15. RAE

15

RAE

I woke up shivering, the cold seeping into my bones. My head throbbed with a dull ache, and it took a moment for me to figure out where I was. I tried to move, but my wrists and ankles were bound, tied tightly to a hard wooden chair. Splinters bit into my wrists, the rope chafed around my ankles. Panic surged through me, and my breathing sped up as I looked around, taking in my surroundings.

The warehouse was large and empty, the concrete floors and sheet metal roofing giving it a lifeless, desolate feel. The air was frigid, my breath turning into clouds in the dim light filtering through the dirty, cracked windows. In some spaces, the glass had long broken, and there were only holes where the cold blew in.

I strained against my bonds, but they held fast, the rough ropes digging into my skin.

A door creaked open, and I tasted my heart in my throat. For a moment, I wondered if I should pretend I was still passed out, but then Jethro stepped into the room. He looked almost the same as I remembered—tall, well-dressed, with that same unsettling charm in his eyes. I’d fallen into those eyes once. I’d bought into his charm, thought he was someone who could become the man of my dreams when everything I’d had before shattered.

Now, Jethro’s charm was twisted with malice, and I finally—albeit far too late—recognized the danger beneath the surface.

“Well, well, well,” he said, his voice smooth as silk when he saw I was awake, his eyes locking on mine. “Look who decided to join us.”

I swallowed hard, trying to steady my racing heart. “Jethro,” I said, my voice trembling. I had questions.

How did you find me? What are you going to do with me? What do you want?

But I knew what he wanted.

He sauntered over to me, his smile widening. “You know what I want, McKenna,” he said as if he was reading my mind. I cringed when he called me McKenna. “I want the evidence you stole from me. And I want to know who else knows about it.”

I shook my head, trying to appear braver than I felt. My head hurt when I shook it, and I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing for a moment to let the pain subside. Maybe I had a concussion.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My voice sounded brave. Good for me.

Jethro’s smile faded, replaced by a cold, hard stare.

“Don’t play games with me, McKenna. You took something very important from me, and I want it back.”

“I don’t have it,” I said, my voice firmer this time. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t give it to you. It’s just copies, anyway.”

Jethro’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned in closer, his face inches from mine. “I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in. There’s no one here to protect you.”

I swallowed hard when he got so close to me. His cologne was cloying. I couldn’t believe I’d let him this close once upon a time; his cologne used to have a good connotation. Now, it smelled of danger and fear coiled tightly in my stomach. I knew what Jethro was capable of now.

He knew what I knew—that some of the documents I had weren’t on his hard drive anymore. That I had the only existing copy because before I’d left, I’d deleted something crucial so he couldn’t keep doing what he’d been doing.

I’d thought I was clever then. It was only after running that I’d realized how serious the mistake was. That I’d put my own life in danger by doing that; I hadn’t only gotten back at Jethro for using me.

I forced myself to hold his gaze. “I don’t have it.”

He straightened, a look of frustration flashing across his face. “You’re being very foolish, McKenna. I can make this much easier for you if you cooperate.”

I set my jaw, refusing to give in. “I won’t help you.”

Jethro’s expression darkened, and he grabbed my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him. His face twisted in an ugly snarl, and I saw what he’d been all along—a monster.

“You’re going to regret this,” he growled.

With a sudden, violent shove, he pushed me back, the chair tilting dangerously before settling again with a thud that shocked through my body. Another sharp pain shot through my head. My head jerked forward, my hair a curtain around my face. I gasped, my heart pounding in my chest, and I swallowed hard, taking the moment where my face was hidden to compose myself. The last thing I wanted him to see was that he was getting to me. I couldn’t let him win.

Although, maybe it was all over and I’d already lost. I was tied to a chair in a warehouse, after all. And no one knew where I was.

Jethro began pacing in front of me, his anger raging just under the surface, barely contained, and I slowly lifted my head to look at him again.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” he shouted, his voice echoing in the empty warehouse. “You think you can steal from me and get away with it?”

I stayed silent, my mind racing. I fought to keep my face expressionless so that he didn’t know what I was feeling, what I was thinking, but with the fear and the pain throbbing equally, it was getting harder and harder.

The evidence I had taken was crucial, and I couldn’t let him intimidate me into giving it up. He was a bad man—worse and worse by the second—and someone had to stop him. I’d been too scared to go to the police with it, not knowing which cops were in his pocket, too. Now, I thought maybe I should have taken the chance.

I didn’t know what would have happened, but could it have been worse than this? The fear was overwhelming, and I knew I was in over my head.

Jethro stopped pacing and turned to me, his eyes cold and calculating.

“Who have you talked to, McKenna? Who else knows about it?”

“No one,” I said. “I haven’t talked to anyone.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “You expect me to believe that? You’ve been gone for months. Someone must know.”

“I swear, no one knows,” I insisted. There was no way in hell I would have told anyone. I was stupid enough to put my own life in danger. No way would I put someone else in danger.

Except, I wasn’t the only one in my life anymore, was I? I was pregnant. There was a baby growing inside me, and that was the most unfair of all. He or she had done nothing to deserve this kind of horror. But maybe I wouldn’t even live long enough for the baby to come into this world…

I stopped my thought process and forced my face to become neutral again. If Jethro knew about anyone or anything in my life, they would be in danger, too. I would never forgive myself for that.

Jethro stared at me for a long moment, his eyes searching mine for any hint of deception. Then, with a growl of frustration, he turned and stormed out, leaving me alone in the cold, empty warehouse.

I slumped in the chair, my body shaking now that I didn’t have to hide my emotions anymore. I had managed to hold my ground, but for how long? Jethro was relentless, and I knew he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. I had to find a way out of here, and fast.

The cold seemed to seep deeper into my bones, even when I fell asleep again. I was aware of it all the time, but my head hurt and I was drained. I shivered uncontrollably, dragging in and out of sleep. When I was awake, my mind raced with fear and desperation until it hurt too much and I fell asleep again.

I had to find a way to escape, to protect not just myself but also the life growing inside me.

Jethro didn’t know I was pregnant, and I intended to keep it that way. I wouldn’t let him take any more from me. He’d already ruined my life when I thought I’d finally found my happiness. I’d been so broken after Tanner that Jethro had seemed like a lifeline, a safe haven, someone who wouldn’t hurt me the way Tanner had.

I guess that was the only thing that had been real. Jethro hadn’t hurt me the way Tanner had.

But I had a feeling that what he was going to do to me was much worse.

Tanner still had a heart, and leaving me had been hell, but at least that had been it. Jethro was close and I couldn’t get away. And he had no heart at all. I knew that now.

And with no heart, he wouldn’t care how he hurt me.

He wouldn’t stop until he was rid of me.

The only thing keeping me alive right now was that one bit of evidence that he was looking for. As soon as he had that, I would die.

Fear threatened to choke me, but I breathed deeply in through my nose, holding it a few beats and letting the breath out through my mouth. I had to stay calm, collected.

I had to stay strong, to find a way out of this nightmare. But the ropes binding me were tight, and the warehouse felt like a prison, the walls closing in even though the main room was enormous.

I tried to think clearly through the fog of pain that thumped in my head. I had to escape, but I couldn’t do it by sheer force. I needed to outsmart him, to find a weakness in his plan.

My mind flashed to Tanner, and a pang of regret hit me hard. I had left him, thinking he was a terrible person. But now, I was alone, and the situation was more dire than ever. Compared to Jethro, Tanner was a dream.

Then, he always had been my dream, hadn’t he?

The door creaked open again, and I tensed, expecting Jethro to return. But no one entered. The door blew open a little wider, showing another room. The gust of cold that came through told me that there had to be an opening I could escape through. A small glimmer of hope flickered inside me. Maybe he had left the door unlocked. Maybe there was a way out.

I just had to somehow get out of this chair.

I strained against the ropes again, testing their give. They were too tight. I had to stay calm. At some point, someone had to come back for me, right? Jethro, or someone else… Burke had been the one to take me. Jethro’s right-hand man had always been the muscle, but what Jethro lacked in muscle, he made up for in smarts. Burke had almost none of that.

I looked around the warehouse, taking in the details. The concrete floor was cold and unforgiving, the sheet metal walls amplifying every sound. The place was abandoned, and it seemed like no one would hear me even if I screamed. No one, except those already here, and that wouldn’t help at all.

A noise from outside caught my attention. Footsteps. I held my breath, listening intently. They were faint, but getting closer.

Jethro stepped back into the room, his expression colder than before. Burke followed behind him, dark eyes falling on me, emotionless and just as cold.

He stood at the door and folded one hand over his wrist—a bodyguard standing watch.

I turned my attention to Jethro. He walked over to me, his eyes filled with menace.

“McKenna,” he said softly, but there was no warmth in his tone, and a shiver ran down my spine. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”

“I’m not telling you anything,” I said, my voice steady.

He crouched down in front of me, his eyes boring into mine. “You will, eventually. Everyone breaks, McKenna. It’s just a matter of time.”

I clenched my fists, my resolve hardening. “You won’t break me.”

He smiled, but there wasn’t any real amusement. “We’ll see about that.” He paused as if he was thinking about something, opened his mouth to say something, and then turned and walked out of the room. When he passed Burke, he ordered, “Watch her.” Then, he was gone, slamming the door behind him. I let out a shaky breath.

I had to escape. There was no other option. Jethro would keep me alive only as long as he thought he could get the information he wanted. I couldn’t hold out. Eventually, I would break. Jethro was cold and heartless, and he would push me a lot further than someone with a conscience.

And when he finally got what he wanted, he would kill me.

I looked at Burke, sizing him up. He was shorter than Tanner, but wider, and he wore a permanent scowl on his face. His thick neck ran straight to his ears, his head looking small on his broad shoulders and his dark hair was short. He was clean-shaven, so I could see the tick in his jaw.

“Burke?”

He glanced at me without answering.

“You’re just going to ignore me?” I asked. “Come on, we were friends once, right?”

I wouldn’t have called it friendship, but whatever.

“It’s not like we’re strangers.” I tried again. “Jethro’s just… in a mood.”

Burke grunted, but he didn’t react, so I kept going.

“You know how he gets when he’s like that. Full of shit, snappy, no respect for anyone and no gratitude for what they do.”

Burke glanced at me again. It was quick, but I knew I had something. I grabbed onto the opportunity with both hands. If I could get Burke on my side…

“He loved me once, you know,” I said. “Or at least, that’s what he told me. But we know that was never true, don’t we?”

Burke didn’t respond.

“It makes me wonder what he’s said to other people who are loyal to him, who will sacrifice it all for his sake. Will he just throw them by the wayside, too?”

“Shut up, McKenna,” Burke snapped.

I’d hoped he would put two and two together and maybe doubt whether Jethro really cared about him. If I could convince Burke that Jethro was lying to him, too, maybe he could let me go.

“Jethro just uses people for what he can get out of it, and when it’s over, he tosses them aside.”

Burke narrowed his eyes at me. “You were the one who ran, McKenna. Jethro didn’t do anything to you.”

He wasn’t wrong. Shit. That meant he wasn’t going to be on my side.

I had to think of another plan. If I couldn’t use Burke’s brain—or his lack thereof—against him, I would have to do things another way.

My bladder started to bug me. It had been a long time since I’d been to the bathroom last—I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out for. How long ago had I been taken from the mountainside? I glanced toward the windows. It was light outside, but was it the next day? Or the same day?

Suddenly, I knew what I had to do.

“Burke,” I said, and he looked at me again, irritated.

“I thought I told you to shut up.”

“I need to go to the toilet.”

Burke blinked at me.

“I need to pee. I’ve been on this chair for God knows how long and, well, you know…”

Burke grunted, warring with himself. I was willing to bet Jethro hadn’t given Burke a contingency plan for something like this.

“I mean, I can go on this chair, but it will be weird, and I think—”

“I’ll take you,” Burke said quickly, exceedingly uncomfortable. Jethro hadn’t considered that a dumb henchman wouldn’t know what to do when a girl had to go. That counted in my favor. Men like Burke could beat up someone, shoot someone, be all growl and grit, but they didn’t know how to handle the opposite sex when it got down to the facts, and right now, that was what I was relying on.

He walked to me and cut through the ropes with a knife that was ridiculously sharp. Did they have more rope where that came from? I guess so.

I rubbed my wrists where the ropes had chafed, and Burke nodded in the direction of a door behind me I hadn’t been able to see.

“Through there,” he said. “Make it quick.”

When I walked to the door, Burke followed right behind me. No doubt, he would block the door with his burly body, waiting for me to finish and then he’d tie me up again.

My mind spun, and the moment I closed the door behind me, I looked for a way out. Above the disgusting toilet, the window didn’t have any glass. That was a plus.

It was a small window, which didn’t count in my favor.

I stepped on the porcelain bowl—there was no ring—and reached up to the window. Outside, the trees weren’t very far off. If I could get out through the window and get between those trees it would be easier to lose them. I didn’t know where I was or where I would go, but I would figure that out later. For now—

“Are you almost done in there?” Burke called out.

“Almost,” I said.

I tried to hoist myself up and through the window, but the metal frame bit into my chest, and I cried out through gritted teeth.

“What’s going on in there?”

“Nothing,” I called over my shoulder, but he got the idea that something wasn’t right and pushed open the door.

I pulled back, still on the toilet, and turned around.

“What the fu—”

I kicked my foot up and since I was higher up, I hit Burke underneath the jaw.

He staggered back, and then his body went down like a log.

I jumped off, stepped over him and started to run.

A large hand shot out and grabbed my ankle.

“Not so far,” he said, but the fight had ignited within me, and when Burke pulled me back, I rolled onto my back, aimed with my free foot, and kicked him in the face another time.