Ink's Second Chance - Carol Dawn Page 0,35

the side of her face.

Her eyes are closed, and my first thought is that she’s dead.

“You have five minutes to make your way outside without anyone knowing. Five minutes, Dove, or your sister dies.”

Dove! That’s what Roman called me. I have to stop myself from screaming for help. As scared as I feel at this moment, the thought of my sister being killed scares me even more.

I look over at the table to make sure no one is looking my way.

No one is looking.

I mentally urge someone to look.

Please, Sammy, turn around a look.

But he doesn’t, He’s too focused on his game.

I’m both glad and upset that he didn’t look. I take a second longer to watch Sam as he concentrates on the cards in his hands.

I have a feeling that this is the last time I’m going to see him. Because I will go and save my sister, but I won’t let them rape me again.

I’ll kill myself first.

I turn as quietly as I can and leave the room. When I reach the front door, I take a chance and look back one more time.

Someone, please stop me.

But no one is there.

With tears clouding my vision, I open the door and make my way outside. It’s storming and, at first, I can’t see a thing.

“You were cutting it close, Dove.”

I bite my tongue to keep from screaming as Roman Hernández steps in front of me.

“You only had twenty seconds left.”

“Where’s my sister?” I demand.

“Tsk, tsk. Time for us to go,” he says.

In the span of a few seconds, Roman rushes forward and pulls me from my chair. I’m tossed over his shoulder and we’re running.

I look up and watch as the clubhouse grows smaller and smaller. I close my eyes and picture the group of people inside full of laughter. I picture Sammy as he leans down, smiles, and kisses me so softly.

My tears are pouring down my face but are being erased by the rain as if they were never there.

It fits, really. My feelings don’t matter at this moment. What matters is getting my sister away from this evil man.

Sammy will be fine. He’ll eventually find Roman, but I don’t think I’ll be alive at that point. I can’t handle being violated again. I won’t let it happen.

The only liquid on my face is rain. My tears dried up with sheer determination. Somehow, I’ll save my sister, and kill Roman.

Sammy and the others will be safe, my sister will be safe, and I’ll have my revenge.

Roman continues to run with me over his shoulder.

As my body jostles back and forth, the fear slowly fades away.

I smile.

Save Becky. Save Sammy. End Roman.

Even if it costs me my life, Roman’s will end.

Chapter Nineteen

Ink

“Come on guys, we’ve been on this round for over an hour now,” Slim says. “I need to check my computers and get to bed.”

Has it really been that long? I look at my watch and see that it’s close to midnight.

“Let’s call it a night,” Bear says.

We all throw our cards in a pile on the table and stand.

Time to get Rachel and get to bed.

I look around the empty room.

“Has anyone seen Rachel?” I ask.

“She’s probably upstairs,” Brick says. “Jessa, Laura, and the kids are gone, too.”

Knowing he’s probably right, I grab a beer from the fridge and make my way upstairs. I check our room but she’s not in there. She isn’t in the bathroom or any fucking room on this floor.

“INK, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT FUCKING NOW,” Hawk yells.

My mind is blank as I rush down the stairs and into the office.

“We’re so fucking stupid,” Bear says. “Why did we let this happen? Ink is going to lose his fucking mind.”

“I can’t find Rachel,” I say, entering the room.

“Ink, you need to watch this,” Slim says.

I drag myself to the monitor and watch as Slim presses play.

I watch with dread as Rachel pulls out her phone. She has a small smile on her face as she looks up from her screen to where I was sitting.

Then the smile is replaced by fear as she looks back down. A few minutes later, she turns and leaves the room.

“Where is she going?” I ask.

Slim switches cameras and I watch as she opens the front door and leaves.

“What the fuck? She knows better than to go outside alone,” I say.

Slim switches the camera view again and I watch in horror as fucking Hernández steps in front of her. They exchange a few words that we can’t