Page 59 of Home Again

17

“Cuz, she’s got a nice ass.”

Gianna whimpered as her head thumped against something hard. She was dizzy and when she opened her eyes it only made it worse. Muddy water and marsh splashed beneath her, and that was when she realized she was upside down and being carried over someone’s shoulder. She could smell the distinct odor of methane gas that made her gag. The rotten egg smell was hideous. She’d caught whiffs of it before when she’d visited wetlands and swamps.

Gianna started gagging.

“Bitch, don’t throw up on me!”

It was Fontenot.

She gagged louder, praying he would put her down. He let go of her and she crashed to the ground with a splash. Her hip hit some kind of rock as she landed and she screamed with the pain.

“Jesus, don’t you ever stop bitching and whining?”

“Please let me go, Mr. Fontenot,” Gianna begged.

He pushed at her with the toe of his boot.

“Ain’t done with you yet,” he smiled down at her.

Gianna panted, trying to keep herself from crying as she looked up at the three men surrounding her. She clamped her knees together and pulled down her dress.

“Ahhh, lookie, she’s shy.”

“Keep it in your pants, Darnell.” Fontenot glared at the short, skinny man. “I need to make a video of her, so I can’t have her damaged.”

“We get to make a video?” The other man grinned wide. “You didn’t tell us about no video. Sweet.”

“Sweet Jesus, Linus, you lost even more smarts whilst you were in prison. How the fuck that was possible I do not know.” Fontenot shook his head. “I told you the plan before. We’re just stashing her for a few days, making a video each day, collecting some money, and letting her go. It’s going to be easy.”

“Bradley, don’t be calling me stupid,” Linus pulled out a knife. “I know what you’s just said is a pile of shit. You’re not going to be letting her go if she knows your name. You’re killing her. So why can’t we have fun with her?”

“Yeah,” Darnell agreed.

Fontenot sighed. “We’ll discuss this after we make the videos. I can’t have them thinking that we’re ruining the merchandise.”

Gianna hadn’t stopped staring up, her eyes darting among all three men. She’d never been so scared.

“Darnell, since you think her ass is so nice, you shouldn’t mind a little mud. Pick her up so we can get to the shack.”

“With pleasure.”

Gianna cringed when the man yanked her up hard by her right arm.

“Owww.”

He pulled her over his shoulder and cupped her ass. “Oh yeah, she feels real good.”

* * *

Sebastian had been all over the main floor of the casino, twice. There was no sign of his uncle. He stepped out to the front entrance of the casino and called Gideon.

“Do you have a recent picture of Armand that you could text me?”

“I’m in a cab. Jada can get it for you.”

“Fuck this. I don’t want to talk to her. She was the one who helped Gianna get into this mess in the first place.”