Gray pulled into the lot of an abandoned building two towns over from home. Brittany sat beside me silently crying, and I didn’t know if it was from the humiliation of what was happening to her, or if she was in pain. I didn’t give a shit either.
“Get out,” Gray barked, and hopped out of his side.
“Do whatever he says, Beth. Don’t try to run, okay? Please don’t try to run,” Brittany pleaded with me, her eyes as large as tea cups and her face pale. For a moment I felt a twinge of sympathy.
“Why did you help him?” I asked before I could think better of it.
“He said he’d kill her if I didn’t help him. If he had to get her by himself, he’d just kill her.” Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and a small puddle of snot began to pool beneath her nose. With her hands taped up behind her, she couldn’t wipe herself.
“You should have told me what was going on.”
“I didn’t know! Not really. I didn’t ask him about club crap. He made it clear not to talk about the club with him.”
The door swung open and his fat grubby hands were on my arm. He yanked me out of the truck and left me to fall flat on my ass and grabbed for her next. “I said to get the fuck out, not have a fucking slumber party in there!” When he got Brittany out of the car he gave her ass five hard slaps. Did any biker not spank his woman?
He glared down at me until I righted myself. A pebble had lodged itself into my knee as I leveraged it to get to my feet. The burn gave me something to focus on as I walked behind him toward the door. My heart pounded in my chest, my ribs hurt from the force of it.
The stench of dirt and old garbage filled the room we stepped into. The only window was up high on the wall and covered with a dark sheet, only allowing a very minimal amount of light in. I walked behind Gray, each sound of his boot stepping on the filthy concrete floor echoed in my brain making my head hurt more with each step.
By the time we reached a room off in the back, my lungs burned from whatever chemicals had been used in the building and left to decompose on their own. The door was shut, with a bolted lock on the outside. My baby girl had to be inside. I reached for the handle but stopped when Gray covered it with his large one. “Step back.” He jerked his head at me.
I gave him a look that I hoped explained to him in detail the million ways I was going to kill him once this was all over with, then took a step out of the way. He pulled a key ring from his front pocket and fiddled with the lock until he got the right key.
A single snap of metal and the lock was open. He slowly turned the door knob, looking over his shoulder at me, watching my torment as he pushed the door open. I tried to step forward, but a shake of his head made me stop.
Finally, after he must have had enough fun, he stepped out of the ay and bowed to me, allowing me finally to enter. I noticed Brittany was behind me, but wasn’t coming in with me.
The room was hot and dark. The windows had been covered with navy blue sheets taped around them, careful not to let any extra light in the room. A single light bulb swung from a fixture on the ceiling. In the corner, huddled on an air mattress was Maddie. She looked up, her little eyes squinting at the light shining into the room from outside the door. Once she saw me, she squealed.
“Mama!” She leapt up from the bed, wincing as she stepped onto the ground. I scooped her up in my arms and hugged her so tightly to my chest, she began to cough. Lessing my grip, I kissed her head hard and hugged her again.
Other than smelling like she’d been dragged through the garbage piles I saw outside, she seemed no worse for wear. I turned, ready to bolt from the room, but Gray blocked my exit. “No way, sugar baby. We need Rafe here first. Then we’ll talk about you two going home.”
“I told you, we broke up. I’m not seeing him. He won’t come. “
“Let’s hope that’s not true.” He looked at my little girl, smiling with his thin lips curled over his nasty teeth. “Right, baby girl? You want your new daddy to come save you, right? You don’t want to stay cooped up in this smelly room no more.”
Maddie clung to me tighter, burning her face in my neck. “What did you do to her?” I demanded.
“Nothing. Little shit’s just scared of the dark probably.”
“Gray.” Brittany called to him from outside, her voice sweeter than honey. “Gray, can you cut my hands loose. I already apologized, I’m real sorry.”
Gray looked over his shoulder, out the door and smirked. “Bitch needs her last leg of her punishment, then we’ll give Rafe a call.” He gave me a wink then stepped out of the room, slamming it shut. I put Maddie down and ran to the door, yanking on the handle, but I heard the bolt slide into place on the other side and the keys jangle as he locked it.
I screamed. At the top of my lungs I screamed and yanked at the door, kicking it and kicking at hit with all my force. Nothing budged, and no one answered. I felt tears start to burn my eyes and I leaned against the door, my chest heaving with my breaths.
“Mommy?” Maddie’s little voice brought me out of my moment of panic. I swiped my hand across my eyes, and crouched down to her level. Her hair was messy, and there was as smudge of dirt on her cheek.
“It’s okay, baby. We’re going to be okay. Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked, looking her up and down. She was still dressed in the shorts and t-shirt I had her in the day before.
“No. That mean man wasn’t nice though. He pushed me and I tripped. My foot hurts a little but it’s better than before.”
I sat her on the air mattress and picked up the foot she pointed to and inspected it. No bruising or swelling. Thank god. She probably just pulled a little muscle in her foot when she tripped. “It’s okay now. That man won’t hurt you again.”
“Brittany said he wouldn’t hurt me, she said he was going to take us for ice cream. She lied.” Maddie sniffled and wrapped her arms around my neck, showing no signs of letting go.
“I know, baby, I know.” I scooted us back against the wall and adjusted her on my lap. It only grew hotter in the room with her on top of me the way she was, but I wasn’t letting her go. I needed to come up with something and quick.
I heard a scream in the distance and winced. Brittany. He was hurting her, but I couldn’t do anything about it from where I was.
“She does that a lot when he’s here,” Maddie said. “I don’t know why.”
“I don’t know either, baby.” I held her closer to me and covered her ear with my hand. Wanting to drown out Brittany’s screams, I began to sing to my girl.
Rafe had to be able to get us, and I needed to be sure he knew Gray was waiting for him.