-Logan-
Every muscle in my back had a fuckin knot in it.
0:1
$5 vouchers
We’d gotten back to the clubhouse three or four hours ago. Shit, the sun was up now. Guess it coulda been longer.
I was pacing back and forth, wearing a hole in the floor. My eye kept catching on the bolt on the front door.
My fingers were itching to wrap around someone’s throat, and I had half a mind to go out and find Ramirez. Choke the life out of him for helping Hailey slip out of here.
Just to give me something to do with my hands.
The place was quiet… not peaceful. Everyone was slumped in chairs or sprawled on the pool tables.
They were all trying to look casual, but I felt their eyes on me. Waiting. Watching to see if my rage was finally gonna bust loose and trash the place again.
River was sitting at a table in the corner, cleaning his piece. I could tell he was as wound up as I was. His eyes flicked up to meet mine for a second, then back down.
The smell of fresh coffee hit me then. Cut through the funk of stale beer and failure. My mother came out of the kitchen with a full pot in one hand and a stack of mugs in the other. She was trying hard to hide her worry.
hey started hat nobod
She
ving through the room, pouring coffee, pressing mugs into hands. Trina followed her with a tray of donuts
d fucking touch.
ont of me. “Logan, honey,” she said quietly. “Sit. Have some coffee.” She tried to press a mug into my hand.
- d. “Don’t want it.”
At,” she insisted. She took my hand, forced my fingers around the mug. “You’re running on fumes. You haven’t haven’t eaten. You’ll be no good to her like this.”
her‘ hit me hard. My girl. My Ace. Out there somewhere because I let my guard down. Because I pushed her right into The psycho’s arms.
A new wave of that helpless rage tore through me. The snarl that ripped out of me was raw. “It won’t do shit, Ma.” But I took it anyway.
I slumped onto a stool at the bar and chugged half of it. Stared down into what was left and saw nothing but Hailey’s face. Her terrified eyes, offering herself up to Anatoly
Coffee wasn’t gonna touch it.
My eyes went to the half–empty bottle of whiskey sitting on the bar. Without looking at my mother, I grabbed it and upended it over my mug.
I heard her sigh. “Logan..”
I lifted the mug and took a long, burning gulp.
When my pocket buzzed, I almost choked I pulled out my phone and realized it hadn’t come from mine. It came from Hailey’s.
1/4
5:22 pm
Chapter 160
PTT
My body went rigd 1 pulled hers out and saw a text notification
An unknown nor
My heart started pounding, it was probably him. Anatoly Telling me where to find her fuckin body.
My thumb hovered over the screen and I couldn’t fucking breathe.
I tapped the message. The words loaded and my head went blank for a second. It wasn’t Anatoly
It was her.
- Logan, it’s Hailey, I’m to worry,”
Suddenly I could breathe again. She was alive. Right now, she was alive. Unless he was fucking with me.
I’m okay, but he wants you to come save me.*
EL ES
The relief turned into gut–churning terror. It was a trap. It had to be. He was dangling her in front of me. Using her to pull
me in.
Give Abby a message for me: nice feet, are they new? And tell her to send Mom a large pizza. Extra bacon.*
The rest of it blurred into a smear. My focus was on the bizarre command. Give Abby a message.
It made no goddamn sense.
“ABBY!”
It tore out of me. Shattered the heavy silence of the room. All pretense of not watching me vanished. Every head in the place snapped toward me.
I was off the stool, scanning the room. I found her sitting at the table with River.
She flinched when my eyes locked on her.
I closed the distance, River stood up slowly. His posture shifted from weary to wary as he put himself between me and Abby
I ignored him. I shoved the phone right into Abby’s face. Her eyes went wide, darting from it to me.
“What the fuck does this mean?” I growled. “Read it. Tell me what this goddamn bullshit means.”
Her brow furrowed as she took the phone from me. She read it. She read it again. Confusion was written all over her face, and I wanted to shake her.
She didn’t know. So it was nothing. A trick. A-
Then her head snapped up.
“I think..” she stammered. “I think are there any cave systems around here? Tunnels! Anything underground?”
She looked from me to River and started to sound more certain. “The nice feet thing. It’s an old joke. From a school trip.
When we went to Mammoth Cave I said it to her when she tripped on the stairs going down. It was miles of stairs down into the dark. I think I think she’s trying to tell us she’s underground somewhere.”
Underground. I latched onto the word.
2/4
:32 pm
Chapter 159
PTT.
“What-?” My aunt’s voice was cut off.
55 vouchers
The camera view shoved forward violently. The door flew inward. The image lurched as the man stepped into the house. I saw my mom sitting in that same spot on the couch. Saw the horrified look on her face.
And then I saw a black–gloved hand come up from below the frame, holding a pistol fitted with a silencer.
The screen went black.
A sound ripped out of me. A sob that I couldn’t choke back. A noise of pure, undiluted terror.
“Why?” I screamed at Anatoly, standing and shoving my chair backwards. “Why are you punishing me? I did what you asked I didn’t do anything wrong! You didn’t even read the message I sent him!”
He finally looked away from me, stubbing out his cigarette in a glass ashtray. He stood and straightened his suit jacket with a
ug
It does not matter what you said to him,” he said. His voice was flat and emotionless. “Thank you, Hailey. You’ve done well. That is all for today.”
The door to the conference room opened and two new guards entered. Their faces were just as blank as the others, their movements just as controlled,
They each grabbed one of my arms and hauled me toward the door. My legs gave out, but they held me up. My boots dragged on the floor as they pulled me from the room.
I was sobbing now. Massive, heaving gasps that made my chest burn.
I didn’t fight them. There was no point. The fight was gone. Everything was gone.
They half–carried, half–dragged me back down the hallway. They reached my door, tapped in the code, and shoved me
nside. I stumbled forward and collapsed onto the floor as the door hissed shut behind me and the lock thunked into place.
I curled into a ball and sobbed. I cried for my aunt, for my mother, for Shawn, for the man whose blood was still on the floor omewhere. I cried for Logan, for the trust I’d shattered.
But mostly, I cried because I finally, truly understood.
There was no right choice. There was no winning Anatoly’s twisted fucking game.
4/5
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
