Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(20)
“Hello?”
Katherine didn’t receive a response. Not even the sound of shuffling feet. In fact, the place was entirely too quiet. An empty sort of quiet. Katherine felt her stomach plummet as realization hit her.
She hadn’t seen any other vehicles parked out front except for her own and that rusty van. One of those thugs – maybe all of them – was running the place. Fantastic. And she had just snubbed one of them.
Reminding herself that those men were the only chance she had at getting help for her parents and Brad, she forced herself to go back outside. The ding of the door, which had served to relieve her a mere minute ago, suddenly seemed more ominous as she exited the building.
The group of men eyed her as she came back out, the one who had spoken to her looking especially smug. She approached them as confidently as she could manage in her soiled clothes and ignored the snickers she heard as they found amusement in her predicament.
“What do ya know, boys? Looks like the little princess realized I’m the one runnin’ this place.”
It was the bandana-clad man who spoke, sharing a dark grin with his companions before turning his eyes back on her. They were gleaming with something she didn’t want to identify. “It’s okay, doll,” he said condescendingly, voice full of false understanding. “I’m sure ya can make it up to me somehow.”
Katherine steadfastly ignored the clashing emotions – hot anger and cold fear – that rose within her. Be polite, she reminded herself firmly. You need help and it looks like this is all you’re getting.
She clamped her jaw shut and swallowed down a scorching retort, knowing her conversation with these men would end badly if she let her mouth get the best of her. “I’m sorry to bother you,” she bit out as civilly as she could. “But do any of you have a cell phone I could use?”
One of the men – the scrawniest of the bunch – strutted forward and smiled yellow teeth at her. “I have a phone, sugar, but I can’t just let ya go using it for free.”
Katherine clenched her fists – whether it was due to indignation or fear, she wasn’t certain. “I have money,” she pointed out reasonably, hoping her voice didn’t betray the emotions swirling within her. “I’ll pay you whatever you want if you let me use it.”
The rat-faced man smirked. “Oh, sugar, I don’t want your money. Ya got somethin’ else more to my likin’.”
Katherine knew all too well what he was referring to as his eyes swept up and down her body. Aware that her wet shirt was clinging to her skin, she quickly folded her arms across her chest. The man sniggered at her actions.
“A credit card then,” she offered, refusing to acknowledge the man’s disgusting leering. “I have one in my car if you want it.”
Before he could answer, the tall man with the bandana pushed him back and took up the space he had been occupying, his own phone gripped between his fingers. He was clearly the leader of the little group as Rat Face didn’t protest.
He grinned predatorily, but Katherine refused to be intimidated despite the spike of alarm that traveled up her spine. “I don’t think so, doll face. How ‘bout some lovin’ instead? I haven’t had a thing as pretty as you in… well, ever.”
Behind him, his friends laughed. Katherine searched their faces for empathy, but couldn’t find any – though the scrawny one looked a bit put out. She quickly came to the conclusion that none of them were willing to help her. If anything, they thought the whole situation rather entertaining. Suppressing her disgust, she realized what she’d have to do if she wanted that phone. Forcing what she hoped was a friendly smile on her face, she stepped a bit closer to the man. His grin widened.
“I don’t know,” she bluffed, glancing coyly at him from under her lashes and playing shyly with a loose thread on her sleeve.
She successfully prevented a flinch when her wrist was abruptly grabbed and the man dragged her closer to him. He leaned into her until his body was pressed against hers. Stale breath hit her nose as he whispered huskily into her ear. “Let me convince you, dollie.”
Knowing that she’d been given the opening she’d been looking for, Katherine swiftly kicked the man in the shin. He yelped in a mix of surprise and pain and she quickly snatched the phone from his loosened grip before turning and running back toward her car. She’d just reached the driver’s side door and was working to unlock it when the man caught up to her. Large hands seized her arms and in one swift motion, he turned her around and slammed her against the car, the side mirror digging painfully into her back.
The sense of déjà vu was strong.
So was the nausea the jarring action had caused.
She felt the vomit rising, but could do nothing but clench her eyes shut as foul liquid burst from her mouth and nose and splattered on the gravel and the shoes of the man holding her. When she opened her eyes, her vision was a little fuzzier than it should have been, but she could still clearly see the rage-induced flush covering the bandana-clad man’s face.
“Ya shouldn’t have done that, princess,” he hissed. “I was gonna make this fun for ya, but now you’ve asked for it.”
Still clutching the phone in an unyielding grip behind her back, Katherine tried to focus on the words the man in front of her was saying. But the pounding in her head was rapidly getting worse and she couldn’t concentrate. The man’s features were growing blurrier as well. No, she thought desperately, not when I was so close to getting help.