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“I don’t know. I just got a phone call from Ms. Sally at the preschool,” I cried. The more I talked, the harder the tears started to fall. I could barely see as I turned down the road to his school. “She said someone came in with a gun.”
“I’m close by. I’ll be there soon.”
“Pete…” I didn’t know what to say. I was terrified. My child was more important to me than life itself. It was my responsibility to keep him safe. He should have been safe at that school, but he wasn’t, and now I might never see him again.
“Just stay calm. I need you to breathe for me.”
“I’m…I’m trying,” I croaked out. I pulled into the parking lot, parking in two spots as the panic finally took over. “I’m…here,” I cried. I couldn’t have made it any further than this. And now…My whole body was in full meltdown mode, my heart was hammering, and the sick feeling swirling in my stomach threatened to make its presence known.
“Are you still there?”
I was now leaning my forehead on the steering wheel, just trying to breathe. I should be out of my car and running into the building, but Iwasn’t sure my legs would hold me up right now. Terror unlike anything I’d ever felt before was clawing at my insides.
Sirens jolted me upright. I saw Pete’s cruiser pull in and screech to a stop just behind mine. I had never been so thankful for another person in all my life. He flung my door open and pulled me bodily from the car, holding me close as the damn burst and I cried into his shirt, fisting it for dear life.
It was the worst reaction in the world, and I knew I needed to pull myself together, but my mind wouldn’t allow me to think of anything other than the fact that my son was gone. Pete pulled back, gripping me by the arms.
“Skylar, we need to go inside. I need you to think, okay? We need to get Parker back, and the only way to do that is to concentrate. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded, but I wasn’t sure I could do it. Not when every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was his face the day I had him in the hospital. But for him, I would do my best.
“Good. Let’s go find out everything we can.”
23
JACK
I woke with a pounding headache.This was unlike anything I’d felt before. I could hardly open my eyes, and the light in the room was so intense that it amplified the strength of the headache.
I hauled my body off the ground, surprised that they’d left me alone and unchained. That was a mistake on their part, one I’d gladly rectify the moment the door opened. I pressed my hand to the white wall, squinting as I felt my way to the door on the opposite side of the room. With every step, my head throbbed harder. Just standing made me want to throw up. When I finally reached the handle, I gave it a jerk, but nothing happened. I expected it, but hoped they’d consider me too weak to fight back.
Clutching my head, I turned and pressed my back to the wall, about to sink to the floor when the lights intensified, making it too bright to even keep my eyes open. Even through closed lids, the light felt like it was driving nails into my brain. I clutched my head even tighter, trying to squeeze the pain out. My knees gave out and I fell to the floor as nausea rolled in my stomach. The pain was too strong. Bright lights flashed over and over, creating illusions that I couldn’t distinguish from reality.
I gripped my shirt, pulling it over my head to darken the room.Then the music started. Heavy metal music burst through the speakers, worsening my headache by a thousand degrees. I wanted to pass out, but the crashing sounds made it impossible. I started to crawl to the corner of the room, my fingers digging into the floor with every movement. But as my nails scratched the tiles, it brought relief. The pain in my fingers drew my focus, even if only for a brief moment.
But my relief was short-lived. I was hauled off my feet and flung over someone’s shoulder. The sudden movement made my head swirl. I was flung on a table and my wrists were locked to the table. I made a fist, trying to break free, but whatever was holding me down was made of thick metal. My ankles were next, but the worst was yet to come. I didn’t hear him coming until it was too late. My eyelids were wrenched open, then taped to stay that way. I yelled as the stabbing pain in my head dug deeper into my skull. Then the lights started to flicker, disorienting me so much that it felt like the room was twirling around me.
The music suddenly died, cutting off the pain just enough for me to focus on the man standing beside me. “You thought prison was hell. I’m here to prove you wrong.” Baz chuckled, nodding to someone by the wall.
As he walked closer, the choices I’d made recently flashed through my head. I should have listened to Johnny. I should have stayed away from Rafe and ignored the job he wanted me to take. I never should have trusted Rafe.
Rico held up a needle, grinning as he yanked up the sleeve of my shirt and pressed the tip to my vein. “This will be a high like you’ve never felt before.”
There were so many things I wanted to say to this fucker, but the words wouldn’t come. The pounding in my head made it impossible to formulate any coherent thoughts, let alone vocalize them. I didn’t see him press the plunger. I only felt the cold tip of the needle being pressed into my vein, and then the rush of the drugs entering my system. But this wasn’t heroin. Whatever this was, I knew I was fucked. My heart rate kicked up, making me sweat as the whole room swirled at a dizzying speed. Lights burst before my eyes, but my body was slow, unable to react to anything around me.
“Enjoy,” Rico laughed.
They headed for the door, flipping a switch on the way. I didn’t know what the switch was for until moments later when a current flowed through the table. I felt it in my wrists first, that supercharged electric current that slowly built with every second that passed. It made my skin crawl until I wanted to scratch my own eyeballs out. I twisted and jerked on the table, trying to get away from the pain ricocheting through my body.
And then the music started.
I was trapped, unable to escape the torment that I knew I would be feeling until Baz either moved on to another form of torture or I died.
24
SKYLAR
I pacedthe inside of the preschool, clenching my fists to keep from hitting anyone who came near me. The parents all came by to pick up their kids, all of them looking at me with sympathy when they realized my child was gone.
