Echo (Black Lotus #2)(66)

He stands over me, pointing the gun at my face, and I wail, “Okay! Okay!” I throw my hands up in surrender.

“Stop f*cking around with me!”

“I’m not!”

“Where is it?”

“It’s in a trust,” I reveal. “He put it in a trust I don’t have access to.”

Richard kneels down to one knee, hovering over me, gritting between clenched teeth, “Whose trust?”

With nerves crashing, I tell him, “A trust for his son.”

“You lying cunt.”

“Fuck you. It’s the truth,” I lash out when my anger grows at his degrading words. My emotions get away from me as my head spins in waves of turbulence. As I stare up at this man I’ve loathed for years, I see the wretchedness and desperation in his eyes, and I feel a little deranged as I begin to laugh at him.

“What the f*ck are you laughing at?”

“He played us both,” I say as my laughter intensifies.

“What are you talking about?”

“Bennett,” I tell him.

“He doesn’t have a son. I’ve known Bennett since he was a kid. I know everything about him, so I don’t know what the f*ck you’re talking about.”

“No?” I question in mockery. “Tell me something then,” I start, and pleasure blooms inside of me to be the one to deliver the truth to him. I smile and continue, “How deeply have you looked into Alexander’s eyes?”

I watch as his face contorts and add, “Because if you look deep enough, you’ll see Bennett staring back at you.”

And when realization splays across his face, he takes a step back in shock. I know Richard adores his son. Probably more than he does his wife. So to be the one to stab this dagger of truth through his heart delights me.

I move to stand, and when I do, the giggle that slips from my lips is maniacal as I gloat, “That’s right, Richard. Your precious little wife f*cked my husband and they had a baby together.”

“You’re full of shit!”

“Bennett left everything to him. But if you think you can get the money, you’re wrong. You see, Bennett was smart enough to not assign Jacqueline as the executor. He assigned his attorney.”

His nostrils flare, and I lose myself in utter delirium as I continue to laugh at every f*cked up part of this crazy story. The room spins around me, a blurry realm of colors and shadows, as my hearing tunnels in the reverberations of my own laughter.

“Fuck you!” his voice cuts through, but only for a moment before he swings his arm around. It all happens in a flash of slow motion, but too quick for me to stop, as he drives the gun with a force that parallels his anger into my head, knocking me off my feet.

My head clips the corner of an end table before smashing against the floor.

Light flashes behind my eyelids.

Sparks.

Diamond dust.

Clouds.

Blackness.





“MMMMM!” I SCREAM from my throat behind the tape over my mouth.

My heart crashes so hard it beats in my head. Sheer panic punctures every organ inside of me, flooding my body in pure fear as I thrash around in the darkness. I jerk and kick, but my wrists are bound behind my back and my ankles are tied together in duct tape.

“MMMMM!” I force my voice as loud as I can as it scratches through my strained cords. I know no one can hear me, but I don’t care.

Twisting my hands is useless against the tape that’s secured in a tight restraint. Frustration boils over, pricking in tingles along my palms, and I lose control. I release another worthless, muffled scream, squinting my eyes in an attempt to amplify the sound as I flail my body around like a maniac in the trunk of the car I’ve woken to.

Time wisps past me as the miles collect and my panic dissolves. My body slacks, absorbing the bumps in the road as I’m being taken into the labyrinth of Richard’s desperation.

I knew better than to push him over the edge like I did, but I lost it. I was outside of my head and taking joy from my lashings. But now those lashings have me tied up in the trunk of his car, and I have no way to escape.

I fill the drive trying to figure out what the hell Bennett’s company was being used as a front for. Richard said guns, but in what capacity? All I can think about is my father’s business. He trafficked guns; is it possible that’s what Linq is a cover for? Another trafficking scheme? Surely not. But if so, is it in any way linked to my dad? My thoughts aren’t logical. I mean, maybe it’s coincidental.

Fuck, what’s going on? Did Bennett know? I find it so hard to believe that he did. He was such a straight-edge guy, built out of strong values and always following the rules. It was sickening to watch, but that was the core of Bennett.

And how the hell was Cal involved? Maybe Bennett did know. After all, Bennett and Cal worked in a few business deals together through the years. Does Declan know about his dad? God, he seemed like such an honest guy as well, but maybe he knew.

Irritation swarms the more I think and question, but what’s the use? I’m not going to dissect this on my own.

My body alerts as I feel the car slow and then come to a stop. My pulse quickens when I hear the door slam shut.

Are we in a public place? Are people around? Do I risk making noise?

Taking in slow, quiet breaths, I focus on what’s going on outside, but I hear nothing. Every muscle in my body is tensed up as I wait, but nothing happens. Time continues to pass, and eventually, I feel myself drifting to sleep. I struggle to stay awake as my eyes fall shut.