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I hit the door with a thud, managing to grasp the handle and twist it just as a hand grabbed a fistful of hair at the back of my head and shoved my forehead forward.
I swear I saw stars like in the cartoons.
My body sank to the floor, but he didn’t let me go, dragging me back into the room. I cried out in pain, kicking my feet and tearing at his hands, but it was getting harder and harder to keep the battle up. I was tired, I was in shock, and after that last blow to the head, I was lucky to still be conscious.
“Stupid bitch,” Vince cursed, grunting as he hefted my body onto the bed and shoved his hand into his pocket. “I knew grabbing these things from that idiot would be helpful.”
I blinked hard, staring at the ceiling and trying to keep my breathing even as the room spun.
Then he appeared, jostling the bed as he climbed over me.
“No,” I mumbled, fighting for another breath as he straddled my chest. “No. Stop. Get… sto… stop.”
Fight, Shay. You need to fight.
My body, though, was giving out. It was failing me.
Then I saw the pill bottle in his hand.
The one Jason had brought out.
He emptied a few into his hand and tossed the bottle over his shoulder. At that moment, I knew I was about to fall back into the depths of those hell-burning fires, and all I could do was hope that Bishop found me before they consumed me completely.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
BISHOP
“Seriously? Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Sarah said as we stood in the tiny kitchen of the club’s safe house. “Why did he take her?”
“He’s angry,” I answered, rolling my shoulders uncomfortably. I hated not wearing my club cut, but we never showed up at a safe house with them on, and we never went in on our rides. We didn’t want to draw too much attention or have people take notice. “He’s angry that Shay helped you and Alice to get away from him. He wants her to pay for it.”
Sarah slumped back, leaning against the counter. “It was seeing her stand up to him that day that finally gave me what I needed to leave,” she whispered, swiping at a lone tear. “Up until then, I’d just been drinking myself into a coma daily to deal with the pain and the abuse.”
It’d been less than a week since Sarah escaped Vince’s clutches, but she was already looking so much happier and healthier. Her eyes were brighter, more alive, and not as sunken with dark circles.
“Shay saved my life,” Sarah added, this time her voice loud with conviction and her chin lifted high.
I nodded. “And we’re hoping you might be able to help us save hers.” Her head tilted a little to the side as I continued. “We thought you might have an idea about places Vince might be, where he might have taken Shay. A house, a place he feels comfortable, anything that comes to mind?”
She pressed her lips together and scrunched up her nose, her eyes looking to the ceiling as she considered my question. “We always stayed at his parents’ guest house,” she finally answered after a few seconds. “It was out the back of their property on the golf course. He would leave me out there by myself when he didn’t want me around. Lock the doors. Cameras set up. It was isolated, and I really had nowhere to go, so I would just sit in the house and get drunk.”
I knew what it was like to be dumped in the middle of nowhere and feel completely hopeless. Even if she’d been able to get away, it wouldn’t have necessarily meant freedom.
It was dangerous out there.
There were forests that went on for miles, so thick she could be lost in them for days, and it wasn’t like there would be anyone looking for her.
“So I’m doubting that he would have gone back to the crime scene,” I noted, tapping my foot. “You sure there isn’t anywhere closer in the city. An apartment, a hotel he li—”
She gasped. “A hotel!” She pinched her eyes closed and clicked her fingers. “Dammit, what was the name of that hotel?”
“Can you describe it?” I urged, leaning in.
She shook her head. “No, I never went there with him, but he had me make a reservation there. Said he was meeting someone important, but he had me use a fake name, too, which I thought was weird at the time.” She strummed her nails against the counter before slamming her palm down. “It was in the city!”
“It’s okay,” Rafe consoled her, his hand on her shoulder. “I’m gonna read some names out. Let me know if any of them sound familiar?”
I tried to keep calm as Rafe rattled off the names of hotels downtown. The kid was smart. I had to give him that.
