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Jake is watching my every move The whole day while I am working in the kitchen. Even when I serve customers, he is directly behind me, and I am beginning to lose hope. I know if I try to slip them anything, I will be caught. He will punish me and probably kill the person I’ve tried to inform.
So, instead, I work on building trust and a plan to get down to see Alisha. I am just cleaning the benches when I hear the doorbell signaling someone has entered. I wait for Jake to greet them, but when I hear a feminine voice sing out, I know he must have wandered off somewhere.
Sticking my head out of the kitchen door, I see it is an old couple. They are regulars here and love Jake’s burgers. They also own the bakery down the end of the street where Jake buys most of his cakes and bread from.
“Hey, Sondra. Lloyd,” I greet them, seeing Lloyd stagger toward one of the round steel tables. I rush out and grab his arm, helping him into his seat.
“Elena, dear. I haven’t seen you in a while. I thought you left. Where is the other girl? Is she still here, the one with the purple hair?” Sondra asks.
Before I can answer, I feel a hand slide across my shoulders.
“She quit. Went to college to become a pathologist,” Jake answers.
“Shame. I liked her, too. Just the usual Jake, please, and can I get Lloyd some water?” Sondra asks him.
“Of course. El, grab him a bottle from the fridge,” Jake tells me, and I wander off to retrieve it.
Grabbing an ice-cold bottle, I unscrew the cap for her when I return to the table before handing it to her. Sondra helps her husband drink from it. His gray hair is sparse on top of his head, his skin gray and lips blue. He looks sickly, but I can tell he adores Sondra and their daily outing here.
“Oh, I’ll have to bring you some lemon meringue pies tomorrow. Whipping up a new batch,” Sondra sings out as she helps her husband drink from the bottle.
I pass her some napkins when he dribbles some out, and she thanks me before taking her seat.
“El, come help,” Jake calls to me, and I press my lips in a line, preferring to be in their company than his.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Moving out to the kitchen, Jake is about to say something when we hear the delivery truck beeping. He curses and comes over to me.
“You won’t speak to Sondra or Lloyd while I am gone, and you will not go near them,” he says, using his vampire charms on me before rushing to greet the truck.
“What are we going to do, Elena? I can’t take much more of this,” Lexa whines at me as I reach for the spatula, only to notice he’s forgotten to take the basement keys, yet the key to her cage is around his neck. Snatching them up, I glance toward the rear doors.
“Elena, don’t.”
“I need to know if she is alive,” I tell my wolf.
I grab some cooked meat patties and water bottles before checking to make sure Jake is still out the back. Snatching up a paper bag, I drop as much food in as possible and rush to the basement door.
“Elena, dear?” Sondra calls.
I turn, but I can’t move toward her or speak.
“Can you bring some more napkins out when you come back?”
I nod to her since I can’t talk and she goes back to fussing over her husband while I fiddle with the lock and keys. My heart races the entire time, every second feeling like an hour. Sweat beading on the back of my neck, I exhale when the lock clicks and the door opens. Rushing inside, I know I don’t have long before he comes back, but I need to ensure she is alive.
Running down the steps, I miss some in my haste and have to catch myself on the railing. Once down the bottom, I make my way to the back of the basement when I hear her.
“Elena?” she sobs, crawling forward and gripping the bars, and I run to her.
I clutch her fingers. “I’m here. I’m right here.”
“Where is he?” she says, looking around frantically.
I can see the bite marks on her neck. She is littered with them, and covered in bruises, her cheeks hollow and skin dull.
