baby?” another voice whispers from behind me. I feel a warm hand glide around my hip, jerking me back into the warm body. A sick, twisted sensation churns in my gut, and tears swim in my eyes. I glance behind me, confirming what I already fear. Trent is plastered to my back, that same numb, cold-like expression on his face as well.
“What are you doing?” I try to keep the fear from my voice, but I fail miserably.
“Oh, I think you know.” Trent grinds his front into my backside, and I let out a small cry of fear. I cut a quick glance at Ava who’s crying again.
I need to stay calm. I can’t let her see how afraid I am.
“God,” Trent groans, his hand trailing down the side of my neck, leaving goosebumps in its wake. He buries his face into my neck, poising his lips near my ear. “You look just like her. Without all the shit in your hair, you look so much like her, it’s actually creepy.”
My eyes slam shut. This can’t be happening. Not now. Not with Ava here. Especially not after the best week of our lives. My chest rattles with fear.
I need to protect her at all costs.
“Please, whatever it is you’re thinking about doing, stop this. Please.” I try to take a hurried step forward, but Trent yanks me back into his unrelenting hold.
Zach jerks back, yanking Ava with him, in response to my quick attempt. She sobs beneath the tape, her little face crumpling. My heart shatters, my chest squeezing as if in a vise, as I try to figure out what to do to keep her safe.
“How did you get in here?”
I dart my gaze around quickly, trying to find any signs of a break-in, but there are none. Everything looks as clean as I left it when I unpacked our bags earlier. Where are Dan and the security? If Zach and Trent got in here, what did they do to Dan and the guards?
“Made a key. Baz should really be more careful where he leaves that damn thing lying around, shouldn’t he?” My stomach twists, and my mind is spinning with possible solutions, none of which will work without getting Ava hurt. “Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it? He knows what we’re capable of. Why would he leave that lying around, unless he wanted me to find it? Unless…this was part of our plan the entire time.”
All the blood drains from my face.
NO.
There’s no way.
Baz wouldn’t do that to us.
He wouldn’t do that to Ava. He loves her.
He would never hurt us.
If that was so, why would he be so careless, and why has he been so secretive lately?
I shake my head, already internally denying it. I refuse to let Zach get in my head. That’s exactly what he wants. He wants me to doubt Baz. I’ve been there and done that already, and Baz showed me the truth. I need to trust that.
My throat constricts, and I shake my head. “I-I don’t care about any of that. Please, just…just let her go.”
I catch Ava’s eyes, trying to relay the message, without words, that everything is going to be okay. She’s going to be safe. We’re going to get out of this in one piece. As I relay the message, I try to get myself to believe the words, too.
They both laugh. It’s an eerie sound. “No. No, I don’t think I will.”
“She’s innocent, Zach. Don’t drag her into this.”
“Innocent?” Zach scoffs, tightening his arm around her. Her eyes widen, the color draining from her face, as fear encapsulates her entire little body.
“Please. I-I won’t fight you. I promise. Just…please don’t hurt her. I don’t want her to see this.”
Zach pauses and so does Trent, a silent conversation passing between them. “All right.” Zach chuckles. The sound is evil, and it rains nails down my back. “You said it.”
He reaches for something in his back pocket, and before I can stop him, a syringe is sticking out of Ava’s arm, and I scream.
“No! What did you do?” I run toward Zach, catching Ava, as she drops to the floor. I cradle her, checking her pulse and heartbeat, praying she’s okay.
“You said you didn’t want her to see what would come next. I kept my word.”
“You’re a monster,” I seethe, glaring up at him, tears spilling down my cheeks.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“What are you doing?” The voice is sharp and deep. It’s the voice that hasn’t left my nightmares