Page 48 of Waggs

Waggs agreed, this ended tonight and not with any of them dead, that was for fucking sure. They also had an ace in the fox’s den that they had no idea about—Bebe.

Chapter 20

Willow came awake with a start, her heart hammering in her chest, her body flinching into a sitting position, her wrists snagging on the plastic of the zip ties that bound her. She remembered instantly what had happened and the bloom of pain in her cheek would have reminded her if she hadn’t anyway.

“Hey.”

Willow turned from her position on the floor to the sound of Bebe’s voice. “Bebe, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a few bruises. How about you?”

Willow couldn’t see a lot in the low light of what looked like a warehouse office. “Yeah, fine, just a face ache.”

“Did you recognise any of the men?” Bebe didn’t sound the least bit frightened and Willow used that to keep herself from freaking out.

“Yes, actually, three of them. Ralph Edwards, Nick Green, who was Aaron and Aiden’s CO in the Army, and Jerry Edwards, Ralph’s father. I thought he was sweet but apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“They’re waiting for a delivery of six other girls and then they’ll move us. We can’t allow that to happen.”

“Okay. What do you need me to do?”

“I’m not sure yet, just be ready to move when I say, okay?”

“Sure, I can do that, but these zip ties will slow me down.”

“Does that dress have a removable belt?”

Willow thought for a second and nodded and remembered Bebe couldn’t see her. “Yes.”

“Can you take it off?”

“No. Its tied at the front.”

Willow heard shuffling and then felt Bebe right next to her. “Lay back, I’m going to use my teeth to get this undone.”

Willow lay back and felt Bebe’s head against her middle and muffled the hysterical giggle. “This isn’t the action I was hoping for tonight.”

Bebe snorted. “Me either, babe.”

The leather cord belt soon hung lose and Bebe pulled it free. Willow heard Bebe moving around and figured she was using the belt to cut the ties somehow. In minutes she heard a grunt. “Got ya, you little fucker.” Bebe moved closer to her, now free of the bonds and, using something she produced from her hand, cut the ties before she scooted back to where she’d been before.

“Umm, if you had that knife, why did you use my belt?”

“Because, genius, it was in my ear.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s an earring. I couldn’t get it out without my hands.”

“Oh, so what now?” Willow figured she should be more afraid than she was, with Ralph wanting her dead and men with guns just outside the door.

“Now we wait. These men are trained, and I can’t take them on my own, but when Waggs gets here, we need to be able to help ourselves.”

Willow shivered and a flicker of hope wound through her at the mention of the man she loved. The fight they’d had seemed like light years ago now, and yet the look of anger and betrayal on his face was embedded in her mind. She’d hurt him badly but as time went on, and as she’d talked it over with Bebe, she’d come to realise this wasn’t all her fault.

Aiden wasn’t an idiot and he’d never even asked if there was a possibility of AJ being his son. He’d deliberately been obtuse and hidden from the questions he should have asked. It in no way absolved her, she knew that, but she wouldn’t shoulder the blame alone. She’d done things alone for too long and she was tired of it. Willow loved him more than anything in this world apart from AJ, but she wouldn’t be a doormat and she wouldn’t continue to pay for the mistake of her silence forever.

Even with all that doubt between them she still had no doubt whatsoever in her mind that he’d come for her. His love for her was the one thing she didn’t question after all this time. Whether it would be enough—time would tell.