Chapter 27

Layne sat in isolation tied to that chair for what felt like hours. Her thoughts were jumping all over the place. She was worried. Not for herself, but for her guys. They had to know she was missing by now, and they were likely ready to burn the city down just to find her. It hurt her heart even thinking about what they were going through. God, she hoped that they weren't doing anything stupid that put their lives at risk.

Then, there was the person who was responsible for putting her here. It seemed that little Miss Spencer wanted to follow in her daddy's footsteps or maybe she was trying to compete with Layne. Either way, she was a poor imitation of what strength and strategy looked like in this line of work.

She couldn't be sure how much time she had before Danielle made good on any threats of sending in a bunch of cowards to torture or assault her. The ropes that kept her bound to the metal chair were creating burns against her skin from all the attempts to wiggle free from them. Nonetheless, she kept working at them.

As she heard voices approaching the door, she rushed her efforts along. It seemed not quick enough as the lock shifted and the door swung open. Danielle's shitty face with too many layers of cheap makeup was the first thing she saw followed by three men. Well, this was going to be a goddamn rager of a party, wasn't it?

There was a brief thought in her mind reflecting some self-doubt. Layne shoved it back down into the place where she fed her temper. This bitch wanted to make good on her threats? Layne was going to make good on hers.

Danielle damn near skipped in and was so full of happiness. "Did you miss me? I brought some friends to keep you company."

It may have looked like Layne was sitting there refusing to speak out of defiance, but what she was doing was making calculations. Out of the three men, all wearing cheap ski masks, she did quick assessments of their heights and builds and how that would translate into who was the biggest potential threat. One had a gun on his hip and she'd pay a fortune in blood to get her hands on it. Of all of them, Danielle was the weakest link, she'd die last just so Layne could get satisfaction out of it.

"Cat got your tongue, Layne?" Danielle stepped off to the corner of the room. Did she have intentions of watching this all unfold? Layne hoped so. "If you're worried about dying, don't. I'm sure my dad will want to have a few words with you after I tell him about everything I've accomplished without his help. Then, afterward, he can watch while I do the job myself."

One of the men came up behind her and began working on untying the ropes that held her down to the chair. The other two stood in front of her, perversion clouding their eyes as they stared at her. It seemed they were feeling confident that three fit men could handle one fired-up Layne. Oh, they were going to learn some things today.

"I'm just wondering if you've figured it out yet." Feeling the ropes gradually loosening up around her, the adrenaline began amping up in her body. She was going to have one chance at making this happen.

"Figured out what?" She looked perplexed at Layne's statement.

"That you'll never be me. You'll never have what it takes. I didn't get where I am by shaking my ass, I got here by getting my hands dirty even when I was at rock bottom. I don't rely on a bunch of cowards to do it all for me." One more shift of rope was all she needed; it would be just enough to get out of this damn chair.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah? Look where it's gotten you."

Layne smirked. "Right where I want and deserve to be." Then, there was the last bit of slack in the rope that she required. Before the ropes were fully removed from her body, she was able to push up onto her feet. Her foot kicked the chair backward into the man behind her. It sent the metal piece of furniture into him for just enough time to catch him off guard.

It started a scene of complete chaos with the other two men lunging for her. She blocked a punch from the guy on her right, before jabbing her elbow into his ribs doubling him over. Layne immediately gave a front kick to the man on the left directly into his gut forcing him to stumble back.

There was no hesitation for her to spin around expecting the third guy to be coming at her from behind, which he was. She thrust her fist up under his chin causing his head to sharply tilt back from the impact before she kicked him right in the balls ensuring he was going down and staying down.

The arms of the man who had taken her elbow to his ribs locked his arms around her upper body. With the only other guy standing mistakenly thinking she was being contained, he approached to strike out at her. He threw a punch that hit home right across her cheek. Now that he was close enough, Layne drew up both feet kicking him in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. She pitched her head back slamming it into her captor's face hard enough that he dropped her from his hold.

Layne spun around, and while the man was holding his face, she grabbed the gun from the holster on his hip.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Click.

Well, fuck her. The asshole hadn't kept his firearm fully loaded like a good little henchman.

She still managed to fire one shot to the chest of the guy who had brought it to the party, two at the man who was still writhing around holding his balls, and one at the last man. It was a fucking shame there hadn't been one bullet left for Danielle who was standing there in the corner of the room frozen by the obscene unfolding of events.

Already surrounded by three dead bodies, Layne breathed heavily trying to catch her breath as she stared at Danielle. She tossed the now empty gun down on the ground. She spread her arms wide welcoming Danielle to come at her. "Don't be shy now." Layne gave a winded chuckle with a hint of unhinged mental instability.

The slimy bitch made a run for the door. Layne grabbed the nearby metal chair and swung it at her making contact right with her face with one of the legs. Danielle screamed out and fell back onto the floor from the momentum of the impact.

Layne tackled her the second Danielle tried to scramble back up onto her feet. They wrestled there on the floor, each of them trying to gain the upper hand with each punch that was thrown. Finally getting back on top, Layne grabbed a handful of over-processed blonde hair and put everything she had into smashing her fist right into Danielle's face. She didn't stop there; she followed up with at least four more until Danielle wasn't fighting back anymore.

Wearily, Layne stood up, her hand aching fiercely as blood dripped from her knuckles. "You wanted to start a damn war? Well, guess what Danielle?!" Layne angrily yelled the question at her. "You started it with the wrong fucking family!" The sweet taste of blood pooled in her mouth. Layne spit out the blood from her mouth and down at Danielle. Hell if she was going to be taken out by some fake bitch with a bad boob job.

Danielle groaned out in pain, barely finding it in herself to move let alone respond with any more of her snarky comments.

Layne went over to where the rope was lying on the floor that had previously held her hostage. She picked it up and walked back to Danielle's battered body. When Danielle began to open her mouth to either beg or protest, Layne stepped on one of the bitch's hands before kicking her harshly in the jaw with her other foot. "Shut the fuck up."

All the feel-good and fuzzy emotions had left Layne the second she woke up in this room. Knowing all that Danielle was responsible for left Layne with nothing but the urge to inflict pain and death. Drawing enough length of rope, she leaned over and wrapped it around the girl's throat tightly before knotting it.

Layne dragged Danielle by that rope around her neck until they got to the door. The gagging and choking sounds fell on deaf ears. She took the other end of the rope and wrapped it around the door handle until Danielle was forced into a sitting position if she didn't want to strangle herself.

After securing the rope, Layne checked one of the corpses lying in a puddle of blood. She found a knife, and looking it over she glanced back over at Danielle. "This'll have to do."

Feeling the weight of the knife in her hand, she looked at her target who was now beginning to face the fear of death with wide eyes. Layne squatted down in front of her. Danielle didn't deserve any words of comfort or any parting one-liners before meeting her demise.

Grabbing the knife tightly, Layne slammed it into the hollow of Danielle's throat just below where the rope was wrapped tightly around her neck. The entirety of the blade sunk into her body, utterly destroying the esophagus and major arteries. It left Danielle choking on her own blood in her last moments until she all too quickly bled out.

Leaving the knife lodged in the throat of Russell's daughter, it was one of the few deaths Layne was more than happy to have on her hands. She pulled the door open, which took more effort than it should have considering Danielle's body was still attached to the backside of it.

Now it was time to get the fuck out of here, wherever here was. Layne was quickly losing energy now that the rush of adrenaline was fading. Not knowing where she was or who else was there with her, she moved quickly and quietly. Navigating the only hallway that led her around a few corners, she ultimately came to an exit.

She stepped outside of the building, noticing how dark it was outside. It must have been considerably late because the only people she saw looked like they were working the street corners in search of a date.

Layne groaned when she didn't recognize the area. The building she had just come out of had signs saying ‘Permanently Closed' plastered all over it. The original business logos had long been faded and almost entirely peeled away from the exterior.

Needing to be nowhere near this hellhole, she began walking. Exhaustion would have been welcomed by comparison to how she felt. Out of sheer desperation, she asked one of the hookers for her cell phone. The girl had been too quick to hand it over.

While dialing the only number she knew by heart, Layne caught a look at her reflection in a parked car's window. No wonder the girl hadn't argued, she had blood splattered across her face and clothes. Layne's split knuckles had stopped bleeding but the stickiness of the dried blood remained. "Fuck…"

Layne listened to the other end ring only once before the gravelly voice answered on the other end, "Hello?" She collapsed down onto a bench hearing the sound of heaven on earth.

"Joey?" She leaned over with her elbows resting on her knees as she sighed with relief. "Please come get me."