Chapter Thirty-Nine
Cosima
It had been days. Four, she thought, but she wasn’t totally sure because her head was all muzzy. Four days since Judah had dragged her out of the loft, thrown her in the back of a windowless panel van and then forced her at gunpoint to hike out here.
She’d never liked it when he brought her to the cabin because he always found unique ways to torture her in the middle of the woods with no one around for miles. He’d told her as they trudged through the snow that he’d found her because a friend of his had recognized her at Hive.
He hadn’t believed it at first but then he’d staked the place out and it had been true. So he’d stalked her for weeks until she’d been left alone. She hated that a place that had brought her so much joy was also how Master had found her after she’d finally started to believe she’d left him behind for good.
Of course she couldn’t be that lucky; she’d used up all her good fortune being loved by Daddy and Papa. And now Judah had stripped her, beat her, chained her to this bed. She was filthy, ravenous, thirsty like she’d never been, and freezing cold.
Cosima had started to speculate what she’d die of. Exposure seemed the most likely since he’d been coming every other day to give her water.
She tried her best not to look at the pile of supplies Judah had left just out of her reach but it was hard. That’s why he’d done it after all; to torment her. Stacks of blankets, bottles of water, piles of food. No, he couldn’t have just fucking killed her, he had to make her suffer. Hadn’t she suffered enough?
What she wanted to do was sleep. If she could go to sleep none of this would hurt so much. Her limbs had lost feeling from cold and shit circulation, but she was still tormented by the cutting of the sharp metal cuffs into her skin when she struggled. It didn’t seem fair to be mostly numb and yet feel that.
Plus if she slept she had a decent chance of dreaming about Daddy and Papa. And yes, even though he’d left because she ruined everything, she’d probably dream about Sir too. She missed them so much and she worried that Judah hadn’t kept his word, that he’d gone back and hurt them, killed them, even though she’d gone with him.
But if he had murdered them, there was no way he wouldn’t tell her that. Show her pictures. Hell, make her watch a recording of the act itself because he was so very cruel. So no, they weren’t dead. She had at least done that right and protected the men who had loved her and pieced her back together after Judah had ripped her to shreds.
It was cold, so cold, and outside in the dim light of evening, snow was falling. Again.
* * *
Ian
“Taj, what’d you find?”
“Well, first of all, you were right about this guy being a sneaky fucker.”
Ian flicked the call to speaker and tossed it on the coffee table so all of them could hear. They all looked rough, bags under their eyes, facial hair in varying states of mountain man, and he'd bet they smelled pretty ripe too. It would be worth all the questionable hygiene, all the phone calls and calling in favors, and all the prayers he knew Father Gideon, Arthur, Saoirse, and even Plum were saying for them if they brought Coco home safely.
It was cold comfort to know they weren’t incompetent and that’s why they hadn’t been able to find Judah—he would’ve rather Taj been able to press a few buttons and roll his eyes because it had been child’s play. But now was definitely better than never.
“And second?”
“His name is Damon Paradiso. Forty-year-old white male, doesn’t have so much as a parking ticket.”
“Probably didn’t dare because he’d imprisoned a woman to use as a sex slave,” muttered Ryker darkly.
“Probably not,” Taj agreed. “Anyway, guy’s a software engineer who builds—”
“I don’t fucking care about his CV,” Hudson roared, slamming a huge fist into a nearby post. “Just tell us where we can find this fucker and get our little girl back.”
“Alright, Bruce, calm down. Don’t want to ruin another pair of pants.”
Okay, yeah, Huds was well on his way to Hulking out but the murderous way Huds was looming over the phone said the only thing he wanted to ruin was this Damon Paradiso’s face. And his life. And then he’d take a swing at Taj for being a dick.
“I’m texting you all his license now. That’s his home address. He doesn’t have any guns registered to him but you said you suspected he had one.”
“Don’t know why Coco would’ve gone with him otherwise,” Ian said.
Ian heard Hud’s and Ryker’s phones chime, and they both flashed him their screens, showing the license of one Damon Paradiso. Mid-brown hair, thinning on the top, dark brown eyes, clean-shaven with a thin mouth. He didn’t remember seeing this guy at Hive or anywhere else for that matter, but why would he? The guy was so goddamnaverage. Who knew the fucking devil could look so ordinary?
Ian read his address and it was a town maybe an hour and a half away. Ry was already grabbing his car keys, and tossing Hudson his set.
“Ian, I gotta say, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go out there. Let me gather up a couple of my guys and we’ll—”