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“She’s been trouble since we took her,” another man responded. “All the others stayed silent, this bitch wouldn’t
shut up.”
All three men laughed. My driver and I joined in, but my driver shot me a nervous look when I turned to put the girl in the backseat of the car.
He was worried. He was smart to be.
I paused from straightening out of the car and glanced over my shoulder when one of the men behind me said, “I had to drug this bitch constantly just to keep her quiet. Surprised anyone wanted her.”
“Surprised she’s still alive,” another said with a laugh.
“Surprised you are,” I added coolly. I wrapped my hand around the handle of one of the guns I had hidden below the seat and took aim when I turned around.
The three men began yelling and backing up, but I just spoke calmly over them. “We don’t ask in this business, right?” I didn’t wait for them to answer. “You don’t ask what I do; I won’t ask what you do. You don’t judge me; I won’t judge you. But you just harmed something that now belongs to me. I did not pay all that money for you to bring me an unconscious girl or for you to decide what happens to her when she acts out. Do we understand each other?”
The men were still slowly backing up, hands now raised, and murmuring their agreements and apologies.
“Next time I won’t be so forgiving,” I warned, dropping the arm holding the gun.
The men exhaled roughly, and one even laughed nervously.
The same man who had bragged about drugging the girl joked weakly, “My life just flashed before my eyes.”
“Why would I kill you?” I mused darkly. “She’s still breathing.”
And there are rules . . .
Before he could react, I lifted my arm and fired once, hitting him in the knee.
Chapter 5
Blackbird
Briar
I rolled over in bed, lifting my hands above my head to stretch, but paused when my body ached in protest.
Why do I hurt?
I tested out my muscles slowly, starting with my arms and working down to my legs. The entire time I tried to remember what I had done to be aching so much and when our bed had ever felt this incredible.
I absentmindedly ran my fingers over the cool sheets as I went through what had happened yesterday, but I couldn’t seem to get a grasp on it. Everything was foggy and just out of my reach. I would get glimpses before they drifted off. Something about Kyle and phone calls in the kitchen. Work and worrying about someone . . . someone . . .
No, I couldn’t have worked yesterday; I never work on Sundays. Brunch with Kyle’s parents . . . where did we go again?
I pressed my hands to my head, trying to force away the pounding and hoping in vain to clear my mind so I could sort through the confusing memories. Why can’t I remember? Why am I in so much pain? And why can’t I open my eyes?
My wrists ached. I rolled my right one a few times before grasping it with my left hand . . . and stilled. All the oxygen seemed to be sucked from the room when I felt shallow cuts that circled my wrist. Switching over to my left wrist only to feel the same, I sorted through a dizzying assault of memories as my heart raced.
“Jenna,” I gasped loudly and flew into a sitting position on the strange bed.
I forced my eyes open and had to blink a few times to get them to stay open, then looked wildly around a darkened bedroom I had never seen before. My body swayed as the room spun, and I grasped my head with the hand that wasn’t holding me up on the bed.
Everything came flooding back at once, and hard sobs tore from my chest as reality slammed into me. Being kidnapped, the darkness, being sold, being prepped for my buyer . . . “No, no, no, no. Help me. Someone help,” I screamed, and scrambled to get off the bed.
I staggered to the side and then back toward the bed before finally finding my balance. I ran to the first door I saw and fell into the next room when the door opened easily. I looked into the small bathroom for less than a second before crawling out of it and struggling to my feet again.
The next door didn’t give, and I slammed my hands against the thick wood. “Somebody. Anybody. Help me!” I cried out. “Please.”
