Sweet Retribution (Rydeville High Elite #3)(89)

Rick and Kai manhandle the doctor on purpose, shoving and pushing him into the derelict building. The roof is splintered in several places, and the whole space reeks of mold and dead, decayed things. A shiver works its way through me, and I avoid looking too closely at the debris cluttering the floor as I step over it.

The guys plonk the chair down in the center of the space, and Sawyer ties the doctor to it with impressive speed and skill, making me wonder if he’s done this kind of thing before.

I know so little about their lives in New York before they came here, except for what I’ve gleaned from Kai and the gossip mill in school when they first arrived at Rydeville High. I’m hugely curious about Sawyer’s background, because he’s notoriously cagey with details.

“Abigail.” The doctor pins me with pleading eyes. “I wasn’t the one who hurt you. I tried to help you. I—”

“Stop.” I hold up a hand. I want to know so badly, but my brother is owed the truth too, and he’s risking a lot to come here, so I’m waiting for Drew. “We need to wait for my brother.”

His face pales. “Drew is coming here?” His voice elevates a few notches.

“Yes.” I watch fear crawl up his neck and over his face.

Interesting.

I know Drew hasn’t had any dealings with him before, so I’ve no clue why he appears terrified of my brother. Not for the first time, I wonder what the guys have been forced to do in that hellhole. “He won’t hurt you, provided you tell us the truth.”

“If I tell you, they’ll hunt me down and kill me before doing unspeakable things to my family. I’ve seen it before.” He thrashes about on the chair. “Please, Abigail. Just let me go, and forget about this. Nothing good can come from it. I’ve done all I can. Anything else and I risk the safety of my family. Please.”

We’re not going to let anything happen to his family, and we’ve already discussed protections we can put in place. But I’m not getting drawn into that now. For now, the best course of action is to leave him tied up, contemplating his options, while we wait for my twin to arrive.





CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE


“Where is he?” Drew asks, shuddering as he steps foot into the smelly, ice-cold warehouse a few hours later.

“We left him stewing in there,” I say, following behind my brother. “Rick, Sawyer, and Jackson took hourly shifts guarding him.”

“He’s shitting his pants,” Jackson pipes up, coming up the rear. “Leaving him to freak out for a few hours was the right move.”

“I can’t be gone too long,” Drew says, slamming to a halt in front of me just before we enter the main room where the doctor is being held. He turns to face me. “I want you to let me lead this,” he says. “And I might have to do things you won’t like.”

I swallow back bile. “Do what you have to do to get the answers we need. Whether he was willing or not, he’s participated in the abuse that goes on in the medical wing. My conscience is clear.”

Kai laces his fingers in mine, squeezing them in support.

“I’d like a minute alone with my sister,” Drew says. Kai nods, pecking my lips before following Jackson and Sawyer into the belly of the building.

Drew hauls me into his arms and we hug in silence for a few beats. “I’m scared,” he whispers.

“Me too,” I whisper back.

“I want to be right so badly, A, but I’m terrified I’ve gotten it all wrong.”

“I really don’t think you are, D, and you know I feel the same. But I understand, because I’ve tried not to have too much hope.”

He tilts my face up, cupping my cheeks. “No matter what, we don’t let what we hear derail us. We have a good shot at pulling this off, Abby, and we can’t let our emotions get in the way.”

“I know, Drew and, unfortunately, I’m quite adept at locking my feelings up inside.”

“If she’s alive,” he says, in a choked voice, “you understand we can’t do anything about it tonight.”

“I know,” I whisper. “I know we can’t just barge in there and take her.” It will kill me if our mother is only a few miles up the road in that Godawful place and we have to return to Rydeville, leaving her in those monsters’ care, but we have come too far to throw it all away in a reckless emotion-driven act of selfishness.

“Are you ready to do this?” he softly asks.

I shake my head, and a single tear creeps out of the corner of my eye. “No,” I whisper. “But I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

He wraps his hand around mine. “Let’s go and find out once and for all.”

The doctor visibly shakes as Drew and I stalk across the floor in his direction, our boots thumping loudly on the concrete as we advance. Rick removes a handkerchief from the doctor’s mouth, holding a bottle of water to his lips.

The guys step aside as we approach, giving us space. The doctor gulps as his gaze jumps between us. “What are you going to do to me?” he rasps, his wild eyes bouncing around the room.

“We can do this the hard way or the easy way,” Drew says in a lethal tone he’s used a couple of times before. Like then, it sends icy chills ripping up and down my spine. “The hard way will mean you have a lot of explaining to do if you return home to your wife. The easy way means you walk out of here without a scratch.” Drew tightens his grip on my hand as he eyeballs the doctor with a threatening look.