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The rattling of an old vehicle stopped, and a man with a different accent—American, but still different from mine—spoke.
“I wasn’t expecting you guys on time. I thought I’d have to wait for you.”
“You thought wrong,” Daniel said, looking so different today, in an outfit so different from his usual attire.
I couldn’t see much of anything, just his big lace-up boots on the yellowing grass and the stonewashed denim pants he wore.
It reminded me of Remi.
Remi, who I’d thought of too many times. My memories of him twisting from love to hate, from joy to pain and back again, because my mind was fucking broken.
I hit my elbow on the crate as my fingers brushed tears from my eyes.
Stupidly, for good luck, I banged the other elbow, following the guidance of an old wives’ tale my mother used to recite. The extra inch of room on that side allowed my ulna to hurt more as it sent trauma to my broken wrist. I knew the name of that bone, remembering it as a funny word from my childhood. Rhylie didn’t find it funny, seeing as she’d chipped it, falling from the black beauty of a horse she used to ride at the local stables.
Pain amplified when thinking of her. The mental pain turned physical, creating literal pangs in my heart.
“This gonna fit in your trunk?” Daniel’s driver buddy asked as if I were a large bag of groceries.
“No need.” A car door opened, creaking as it pulled wide. “She can travel up front with me.”
Great, I was purchased by an idiot. That would make it easier to get away.
“She’s not…the most well-behaved slave,” Daniel pointed out. “She’s currently nursing an injured wrist, as Rubbichon himself—”
That name would haunt me forever.
“—had to get a little handsy.”
“For you, maybe she isn’t all that well-behaved.” The man’s accent darkened. “You’re not her master, and neither is your boss.”
Nothing happened for a moment. The men holding me talked with their eyes.
Then the crate landed on the floor, each beam creaking, along with many of my pained bones upon impact.
Part of me wished I’d landed on Daniel’s ugly boot, breaking what was undoubtedly ugly toes, but I wouldn’t waste my wishes. I knew Daniel’s ugly toes would be protected by steel just like Daddy’s were when he went out to earn an honest living on the building site.
No, I wouldn’t waste that wish or any other.
I’d keep them all for when my strength depleted and I had nothing else to get me out of this situation. I’d keep my hope and my faith, too, and those things would rebuild my strength.
I could do this.
A key twisted in the lock, and the latch closing me in lifted to reveal a colorful sky. The sun kissed my skin as it drifted behind a pretty pink cloud, making way for the evening. My fingers gripped the wood, and I peeped over the top with eyes that struggled to adjust after my very dark journey.
The man, whose name I didn’t know, shook my crate. “Get the fuck out.” He tipped me over. His big, veiny arms, grown through so many years of forcing steroids into his system, had no trouble lifting me.
I tumbled to the ground, ass over head, landing uncomfortably and with my legs open at Daniel’s feet. I almost winced over the pain in my wrist, but I gritted my teeth to stop that from happening. To stop Daniel from knocking a few of them out with that dirty boot. He stepped back, looking down at me with a closed smile that I refused to acknowledge. It was like he knew my every thought.
“We can recycle this. Ya know, do our bit for the planet.” The man laughed, noticing my crate was broken.
I almost barfed on the weeds around my fingers. Shifting into a sitting position, I tried to keep all my private bits hidden with my legs and feet. I contemplated running away on the dirt road we’d traveled, but there was nothing around for miles. Different shades of green and yellow were all I could see. There was no sound but the squawking of some kind of hawk, who even looked down on me like I was prey as it flew by.
The banging of wood hitting metal had me jumping as my damaged crate—now no longer able to carry another body, not without a repair job first—was tossed back into the truck.
The whimpering cries of other terrified girls set my hackles on edge, and the gentle wind blowing around me made me cold, even in the heat of spring.
“Best we get moving.” Daniel tapped his colleague on the shoulder, ready to go and get on with his life and his contribution to ruining someone else’s. “I have to be in Chicago tomorrow for the gig.”
