Happenstance(91)

I continue to twist my hands within the confines of the tightly tied laces. I can’t tell if I’m making any progress, though. I don’t think I am. My circulation is beginning to cut off.

God. I would give anything to be in Tobias’s lap right now.

He’d make some dumb joke about bondage and Banks would shake his head.

Tears fill my eyes to the brim and pressure pushes outward from inside of my ribcage. Pressure so strong that I know it’s coming from love. My love for three men.

And I feel a slight loosening in the ties.

Alexander and Crouch go silent. Abruptly.

Hands on hips, Alexander hangs his head. Crouch can’t look directly at me.

My gut pitches violently.

Not good. Not good.

They approach slowly, Crouch giving the driver a grave look.

Blood drains from his face, his arm briefly losing enough power to keep the gun aloft.

“Killing me isn’t going to solve your problems,” I rush to say, my voice unnaturally thick. “What about Karina? She knows you took me.”

“If we go down, Karina goes down, too. She’s culpable here,” Alexander says smoothly. “She’ll look the other way.”

He’s right. I don’t know Karina at all, do I? I thought she was my friend, but she sold me out. Even if she wants to help now, she won’t be able to tell the police where they brought me. They threw my phone out the window of the SUV and into a trash can several blocks before we reached this construction site. There’s no way anyone will ever find me. My dead body is going to end up encased in cement with a building on top of me. And my murderers are going to run this town. Probably go on to kill more people who stand in their way. I’m just the first of many.

“Do it,” Crouch says to the driver.

“Are you serious?” He hesitates, blinking as if he’s dizzy. But he keeps the gun raised. “I don’t think I can do it,” he wheezes. “She says she’s just the sandwich girl.”

There’s an extended silence and I realize Crouch is staring at me. With recognition this time. “Hold on a second. I know you were at the gala because you took that picture, but I didn’t remember seeing you until now. Pink dress. You were with one of my foreman. Gabe.” He adjusts his stance, the lines around his mouth increasing with tension. “What does he know?”

Cold purpose blankets me in a split-second. The noise in my ears recedes.

Apparently, this is a level of fear I’ve never reached before, because it involves someone I love being hurt. Throw in my protectiveness when it comes to Gabe and I’m nothing but a swarming hive of denial. They’ve made the connection between me and Gabe. He’s in danger now. And it’s only a matter of time before Banks and Tobias are, too. The very thought of them being hurt surges my fear to the highest point where it transforms into anger so sharp I can feel it cutting straight through me. In a burst of fury, I twist my wrists with all of my might and feel a snap, though I don’t dare show it on my face. My adrenaline has surged so fast, my vision grays at the edges.

Crouch gets in my face. “Answer me. What does he know?”

“Go to hell.”

The union boss backhands me across the face so hard my ears ring.

I can’t breathe around the sting. A metallic taste fills my mouth.

Crouch wrestles the gun out of the driver’s hand—and I know it’s now or never. The union boss is red-faced and irrational and I’m the target. I’m going to get shot. And then they’re going to go after Gabe. Tobias. Banks. I can’t allow this. Without giving myself another second to hesitate, I lunge out of the chair and knock the gun out of Crouch’s hands. The weapon goes flying across the half-constructed room and it’s a race, three against one. My odds of making it to the gun first are pitifully low, but I dive toward it anyway.

Falling a couple of inches short.

I’m dragged backwards by the ankles, taking the weapon farther and farther out of my reach. Alexander retrieves the gun with a resigned expression on his face that terrifies me. I twist around onto my back just in time for him to point it straight down at my head.

“Sorry about this, kid.”

There is something behind Alexander, though. Something that wasn’t there before. It’s the muzzle of a gun peeking around the entrance to the room. It’s followed by a police officer.

No…his bulletproof vest says SWAT.

Oh my God. It’s a whole team. They crowd into the entrance, seething like one single entity, then scatter, coming in and spreading in all directions, automatic rifles with scopes raised. Aimed at my three captors.

“Put your hands up!” roars the first law enforcement officer entering the room.

None of it seems real. The sea of black uniforms just keeps on pouring in until finally they’ve filled the room nearly to capacity. My three captors are wrestled into face down positions, their bodies being searched for more weapons. Handcuffs are snapped shut around their wrists. All of it seems to happen simultaneously while I struggle to breathe through the inundation of relief and sky-high adrenaline from my position on the ground.

My relief doesn’t fully connect, tough. Not completely. Not until Banks strides into the room, flanked by Gabe and Tobias.

Karina, too. The managing editor is there, visibly deflating with relief to see me alive, but she can kick rocks for all I care. Seeing her only floods me with betrayal. Shock.