Torn - Book Three: Torn Series, #3

CHAPTER ONE

PIPER

––––––––

Darkness. Darkness and pain. It feels like someone jammed a knife into my skull and rattled it around.

I groan and blink and inhale the scent of dust and mold, booze and cheap cologne. Then I remember what happened and my heart goes from zero to sixty. I shoot up in the chair I'm sitting in, but my arms are bound behind me, so I don't get very far. My eyes are blindfolded, so I have no idea where I am, but I know the situation isn't good.

Hello? I whisper timidly.

If there's no response, I'll work to get my hands free first. From twisting them around, I can tell that they're bound with rope, not handcuffs. With enough wiggling, I should be able to pull free, even if I lose some skin in the process. Survival is my first priority. I can lick my wounds later.

Look who woke up, a gruff voice responds, snuffing the tiny flame of hope burning inside of me. 

Who are you people? What do you want with me? I do my best not to show any fear.

Ohhh, the boss man was right. This is a fiery one, another voice says behind me.

The fact that I'm surrounded by strange men has me on high alert. How many of them are there? The more there are, the slimmer my chances of escape will be.

She won't be so fiery once we're done with her, Gruffness laughs. The threat in his words causes a shiver to slice down my spine. I'm desperately trying to hold myself together, but the threads of stability are quickly snapping one by one from the fear of torment or death.

Who is the boss man? I turn my head, trying to pinpoint where each man is standing and listen for others in the room.

Ha. She's stupid too.

Footsteps approach me from behind, and I feel a tug on the back of my head as someone fists their hand in my hair. My body tenses, but I know better than to resist. My nostrils fill with the scent of bourbon and foul breath, and there's a sniffing sound near my ear. The fact that the guy is smelling me makes my stomach turn. This cannot be a good sign of what they plan to do to me.

I wonder if he'd mind if we had some fun with her, the man behind me says. The word 'fun' sounds like anything but to me. If they try to rape me, though, I won't struggle. That would only make things worse.

No, Gruffness steps in, his tone all firmness. From what I can tell thus far, he must be the alpha of the group. You remember the drill. No deviating.

Not like he would find out, the other huffs. You wouldn't tell anyone if we had a little fun with you, would you, Toots?

I want to tell him that as soon as they let me go I'm heading straight to the police, but staying silent would serve me better, so I say nothing.

The answer is no. I'm not losing one of our highest paying clients just so you can get laid. If that's what you want, go to a bar later. Or get a prostitute with your share.

Prostitutes don't struggle, Bourbon laughs.

Let's get this done. Gruffness sounds annoyed.

I wince as his heavy footsteps stop right in front of me. Bourbon's breath gets further away, but he still has a hold of my hair. The fact that I'm between them is intimidating. Being tied to a chair makes me feel trapped, but they're the real danger.

I should start by letting you know that we're very bad men. Gruffness is all seriousness. "We're the kind of men that make people like you go missing. Forever. And they never find the body. And even if they did find the body, it wouldn't matter because there wouldn't even be enough left of you for them to pull your dental records. We're also the kind of men who never get caught. Nod if you understand. I'd hate to be wasting my breath."

I nod vigorously, my bottom lip trembling slightly.

If you don't want to end up one of those missing persons, then you're going to do exactly what I say. Do you understand?

I nod again.

This is going well so far, don't you think?

She listens, Bourbon chimes in behind me.

She listens. That's good. That's very good. He pauses for a moment. You're working for a very nice old lady right now, yes?

Ann's face flashes across my mind and I nod. A new fear races through me, one that she might be in danger if I don't comply with what they ask. Even worse, that they might want me to do something that harms her. If it comes to that, I couldn't do it. I would go to the police and hope for protection for me and the boys.

I have to hear what these men have to say though. At the very least, I have to pretend like I'm going to comply with their demands. From how Gruffness is making it sound, that's the only way to leave here alive.

You're going to stop working for her.

His request is so plain and basic that it catches me off guard.

What? I ask, quirking my head back a bit.

You're going to stop working for her. In fact, you're never going to have any contact with her again. No calling in to tell her you're quitting. If she sends you a card or something, you're not going to respond. If she shows up at your house, you're not going to open the door. If you have any type of contact with Ann Longworth for the remainder of your life, we will hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand?

Holden. That son of a bitch.

It is now crystal clear to me what's going on—who the boss is. My fear turns into anger in a heartbeat. These men weren't hired to hurt me, just to threaten me. I know that now, and while I don't know if they'd follow through with their threats, the point has been made.

I understand, I say through gritted teeth.

You will not go to the police once we let you go. If you do, we will hunt you down and kill you. You will not speak of this to anyone. I have ears everywhere so I will know. Do you understand?

Yes, I huff.

She don't sound scared anymore. Bourbon tugs at my hair to the point of pain. I tilt my head back to make it less strenuous on my neck.

Well, he did say she'd be fiery, Gruffness sounds far from amused. Let's get her out of here.

I wait for them to unbind my wrists, but instead Bourbon keeps holding my head in place. For several moments, I just sit there listening to their breathing—listening to Gruffness moving around.

What happens now? I ask but get no response.

A few seconds later, I feel the firm, familiar press of a rag over my nose and mouth. Instantly, I panic and struggle, but there's no point. Fumes fill my nostrils, my head throbs in pain a final time, and consciousness leaves me. It's over...just like that.

***

Darkness and pain all over again, though this time the pain is worse. It feels like a full-out lobotomy, or what I imagine one would feel like. Add to that stiffness to my neck and the fact that my arm is asleep, and I'm starting to think I'd be better off if they had killed me.

I realize that my arms are no longer bound when I push myself up. Up off of what? I open my eyes and cringe as the pain in my head is amplified from the effort.

It takes a moment to get my bearings—to realize that I'm in my car in the middle of a parking lot out in the middle of nowhere at night. I rest my back against the seat and just sit there for several minutes looking around. I'm parked in front of what appears to be an abandoned shopping center, possibly once a Walmart or something similar. I don't really know and I don't care. All that matters is that I'm alive.

Once that realization hits me, I start crying. Not because I'm particularly glad that I'm alive, but because I'm wondering what I ever did to deserve this.

I sigh and rest my head on the steering wheel, waiting for the torrent of tears to play out. Bitterly, I think that my biggest mistake was going to work for Ann Longworth, but I know that's not true. This was her mistake, not mine. Her biggest mistake was not aborting that asshole. If I could stab him to death right now, I would.

Does he really hate me so much?

The answer is as plain as day. He paid money to have people kidnap me. Good money, from the sound of it.

I don't get what his problem is, but it doesn't matter anymore. He got what he wanted. Whether those men were bluffing or not, I don't want to find out. Holden has enough money to hire the best. If I go to the police, there's a pretty good chance that those men will carry out their threat. Besides, it's not worth it when the only thing it will take to make this all go away is finding another job.

It breaks my heart that I won't be able to tell Ann why I can't come back, but I'm sure that if she knew she would understand. Survival is more important. And I have to live, not only for me but for the boys. If I died, they'd probably end up in foster care.

Nausea comes and goes as I sit there waiting to be sober enough to drive. For a while, I think about calling someone to come pick me up, but then I'd have to explain what happened.

I'm on my own...as usual.

CHAPTER TWO

HOLDEN

––––––––

It's done.

Those words make me both relieved and terrified at the same time. You didn't hurt her, right? I try to sound like the answer doesn't matter.

No. It happened just as we discussed. She won't be bothering your family anymore, Mister Jones says with confidence.

Part of me wants to ask exactly what he did, but a greater part of me doesn't want to know. It doesn't matter. Whatever happened can't be taken back. And I know it worked. I've never had to follow up with Mister Jones on anyone before, and I highly doubt that Piper will be an exception to the rule. Even if she was, I already know I couldn't make the call. I would just have to find some other way to deal with her...or concede defeat. That thought makes me frown.

No. There's no way she's that stupid. Surely, she knows I mean business now.

Good. I'll wire the rest of the money within the hour. I pull the Newton's Cradle to me, trying my best to swallow my guilt.

As always, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Mister Longworth.

Likewise. The sentiment is dry and fake.

I hang up the phone and sigh before looking at the clock on my computer. It's 8:06 AM. I should have asked if he had Piper all night. That's a lot of time for her to be their prisoner. A lot of time for unspeakable things to be done to her.

They didn't do anything to her. You told them not to hurt her. How will you ever really know, though? You're never going to see her again. If she's smart, she'll stay away from Club Fet too.

Thinking about seeing Piper at Club Fet makes me feel ill...and horny. The memory of the little outfits she wears haunts me. The memory of how it felt to be buried inside of her even more so.

Fuck. I push the Newton's Cradle away and tear my fingers through my hair. This guilt is going to eat at me all day. I have to remind myself that it will go away eventually—that everything I've done has been in the best interest of my mother.

It's Piper's fault, really. She pushed me until I had no other choice. These are the consequences of her actions and we both have to live with them.

I immerse myself in work for a good part of the day. Thoughts of Piper are never far from my mind, though. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm worried about her.

Perhaps to negate some of my guilt, I decide to go ahead and invest in the pharmaceutical company. If they really have figured out a cure for HIV, then I'd be doing the world a great service. I'll roll the dice on this one and hope for the best. Besides, it's not like I'll go bankrupt if they fail. I'm far too smart with my money to invest more than I can afford to lose.

I try to take solace in my good deed, and eventually, my mood starts to turn around. Even the bad things I do are done with the best intentions, most of the time. I hurt Piper, but she'll get over it, and maybe she'll learn that she shouldn't cross someone who has enough money to put her underground. It's a good life lesson.

By the time the workday is over, the guilt I felt earlier is completely gone. I decide to swing by my mother's house to see how she's holding up. I'm sure she'll be upset and in need of comforting.

As I drive over, part of me is curious if I'll see Piper's car there. Even if she does plan on defying me, it's highly doubtful that she'd show up at work today. Whatever Mister Jones' guys did to her, I'm sure it was traumatizing enough to keep her in for at least one day.

Sure enough, my mother's driveway is blessedly free of Piper's car. I smirk to myself as I pull into the spot where I last saw it parked.

I get out of my car and walk up to the front door with pep in my step. Now that I think about it, it has actually been a good day. I solved two of the problems that have been plaguing me lately. The week is off to a great start.

My mother opens the door, and she forces a smile when she sees me. Instantly,