She turned her head. “Rory.”
The other girl didn’t move.
“Rory, listen to me.”
Still nothing. Fuck. The other woman sat still. The only light was the one he’d left on in the corner, but it was enough for her to make out the other woman. She looked very different than she had in the pictures Lacey had seen of her. She was stark naked and covered in dirt, bruises, and scabbed-over wounds. Her bedraggled hair lay around her shoulders, big chunks missing. Her face was bruised, one eye swollen shut.
“Rory, are you all right?”
Still nothing. Lacey moved her wrists back and forth. The rope dug into her skin, ripping apart the skin until she could feel the slickness of blood. But they seemed to be loosening.
Faster. Faster.
Panic threatened to overwhelm her. But she couldn’t give up now. She wasn’t ready to die. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her life. She wasn’t ready to leave Gray. She realized now she shouldn’t have run earlier. She should have stayed and worked it out. Tried to explain herself. Fought for him. Now he thought the worst of her. She wondered if he knew she was missing. If he knew what had happened to her. Of if he’d care.
Don’t think like that. He had to care. Otherwise what was the point of struggling to live?
“Rory, damn it, listen to me.” She turned to the other woman. “You can’t give up. You can’t let him win.”
Nothing. “Gray is looking for you. Do you hear me? Your brother is looking for you.”
Rory blinked at Gray’s name, or was it her imagination?
“How do you know my brother?”
Thank God. She’d thought she was going to have to carry the other woman out of here.
“Because I live with him.” Or she had. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She had to work on getting them out of here. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“Gray said he was dating some chick called Lacey who sounds all holier-than-thou, good at everything. A saint, like my dear brother.”
“That’s me,” she said as cheerfully as she could manage. “Saint Lacey. Nice to meet you.”
Rory stared at her for a moment. “You’re really Gray’s girlfriend? Wow, normally he dates stuck-up snobs who are after his money. You just seem normal, you know, average.”
“Gee, thanks. Stop, or your flattery will go to my head.”
She tugged at her left hand and felt it slip part of the way out of the binding. Just a bit more. A bit more. She bit her lip, holding in her cry of pain as she wrenched her wrist free. Thank God.
***
“Looks like he’s set traps all through the woods,” Travis said. “Jace and Tyler did a surveillance run and encountered a few. It will slow us down.”
And anything that slowed them down at this point was unacceptable to Gray. He couldn’t believe his last words to Lacey had been so harsh. Accusatory. Guilt ate at him.
“We need to get to them.”
“We will,” Travis replied. “We could go in by chopper, but he could easily slit their throats before we land. So, we’ll split up and go up by foot. Just keep your eyes peeled and stay on alert.
Gray nodded. “Got it.” He lowered the night vision goggles he’d been supplied and started to move his way up the steep incline.
It was tough going. An hour later, they’d managed to get within fifty yards of the cabin. He’d had to avoid three booby traps. This guy must have spent months if not longer setting this all up. Suddenly, something pinged off the tree, and he slid to the ground, adrenaline pumping through him.
“Bastard’s shooting at us,” Travis’s voice came through the ear piece Gray was wearing.
“He’s ahead and to my right,” Gray told them, sliding his hand down to the small of his back to grab his gun.
“I’m on it,” Rusty replied.