Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Could she have been any stupider? When Gabby left Blake that morning, she’d been on a mission to get as far away as possible, all for the express reason of keeping those she cared about out of harm’s way.

Now she was smack dab in the thick of it, wishing she would have stayed put. If she’d asked Blake for his help, she might not be here now, tied to a chair in the middle of a brightly lit...barn stall?...wondering if and when she was going to breathe her last.

The smell of straw tickled her nose, making her want to sneeze. The gun aimed at her forehead kept her from moving an inch.

“You know,” she told the giant of a man who didn’t appear to speak a word of English, “you could just let me go. I won’t tell anyone. It’d be our little secret.”

His dull, lifeless gaze stayed fixed on her, unblinking. He didn’t even grunt in response, making her wonder if he was deaf too. But she knew he wasn’t. She’d heard him speak earlier, when she was brought in by the rough and tumble one with the missing tooth—a tooth she’d helped to relieve him of when he’d abducted her.

Man, she never should have gone to see Shane. She should have known that if she’d been found, he likely had been too. Just her luck that they’d been there when she’d shown up. Probably lying in wait. She’d wanted to warn Shane and tell him goodbye. She couldn’t, in good conscious, leave without doing that much. And now she was paying dearly for it.

She’d known the moment she stepped foot in his room and he’d given her those wide, fearful eyes that she’d made a huge mistake. Being in a place surrounded by people, she lingered, trying to come up with a plan of escape. Fifteen minutes later, she signed out, her only plan to make a run for her car and get the hell out of there.

She’d gotten as far as the driver’s seat, the key in the ignition, before she realized she’d forgotten the number one rule of driving her parents had taught her: always check the backseat.

She had only a few seconds to process the error as she stared into those blank, charcoal colored eyes in her rearview mirror, before the cloth covering her mouth and nose pulled her under.

Now she stared into a similar set of eyes trying to think up things to say that might earn her freedom back, but she knew in her core that her days of running were over.

Any minute now, she’d come face to face with that horrible man who’d left her for dead, and he’d demand to know where his money was before finishing the job.

She was conflicted over what to tell him. Anything she said, no matter what it was, would likely end in her demise anyway.

At the moment, her fight or flight instincts were in full effect, but she was bound to a chair with a gun to her head, so she wasn’t going anywhere.

For a brief moment, she allowed herself to think about her family, her job, the children in her classroom, and especially Blake and Ash, who’d shaken up her life and brought so much joy to her world in the short time they’d been together. She’d taken it all for granted, thinking she could go on and live her life as if they’d never touched it. Now she knew better. There was no life without them. They gave her everything she hadn’t known she was missing. What she wouldn’t give to see their faces again, to be back in their arms.

Gabby shook the damaging thoughts away. What was the point in reflection when there was no hope of repairing the damage she’d already caused?

The sound of boots, heavy on the packed-dirt floor, made it to her ears just seconds before the face she’d been dreading to see appeared around the corner. The as-yet-nameless man’s face was alight with humor as he entered the stall. Two men, also carrying guns, followed in behind him. Last but not least, Blake’s ex, Jodi, entered.

Stepping back to lean against the stall wall, Jodi kept silent, letting her hateful smirk do all the talking. Gabby spared her a brief glance, then refused to give her the time of day or the satisfaction of seeing her shock and dismay.

Had Jodi been the one to lead him to her? If so, then she was even more cunning than she and Blake had given her credit for.

Clasping his hands in front of him, the man she feared most regarded her, his eyes dancing with mirth. “I must say, you did a fantastic job running from me, Gabriella Morgan.” The way her name slithered off his tongue made Gabby shiver.

“Yeah? What gave me away?” She was trying her best to keep her chin up, to present a false air of bravado so he didn’t know she was two seconds away from pissing herself, but something told her he saw straight through her façade.

“Ah.” Dipping his head, he re-clasped his hands behind his back and took three steps left, pivoted, then three steps right. He repeated the march a few times before coming to a stop directly above her, literally looking down his nose at her. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about people, it’s that they’re very much like animals. When they’re running scared, give them enough space, and eventually they’ll grow complacent. Let down their guard a little, then a little more.” Bending at the waist, he brought his face down in front of hers, close enough to smell the cigar smoke on his breath. He hissed, “And a little more.”

Gabby’s stomach flipped, dread consuming her.

Snapping upright, he started his march again. One, two, three. Pivot. One, two, three. Pivot. “You let down your guard, Gabriella. After that, it was so easy. I had my men looking for you from day one, just waiting for you to slip up. And then you did.” He bore his teeth in a sinister smile. “Elementary school teacher. How quaint. And most unpredictable. Most people who run from me take on odd jobs, try to stay under the radar. But not you! Oh, no, not you. School teacher,” he repeated. “Admirable, if not stupid. Getting into bed with my enemy? Even stupider. You practically jumped into my lap.” Crouching down in front of her, his expression softening, he reached up and fingered a lock of her hair almost tenderly. “Tell me, Gabriella, is that what you wanted? Were you hoping I’d find you?”

She wanted to kick him right in his evil face, but the rope around her ankles rendered her completely immobile. So she did the next best thing. Inhaling deep, she loosed a giant wad of spit into his right eye.

“Hijo de puta! You bitch!” Jolting to his feet, he cursed roundly and so viciously, Gabby instantly regretted it. His arm swung out, connecting with the side of her face. But the pain in her cheek was the least of her worries. What would he do to her now? She didn’t imagine men like him allowed so vile an act to go unanswered.

One of the men handed off a handkerchief and she watched through bleary eyes with fear in her heart as he wiped her spit away. When he was through, he leveled her with the most hate filled, vengeful look she’d ever witnessed. If the devil truly existed, surely he was standing before her now.

Finding her voice, she asked, “Who are you? Why are you doing this?” If she was going to die, she at least wanted to know why and at whose hands.

“I find it difficult to believe you don’t know who I am. Everyone who sits before me knows who I am.” Keeping her expression even, she stared him down until his eyes narrowed to puzzled slits. “My name is Ricky Cruiz.”

She shrugged, letting him know that it meant nothing to her. She half expected him to start shouting his irritation, since his name clearly didn’t have the far-reaching ability he assumed it had, but he only nodded and turned his back on her. Approaching one of the men guarding the stall door, he did something—an exchange perhaps—out of her line of sight. “No matter. You know who I am now, and I guarantee you’ll never forget me. So, back to business. I told you before, Gabriella, I want what I’m owed.”

“Money?” she questioned. “I already told you I don’t know where it is. I never did. If anything, it should be Shane sitting here, not me.”

“Liar,” Jodi muttered.

Ricky Cruiz shot a warning look, shutting her up. Slowly, his head turned back around to resume whatever he was doing, and he picked up the conversation where she’d left off. “If only Shane could sit, maybe he would be. But I have no use for a man who needs another’s hands to wipe his ass.”

“That’s your fault.”

He grinned over his shoulder. “Indeed. Some of my best handiwork, to be sure. Now, tell me, Gabriella, before we get started, are you certain you don’t know where my money is? And before you say anything, know that I can spot a liar a hundred yards away.”

When she opened her mouth to reply in kind, he turned to face her, and what Gabby saw in his hand rendered her speechless.

A knife, like something a person might use to cut apart carpet—curved like a backward C and tarnished to a nearly black patina—took center stage as he approached her. Holding it aloft, he turned it back and forth in the light, admiring it.

“I don’t know where it is.” Her voice trembled, and one of his thick brows arched menacingly. He tsked, turning her stomach to stone. Jodi continued to watch from the sidelines, smirking.

“We’re going to have some fun tonight, you and I,” he informed as he walked a path around her, the heels of his boots scuffing the straw. “When I’m through, you’re going to wish you died. Assuming you don’t, I have special plans for you. A truck waiting out back, ready to take you and the others to mi hacienda especial, although I don’t expect you’ll be the prize you are now once I’m through with you. You have Jodi here to thank for that.”

Gabby’s gaze shot up, registering the pride in Jodi’s eyes. The bitch had actually helped him plan out what he was going to do with her? She wished she was close enough to spit on her too.

Brandishing the knife, Ricky reached around her from behind. She felt the cool kiss of metal on her chest, just below her collarbone, and her breath froze in her lungs. The smoky flavor of tobacco swept past her nose as he leaned in close, his lips against her ear.

“I’m going to fuck you up so good, chica. That pretty boyfriend of yours won’t be able to look at you the same ever again. Not that he will.”

His maniacal laughter echoed in her ears at the same time she felt the blade slide across her skin. At the first cut, Gabby unleashed an unholy scream that filled the rafters and drowned out everything else around her.