Ray growled menacingly. The guy hit him with the barrel of the gun.
“Now,” he yelled. “One word from me, and they shoot her, I swear. Not to mention I’ve got no problem splattering your brains all over this fucking wall.”
Ray shifted, and as he did, he glanced into his rooms. Augusta was there, fragile and frightened, surrounded by three men. One of them held a gun, point blank, to her temple.
The guy behind him pressed the gun into the back of his skull. There was nowhere to go.
We’re fucked.
Chapter24
Augusta
Tears flowed down Augusta’s cheeks as she watched in fear. Ray was putting himself in the same situation she did.
Why does it upset me more to see a gun held to his head than having one held to mine?
She looked across the room to find Ray’s eyes. She thought they would bring her comfort. But when she saw the calm look, it somehow made her feel worse. There she was, tearing up at their current situation, trying to keep herself together for both of them, and he stood there looking perfectly fine.
Is he putting on an act for me? Or is he really that sure of himself?
“Well, well, well …” said the man who held the gun to Ray’s head.
“We knew you couldn’t be too far behind your miss. After all, you two seem to follow each other around like lovesick puppies. We knew you’d have to show up for her sooner or later, so we figured we’d all get comfortable while we waited,” snarled the man who held the gun to the back of her.
Fear radiated through her body as her adrenaline kicked in, causing her body to start shaking. She was shuttering so aggressively that it was hard for her to stand still in front of him. She wondered if he felt her movements on the tip of his gun. She racked her brain as they all stood in the living room. How had she not sensed someone in the room with her? Was Ray too much in her head and making her lose focus? Had the men known his effect on her and used it to capture them?
The thought of their situation angered her. She couldn’t believe they had found themselves in that much trouble again. They hadn’t even been out of the first trouble they had gotten into long enough to discuss Ray’s suddenI love you, Augusta,back at Nicole’s.
At least we’re in trouble together this time,Augusta thought to herself when Ray’s deep, masculine voice rose, suddenly pulling her out of her train of thoughts and back into the moment they were in now.
“Listen to me, just let her go, take me with you if you must, but let her go. Please. She doesn’t have any true part in this. I’m the one you want, the one who caused this mess in the first place. Please leave her out of it. I’m not worth hurting her over,” Ray begged them both.
“Now, where’s the fun in that, huh?” the man behind him laughed and looked across the room to where Augusta stood. “I can see the horror plastered across her face. She looks terrified of us, and you don’t seem a bit scared at all. It’s much more fun taking someone who fears you rather than someone who lets his ego get in the way of his fear. It just takes all the fun out of it that way. Don’t you think so?”
Ray had started to argue when Augusta interrupted them,
“No, please. Don’t listen to him. Take me instead. Don’t take Ray. He’s wrong; I’m the one that hid the picture. I’m the one that caused you both more work finding it. If you let him go, I’ll go with you. I won’t even put up a fight. Just please, let him stay here,” Augusta cried out.
The man behind her pressed the gun barrel abruptly into the back of her head, jolting her forward. “I don’t think either of you understands us. We aren’t leaving either one of you behind. You both seem to think you’re inseparable, so it wouldn’t be fair of us to separate you, would it?” He laughed arrogantly.
His laugh and the conceit it brought sparked a newfound rage inside her. He had mocked their relationship, their loyalty to one another. She couldn’t let him get away with that, not after what they were putting them through.
Augusta began to speak again. She had planned to put him in his place, give him a piece of her mind, but he shoved her forward. The shove caused her to trip over her own feet, nearly falling to the floor before she managed to catch herself.
“Hey, look, we will go with you as quietly as you want us to go, but you better start being a little more careful with her, or you’re not going to have such an easy kidnapping,” Ray said through gritted teeth.
He stood up for me.
The men shoved them to the door and pushed them out. They followed slowly behind as the two of them walked down the hallway. The men used the pistols, still forcefully on their skulls, to guide them. A subtle reminder that they shouldn’t try any funny business.
As they walked, nearly touching hands as their arms swayed back and forth, Augusta couldn’t help but feel defeated. They were back to square one, back to the place where she had been fighting for him before. He was back in danger, and this time, she couldn’t use herself as leverage to get him out of harm’s way.
The men had found the negative she had worked hard to protect. She and Ray risked their lives to keep it hidden, and it had all been for nothing.
As they arrived at the door leading into the night, the man following Augusta reached around her and threw open the door. The warm night air hit them as they stepped outside into the street.
A shiny black van parked along the curb conveniently waiting for them. The men slid the door open and pushed them both inside.