Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen LILY awoke, feeling dazed. As her head lolled around on her slack neck, she pried her eyes open. Sunlight pierced the sliver of space between the curtains and stabbed her eyes. She shut them, recoiled. Where was she? Why had she fallen asleep in the middle of the day? She moaned and forced herself to look around the other side of the room. A cheap motel. Gold walls. Gray patterned bedspreads on the two double beds. A cracked plastic light fixture on the wall above them. A baby cried behind her and Lily tried to whirl around to the sound. But she couldn’t move. A startled glance down proved that she’d been restrained at the wrists and ankles to a chair with zip ties. Fear cut through the vestiges of sleep and jolted her wide-awake. Adrenaline surged through her racing blood and pumping heart. The last time she’d been tied to a chair, everything had ended badly. Lily sat up, blinked. This couldn’t be happening. How? Why? But as she tugged and pulled, trying to loosen the restraints at her wrists and ankles, she couldn’t deny that her ordeal was all too real—and terrifying. If she couldn’t wriggle free, maybe she could get on her feet, chair and all, and walk out. But when she tried to stand, the clunky chair felt bulky. Drugs still weighed down every muscle and surged through her veins. She managed to wobble upright for a few seconds before her quivering muscles gave out. Exhausted and clammy, she sagged back down. Who would do this to her? No one she knew would be irresponsible enough to restrain a sub and leave her unsupervised. Any good Dominant knew— Suddenly she remembered the Walmart. Canton. The woman with the baby. That was the fussy infant she’d heard moments ago. The afternoon’s events rushed back to her, especially the blonde—a stranger—saying that she and her husband were worse than Timothy Canton. Panic gripped her chest, stole her breath. What the hell had she gotten into? In trying to escape one evil, she’d fallen prey to another. Lily wasn’t precisely sure what this woman and her husband had planned, but they probably intended to end their day with her horrific death. A door behind her opened. To the bathroom? The faucet turned on, and a female voice called to the baby. “Pretty Isabel. No crying, little love. Mommy will be right there.” The water turned off. A moment later, the baby’s fussy groans quieted to a staccato pout; then Emma—if that was really her name—appeared in Lily’s line of vision with the baby on her hip and a sneer on her pretty face. “I’m glad you’re awake. My husband just texted. He’ll be here soon.” “How do you know about Canton? What do you want with me?” “No.” She shook her head. “I’m not telling you anything. I promised my husband I would let him explain. He’s waited for this day for years. I won’t take the joy of his vengeance from him, you traitorous whore.” Lily blinked at the woman, trying to figure her out. She’d never seen Emma in her life. Was she just crazy? Had they mistaken her for someone else? “You must have the wrong person. I haven’t slept with anyone you should be angry about. I don’t think—” “I know who you are, Lily Taylor. And you’re going to get what’s coming to you. Finally.” She kissed the top of her daughter’s head and soothed her with a brush of her fingers. “I’m hoping that my husband will finally have some peace. He’s had nightmares for years. You drove him to violence and rage. He’s got PTSD. And a gaping hole in his life—because of you.” What the hell was this woman talking about? “Do I know your husband?” “And you’re stupid, too,” Emma scoffed. “I’d love to unload all my anger on you. He has the potential to be such a good man and you’ve just . . . reduced him to depression and anxiety. I came up with this plan, hoping that it will help to cure him. Nothing else has. Counseling? Ha. A waste of time and money. He didn’t need to talk about his feelings; he needs to act on them. That’s how men are, you know?” No, Lily really had no idea what Emma referred to. “There has to be some mistake. I’ve never willingly hurt anyone in my life.” “Oh, look at you, all doe-eyed and sad-faced. You can’t sway me, bitch. Canton may think that paying you off is the way to make the past disappear, and he’ll get his comeuppance shortly. He’s definitely earned it. But you’re going to pay for your treachery first. And we’re going to make you an example of why he should be very, very afraid.” Emma’s evil smile flashed wide, transmitting her obvious anticipation for whatever torture they had planned. “How do you know Canton?” She shook her head. “Oh, I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard plenty. If any man deserves to die horribly, it’s him.” “So . . . your husband is upset about something he thinks I did as a teenager?” If it had to do with Canton, her “misdeed” must have been then. She hadn’t had dealings with the man since. And the most terrible contact she’d ever had with him had been the deaths of everyone she loved. “Upset?” she shrieked. “Upset? No, upset is what happens when someone takes the last toothpick at a diner or steals your cab in the rain. What Canton did ruined my poor husband. It destroyed him.” Lily couldn’t deny that Canton had run the neighborhood without mercy and made a lot of enemies, so Emma’s rant didn’t narrow things down for her much. A lot of people hated the man. But she had no idea what that had to do with her. “I’m sorry to hear that. If you can help me understand who your husband is and what happened, I’ll do my best to talk to him when he gets here. Maybe we can find a way to heal him together.” Emma looked as if she was itching to spew another tirade, but she clamped her mouth shut. “I’m not saying another word, and you can’t talk your way out of this. Don’t ask me questions. I’m already plenty annoyed that I had to wait around for days for you to crawl out of that swamp. I thought we were never going to get you away from all those big, protective guys you spread your legs for. But then you strolled through Walmart like you thought you were untouchable.” The woman’s laugh chilled her with its malicious fervor. “I can’t wait for you to find out how wrong you were.” So yet another person knew she’d been in the swamp. As for the men she’d spread her legs for, Emma must be alluding to Stone and Axel. Or, Lily wondered, am I trying in vain to decipher a crazy woman’s ramblings? Maybe, but Emma didn’t sound insane as much as righteously mad. “How did you know where I fled after I left California?” “Please.” Emma rolled her eyes. “We’d already narrowed down that you were somewhere in Texas, but my husband found you the minute you bought that gun. He has friends. Really dangerous ones. You’ll meet them soon.” She grinned. “The second you decided that you needed to protect yourself, he was all over you. We’ve been following you, more or less, ever since.” If she had stayed in the swamp, she would have been safe. True, she couldn’t have lived there forever, but leaving abruptly, without being certain of her safety, should be a good life lesson for her about acting emotionally. She’d simply wanted to flee the pain and hadn’t thought the situation through. Lily already knew she would probably pay the price for letting her heartbreak rule her brain. At the time, the thought of being forced to look at—not to mention share a bed with—a man who thought nothing of digging into her soul while he stabbed her in the back had been unfathomable. Now she wanted so desperately to see Stone and tell him that, despite everything, she still had feelings for him that ran heart-deep. Whatever else he’d done, Stone had done his best to heal her so she could go on. He’d tried hard to repair the damage to her psyche, her backbone, and her sexuality. Until this morning, she’d believed he had the most beautiful soul she’d ever encountered. He’d certainly reached her on a level no other human being in her life ever had. Was that why his betrayal hurt her more than anyone else’s? Irrelevant now. She had to focus on getting out of these binds and escaping before Emma’s husband put in an appearance. Clearly, she was safe until he arrived because the woman wasn’t going to steal the glee of hurting and killing her from the man. Lily’s thoughts raced, and she tried to think of something to say that might lure the woman into giving her information that could help her out of this danger or enable her to confront the husband when he arrived, but she heard a pounding on the door. Startled, she gasped. Please god, let that be a miracle—someone come to save her. Because she had no idea how she was going to get out of this mess herself. Emma walked past her with a wide, sinister smile and headed for the front of the room. “I’ll bet that’s the party arriving.” She opened the door a crack, then gave a little squeal of delight, unlatched the chain, and threw the portal open wide. “Hi, Dan. So glad you’re here!” The tall, tatted guy sporting ink sleeves on both arms and more signs on his neck and shaved skull hugged her in return and grinned. “Hi, little sis.” Sis? Lily stared. So Dan wasn’t Emma’s husband? Apparently not. Maybe this guy was one of the “dangerous friends” the blonde had mentioned earlier. The big guy went on. “I drove the rest of the trek from Cali last night. Your earlier text said the guest of honor was here, and I came running.” Then he turned on Lily a startlingly pale pair of eyes that stared through her while conveying a terrifying love of violence. That expression shook her to her core. “Look, she’s already afraid. This should be fun.” He turned when he saw the motel room’s door gaping open. “Shut that. You don’t want anyone seeing what we’re up to.” “Oh, right.” Emma gave him a dizzy little smile. “I’m just so excited.” “Me, too. I found a hardware store in this Podunk town and brought some of the things you said you needed.” “Good. Walmart was picked over. Thanks.” “No sweat.” When he held up a plastic bag Lily hadn’t previously noticed, Emma grabbed it out of his hands and shifted the baby into his arms. “And, of course, I had to come see my little Isabel. Hi, pumpkin girl. Did you miss Uncle Danny?” He cooed, gently stroking the baby’s cheek and making her flash a smile that showed off her two bottom teeth. “I think you did.” Lily took the sight in. If he could be that warm and gentle with a baby, there might be hope for her, right? She really prayed that whatever plot these people had in mind wasn’t half as bad as her imaginings. Then Emma began to pull items from the hardware store bag. “You remembered the tarp! That’s one of the most important items. I can’t believe I forgot it.” “And I got you the big one because I know this is going to get messy, and we don’t want to risk stains.” Dan swiveled his gaze in Lily’s direction and sent her a chilling grin. She shuddered. Oh god. His gentleness with the baby definitely did not extend to her. Lily had an inkling that whatever they had planned was far worse than anything she could conceive. She had to swallow down a lump of fear. What the hell did they plan to do to her that required a layer of plastic? Did she even want to know? “Good thinking,” Emma quipped. “And it’s clear, too. You’re awesome.” “I figured you wouldn’t want anything to obscure the color of her blood.” “No, totally. That’s going to be the best part, right? The pools of it?” Another wave of terror shuddered through her, stealing her breath. She bit her lip to hold in a scream. They sounded eager to make whatever they did as gory as possible. Oh, dear god. “So, what else . . .” Emma reached into the bag again and pulled out more items. “Heavy-duty scissors, pliers, handheld pruning shears. And they’re titanium!” “Superstrong. Only the best for my baby sister.” He smiled fondly. Lily watched in horror. They meant to carve her up, let her bleed out. She swallowed against a rising tide of panic and tried to keep thinking of ways out. “This could be the start of a whole new life for you, Em. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of it. I’m happy to help.” “Aww . . .” She kissed his stubbled cheek. “I can’t imagine anyone I trust more.” Lily watched, utterly stunned. As if torture and murder were somehow happy occasions, like a marriage or birth? Nausea whirled in her stomach. Discreetly, she tugged at her bonds again. But they still held firm. “We’re just waiting on the others now,” Emma told her brother. “Should we get set up?” “Yeah, we can do that. Kev isn’t far behind me.” He frowned, and Lily wondered if that was Emma’s husband’s name. It didn’t ring a bell. “What are you going to do with Isabel?” “She’s nearly due for her afternoon nap, so I’m planning to move her carrier into the bathroom and shut the door. I’ll put on the playlist of lullabies she likes. I think she’ll sleep right through it.” “Excellent.” Dan nodded his approval. “Why don’t you get her settled, and I’ll work on these preparations?” This room would get more crowded once another man showed up. Her ability to escape would dwindle. Lily had no idea whether Stone was trying to find her now. After everything that had happened, would he? The man had a wide protective streak but now that she’d refused to testify, did he really care what happened to her? Maybe Axel still had a bead on her phone, but since she’d turned it off back in the Walmart parking lot, he wouldn’t be able to locate her. If he checked, he would see her last location but have no idea she was barely half a mile up the road, surrounded by bloodthirsty savages. Emma moved to the back of the cheap, stale space, ostensibly taking the baby with her. The bathroom door clicked shut. The air-conditioning unit below the window rattled, but the faint strains of “Brahms’ Lullaby” bleeding through the thin walls rose above it. Then Dan added his own sounds as he shook out the plastic tarp designed to catch her blood. Lily scanned her surroundings again. What could she do? Say? Offer? Would anything persuade the man currently tearing the stiff sheets and threadbare blanket off the bed to let her go? As she watched him cover the stained mattress with the new tarp, she highly doubted it. “Don’t do this.” The pleading words slipped past her lips. “I never hurt your sister. I don’t even know her. I’ll give you anything.” He swiveled his head around to pierce her with that eerie gaze, colorless brows raised in challenge. “You’ve taken more away from Emma than you could possibly know, you selfish cunt. And there’s nothing you can give me that I won’t just take for the fun of it.” He leered, looking her up and down with a cruel half smile. “I hope you’re a screamer.” Terror exploded in her belly. He didn’t plan to simply kill her. No, he intended to extract a pound of flesh first by forcing himself on her. Lily swallowed bile. God, she knew what rape looked like, had a terrible suspicion how horrific the experience would be. She’d never forgotten the unspeakable violation Erin had endured before Canton and his goons had ended her life. In some ways, Lily wished Dan and whoever else Emma was waiting for would skip ahead to the quick death. At least then she’d find relief from the pain and humiliation her attackers plotted to heap on her while they forced themselves on her body, her mind. But death meant she would have lost her dignity and her battle with these animals. Lily refused to be a quitter. She wanted to live. Another pounding on the door sounded through the little room, and Dan straightened up from the bed with a jump in his step. He weaved around her chair and whapped her cheek with a mocking slap. It stung more than a little as he sprinted for the door and opened it a crack. “Kev!” He pulled the door wide, and the newcomer laughed. “Danny Boy, let me in. I’m ready to get this party started. Where is she?” Dan stepped back, and Lily got her first view of Kev. Toweringly tall, the guy had muscles on top of his muscles. His olive complexion and nearly black eyes made him appear Hispanic or Italian. He wore denim loose around his hips and a leather jacket with lots of zippers. “I also brought my favorite toy.” He pulled a blade from his back pocket, something wicked and serrated and capable of slicing flesh with frightening ease. Then he turned to her and held it up in her face. “What do you think, little girl?” Lily shrank back and couldn’t stop the whimpers that escaped her throat. Kev shut the door and pocketed the blade again, then rubbed his hands together as if he couldn’t wait. “You look pretty when you’re scared.” “She does,” Dan agreed as he came closer and dragged his fingertips over her chest, down the valley between her breasts, before he landed a surprisingly harsh slap on her mound. Despite his striking her through her clothing, the sting reverberated through her body and turned her blood to ice. Against her will, she cried out. She desperately sought to close her legs and cover her chest with her arms but Emma had restrained her well. Lily couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything to protect herself at all. The blonde poked her head out of the bathroom, hand on hip, expression annoyed. “Hey, no starting early. And try to keep it down for another ten minutes. Isabel is settling down.” Dan held up his hands. “Sure, sis. Sorry. But Lily is going to be loud. Did you say you booked the rooms on either side of this one?” “Yep. And the one directly below, too. Thankfully, a flash of cleavage and cash kept the old guy behind the desk from asking many questions. Finish getting ready and let me get the baby to sleep. Hi, Kev. Good to see you. It’s been a while.” “Yes, ma’am. You, too.” So Kev wasn’t Emma’s husband, either. Which meant they were expecting a third man to join their “party.” When the bathroom door shut again, Kev ignored her. Dan checked the tarp on the bed, smoothing it flat and tucking it under. Then he stripped off his tank top, exposing an expanse of pale skin riddled with scars, some from a blade, others round and symmetrical like bullet wounds. Along one side of his back, the texture of his skin was uneven and lined, as if he’d been in a motorcycle accident. He’d tried to cover most of the marks with ink. Beside him, Kev peeled off his jacket, revealing a fair number of open scabs. His teeth looked as if they were beginning to rot. She’d bet anything he was addicted to meth. Lily shrank back in her seat. She wanted to close her eyes and divorce herself from reality. She wanted to release her consciousness and soul from her body so she didn’t have to be aware of the awful end as it came. But to do that would be to accept that death was inevitable, and she refused to concede that. She might not have a lot to look forward to right now, but she had so much life left to live. She had laughter to share, love to give, things to learn, mistakes to make. She had heart and wit and compassion. Someday she would find a man who would truly want to share all those with her. Deep down, past her hurt, she wished it would be Stone. But in order to have that, Lily couldn’t bury her head in the sand now. She had to wage the battle of her life. Maybe she didn’t deserve a future, but she would fight for hers until her very last breath. If Stone had taught her anything over these past few days, it was that fear of something was actually more terrifying than the thing itself. She had to stop being afraid of everyone and everything—even death—if she wanted to live. And if she somehow managed to escape, she would confront Stone. She would visit Regina’s grave. She would see every one of these people willing to torture her put behind bars, and she would testify against Canton, too. She would avenge Erin, her mom, and her little brother. She would be unwavering and fierce. The resolve gave Lily something to look forward to and made her feel stronger. The two men swept everything off the nightstand and began to line up the implements of torture on the dark laminate surface. A shiver rolled through Lily, but she focused on her breathing and shoved her terror into a compartment she’d open later. It would do her no good now. At the moment, she had to use her head. There was no way to escape this chair until they unfastened her restraints. If they were preparing the bed for the next phase of their plan, they would free her at some point. She’d have to make a run for it then. Yes, they had a row of sharp objects nearby, but Lily could grab one. She also spotted her purse strewn haphazardly on the chair near the door. If she could grab it and get to her gun, maybe she could shoot her way outside. Maybe someone would hear or see her and call for help. Or she could turn on her phone, dial 911, and hope that someone willing to help her was still tracking the device. If she could get her hands and feet free, she’d surprise them and fight to the death. A soft click at the back of the room sounded like the bathroom door. The faint sounds of classical music still filtered through the walls. Lily heard a feminine sigh of satisfaction. “Isabel is asleep. Since she missed her morning nap, I’m thinking we’ll have a good two or three hours with this bitch.” “Oh, a lot of fun, then.” Dan whooped with excitement as a big smile spread across his face. “Did you get booze?” “I did. Drink?” She bustled around in the background, then headed toward the two men, bottle in hand. Dan grabbed it from his sister, and Kev crowded in to wrench the cap off. Emma darted away again, then returned, this time with murky lowball-style glasses in hand. “Ice?” Kev asked. “I didn’t get any,” Emma said. “I was too busy with this whore. She was a lot of trouble to wrestle up the stairs, even half-conscious.” Lily had no memory of that and wished like hell that she’d had the presence of mind to struggle or run or cry for help. But everything was blank after the needle in her arm. “No big deal. I’ll drink it as is. It still burns going down, right?” Kev grinned. The men both poured liquid from the bottle, then set it down. Wild Turkey, according to the label. Lily only had the vaguest idea what kind of liquor it was, but it looked smoky and hard and more than capable of intoxicating a person. It would dim what few inhibitions these lunatics had. They both jumped when Kev’s phone buzzed. “Oh, shit, bro,” Dan guffawed. “That startled me.” “Right?” Kev pulled the device from his pocket and read whatever was on the screen. “Oh, sweet! My neighbor’s kid just got out of juvie. It’s probably his last trip since he turns eighteen in a few weeks, but Emma said she needed one more and this kid loves a piece of unwilling ass and some blood. So I invited him.” “Good job, man. The symmetry is perfect.” Dan clapped him on the back. Symmetry? Lily wracked her brain, but that comment didn’t make sense. All she knew was that the juvenile wasn’t Emma’s husband, either. She would be tied and helpless while four men, one just shy of eighteen, meant to rape and kill her. Just like Erin. The truth slammed into her just as the whoosh of the key card in the lock sounded and the door opened. A face from the past appeared, almost obscured under the blue bill of a Dodgers cap. His dark eyes zeroed in on her with a glaring smile of evil. Corey Gutierrez. Erin’s older brother. A guy she had once considered her friend. Now he was her enemy come to exact revenge. “There you are!” Emma said, shutting the portal behind her, then leaned toward Corey for a kiss. “Hi, baby. How was your trip to Iowa?” He was Emma’s husband. He supposedly suffered rage, PTSD, depression, and fits of violence. Because of Erin’s murder? “Successful.” He grinned. “Turns out Reaper was cheating on his wife when I found him. What an asshole. So I sent him to meet his Maker with a bullet between the eyes. Mom drove out to see me afterward so I could let her know about the progress I’m making with our plans. She sends her love, by the way. She wants to come down for Thanksgiving.” Renee knew about Corey’s murders and condoned them? Lily blinked, horrified. “Great.” Emma gave him a proud smile. “So how did it feel?” “To shoot Reaper? To see his shock and watch the life leave his eyes? Amazing. I can’t even describe . . . But this one will feel even better, more personal.” He glared at Lily, then took his wife’s hand. “You have the best ideas. Is the baby okay?” “She’s fine. Sleeping in the bathroom. We were just getting ready for the . . . festivities.” Emma giggled. “And waiting for you.” “Well, I’m here and ready to get this party started.” Corey’s smirk turned vicious. “Hello, Lily. This has been a long time coming. Ready to experience everything my sister did when you brought those killers to her bed?”