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He’s on me before I can react, his hand squeezing my wrist until I cry out and drop the knife. He yanks me to him. The pain radiating through my body makes everything fade in and out. I don’t even realize I’m crying until yelling snaps me out of my haze.
“Jesus, Hawk. She was just fucking shot.”
I find myself being picked up and carried over to the sofa. As soon as my butt touches the cushion, I scramble as far away as I can from both Creed and Hawk, who are hovering over me.
“Easy, Avery. It’s just me and Hawk. We won’t hurt you. You know that.”
“Excuse me if I find that hard to believe right now,” I whisper, holding my throbbing arm close to my body.
Hawk curses and stalks off to the kitchen before returning with a glass of water and a bottle of my prescription medication. He pops the lid for me and holds it out to me as I stare at him wearily. If he had just tried to hand me pills, I wouldn’t have taken them, but I feel safe knowing what they are. I take two pills from the bottle and swallow them down with the water, my eyes staying on him.
“I want to go home now, please.”
“And where is home?” Creed asks, making me turn to look at him.
“Right now? Anywhere away from here.”
“Typical.” Hawk huffs before sitting down on the battered coffee table that creaks under his weight.
“You can leave just as soon as you’ve answered some questions, and we’re sure you’re not here to cause trouble.”
Wow, I knew he was a dick, but this seems extra dickish, even for him. I guess that makes him King Dick, ruler of all dicks.
“What, no arguing?”
Shit. What was he saying? Right, they want me to answer their questions. These pills are making me more unfocused than usual. Maybe I should start taking half the dose the doctor prescribed. I don’t want them to know the pills are affecting me in any way. They’re trained to know when to press the advantage they’re given.
“There’s no point. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. Why don’t you just tell me what you want me to say, and then we can all go back to our lives and back to ceasing to exist to each other again.”
“Is that what you think, Avery? That we haven’t thought about you since you ran away? It might be easy for you to forget, but it’s not that easy for the rest of us.”
I sit there in stunned silence, wondering if Creed might have helped himself to my pills, because I can’t believe the shit coming out of his mouth.
“So that’s the game we’re playing, huh? You’re rewriting history to fit your narrative. Why? I have nothing left to give you. You already took it all.”
Hawk stands up, glaring down at me. “We’re not the ones playing games. I guess some things never change. Well, the time for answers is now. If you’re not willing to give them, I suggest you get comfortable because you’re not going anywhere until we get them.”
He storms outside, leaving me with a throbbing headache as I try to pick apart his words. But none of them make sense. It’s like we’re having two different conversations. What actually happened and their version of it. I don’t understand what they’re trying to achieve.
I’m sure as hell not about to spill my secrets to people who have taught me time and time again that all they have to offer me are pretty little lies. From now on, my lips will stay sealed, and my secrets will remain my own.
I think of Greg and Evander, E in particular, and swallow. I was so close to telling him everything, but now I’m glad I didn’t because I don’t know if he’s part of all this. Did I fall for the classic good cop, bad cop strategy? God, I’m pathetic.
“Fuck this. We have things to do. Like Hawk said, get comfortable and think about everything you put us through. You owe us answers. It really is as simple as that. If you just tell us what we want to know, we can return you to the same shitty motel you were staying in before anyone even notices you’re missing. That’s if anyone notices. You never were very good at keeping friends now, were you?”
Nasty comments are usually more Hawk’s style, but Creed has been known to lash out when his feelings are hurt or if he’s not getting his way. I have no idea what triggered him this time, but I ignore the stab of pain his words deliver. It’s not that I can’t keep friends, it’s that I find it hard to make them. I have trust issues. Surprising, I know. But I’ve always found it easier to keep people at arm’s length until I know I’m safe with them. Not that my instincts have been that great lately. I trusted Creed and Hawk, and look how that turned out.
“Oh, and Avery?” Creed leans down over me, his nose skimming mine. “Don’t try to run. The nearest neighbor is twenty miles away. We’d find you before you even made it a fraction of the way.” He turns and stomps away, yanking the front door open before disappearing outside and slamming the door behind him.
I look around the room, my heart thundering in my chest as it finally dawns on me. They kidnapped me, and they’re keeping me here until they decide otherwise.
“No, fuck that.” I climb to my feet and head over to the kitchen. I yank the knife drawer open and pause, staring at them.
“Fuck!”
I slam the drawer closed and blow out a breath, gripping the kitchen counter, willing myself to calm down before I do something stupid like try to run twenty miles for help. The truth is, now that I know who has me, a knife will be pretty useless. I might be angry, but I’d never be able to stab one of them.
“Okay, think.”
