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He laughed again as I hurried to the bathroom. As I wiped myself in a stall, I heard the creak of the door opening and shutting. Several footsteps, then nothing. The eerie silence disturbed me because why weren’t they using the stalls. Or if they came to wash their hands, why wasn’t there water running?
When two sets of boots appeared in front of my door, my stomach sank as dread filled me. Those were men’s boots. “This is the women’s bathroom,” I said, standing quickly and pulling up my panties.
Tap, tap, tap.
Ice filled my veins as he knocked on my stall door. When he stopped, it felt just as dangerous.
Shit! My phone was in Kelly’s vehicle because I didn’t want to carry it around.
As the silence dragged on, my gut screamed danger. Before I lost the ability to do anything, I screamed. “Help! Two men are in the bathroom! Help!”
“You stupid bitch!” I recognized the voice as he yanked at the door. He was the old man from the restaurant. It didn’t take him long to rattle the lock loose. As soon as he opened the door, he yanked me out of the stall. I kicked and punched, desperately trying to hit him.
“Why are you doing this?”
The man backhanded me, and my head rammed against the wall. Although dots clouded my vision, I didn’t have a chance to recover. He grabbed my throat and pulled me to his face. He squeezed until I coughed. “You think you can move this far away withourmoney, and we wouldn’t know?” he asked.
“Jerry. We were only going to scare her enough to talk,” the other said. “I never agreed to attack her.”
“How much of our money did your boss give you to keep quiet while he ran off?” The pressure on my throat hurt so badly. If he tightened his grip further, I wouldn’t be able to breathe.
Fear clung to me as my heart roared in my ears. I tried to speak, but no words came out.
He slammed my head into the wall.
My teeth clanked together, and everything went black for a second.
“Stop!” the other man yelled. “You’re going to kill her.”
“It’s what she deserves,” Jerry said. “Look at this place, Phillip? Ain’t no way a waitress could doll herself up like this and live in a nice cabin off her wages.”
Oh, God. He was delusional, which only made the terror pumping through my veins stronger. Everything good that happened to me was the result of a good man taking care of me. “This company belongs to my boyfriend’s family,” I tried to make him understand. “The cabin is his—”
He punched me, and pain radiated up my nose. Blood spewed. “Where is Danny?”
The restroom door cracked open a bit.
“Genie…?” Finley called out.
Phillip swore, catching the door as it closed back. “The kid fucking saw us and ran to get someone! I’m out of here, man.”
“Where is Danny?” Jerry yelled, shaking me like a doll. “You think I won’t kill you? You’ve taken all of my money. Why would I care what happens next?”
“I don’t know where he is,” I slurred.
The taste of copper filled my mouth, and my head hurt so bad. I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
“Hey!” Jerry smacked me. “Tell me!”
The door burst open, but all I saw was a blur behind Jerry. Then everything went black.
FORTY-FIVE
EUGENE
A steady beeping pierced my consciousness. I grimaced as the sounds around me became more distinct. Someone talked in hushed whispers. The throbbing in my temples, a pain that slammed into my head like waves, worsened. My neck ached. A flood of anxiety and fear burst through me as I remembered the old man in the bathroom. I sat up quickly, gasping. Awareness trickled through me as I opened my eyes. Immediately, the bright lights made me wince. Too bright. God, my head hurt, and my eyes felt like someone tried to yank them out.
“Easy,” Kelly said, standing quickly.
