Page 64 of Fighting for Valor
West grins. “Yeah. He’s twenty-seven. But you’d never know it.”
“Holy shit, really?” I’m starting to feel every one of my forty-two years.
“Really.” The light leaves West’s eyes—not that there was much there to begin with. “When we found Faruk’s office, he was holding a kid hostage. Maybe eighteen? Twenty? Had a knife to his throat. Told us he’d kill the boy if we took another step.” West shakes his head. “And for a second…maybe two…we hesitated. The kid looked terrified. But as Graham lowered his sidearm, the kid pulled one of his own.”
West runs a hand through his hair. “I put a bullet through his heart. And Faruk didn’t even flinch. He was one sick-ass son of a bitch. Whatever he made you do, Rip, it wasn’t your fault. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll get your life back.”
Cara
It’s been hours. At least with the music playing, my brain isn’t totally useless. My heart races, I can’t breathe easily, and everything hurts, but a few of the thoughts playing tag in my head slow and solidify from time to time.
I fell asleep for a few minutes, and when I woke up, I was half-bent over, my fingers totally useless. But my lapis pendant was dangling from my neck, and it was all I could see. The blue stone and the wire wrapped around it.
“You need to be able to protect yourself, Caro,” Leland says as he pours rubbing alcohol over the bullet wound to my thigh.
I took his advice to heart. Learned how to shoot, how to find the prescriptions I need on the streets, and how to pick locks.
It takes me forever to rock up to my knees so my neck and hands are close to the same level. My legs are numb, as are my fingers. But if I do nothing, I’ll die here. Seconds after I manage to grab the pendant and pull hard enough to break the clasp, the door across the room bangs open.
Shit. No.
I scramble to hide the pendant and chain in my fist.
Jessup stalks over to me, Parr on his heels. “Lover boy hasn’t given us more than a quarter of what we asked for,” he says with a sneer. “Time for a little motivation.”
Oh God.
Clenching my hands as hard as I can, I brace for whatever they’re going to do to me. Jessup flicks open his pocketknife, while Parr holds my phone. I swear, regret swims in his hazel eyes. Just a hint of it. But maybe I’m so desperate to believe my death will be quick that I’m searching for any shred of decency.
“Smile for the camera, Caroline,” Jessup says as the light on the back of my phone turns on. “Richards, you’re running out of time. Your girl here only has four hours left, and she’s not going to be happy about how she’ll spend them if you don’t get a move on.”
Wrapping his fingers around my upper arm, Jessup deepens the earlier cut, and I whimper through the gag as the blood soaks into my shirt. And then he grabs my hair and slams my head into the pipe.
My vision swims, and it takes everything I have to keep my fingers curled tightly around my pendant. My moan doesn’t travel far, the gag muffling the sound, but when Jessup wraps his hand around my neck, panic takes over and I gasp for air, thrashing to try to get away.
“Enough,” Parr says as he taps the phone and the light turns off. “Can’t kill her yet. He’s going to want proof of life before he sends the last bit.”
“Fine. You’re too fucking soft, Parr.” Jessup stalks back out of the room and slams the door behind him.
“More water?” Parr asks as he loosens the gag.
“Y-yes,” I croak. It’s so hot in this place, I’ve sweat through my t-shirt, and my heart still feels like it’s going to explode out of my chest, even with the music playing.
I suck down the other half of the bottle as Parr holds it to my lips, and when he pulls it away, he stares down at me. “You know we’re out in the middle of nowhere, right?”
“Figured.” My hands ache from being clenched so tightly, and I just want him to leave me alone so I can try to get out of here. But that regret I thought I saw earlier? It’s stronger now.
“I won’t gag you again. Don’t scream. If you do, Jessup will cut out your tongue.”
“No screaming.” I nod, which is a terrible mistake, as the whole room starts to spin. Parr steadies me with a hand on my shoulder, and I flinch, but then lean into him.
Work him. You can use his pity.
“Can you change the music?” I rasp. “There’s one for…meditation.” Letting a few tears escape down my cheeks, I peer up at my captor, letting him hear the desperation in my voice. “I need to find some peace before the end.”
Parr sighs. “So you know.”
“That he won’t let me live? I’ve always known.” I don’t have to pretend to cry now. If I can’t get out of these cuffs, I’m dead. And I’ll never see Ripper again. Never get to hold him. Never get to tell him how very much I care about him.
