“Monroe?” Rellik whispers, coming up behind me. “I heard …”
I place my finger over my lips and point at the lights shining through the bottom of the door.
He nods and turns his light off, pocketing it.
Gently pushing it open so as not to alert them of our presence, I peek inside. Several battery-operated lights are placed in all four corners of the small room. A chair sits empty in the middle. And there’s a metal table to the right. Henley is lying on it, face up. Her arms must be tied behind her back, pinned underneath her because I can’t see them. She’s soaking wet from head to toe, and I can see her body shaking from here.
Steve straddles her stomach. He places a shirt over her face and slowly pours a bottle of water over her face. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” He giggles to himself as she struggles to breathe while he waterboards her. “You’re such a dirty, little doll,”
She shakes her head, trying to fight it.
Rellik runs in, yanks him off her, and tosses him into my arms. “What the fuck?”
I slam my fist into his face, knocking him out instantly. I drag his ass over to the single chair and start tying him to it with the rope that lies on the floor. Then I take the duct tape and wrap it around his head, over and over, making sure he can’t get it off for safe measure. Once satisfied, I look over to the corner and see a black bag. I unzip it and find several padlocks that they must have used for the door. I grab them, along with the bag, and look over at Rellik. He holds Henley in a sitting position on the table while she chokes out water.
I pull my cell out to text Derek but realize I have no fucking service. I send him a text anyway, hoping he gets it sooner rather than later. “Turn off the lights,” I tell Rellik. The fucker can wake up and stare into fucking nothing but darkness. Then I pick her up into my arms.
I walk out as her cold and wet body lies across my arms, somewhat conscious. “Hang on, Hen. We’re headed home.”
Rellik locks the padlocks on the door and pockets all the keys to each one and then guides us through the tunnel with his flashlight.
“Get on your phone and dial Law’s number. Tell Derek we’ve got her,” I grind out, readjusting her in my arms, knowing we’ve got a long way to go before we even reach the car.
GRAYSON LAW
My vision goes in and out as I kneel on the concrete floor. I can’t see much out of my right eye, and he’s hit my kidneys so many times, I’m sure I’ll piss blood for the next month. But I haven’t touched him once. I’ve let him beat me. I’m covered in blood; my lips are split, and I’m pretty sure I swallowed a molar when he slammed the side of my face into the concrete floor earlier. My right shoulder aches from where he kicked it, and there’s been a ringing in my ears for the last few minutes. At least.
“The Resistance” by Skillet plays through the speakers as I try to take a deep breath. For someone who hasn’t thrown a fucking punch, I’m exhausted.
“Lllaaaaawwww?”
I hear my name being called out like a drunk slur. I look up, my eyes scanning the crowd, but they all blur together.
“Law?”
I hear it again, but it sounded far away. Like a voice in the back of my head. Which is bleeding. I can feel it running down my back.
“LAW?”
I blink, my upper body swaying, and I suck in a ragged breath.
“You can’t go in there.” I hear Matthew shout, the fog not as thick as before.
My eyes find him over by the corner. He’s got his hands on Derek’s chest, holding him back. My eyes meet Derek’s, and he holds up my cell phone, shaking it while jumping up and down excitedly. “Got her!” he yells.
I bow my head, letting out a long breath and giving a manic laugh. Thank fucking God.
“Something funny?” Scout asks, coming to stand in front of me.
I look up at him from my knees. He’s covered in my blood. The only thing he’s damaged are his fists that have hit me repeatedly. My turn.
I smile. “Yeah, actually there is,” I say roughly, getting to my feet, and he arches a brow as if I’m not allowed to stand in his presence.
“You …”
My fist comes out, clocking him in the side of the face, cutting off whatever he was going to say. The crowd roars at the action, excited that I finally did something. I don’t know how long I’ve been getting my ass kicked, but it’s been too long.