Page 98 of Because I Need You
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ISABEL
My head felt like it was about to explode. My jaw hurt. My cheeks hurt. My teeth even hurt. What the hell? The overpowering smell of fabric softener was making it worse and giving me nausea. I tried to open my eyes, and even that hurt, but I managed. When I did, I was met with pitch black. Something was in my mouth. I reached up to remove whatever was covering my face, and realized my hands were tied together. My feet too. Fear rolled through me in an instant. Oh my God. I’d been kidnapped. I instantly thought of my grandmother and remembered the man shooting her. I thought of Petra and Joey and wondered where they were. They’d be here, right? They’d come for me. And Gio? Ugh. He was going to think I purposely didn’t show up to his club. I tried again, to fight against my restraints, but I could barely move. Was this payback for what Gio had done to that guy? Was it the same people that raided my dad’s house? It had to be them. It had to be. What the hell did they want with me, though? A sob raked through me. The darkness, the ties around me, the thing in my mouth that was making it difficult to breathe, the feeling of helplessness that I tried to avoid at every turn of my life, it was all too much.
I was still crying when I heard footsteps approaching. My stomach coiled. They were getting closer, closer, closer. It sounded like boots. Something, or someone heavy. The fabric covering my head was snatched off suddenly, with such a force, that I nearly tipped over. I was on the floor. I blinked until my eyes adjusted to my surroundings. All I saw was concrete on every side. A boot stepped on my arm and turned me roughly, and I saw the man above me. Blue eyes. I knew it was him, the man from my father’s house. He didn’t wear a mask this time, which made my stomach turn even more. As I’d said, I’d watched Dexter. I knew what happened to loose ends and whether or not I gave them what they wanted, I’d be a loose end. He said nothing, this man. Behind him, another man came into view. A much shorter, much wider man. He looked harmless, wearing a short sleeve button down, slacks, and big eyeglasses. He looked like a math teacher. He walked until he got to me, and then he crouched down beside me, turning his face so I could see him upright, since I was on my side.
“I’m sorry about all of this.” He waved a hand at me. “I was told they’d be gentle, but I can see they haven’t been and that pains me.” He reached out and took the gag out of my mouth. I took a harsh deep breath, and another, and another, my head woozy. “Calm down,” he said in a calm voice that matched his demeanor. “Calm down. Breathe.”
I breathed. Finally, I took one last breath and licked my lips. “You killed my grandmother.”
“Also, not on the list of things they were supposed to do.” He craned his neck and narrowed his eyes on the blue-eyed guy, shaking his head. “A disgrace, I tell you.” He looked at me again, green eyes soft. “Do you know who I am?”
I shook my head, tears filling my eyes. “What do you want from me?”
He barked out a laugh, taking off his glasses as he stood, and cleaning them with the bottom of his shirt. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“Why am I here?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“You have something I want.”
“I don’t have anything.” I began to sob again, unable to hold it back. “I don’t have anything.”
“On the contrary, you have something everyone wants,” he said, walking back a few steps. “The briefcase.”
I blinked. The briefcase. This was all over my father’s fucking briefcase? My grandmother dead, Petra and Joey… Oh, God. I swallowed. “Where is Petra?”
“She’s insignificant.” He put his glasses back on. “Where is the briefcase?”
“Is she dead?” I whispered, a wave of new tears filling my eyes.
“I don’t have the answer to that question,” he said, “As I stated, she’s insignificant. Where’s the briefcase?”
“I don’t have it.”
He took a step back. Blue eyes took a step forward, planting his boot on my side. The math teacher looking guy narrowed his eyes on mine. “I don’t want to hurt you. I was great friends with your father, and I told him I’d look after his daughter if he died before me, since he’d promised to do the same for mine. So, I don’t want to hurt you, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.”
“He works for you. It’s the same thing,” I tried to shout, but my voice wouldn’t project, and it was just another broken whisper.
