done it before. From what I’ve read, he takes a lot of shortcuts, so it would make sense.” He looked at Roman before finishing his thoughts. “Frankly, as much as he is obsessed with Una, if something happened, he would just move on. There would be no mourning for his loss.”
I had to turn away for a moment. It all made sense and, in some ways, made things easier for us. Planning. But the thought of Una being trapped underground, close to a dangerous lab, made me feel ill again. And until we had the place confirmed, we didn’t know if we were right. If we stormed it now and she wasn’t there, she was as good as dead.
I had to pray nothing happened until we had confirmation.
“How do you know this Greg is telling the truth?”
“He owes me,” Roman said firmly. “I’m collecting. He is going to find out the location and let us know.”
“He won’t double-cross you?”
“No,” he said firmly.
“Then, gentlemen, we’re about to crash the party once we have a location.” My hands tightened into fists. “And everything goes. The lab, wherever he’s hiding her. We hit it all at once. He is left with nothing. I want him to know I took it all before he dies.”
Everyone nodded.
“Let’s make a plan.”
UNA
I had no idea how much time had passed since I’d been chained up in the dark. We were left there, the occasional bottle of water tossed to us, barely enough food to even begin to satisfy the hunger pangs that were constant. We had a bucket for a toilet. No place to wash.
Once, we were dragged to another room and hosed down, the water barely tepid. The scrap of cloth tossed our way was not enough to get dry. I hid my necklace from Finn in my pocket, praying they wouldn’t find it. It was all I had of him, and I held it in my hands in the dark, rubbing the metal between my fingers, knowing he had touched it.
My hope was fading. The longer I sat there, scared and alone, the fainter my spirit became. The only thing keeping me from total despair was Annabelle. Or Anna, as she had asked me to call her in a hushed voice. We always spoke quietly, our heads bowing close together, unsure if we were being overheard. She told me about growing up in the north. Spending summers on the lake, helping her parents run their small camping ground.
“Wouldn’t they be looking for you?” I asked.
“No. Dad died a few years ago and Mom this past winter. I sold the campground and planned on using the money to start in the big city.” Her shoulders slumped. “Big mistake, I guess.”
“Your friends?”
She shook her head. “We lived out of town. I didn’t have a lot of them. Those I did wouldn’t think I was missing not hearing from me yet. They’d think I was busy getting settled.”
Her eyes glistened with fresh tears. “No one will remember me soon.”
“We’ll get out of here. Finn will come,” I assured her.
But I was beginning to think maybe Finn couldn’t find me.
I told her about my dad, growing up as an only daughter with Brian. I shared good memories, trying to stop the dislike I was feeling toward him. It felt as if I were talking about someone else. A different person from the man filled with hate and greed that he had become. I talked about my mum and how I missed her after she was gone.
And I told her about Finn and how much I loved him. How I regretted wasting the time I had on a stupid promise I had made to myself as I grew up.
“I’ll never leave him again if we get out of here,” I whispered. “I’ll show him every day how much I love him.”
Lopez and Juan showed up at various times. Lopez was always leering and hurtful. He liked to pinch and slap; although he did it and then stepped back, the coward that he was, so I couldn’t retaliate. He had a lot to say, all of it meant to frighten me—and it did—but I refused to show him. He loved to use the words broken, doll, and possession. He talked about how he looked forward to me pleasing him. Serving him. He grinned, staring down at me, kneeling in the dirt.
“On your knees—you will always be on your knees now. My own little whore.”
It was all I could do not to tell him I looked forward to Finn killing him. Preferably slowly.
Juan was even more impatient, often tugging on Anna’s hair as he hurt her and said things to her I couldn’t hear but made her cry. He liked that. He also liked to kick. I wanted to grab a red-covered foot and knock him off-balance, but I knew he’d take it out on Anna. Both men enjoyed building our terror. Emphasizing their position with physical pain.