CHAPTER TEN
Bocca
Before she could pull the next trick out of her bag, the door opened with a force that actually made me twitch. Mr. Boss-guy walked in and I would have sworn that angry scowl was permanently etched into his face.
“You get anything?” he asked looking at me, but obviously not talking to me.
“Not yet,” the bitch replied sounding almost excited about it.
“Hurry it the fuck up. I want this done. Now,” he barked and she didn’t even look the littlest bit fazed by his demand or tone.
Her hand snapped up and then the sound of an electric drill filled the room.
For a second, I could have sworn I saw a flash of fear in the big guy’s eyes. But it was quickly wiped away as he turned his attention to scan the room. I had to hold my smirk back knowing that he was trying to be discreet about checking out the camera. That right there was all the confirmation I needed that it wasn’t working. He had no need to come in here other than to check and see what had happened. However, he wasn’t about to out the fact that it was there and attempt to fix the problem right then. No, that would give too much away.
That also clued me into the fact that he wasn’t on to me. If he was, he would have revealed it because then I would have already known. Damn, maybe I was good at this shit. Better than I thought, anyway. So I did my best to play the delusional, on the brink of cracking, torture victim. I played up the coughing fit for good measure.
“Out,” she snapped at him.
He sneered at her but didn’t say anything. Then he backed out of the room, closing the door once he was over the threshold.
“This part will be fun,” she said making her way back over to me with slow steps. The echo of her heels made it feel ominous and the look in her eyes almost had me wishing for death. “For me, anyway. Not so much for you.”
A piercing scream ripped from my throat as she pushed the drill into my calf, the drill bit tearing my flesh and muscle with ease. That was fucking painful. More painful than being fucking shot. My body twitched and jerked uncontrollably and I tried my best to get away, the zip tie long forgotten. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t even fucking see straight at this point.
The sound ceased and with a blank blink, she ripped the drill back. Blood flung from the dull metal, splattering my face and chest.
“Fuck!” I roared as my body folded upward.
I didn’t get very far because her knee was suddenly at my throat, crushing and pinning me back down.
I couldn’t take much more. I knew I couldn’t. As the dark dots flickered in my eyes and my head started to feel fuzzy, I knew I needed to make my move right fucking now. I wiggled around like a dying fish until I had the plastic hooked around the jagged wood again. The drill descended on my skin again, this time right on the inside of my hip bone. The odd clicking noise and feeling like my whole body was vibrating made me think that she had actually skimmed bone.
I clenched my teeth and bit back the scream that tried to release. Spittle flew from my lips as I pushed out a few hard breaths. I felt the snap behind my back and I knew that I was finally fucking free.
As the drill started up again, I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t think or even have any sort of plan. And I almost didn’t even realize what I was doing—and more importantly, who I was doing it to. That was something I was going to have to process later.
In one quick move, I wrapped my legs around her torso and grabbed the chain. I had enough slack to wrap it around her neck three times. I knew this because that was what I did. And I didn’t let up on it for a second. I pulled with all my strength with both arms, while my legs pinned her to my body.
She didn’t say anything. Not that I really thought that she could have. She didn’t even try to speak. The only difference I noticed in her expression was that her eyes went wide. But there wasn’t anything there. Not shock. Or surprise. Or even fear as the realization set in that she wasn’t going to make it out of this room alive.
“Fuck you,” I growled through gritted teeth.
The drill fell to the side as her body went slack. I held on for good measure because I only had this one chance and I wasn’t going to fuck it up. She didn’t try to fight me. She didn’t even grab at the chain around her neck. And I could have sworn there was a touch of a smile on her bright red lips as I watched the last of the so-called life dance out of her eyes.
Then I took it a step further because I honestly wasn’t sure how weak I was and I needed to make sure she wouldn’t be getting up. I released the chain and gripped her head. One hand in her hair at the crown of her head, one hand on her chin. With a quick jerk, I heard the loud crack that let me know I’d done my job.
My breaths came out short and choppy. Bile rushed up my throat but I held it down. I shoved her body off of me and turned away.
Yeah, sure, I’d killed before. More times than I really wanted to admit. But I’d never, fucking ever, put my hands on a woman in violence, let alone killed one. I had just broken some of my most important rules. But I kept telling myself that I didn’t have a choice.
Remembering the look in her eyes, I knew there would be no saving her anyway. How many innocent lives had she fucked up? How many innocent people had she taken before their time? This was what I had to focus on even though it was really fucking hard.
There had been too much silence. I was smart enough to know that there were probably guards right outside the door and I had to make it seem like nothing was wrong. They couldn’t see me, so I had that on my side. I started the drill and let out a roar. There, that should have bought me some time. At least a good few minutes. Hopefully long enough for me to free myself from the wall. I knew there would be no way for me to release the chain from my neck, so I chose to focus on the giant eye bolt on the wall.
I needed something to stick in there to get leverage so I could turn it. Sadly the drill wasn’t going to help me here. I looked around. Her stiletto stuck out for some reason. It was better than nothing. So, trying my hardest not to think about it, I ripped the shoe off of her dead body. Then I got to work. Yes, this was definitely what I needed. Must have been a well-made pair of shoes, because it didn’t even feel like it was going to snap when I turned with all my might.
Finally, I was free—from the wall at least. I started up the drill again and let out another wail of pain. It wasn’t all that fake, because as I walked over and snatched up my clothes, I felt every single movement. I felt like I was on fire and being stuck with a million needles all over. I needed to get the fucking bamboo sticks out of my skin, but I needed to get the hell away from this place more.
It took everything I had in me to put my pants and shirt on. I looked at my jacket thinking that I needed the extra coverage if I was going to be among people. I was sure I looked like a hot fucked up mess. I didn’t need to draw attention to myself that was for sure. So, feeling like I had no choice, I slung the thing around and grunted, then cried out in pain as I shrugged it up my arms.
The chains dragged along the floor as I made my way over to her bag. I was convinced that there had to be something in there to help me. I dug through, finding numerous torture devices. And oddly, lipstick. But none of that shit girls usually carried around. No tampons. Extra pair of panties. Loose change. Movie ticket stub from two years ago. You know, junk.
There was a set of keys and as I pulled them out, I noticed the BMW on the key fob.
Score!
I tossed out some of the shit I didn’t even want to think about, then tucked the chain into the bag. Hey, I was being smart here. I in no way, gave a shit that I was about to walk out of here carrying a purse. Anything to help me out, I was all for that shit.
There were two ways out. Through the door—which I knew I wouldn’t end up making it far that way—and the boarded up window. I just had to get the board off. And lucky for me, it was screwed in.
Damn, must have been my lucky day.
Okay, not really. I mean look at what I had to go through to get this sort of luck.
My grip wasn’t great as I picked up the drill but I kept going. I screamed as I unscrewed each one that was holding the board on. I would have said that it was dramatics to keep up the charade that I was still being tortured, but I had to admit that more than half of it was real.
What felt like an eternity later, I was finally lowering the heavy wood to the floor as quietly as possible.
I hefted myself up and didn’t even look back as I freed myself from this hellhole.
As much as I wanted to run, I knew I had to play it smart. Also, I had to make it to her car. That was the best way out of this situation. I mean, I was not only broken and battered, but I also had a fucking heavy chain to carry around. Running wasn’t really an option.
I stumbled as I tried to stand. The fucking hole in my calf making it hard to make any kind of movement with that leg. I was so close, I just had to get to the fucking car.
I leaned against the side of the house as I made my way to the corner. Once there, I took a moment because damn, I was really hurting. I took in a few deep breaths then peeked around the corner. Strange that there weren’t a bunch of guards milling around the front. Seemed odd to me. I couldn’t see, or even hear one. There was nothing. Only an eerie stillness in the air. I wasn’t going to take it for granted and I wasn’t going to think I was in the clear.
Strangely enough, there were a bunch of SUVs, trucks, and cars parked in the driveway. Like there was some kind of fucking party going on here. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed that most of the houses were in conditions that suggested they should be condemned. There probably wasn’t anyone around for miles. Or maybe there were some squatters, but I imagined that they wouldn’t cause a fuss over what the hell was going on in that house.
There, parked on the curb, was a tiny, bright red, convertible BMW. Yep, that was my ride. Fucking awesome. I imagined that I’d have to sit in the back seat and put the top down just to drive the damn thing. No, I wasn’t complaining. It was my damn golden ticket out of this shit-hole and I was going to take it.
I wormed my way through the vehicles, keeping as low as possible. I checked the front door, seeing only a single light illuminating the huge front window. There was no movement at all and while I found it extremely odd and a tad bit careless, I figured it was a good time to make my move. Summoning up all the energy and strength I had, I took off like the devil was chasing me. I hit the button to unlock the car, yanked open the door, and drove away thanking God that it had the auto start function and was ready to go.
My eyes flicked between the rearview and the road ahead as I drove. Somehow, I’d made it out undetected.
I had no idea where I was or how the hell to get out of this neighborhood. I would have bet this car had GPS but I wasn’t about to slow down long enough to tap the giant screen that was there. I ran on instinct, hoping that fate or some shit would help me out a little right now. I may have driven around in circles, but I finally hit something that looked like a main road. I took a left on a whim and punched the gas.
There I was, driving around in a dead chick’s car, chain around my neck, too many holes and cuts on my body to count, and not one fucking clue where the hell I was, let alone where I was headed.
City lights started to come into view. I was fading and the thought of pulling over to take a nap seemed really appealing right about now. But I knew I couldn’t. I had to get somewhere that was somewhat safe. I had to get myself patched up. I dreaded actually getting out of the car. Not only did I look like hell, every movement had me wincing in pain.
I pushed forward, the sign passing on my left was like a damn godsend. Charlotte. I wasn’t far from where I’d started this journey. And home was a little beyond that.
But I couldn’t go home just yet. I wasn’t safe. The club wasn’t safe. I had to figure out my next move. As much as I wanted to run to my brothers, have them patch me up, then figure out the next thing to do to take out these ass holes, I knew I couldn’t bring this to them just yet. I loved my club. My fucking family. I had to keep them safe. Which meant that I had to figure this out by myself for a while, and steer clear of the compound. They were looking for me. I had to keep that trail away from home and at the same time, I needed to figure out a way to keep them from finding me.
Suddenly, one person popped up in my mind. Someone that would help me with no questions asked. Someone that was aware of the club and all the shit we would get ourselves into. That very person happened to live right in the middle of the town I was driving into.