Edge Of Fear (Arrow's Edge MC Book 4) by Freya Barker (best love novels of all time .TXT) 📗

for a good distraction at the restaurant.” He barks out a laugh. “Tweaker cut the wrong bitch, but it sure played into our hands.”

“Restaurant? What happened at the restaurant?”

He leans down, grabs my upper arm, and roughly hauls me to my feet, almost dislocating my shoulder in the process.

“You pissed off a dealer.” He laughs again as he starts pulling me toward a two-story building that looks like it may have been an old garage. “Stabbed the bitch right in the back. The idiot thought it was you. Watched the whole thing on camera and I knew this could be our chance. Sure enough, not five minutes later that piece of shit Tse gets in his truck and leaves you alone. Like I said, we’ve had eyes on you.”

I almost trip when he tugs me into the dark building. I was scared before, but now I’m terrified. He talks about we instead of me. He’s been watching the restaurant? My house?

A quick glance behind me shows the second guy, the one with the cut on his chin, heading this way with Mandy tossed over his shoulder.

So many bits and pieces of information are bouncing around my head, not helping the persistent throbbing.

“What do you want with us?” He ignores me, half dragging me up a stairway when I lose my footing. “Who are you?” I persist, but there’s no answer.

He shoves me into a room and I stumble, hitting carpeted floor, and scramble back until I feel a wall behind me. A few moments later, Mandy is literally tossed into the room with me. The door closes and I hear the sound of a lock turning. Then I hear two sets of footsteps go down the stairs, the low rumble of some words exchanged, and finally it’s silent.

They’ve left.

The first thing I do is test the strength of the binding around my wrists. I think it’s a zip tie. It cuts into my skin when I try to pull on it. Then I crawl over to Mandy and lean close to see if she’s still breathing. I let out a sigh of relief when I feel her chest move and sit back, resting my head against the wall beside her.

I close my eyes and let the seriousness of the situation sink in. We’re in deep shit and I wish I knew what they planned to do. Or maybe it’s better I don’t.

I replay the driver’s words in my head, even the parts I pushed to the background. Like the part where someone got stabbed in the parking lot of the restaurant. I’m sure that was the urgent call that had Tse rush out the door.

Tweaker cut the wrong bitch.

That was supposed to have been me. The only person I know who even remotely looks like me is Lea. A sob breaks free.

Oh my God. She has kids.

The driver had laughed coldheartedly when he mentioned her. It’s suddenly crystal clear he intends to kill us. The only thing I don’t get is why he hasn’t already. That would’ve been easier. Why go through the trouble of kidnapping us?

Something else is nagging at me. I could’ve sworn he mentioned Tse by name. In fact, he called him that piece of shit, Tse. Sounds like something you’d say about someone you know and don’t like.

How?

I have no idea what time it is. I wonder if Tse already knows I’m missing. If he does, he must be out of his mind. I know he’ll be looking, but I can’t just sit here and hope he’ll find me.

It’s not just about me anymore; I have a tiny, brand-new life I’m responsible for.

And Mandy, I’m worried she hasn’t come to yet. I have no way to know how badly she’s hurt, but I’m definitely not helping her by sitting idle on the floor.

Time to get moving.

My eyes have had a chance to adjust to the dark room and I can make out a few more details. A window that looks to be blacked out, except for a tiny sliver near the bottom of the frame. Drawn by the small strip of light, I get to my feet and shuffle in that direction.

Bending over I try to peek through but the slit is too narrow to see anything. It looks like tape. I have to turn my back so I can reach it and start feeling for something I can grab on to. I pick and scratch at the slick surface until I manage to loosen an edge, pinch it between my thumb and index finger, and pull.

I stop when I hear a soft moan.

“Mandy?”

I wait but it’s dead silent again. Doubling my efforts I yank at the piece of tape, managing to pull a little more up. Noticing more light in the room, I turn and see I’ve widened the gap. Now when I bend down I can see outside. Thank God this isn’t one of the boarded-up windows.

There are no lights but the moon is still out, providing enough to see the two men out front. One looks to be smoking, the red ember glowing. The other guy has his back to me and I notice a large emblem on the back of his vest.

As I’m watching, the smoker turns his head and appears to look right at me. I scramble back from the window, my heart racing in my chest, waiting for footsteps to come running up the stairs. When none come, and my panic subsides, I realize it’s not likely he would’ve been able to see me. The exposed patch of glass is no more than a couple of inches.

With better light in the room, I start looking for something I could use. Anything, a piece of metal, a sliver of glass, something heavy, but other than dirt and a few scraps of paper, the room is empty.

Dejected, I sit down on the floor beside Mandy, my back against the wall. Frustrated tears roll down my face and, exhausted; I eventually drift off.

I’m