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“Bullshit!” He walked around the chair until he was right in front of me. He bent down and got in my face. “Tell me what you did to my brother, bitch. Or else.”
“I didn’t do anything to him even though I should have, and I don’t know where he is.” Mark was an ex-cop, he was used to questioning suspects, while the first part of the sentence was a lie, the last part was the truth. I really didn’t know where Alex was. Though at this stage I didn’t think Mark cared one way or another, he wanted to take out his anger on someone and I was that person. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, “What did you do to him, Mark?”
His nostrils flared and an angry breath rushed out.
“You might have your cop buddies fooled but not me. You’re the one named on a million-dollar life insurance policy, not me.”
He stood up tall and shook his head. “They never should have let you go.” He rammed his fingers through his hair and started pacing in front of me. “They arrested you, rightfully so, and you should still be behind bars goddammit.”
“They shouldn’t have arrested me, period,” I said in response. “They only did it to satisfy you, a very viable suspect in his own right. They let me go because they don’t have any evidence that I did anything because there’s no evidence that anything has happened to Alex.”
“He wouldn’t leave his life.”
“You think you know him?” I shook my head. “He could be holed up with any number of mistresses. Nurses and doctors from the hospital, the women he meets at conferences or just some chick he picked up at the casino.”
“You’re lying.”
“I have no reason to lie, Mark.”
“Except life in prison. Even your little boyfriend can’t save you from that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Your anger can’t save you.” In the face of his anger, I was no longer scared, at least not for myself. I was angry in return. This man was sick and delusional, and I was sick and fucking tired of being a punching bag for the nearest man. Slate had taught me one thing I would never forget and that was my worth, my value to myself. I deserved more than this and I wouldn’t take his shit lying down. I might have setbacks here and there, but it was a lesson I refused to ever forget.
“Bitch!” The word came out on a snarl and then came the backhand that nearly knocked me and the chair backwards. “Just tell me what happened, and I won’t hurt your little brat.”
“You won’t hurt her anyway.” I smiled, thinking how happy I was that Slate now knew about Ash. “You’re a dead man and you don’t know it yet.”
“Don’t count on it. You might have fooled Alex, but I see through your little girl lost act. It won’t work on me so just tell me where my brother’s body is and maybe I’ll just call the cops instead of burying you in his grave.” He smacked me again and then again, unleashing his anger on me simply because he could.
I swallowed down every smack and every punch. I took it with more strength than I even knew I possessed. I refused to give him a fucking inch by making a peep. “It doesn’t change the fact that your brother left me and now I’m paying for his actions. Again.”
Another backhand landed on my cheek and this one really fucking hurt. He put his whole body into the smack and my cheek stung like I was sitting too close to the fire, but Iswallowed the cry that threatened to escape. “Tell me or I’ll get your precious little daughter to tell me what you did.”
That threat was hollow because Ash didn’t know what happened to Alex. I’d told her to hide upstairs after I got him away from her. All she knew was that when she came downstairs, he was gone which always happened after his rage exploded. “You first. Tell me what you did to him Mark. Did he call you or stop by your place with a few beers to bitch about the wife? You asked him for money, and he declined so you lost your shit.” It was as reasonable an explanation as any.
“No! You willnotturn this around on me, your stupid bitch. Tell me where my brother is?”
“I don’t know.” The words came out barely above a whisper and I calmed down, ignoring the fear that fired my blood because I needed to figure out a way to get me and Ash out of this situation. Mark was too volatile, and it wouldn’t take much more taunting before he hit me too hard, before his anger took over and I paid the price.
And then Ash paid the price because he couldn’t leave any witnesses.
Thankfully he didn’t know Sara had been—and maybe still was—on the phone.
I knew Slate would come but I couldn’t be sure he would get here in time to save us which meant I had to save myself.
Chapter 37
Slate
My adrenaline pumped like a hydrant opened in the summer, wild and out of control, as we headed to the spot where Mark Edwards was holding my girls captive. A mixture of excitement and anxiety pumped through me as the wind whipped through my hair and danced across my skin. The ride to his place was filled with hope and fear, victory and defeat. The things he could do to Emma and Ash turned my skin cold, but I wouldn’t let that happen.
I couldn’t.
Emma and Ash meant too much to me to let my emotions get the best of me. If I did that, he would win, and I would lose them both forever. I’d only just found them, just figured out what the fuck my life was supposed to be about and there was no chance I was giving it up now.
Or ever.
My brothers and I parked at the end of the next block over, just to make sure we had the element of surprise on our hands. There was no fucking way imaginable that I would give him the upper hand.
