Page 99 of Sadistic Retribution

Synn pulls me into a hug, rocking me and stroking my hair. The others are hanging back.

“Can we talk more about this later? I can’t process this right now. It's too much,” I whisper to Synn.

“Absolutely, Pazessca. We’ll grab a moment when we're all caught up.”

I hear a big sob from Valley, and I see her shoulders shaking from the corner of my eye. Hunter gets up and goes to her, hugging her to him.

I force myself back, letting go of Synn. “We need to hear the rest. Please.”

Purge audibly swallows, and stands, reaching for me. I still don’t forgive any of them, and don’t know if I will ever be able to. But in this moment, I’ll accept the comfort.

I go to him, and he pulls me into his side. He explains everything they have found. Valley gasps, and my eyes well with tears. It’s all adding up now. There are still unanswered questions, though.

“Frost, the ‘F’ in my file must mean Franco. I don’t know what ‘H’ is, though.”

Hunter pipes up. “‘Home.’ I bet it means ‘home’.”

“Home? Did I really have one?” Tears stream unchecked down my face, Val crying along with me. “I mean, I had to havecome from somewhere. Do I have parents? Siblings? People who miss me? What the hell am I not remembering?”

Hunter holds me tight. “I don’t know yet, Pretty Girl, but I won’t stop until we get you those answers. We won’t stop.”

Frost declares from across the room, “I have a feeling you were loved, Killer. I don’t know why, just a gut instinct.”

I blow out a breath. “I hope you’re right.”

I’m suddenly struck with a moment of clarity. “Guys! The Solomons? Every single bastard they brought to me in the attic to rape me… they were all Russian! That can’t be coincidence.”

Frost whips his head around to look at me. “Are you sure?”

I nod frantically. “I remember a lot of them spoke in Russian sometimes.”

Frost comes up to hug me, but I step back, not comfortable with any of them completely yet, though I let Synn and Purge touch me. I'm giving myself emotional whiplash. “Great job, Killer. This could help.”

I smile, my throat clogging up with so many emotions, I can’t sift through them all. I decide to table all this emotion for later, so I stand up straight, and motion I'm ready to continue.

“Alright,” Hunter breathes out. “I need to collect all the physical files. Purge, can you put everything else on a flash drive?”

“Yeah, man, no problem. For your... source?”

He nods. “Don’t ask. I have to talk to them first. But if the cards fall into place, the next step would be getting you all out of here.”

“Now that’s something I can get onboard with!” Razor exclaims.

“Bro, ditto!” Trikk fist-bumps him. “Let me make dinner for everyone. We all need to eat and rest, yeah?”

I shoot him a small smile. “Thank you.”

We settle into the living room to wait for the food. Val burrows into my side, and I hold her with all my strength.

We all went straight to bed after eating dinner. I slept with Hunter, arms wound around each other.

I wake up with a strange feeling of being alone and look at the clock—three am. Confused, I haul myself out of bed, throwing on my clothes and shoes. I tiptoe out of the bedroom, checking the kitchen and living room.

I see Hunter slipping out the front door, wearing a dark hoodie with the hood up. That’s weird.

I move to follow him, staying quiet. He goes outside, cutting through the courtyard. I follow as close as I dare, watching every step. He goes toward the winding drive in front of the main building that leads back out to the road. He stays in the grass, head down, moving quickly. Where the hell is he going?

He keeps going, following the long and winding drive to the road. I look around, not seeing anything. He moves to the road, sticking to the trees. I almost have to jog to keep up he’s moving so fast.