Relinquished (30 page)

No fucking way.

“And, there it is.” An unmistakable smile sounded in Raymond’s voice as blood swished through my throbbing body, making me dizzy. I stared at him, disbelieving. “It’s amazing how easily things can disappear from evidence storage…for the right price, that is. And that look on your face was totally worth every penny. I must admit, I’ve kind of missed that look of terror.”

He took a seat in the only chair, crossed his leg, and placed his intertwined fingers on his lap as though he was waiting patiently for something. The gag in my mouth made my words sound distorted when I screamed, “What do you want?”

“Babe, look at me,” Holden’s shaky voice called. I stared into his eyes, and it was the first time I’d ever seen him look so defeated. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe, understand? Anything.”

His relenting words scared me even more than the savage holding us captive. I prayed Holden wasn’t planning on doing something stupid to save me just to end up hurting himself.  If anything happened to him, I’d have no reason to go on.  He’d become the motivation that got me up every day, ready to keep fighting.

“You’ve got a nice set up here.” Raymond pulled our attention back to him. “It’s going to be a great place to keep some of my girls. We might have to change a few things, though. Wouldn’t want to spoil them or anything.”

“What the fuck are you planning?” Holden barked.

Raymond narrowed his eyes at me. “
Your
father has always been a thorn in my ass. My only regret is that I didn’t kill him when I got rid of those whore mothers of yours.” He pointed to me then Holden.

Fury boiled in my veins as I dug my fingernails into the palm of my hand. I didn’t know how it was going to happen, but this fucker was going to die.

“You,” he said specifically to me, “on the other hand, have been quite entertaining over the years.” He shook his head, a smug look on his face. “Every time I think you’ve come to the end, you surprise the hell out of me.”

“None of this has ever had anything to do with her,” Holden yelled out, yanking violently at the restraints on his wrists. “She’s suffered enough, now fucking let her go!”

Raymond only laughed. He was completely unfazed, that evil never wavering. “You know, as you grew up, and I arranged to have you placed in different homes, I kept track of your father and watched him desperately looking for you.  The real fun, however, didn’t come until I started sending videos of you and that other little brat with Travis.” He let out another sinister laugh. “Oh, that shit was priceless.”

So he saw me with Travis? My father saw what happened to me?

I didn’t want to show emotion in front of this monster, but I couldn’t help it as a tear rolled down my cheek. “Fuck you.” The muffled insult came from behind the cloth in my mouth.

Unfazed, he kept talking. “I have to admit, I was rather proud of Travis’s determination. He’d already killed the other girl’s parents for landing him in jail over a stolen car. But he followed through by taking out their daughter too. No one can fuck around with people like us and expect to walk away unharmed.”

Travis killed Casey’s parents too?

Raymond sat back and looked away like he was reminiscing over a fond memory. Grimacing, he added, “I could’ve done without the fact that you never had clothes on, though.  That was very disturbing, but Travis was always a bit more perverted than me. He’s always had a thing for little girls.”

This sick fuck considers that the disturbing part?
 

“Your father was too close for comfort a few times, but he learned quickly that his actions had consequences. I’ll tell ya, he was almost ahead of me that night at the street race.” He nodded, rubbing his chin.

“At one point, I got bored with our little game of cat and mouse. You made it too easy for me, hanging out with those street thugs. With that kind of lifestyle, you gave me free range to come up with ways to get rid of you. I made arrangements for you to be the one in the car that night at the race, but then your little boyfriend had to go and be the hero.” He flicked his wrist in the air, looking indifferent.

My heart broke. When Scott left me with those last words, I knew his death was somehow tied to me, but now Raymond’s nonchalant statement confirmed it.

“I should’ve known he’d pull something when he wouldn’t take my money. Oh well, no big loss. I planned to get rid of him, too. I figured since you’d been spared so many times, maybe the universe had a bigger plan for us. I mean, after seeing how your
father, foster sister, and boyfriend were willing to take a bullet for you, who else could I toy with simply because they thought they loved you.” His eyes widened with excitement like this fucked up revelation thrilled him beyond belief. “Looking back, I can see there was an even better way to use you than I ever imagined.” 

Bile rose up in my throat, and I felt Holden’s eyes on me while I listened to the recap of every fucked up thing that’s occurred in my life.

Holden couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Is there a reason you feel the need to air this bullshit? We’ve already come to the conclusion that anything bad that’s ever happened to her somehow stemmed from your evil ass.”

If we weren’t in such a dire situation, I’d laugh or rally behind him, but the fight was starting to leave me.

Raymond barked out a loud laugh, pretending to wipe the humor tears away from his eyes. “Oh that’s rich, my boy, seeing as my evil blood runs in your veins as well.”

My chest tightened as I watched all the fight leave the man I loved. Raymond got out of his chair and stalked toward us. Lifting Holden’s chin with his fingers, he scrutinized his features, “I don’t see it, but DNA doesn’t lie.”

Holden jerked away, then Raymond brushed his hands together as though he was trying to get something dirty off them as he took his seat once again. “I still haven’t figured out how Elijah Riley hid you from me all these years. If you hadn’t been sniffing around this one,” he circled his finger in my general direction, “I probably still wouldn’t know about you. Good thing your, oh what shall we call him, faux brother, asked his fuck buddy, Andrea, to send one of her friends to your room.  Too bad he didn’t know she also works for me. Oh, and by the way, her friend Cassandra said to thank you for making it so easy for her to collect that, uh,
sample
from you.” He winked at me. 

I felt hurt trying to rise up inside me, but I squashed it. Raymond was trying to sucker me into something. There was no way Holden would do that to me, plus he hadn’t left my side since we’d been together.

“Nice try,” Holden spat. “Jules knows me better than that.” 

“Oh well, it was worth a shot.” He smacked his hands together. “Time to get down to business. I’ve got a proposition for you, son. And to prove that I don’t fuck around, I’d like to show you something first.”

He motioned for one of his guys, and a laptop was handed over. He opened it, tapped on the keyboard, then smiled wickedly at whatever he was looking at. Stretching his legs out in front of him, the smug son of a bitch looked very pleased with himself. “Perfect shot.”

Standing up, he handed the open laptop back to one of his goons who flipped the screen around to show us.

The screenshot was of my father and Dante.

Holden and I began to fight against our chains, screaming as Sam and Raymond laughed their asses off.

Holden lost it, shouting, “What’s your game, you demented fuck?”

I blinked hard, trying to clear the tears away as I took in the sight of my father and my brother, strung up just like Holden and me, except they looked like they’d been beaten and left to hang there for hours.

Raymond walked toward me, reached behind and ran his finger up and down the bump on my shoulder blade.

I flinched as Holden barked, “Get your fucking hands off her!”

Raymond only smiled. “I love technology. Not only has it allowed me to keep track of the two of you through these chips I had inserted, but we all get to watch this show without being too close to the mess.”

Holden looked at his bicep. Oh shit. I’m the one who told him it was probably just a calcium deposit. Fuck, I should’ve listened to him.

Raymond looked back at the screen. “These two are not part of our deal. I just want to watch your faces when I give the go ahead to kill them because you said it. I guess I am a demented fuck.” He shrugged. “I really do thrive on this.” As Raymond stepped up to the laptop just feet away, I tried to lift my legs to kick him, but I was too weak to raise them very far.

“Don’t do this!” Holden shouted, over and over again, spit flying from his mouth with those desperate words.

Glaring over his shoulder, Raymond exhaled a tsk. “I already told you they aren’t going to be a part of our bargain.” He pointed his thumb at me. “She is.” Turning back to the laptop, he spoke into what looked like a microphone. “Okay, we’re ready. It’s time to show me where your loyalty lies.  Remember what’s at stake.”  

What the hell does that mean?

From the corner of the screen, I saw a large hand raise and point a gun at my father. Frantic, Holden and I both thrashed at our restraints, screamed, cried. All for nothing. We knew we could do nothing. 

On the screen, Dante screamed for him to stop when the pistol abruptly went off. The sound echoed through the warehouse, and I froze. They were somewhere in the building. Then the gun turned toward my brother, who was still in a state of shock over witnessing our father getting shot in the chest.  Another loud bang rang out, then everything went silent, filling the air with death and despair.

The walls began to close in, and my blurred vision narrowed on the sight of the only family I had, speckled with blood, their heads hanging lifelessly.

No, no, no, no,
I cried in my head. At least I thought it was in my head, but the look of glee on Raymond’s face told me I was crying it into the rag shoved in my mouth. Holden was still in shock.

I couldn’t look at it anymore, but I couldn’t look away. I was going to be sick. Blood pumped loudly in my ears as nausea swirled around in my stomach.

With a snap, Raymond slammed the laptop shut like he’d just done his business for the day. No big deal. He hadn’t just shredded me.

He spun around as Marcus appeared at the top of the stairs, gripping the metal handrail and looking intently at me like he was trying to send a message. An apology maybe?

Closing my eyes, I let my whirling head hang low, like I’d just seen my father and brother do, allowing my sobs to take control. Sweat dripped down my back while the weight of my legs began to pull me down. My wrists and hands were completely numb.  

Raymond’s smug words addressed Holden. “So, about my proposition. If you don’t want your little girlfriend here to end up the same way, both of you are going to come work for me.”

“FUCK YOU!” Holden’s hoarse voice roared as the veins in his neck pulsed.

Sam reacted before I had a chance to. “Wait.  What the fuck, Raymond? You said I could have her when you were done today.”

With a dismissive attitude, Raymond raised his shoulders slightly. “You screwed up the first time I told you to take care of her, so I changed my mind. And besides, you should know more than anyone that plans can change.”

Sam punched the wall next to him. “No, this is bullshit.”

Raymond sounded disinterested as he asked, “And why is it you have a vendetta against her again?” I lifted my head in time to see Raymond tapping his lips. “Oh yeah, because your father asked me to have your mother killed and blame it on the stress of the trial.”

“What?” Sam reeled back. “No, she killed herself because this bitch couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”

Raymond rolled his eyes. “Oh, my boy.  You’ve always been so easy to manipulate. Your father didn’t want your mother to be free to share all of his deep dark secrets. She was one of my first girls, you know. Beautiful woman too. It was a damn shame I had to get rid of her. I would’ve rather sold her to someone else. Oh well.”

Enraged, Sam charged for him when Raymond flicked his wrist at Marcus. Another shot rang out, and I screamed as I watched Sam’s eyes close, blood oozing from a wound in the back of his head. I felt something on my face, something sticky and gooey, causing my stomach to churn. My arms shook violently above me, and I didn’t know how much more I could take. I forced myself not to look at Holden until I’d be able to stomach seeing the spatter on him.

“You’re welcome,” Raymond said like he’d just given us the biggest fucking gift imaginable. “That guy was so damn whiny.  Good thing his father can’t stand him either.”

I heard Holden’s chains rattling, drowning out the sounds coming from my own, and I could no longer fight the urge to glance over at him. He didn’t look right. He was staring off blankly, his pale skin sprayed with as much blood as mine. I watched as he took in shallow breaths and licked his chapped lips over and over. I sensed he was in the same state of shock I was attempting to fight off.

No, Holden! Stay with me!

I wanted to reach out, comfort him, beg him to remember that all we had was each other.  Desperate to grasp on to the fight I knew he had deep inside, I silently begged him to defend us. We both needed to stay present, to focus on us, our plans for the future. I needed Holden to not give up. Together we could win.