AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty
Red
AsmuchasIhate holding this gun, I know Quin wouldn’t have made me take it if he didn’t think I needed it. I do what he says and run for a minute towards the car, stop and count to one hundred, then turn back and jog to the cabin, too antsy to walk.
It comes within sight and so does Quin, covered in blood with an axe slung over his shoulders, gripping either end in his hands. “Quin!” I shout, running to him. I toss the gun down and throw myself at him. Then I think better of it and let go, stepping back to check him over. “Where are you hurt?”
“Not me, Andler. He’s a little messy.” Quin’s smirk makes my stomach do flips and eases the riot of nerves trapped there at the same time.
“You sure you’re not hurt?”
“I’m sure. Come on. He should be waking soon.” Grabbing my hand in his warm—and bloody—leather covered one, I trail behind him, nervous about being face to face with my would-be kidnapper.
In my head, Andler is this monster. Larger than life and just as evil, the malevolence radiating off him in waves. In my nightmares he towers over me, looming with his evil eyes and twisted smile, laughing at my fear and chasing me until I feel I can’t run anymore.
When we step inside, I see none of that is true. As Andler opens his eyes, I see that they are indeed evil and dark, but he’s not bigger than me. He doesn’t have that twisted smile. He’s not looming. He looks like a small man. A small man that has a bloody face, blood leaking from his back, and dangling by his wrists by a rope around the open beams in the ceiling of the cabin. Andler looks pitiful and it makes me smile. His legs hang uselessly and I wonder at it.
Those dark eyes land on me and I suppress a shiver. How could someone be so fucking evil that it pours from their eyes, tainting everything around them? His lip curls and I see he’s missing teeth. Good.
“Ah. The whore that got away.” His words are muffled, but I hear him just fine and my back goes straight. Of course that’s how he sees me. That’s what he wanted me to be—a whore that he could just pluck off the street to do unspeakable things to make him rich. Even trussed up the way he is, he still has a smart fucking mouth.
Before I can make a snappy comeback—not that I’d thought of one—Quin punches him in the gut. Andler tries to lower his head to double over, but his legs still hang limp under him. You’d think he’d try to tuck them close to his body after a hit like that. That’s when I notice that he’s not hanging that far off the floor. The tips of his toes still drag on the ground, but he’s making no moves to try to stop the swaying he’s doing. “Is he …?”
Quin shrugs. “I threw the axe at him.” His nonchalant tone has me laughing harder than I intend to, bending at the waist and letting out loud guffaws until tears stream down my face. This time though, I’m not crying. I’m not exactly happy, but I don’t feel as scared as I did with Tom. I know Quin is here and he’ll take care of me. My Daddy loves me too much to let anything happen to me.
Standing up straight after I get myself under control, I ask, “Where did you get rope?” An unnecessary question, but I need some time before I have to face Andler.
“Found in by the cut wood. Not sure what he needed it for, but I’m glad it was there. It’ll make this more fun.” Quin has an evil glint in his eyes and he’s never looked more sexy than he does at this moment, avenging me.
Satisfied with his answer, I swing my eyes back over to Andler. “Yeah. It’s me,” I say. “The one that got away. I’m the reason you had to run. I’m the reason you’re in this situation. I’m the reason you’re about to die.” Feeling bold, I walk over to him and grab his neck in one hand, squeezing enough to get his attention. “You will die today, Andler. And you will scream.” He tries to pull away, nut I latch my other hand in his hair, holding him still as I put more pressure on his throat, making his face turn red and his eyes bug out.
It takes all of my self-control to let him go and let Quin handle this part. As much as I want him dead, I don’t think I can bring myself to do it. I wish I was stronger—strong enough to end him and not have it affect me—but I know that’s not possible. I’ve never been a person that could take the life of a bug without feeling like shit for hours on end. No way I can kill a person.
An arm snakes around my chest and I’m pulled back into Quin’s chest, letting Andler go as I do. Andler huffs a breath and coughs roughly, blood flying from his mouth as he tries to get air into his lungs.
Leaning down to my ear, Quin whispers, “You’ve done well, brave boy. Anything you want to say to him? I doubt he’s apologetic but say what you need to say before I take his fucking head off.”
Nodding, I step closer to Andler. “Why? Why did you do any of that? Why take people?”
Spitting at my feet, Andler gives me an evil grin. “Money, of course. You mean nothing to me, just as the others didn’t. You’re a product. Nothing more.”
The breath leaves me as my heart squeezes. The survivors weremorethan a product. They were people with futures. They had lives. They had people that loved them and Andler and his crew fucked that up. “How much did you make? How much were our futures worth?”
Andler lets out a rough laugh and shakes his head. “Not enough to retire, that’s for sure.” He looks up and meets my eyes and I swallow roughly, wanting to hide from him, from how my stomach clenches when he holds my gaze. “Is that what you want? Money? Done. Someone like you can retire on what I have. I know sluts like you don’t need more than a roof over your head while you sell your hole.”
I flinch and step back and Quin takes my place, punching Andler so hard in the face, he swings wildly on his rope, making the beam above him creak. Tears fill my eyes and I turn my back to hide how much his words affected me. How did he tap into my fear that Quin would just think I’m a hole to use and leave? I know there’s still a part of me that’s afraid Quin just sees me as a whore, even though the rational part of my brain knows he loves me. While I wasn’t a sex worker on the payroll, I did sell my body. Does that cancel out me having love?
No. Not it doesn’t. Fuck Andler. Fuck what he thinks about me. Quin loves me and I’m deserving of that love, regardless of how Andler sees me. His opinion isn’t important. He’s fucking scum and what he thinks of me shouldn’t get to me.
Squaring my shoulders, I turn back to him and move past Quin, socking Andler in the face twice before I step back.
“Fuck!” Andler cried out. “I think you broke my nose. I’ll give you money to take me to the hospital. Just drop me off at the emergency room. Not like I can really operate my business without working legs. I’ll be done. No more. No more snatching whor—” He breaks off, then amends his statement. “People. No more snatching people. I’ll be in the wind.”
“Account number?” Quin growls, making me jump from how lethal he sounds. Like Tom, Andler rattles off numbers. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn, Quin handing me the phone. My eyes grow wide when I see all commas in the account. Not enough to retire, my ass. He’s a greedy son of a bitch that didn’t care about anyone he thought was beneath him.
Gathering my strength, I meet Andler’s eyes, looking at him with all the disdain I can muster. I say, “Your victims will be able to retire on this money, you fucking asshole. I’ll be sure they only find your bones.”
Quin approaches Andler slowly with the axe, tilting his head to the side as if analyzing him. “Wait, wait, wait!” Andler starts to beg, but we ignore him. Quin looks over at me and meeting his eyes, I nod. Fuck turning away this time. I will watch and I will see. I will commit it to memory so I know his victims get the justice they deserve.
