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I lift my chin. “Maybe I don’t care if I do. My father isn’t going to win any parent-of-the-year awards.”
“You won’t have any evidence to back up your claims.”
I don’t dispute him. Besides, I don’t want him to worry that I’ll make trouble for him and give him any reason to want to dispose of me.
“So Kai’s your real name? You’re actually being honest with me?”
He hasn’t been forthcoming with me since the day we met. Why should I believe anything he says? Every moment we had together turned out to be a charade. I was nothing but bait to him, something he could take and use as leverage against my father. A part of me feels like crying. Because I’m scared. Because my dream turned into a nightmare.
Jack—Kai must see my distress, because he says, “I’m sorry.”
His words actually make me want to cry more, but there’s no way I’m going to let this asshole see my tears.
That a cool and hardened criminal even knows the word ‘sorry’ surprises me, but I snap back bitterly, “That supposed to make it all better?”
“No,” he acknowledges.
His man returns with a pack of Treasurers. Where did he get cigarettes like this so quickly?
My hand shakes as I hold one to my mouth. The guy lights it for me. I draw in the nicotine and wait for a calm that doesn’t come. I inhale again, but I feel sick to my stomach. I’m too agitated for the cigarette to work well. I probably have to smoke the whole pack to calm myself.
“When is the exchange happening?” I ask. “When do I get to see my father?”
“In about an hour.”
That sounds like forever.
“I need to pee,” I lie.
Kai and his man exchange glances. Kai says to me, “You can piss behind the van.”
Both men get up.
“Aren’t you going to untie my ankles first?” I ask.
Kai sweeps me into his arms and carries me out the van. I could try to gouge his eyes out right now, but I wouldn’t get very far. And this guy knows how to make one pay.
Outside the van, I see we’re near a dock on the Marin County side of the Bay. I can see the twinkle of the city and the lights on the Golden Gate Bridge. I welcome the familiar sight, glad that we’re not somewhere remote where Kai can dump our bodies.
After he sets me down, I drop the cigarette and grind it out. I need to gather my thoughts. Should I just let this exchange happen and hope for the best? Should I plead for mercy? Or should I look for opportunities to escape?
“I thought you needed to pee,” Kai says.
Realizing I was busy assessing my surroundings, I check to see who’s around. There’s just us. Even though it’s dark, I ask, “Some privacy?”
Kai turns around.
I exhale, pull down the sweatpants and hope I can produce a tinkle. I honestly might be too scared to pee.
While I do my best to relax enough to go, I hear a voice that makes me tense all over.
It’s Andrian.
Chapter twenty-nine
Kai
What’stakinghersolong to piss?
