Page 100 of Big Bad Betrayal
I wasn’t ready for it to be tonight. I wanted to locate Wren and make a plan to get her to safety before I escaped. I also need to figure out how to access the medicine keeping me alive. Last time I tried to escape, I collapsed before I could get far. But I’m feeling stronger now and don’t have a choice. I’m out of time.
Thom let me in on his disgusting plan tonight at dinner.
Tomorrow night, he arranged to auction me off to the highest bidder. It’s not enough that I make him billions. He must sell me to one of his buddies to cement a merger. His twisted version of an arranged marriage.
Sorry, no.
Not happening.
This time, my escape plan will work. It has to.
The mansion’s lights come back on in a sudden blaze.
Dammit.
Run, run, run. I put my head down and sprint as fast as I can. My feet hit sand.
An alarm goes off. It will still take them time to realize I’m gone, hopefully. So long as–
“Hold it right there!” A male voice shouts.
No! I’ve been spotted.
I could still make it. I’ll hide in the water. I reach the water and run in, diving into the cold water before it’s deep enough, so it’s more of a belly flop. I adjust my hands on the rocks below to propel me into the deeper water.
I don’t look behind me. I don’t want to see how close they are. Whether they’re coming for me. I squeeze my eyes closed and paddle hard, forgetting that I may not survive the ocean even if I’m not caught.
But I am caught.
A strong arm loops around my neck and shoves my head under, holding me down.
I struggle, kicking out, using my elbows, trying to duck out of his grasp. I need to take a breath.
Is this guy trying to kill me?
Clearly he doesn’t know that I’m the golden goose.
Everything’s muffled by the sound of water around me, but I hear shouts above. Lights blaze in the periphery of my vision. I’m starting to pass out.
And then I’m up. Held by my hair above water.
“What are you doing?” Thom rages from the shore.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Thompson. I thought she was an intruder.”
“Get my daughter back to shore.”
His daughter. Every time he calls me that I want to barf.
Two men grab me by the arms and drag me forward, out of the ocean, onto the beach where Thom slaps me hard across the face.
I figure this is my one chance. If there’s any man who works for Thom who has any conscience at all, I need to alert him. If he doesn’t disobey now, maybe he’ll raise a flag with the authorities.
“Let me go!” I scream. “You can’t auction me off. I’m not your property! You can’t keep me prisoner here forever!”
A needle jabs into the meaty part of my arm before I even see it coming. I stare into the eyes of the man who delivered it and detect a sadistic gleam of pleasure in them right before my vision goes dark and my legs forget how to hold me.
* * *
\
