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My God.
It was alive.
“Hey, hey,” I whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
It was a male, naked, his bony body streaked with blood and grime. His head had been shaved.
“I want to help you. I’m a friend. I’m going to take the gag off of you, but don’t scream. All right?”
The man whimpered and nodded.
I removed the gag carefully. “Who are you?”
He groaned, muttering unintelligible words.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk. I’m going to get you out of here.” As quickly as I could, I unbound his ankles and wrists.
I startled when a sound like a board creaking came from somewhere upstairs. Tom must have come back. I threw the dirty blanket over the sickly man. “Shh,” I said. “Don’t let him know I’ve untied you. I’ll take care of him. If I don’t come back for you in half an hour, find something to use as a weapon, and get the fuck out of here.”
I hated leaving him there, but he’d at least be safe while I was in the house. I’d told him to leave if I didn’t return, but he was so bony and sickly-looking, I wondered if he’d be able to get up the stairs.
But he would. Talon had gotten up those very same stairs.
“I’ll be back for you. I promise.”
I hoped I’d be able to keep that promise.
I walked toward the stairway, the dark walls seeming to pulse and close in.
My God, how had Talon survived this?
And who was the man in the cellar?
I willed myself to get a grip and ascended the stairs slowly. I had come here alone and unarmed. I hadn’t thought about protecting myself. I could kick the shit out of Tom Simpson wi
th a look, and if he had a knife, I could easily disarm him.
But if he had a gun…
The man was a killer. A cold-blooded killer. And God only knew what he’d done to this poor man in the cellar.
Bile nudged up my throat. That was a crock. I knew exactly what Tom had done. The same thing he’d done to my brother.
I shut the door of the basement quietly and walked through the small kitchen. The doorknob to the front door turned slowly.
A man entered, carrying a bag of groceries. As far as I could tell, he was unarmed. The hair on his head was dyed dark brown.
But the eyes…
A maniacal smile crossed my face. I had him.
Finally.
Finally, I would avenge my brother.
My smile became wider.
“Hello, Tom.”
