Page 29

Zoriah

I wake up to banging, and a hand covers my mouth right as I try to scream. I panic immediately and start thrashing but Ben’s voice cuts through the anxiety. “Shhh. Relax. I’ve got you,” he says quietly. “I need for you to be very quiet, okay?”

“What’s wrong?” I ask tearfully.

“I don’t know. The silent alarm tripped, and they went to check it out,” he whispers before pulling me up from the bed. Banging sounds through the house again, and Ben pulls me to his chest.

“Someone’s in the house, aren’t they?” I ask.

“I think so. They wouldn’t be making that noise without telling me things were clear,” he says. “We need to get you down to the safe room, okay?”

“O-Okay,” I stammer. We slowly and quietly leave the room, but I gasp when I run straight into a body. Arms wrap around me, and Corbin nearly crushes me to his chest to keep me from screaming. Apparently, I am predictable.

“Woah. Hey. It’s me,” Corbin whispers.

“Is someone in the house?” Ben asks quietly.

“Uh. Yeah,” he says slowly. “It’s not the cult.”

“Who is it? Where is Roman?” I ask.

“Uh, so… Remember how his parents ran from the cartel?” he asks softly, making my eyes go wide.

“The news conference caught their attention. They don’t know that we are here.

They are with Roman and Dad right now. Huxley is watching the cameras and trying to get ahold of Roman’s parents. I came up here to check on you.”

“What in the fuck are we sitting here for?” I snap. “Why are you so goddamn calm?”

“Will you hush, woman?” Corbin says.

“Fuck that,” I say, pushing past him.

“Stop it. Zoriah, no. They’ll—” Corbin starts to say in a hushed tone.

“Either help me or shut the fuck up,” I seethe. “How fucking dare you abandon them down there with the goddamn cartel? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Riah, they will rape you in front of all of us if they see you. That is why his parents ran. A cartel leader is his biological father because his mom was raped as a teen. His dad was dating her at the time and helped her run,” Corbin says firmly.

“At least it’s not giving pleasure to God,” I seethe. “Help or hide, I don’t give a fuck.”

“I’m following her lead,” Ben says. “Come on.”

“Roman is going to kick my ass,” he sighs.

“Hux is watching the camera. We are fine,” I say confidently.

I turn and walk down the hall to the gun cabinet hiding in the closet. I quietly pull out a pistol, and Ben smiles widely at me. “You tiny little psycho,” Corbin sighs and grabs a shotgun. I smile at him before turning and going to the staircase. As we descend, we start hearing voices.

“Money, Roman. Where is it?” A man says firmly.

“Do I look like I just have a stack of money laying around?” Roman deadpans. “It’s in the fucking bank.”

“I don’t believe you,” he says calmly.

I don’t understand his demeanor until I get to the bottom of the stairs and see one of the men with a gun to the back of Roman and Dad’s head.

Anger hits me faster than Ben and Corbin can stop me.

I raise the pistol and fire two rounds. I am confident in my shot, and rightfully so, because both men drop to the ground.

I spent my entire childhood at the gun range with Corbin and Huxley.

The man that was speaking simply looks at the dead men and looks at me.

“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Tolson. Care to join us?”

“No,” Roman shouts. “Leave her out of this.”

I take two steps forward, and we are taken down so fast that I forget I’m supposed to be scared.

I don’t think I am. Who in the fuck are these fools?

Don’t they check a house before they start making demands?

I definitely didn’t count on there being so many of them, though.

That’s my bad. I am pulled up with my hands behind my back and see Corbin and Ben have a gun on them.

They aren’t moving because the man who has me has a gun pressed to my temple.

“Leave her out of it. Just let her go. She can go to the bank when they open and get the cash. How about that? Just let her go get the money,” Roman pleads. He looks terrified. Really, everyone does but me.

“Bring her to me,” the man says.

“I can walk, dickhead. Don’t drag me,” I snap at the man. I am led closer and Dad looks just as scared as Roman, especially when he sees me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Tolson,” he says. “You shot my two favorite men.”

“Want me to shoot your two least favorite to even it out?” I ask simply. He slaps me across the face, and it stings, but I laugh. He shoves me down to my knees, and Roman is immediately a wreck.

“Stop. Please don’t. I’ll do whatever you want. Okay? Please don’t hurt her,” Roman pleads. The man ignores him and goes to unbuckle his belt.

“You stick your dick in my mouth, and I’m biting it off. Hit me if you want,” I laugh.

“Bite me and I’ll shoot your husband in the head,” he counters hatefully.

“Let’s see how fast your reflexes are then,” I shrug. “I hear a man bleeds out fast when his dick is bitten off.”

“Get her off the fucking floor,” the man hisses. I am pulled up, and my hands are released. I move, and he pulls his pistol. “Such a brave little bitch. I bet you’ll feel wonderful wrapped around my cock.”

“I could have herpes for all you know,” I say. “Such a brave little bitch. Hope you got some itch cream.”

“Riah,” Dad snaps at me.

“What? You think this dumbass scares me?” I ask before turning back to the man. “You’re his sperm donor, yeah? What’s your name?”

“Rodrigo Jimenez,” he says simply.

“Look, Rodrigo. I know you are dangerous or whatever, but… I’ve been through way too much to be scared of you. What do you want?”

“A portion of whatever my son has going on that has made him so rich. Drugs, gambling, guns… it’s something.”

“Wrong. Try again,” I say. “If he was doing anything sketchy, I’d know. I’ve been his assistant for a while now.”

“No one gets rich by doing the right thing,” he says.

“Think maybe you just used your brains to be a dumbass criminal, and he used his to be a businessman?” I ask. “Also, you literally raped his mother. You think he’s going to give you shit?”

“He will because he has no choice. I will kill all of you if—”

“Oh… You don’t know,” I interrupt and look at Roman. “How did he find you?”

“I assume the news reports,” Roman says.

“What news reports?” Rodrigo asks. “We’ve been tracking you for months and confirmed DNA from items found in the trash six months ago.”

“You… are a fucking moron,” I say, laughing at him. He rears back and slaps me across the face, making me stumble back. That one hurt like a bitch, but I shake it off and straighten my back.

“I will fucking kill you, bitch,” he screams at me as he gets into my face.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why you are a moron, Rodrigo?” I ask sweetly.

“There is no fucking way you didn’t check their names,” Ben laughs. “Some fucking cartel boss you are.”

“A month ago, I was kidnapped and sacrificed by The People of Christ Church,” I say. “I escaped when I killed the leader’s second in command. Know what that means, Rodrigo?”

I have been stalling to give them time to get into position.

I saw a flash of Lance when I was shoved down to my knees.

We made eye contact for just long enough that I understood I needed to stall.

Huxley must have called them instead. I knew they were close by, but I didn’t think they were this close.

Rodrigo takes a few steps back, but the living room is suddenly rushed.

“FBI. Hands where I can see them,” Lance shouts.

I turn and rush to Roman to untie him as Corbin does the same for Dad.

I am pulled into Roman’s lap as he sits on the couch, and he hugs me tightly as the adrenaline seeps out of me and I start crying.

I hear the chaos in the house, but I am systematically shutting down every part of my brain that isn’t focused on Roman and his warmth.

Someone else is rubbing my back. Two people… My men. Huxley is here. I can tell it’s them. Someone else is trying to get my attention, but I can’t completely pull myself out of this daze.

“He knocked the shit out of her. You sure she’s okay?” Vanessa asks.

“She’s been hit harder,” Huxley laughs.

“Did you kink-slap my little sister?” Corbin asks.

“I didn’t. Roman did,” he says. “She’s a little freaky little freak.”

“Always stand behind the woman who laughs when she is smacked,” Lance says. “She’s bound to win.”

“Riah,” Dad says softly. I sit up and wipe my face before getting up to go to him. He stands and wraps me in a warm hug, and I come back to baseline. He pulls after a second and cups my face. “Are you okay?”

“I shot someone,” I say.

“Yeah,” he smiles. “You’re not in trouble, if that’s your concern.”

“Oh… good,” I say.

“We have access to the cameras,” Lance says. “We saw it before Huxley even called us.”

“You… have access to the cameras?” I ask.

“They don’t record,” he says simply.

“But you watch them?” I ask.

“There are two agents assigned to watch them, and we are notified of alarms and loud sounds in the house that could indicate distress,” Vanessa says when Lance doesn’t.

I should be upset, but I understand why they are watching them.

I find it comical that they probably saw me get fucked, and those other agents definitely did.

“You saw earlier tonight, didn’t you?” I ask.

“We were notified automatically of loud sounds coming from the master bedroom,” she smiles. “Once we verified there wasn’t a threat, we shut that camera down for a while.”

“Yeah. I don’t believe that for a second. Lance looks traumatized,” Ben laughs.

“I… am a professional man,” he says with a hard nod.

“I should mention that Lance and I graduated high school together,” Roman says. “And he is a liar. I can see it all over his traumatized face.”

“I feel like I’m being left in the dark a lot here,” I frown.

“You are,” Huxley says. “They are trying not to upset you by throwing a lot on you to consider.”

“Roman Tolson, you literally throat-fucked me to the point I threw up… and didn’t even stop. I think I can handle the FBI agent friend seeing me get railed.”

“She has a good point,” Dad shrugs. “Also, that was far more than I needed to know.”

“Haley’s body was found about an hour ago,” Lance says.

“Oh?” I ask.

“Mhmm. Looks like she was torn apart by animals. Her body is in shreds,” he says simply.

“She was never an outdoors kind of person,” I shrug.

“So we’ve heard,” Vanessa says. “Her cause of death will be listed as a possible mauling with no sign of foul play.”

“May she rot in hell,” I say. “What now?”

“Now we get the dead bodies out of your living room,” she says.

“I have the directions to the hatch written down. I know I told you, but…” Huxley starts to say.

“We’ve been there,” Lance says carefully.

“What?” I ask. “When? Are they…”

“They’re gone,” Venessa says. I blink at her, not wanting to believe it. “It took us a while to get in, but they aren’t there. Techs got into the system, and the last time the hatch was opened was when Huxley left.”

“Then how…”

“They had a way out,” Huxley says. “That’s the only way.”

“I would like for you to come back with us and see if maybe you can find a way out. You were there, so you’d be our best option.”

“I don’t know if I can…”

“Can we be with him?” I ask.

“Of course. I know you want to go through the place you were kept also, so we can do that after the hatch.” Lance says. “The scene should be processed by morning so you all can walk through.”

“How are you going to find them?” I ask. “Am I at risk? Is Huxley? Why are you people…”

“I’ll explain. Are we good to take her upstairs?” Roman asks, cutting me off. I go to say more, but he covers my mouth and pulls my back against his chest. I cross my arms over my chest and give up.

“Yes. Just keep us updated and don’t call the agency phone,” Lance says.

“You got it,” Roman says as he scoops me into his arms and takes me upstairs. When we get to the room, he sits me on the bed, and everyone is standing in front of me with the door shut.

“What?” I snap but stop and take a deep breath. “I’m sorry… What’s going on?”

“We will be locating the group and handling them,” Roman says. “Lance and Vanessa will keep us updated with anything they find. They’re afraid they will somehow get out of it if they don’t die, and we all want you and Hux to get justice.”

“I want Dad to have a choice in killing Richard,” I say.

“Really?” Dad asks, hiding a smile.

“Yes. He killed your wife and hurt your little girl. He took so many years from you and me both. You deserve justice also.”

“I’m excited to see this,” Corbin laughs.

“Do we have any idea where they went?” I ask.

“Maybe. Let’s see the hatch and the house first, and then go from there,” Roman says. “Get up there and lie down. We will all be here.”

“Okay,” I yawn.

I move up the bed to curl up under the blankets while everyone joins me by sitting and chatting. Huxley is stroking my hair as Roman and Ben have their hands on my hip and thigh. It’s mindless and natural for them as they talk. I feel safe and happy surrounded by everyone.