Chapter 28

McKenzie

Nix and I follow Rex into the room we were in earlier. Bill and Dr. Chamberland are chained to chairs. The chairs look like the kind at a dentist"s office. The silver tray Nix was preparing is on a rolling cart between the two chairs. Dr. Chamberland's eyes are wide with fear as he watches us walk in, hand in hand.

Bill is sweating profusely, blood still running down his cheek from the shard of glass sticking out. I glance at his arm and notice the bottle is right where I twisted it. I had no idea I had that in me. Pure rage filled my veins when he laughed at what he did to me and taunted Nix, but when he said Shay was chained to his bed, I lost it.

I wonder how many women he's sexually assaulted. How many women has Dr. Chamberland drugged? Bill doesn't seem right in the head, but Dr. Chamberland he seems normal.I sigh and shake my head. I guess you never really know someone. Not really.

That thought tickles something in my brain. Something that's just out of reach. Something that's right there on the edge and if I could just touch it, I'll be able to pull it out of the blackness in that part of my brain that has forgotten so many things. When it doesn't come out of that darkness, my shoulders sag in defeat.

I'll remember. I will.Rex steps up beside me, concern evident in his eyes. He hands me a wet washcloth and I realize it's to wash off the blood that sprayed on me from what I did to Bill. I give him a grateful smile and wipe it off. It's so strange. I thought I'd feel some twinge of guilt for what I did to Bill, but I don't.

Maybe I am my father's daughter. I can do unimaginable things without it causing any type of guilt. It could also be because I did it to someone who deserved it. Perhaps the men my father did it to deserved it as well. Hope is beginning to swell within me that my father is the man I remember as a young girl.

The one that would sneak me a cookie and push me in the swing. Until my mother was killed. That feeling comes back. The one where I know I'm forgetting something. Missing something.

"You okay?" Rex asks me.

I realize I zoned out, and Nix is walking from the wardrobe at the side of the room. He's taken his shirt off again. I take in his tattoos, his abs, and the V that disappears below the waistband of his pants. I remember earlier tonight crawling to him, taking him in my mouth, and being reminded he tattooed the very spot I gave him a hickey for the first time.

He stops in front of me with a small smile on his lips, like he knows what I'm thinking. "I'm okay," I tell Rex, not taking my eyes off of Phoenix. Bill and Dr. Chamberland are being unusually quiet, but I don't question it. Maybe Rex gagged them. "It's weird," I begin to say as I take a step closer to Nix and rub my right hand over his pec and shoulder while tracing the lines of his abs with my left hand. He sucks in a breath and I tip my lips into a slight smile.

"What's weird, love?" he asks as he allows me to continue to explore him.

Right, I was going to say something. How easily he distracts me."It's weird how turned on I still am." His muscles tighten beneath my hands. "I want you to erase the memory of him, but it's not just that. It's you protecting me, your dominance, the way you love me, everything." I step even closer to him, my breasts pressing against his chest. "I still want that orgasm you promised."

He wraps a hand around the back of my neck and pulls me closer. He leans down and kisses me long and hard, with his tongue brushing against mine. "You'll get it." He steps away and turns to look at Dr. Chamberland and Bill. "As soon as I kill these motherfuckers."

Dr. Chamberland begins to mumble something. I look closer and see the strap wrapped around his head. He is gagged. Bill thrashes against his chains. Nix rubs his hands together. "I see the drug is wearing off for you." He walks over to his metal tray, ignoring the mumbling still coming from Dr. Chamberland.

He picks up an injection needle and turns to me. "Should I give them more, love?" I stare at him. I have no idea what the right answer is. "If I give them the injection, it will completely paralyze them, but they'll remain awake. I'll be able to torture them and they'll feel everything, but since this one is more potent, they won't be able to scream. With the powder, they could still scream."

To prove his point, he grabs the bottleneck that's still sticking out of Bill's arm and twists it. Bill screams behind his gag, saliva and blood dripping down the corners of his mouth. Dr. Chamberland's eyes shift to the right, as his body trembles and tears stream down his face. I walk toward him and place my hands on the arms of his chair.

"Do you know what you're feeling right now, Dr. Chamberland?" He's struggling, trying to swallow only for drool to spill out of his mouth, down his chin, to his throat and disappearing behind his buttoned up shirt. "It's what I felt every time you drugged me, not knowing if that dose would kill me or if I'd wake up. How many girls have you drugged? How long have you worked with her?"

I don't mention it's Phoenix's mom because I don't know how much Rex and Jason know, and it's not my place to tell them. His eyes seem to say he's sorry, but is he sorry because he got caught or because he really feels remorse?

I glance over my shoulder at Rex. "Can you take his gag off?" Rex hesitates for a moment before doing what I asked. When the gag comes off, Dr. Chamberland begins to sob.

"McKenzie, please forgive me. Please!"

Phoenix snorts from where he's standing between the two chairs. "Why should she forgive you?"

Dr. Chamberland's eyes shift to Nix. "I told you where she was. I helped you find her."

My heart beats heavy in my chest and before I can blink, Nix is standing in front of Dr. Chamberland with his hand around his throat. He squeezes so hard I know it's cutting off the doctor's air supply.

"It was you? You sent me her rings?"

Dr. Chamberland begins to thrash, his eyes bugging so hard it's almost fascinating when a blood vessel bursts in his eye and a bright red spot appears at the edge of his eye. I place my hand on Nix's shoulder. "Don't kill him yet, Nix." Nix holds on for a few more seconds and I wonder if he'll actually let him go, but he finally does.

Dr. Chamberland takes in huge breaths, a bruise already forming on his throat where Nix held him with all his might. Surprisingly, Bill has stayed quiet during this entire exchange. Maybe because he's in so much pain, he doesn't care, or he knows it's in his best interest to keep his mouth shut right now.

Nix turns and looks at Rex. "I need a drink." Rex nods once and walks toward the other room where the small bar is. He turns to me before he opens the door.

"Do you need anything, Miss Kenzie?"

My throat is dry, and I never got to finish the rum and coke Nix poured me earlier. "Water and the rum and coke Nix made me earlier." Rex nods and walks into the other room. I lift my hand to push my hair out of my face, my hand shaking slightly. Nix appears in front of me, blocking my view of the two men.

"Kenz, if you need to stop it's okay." I smile at him.

"I love how you have always looked out for me. How you've always protected me. Even when I didn't realize that's what you were doing." I lean up on my toes and kiss him softly on the lips. "I'm okay Nix. Yes, this is a lot. But these men have taken so much from so many women, not just me. I want them to pay, and I'm going to help."

My voice leaves no room for argument. He nods once and kisses me on the forehead. Rex enters the room with our drinks plus a few bottles of water. Nix walks over to him to grab both our drinks, and he hands me mine. I take a sip of it, relishing the coldness in my hot, dry mouth. Nix downs his in one gulp and places it back on the tray Rex brought them in.

Nix turns and faces the men, rubbing his hands together again. "Let's get this party started, shall we?"