his lifeless, glassy eyes staring back at me, while half his body hangs out of the trunk, sends a wave of nausea to my stomach. Boyd rolls his body over the side, and it topples to the dirt below. “When your mother told me about you all those years ago, I was on a winning streak. Perhaps the best years of my life, if I’m being honest.” Hooking his arms beneath the investigator, he drags him toward the awaiting hole he’s dug.
Behind my back, I curl my fingers over the rope, my fingertips in search of the knot to loosen.
Dropping him alongside the shallow grave, Boyd remains bent, hands on his thighs, as if to catch his breath. “Finding out she was pregnant was like someone knocking me out of the game. This town would never forgive the beloved teacher and coach and future mayor who fucked his student and knocked her up.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you put your dirty hands on her.”
Chuckling, he kneels down and shoves at the investigator, pushing him into the hole. “I’ve always had a thing for young pussy. Tight, pink, sometimes bare. It’s always been my kryptonite. The one vice I couldn’t give up, if I tried.” He nabs the shovel from beside him, while a cramp settles in my fingers as I scrape my nails over the too-tight knot of my binds. “I remember the first time I cornered her in the locker room. It was after practice. She always waited to change until after the other girls left.” Lifting the dirt from the mound beside him, he drops it onto the private investigator’s body. “Being more developed, she was always ... self-conscious. With good … reason.” His voice is broken by the toil, as he buries his victim. “Her tits … looked like implants … so perfect.”
“You’re sick. And fucking disgusting!”
Pausing, he straightens and smiles back at me. “Am I? Seems your beau likes young pussy, as well. He’s not much younger than I was, in fact.”
He also wasn’t my teacher and coach, and I’m not sixteen years old, but I don’t bother to argue with this crazy asshole.
“Not that I blame him …” Shovel piled high with dirt, he grunts as he dumps the last bit into the hole. “If you weren’t my daughter, I’d be all over that tight little ass of yours, too.”
The thought of that sends bile up my throat, and I have to press my lips together to keep from throwing up.
Eyes on the grave, I breathe hard through my nose to calm the hysteria itching to break free. “What do you plan to do with me?”
He tosses the shovel towards the woods and rubs his hands together. “You’re my ticket to power. Ironic, isn’t it? The daughter who nearly ruined my career is the only one who can save it now.”
“How?”
“When you’re knocked out of the political arena, and the fickle crowd shuns you, the only thing that can put you back in the game is money and power. At the moment? I have neither.” Setting his hands on his hips, he inhales and exhales deeply, glancing around. “This used to be my domain. My kingdom. And now it isn’t. But with the right connections, and power in my corner, I can own this whole fucking state. And Lucian Blackthorne, for that matter.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“I happen to know someone who will be very interested in meeting you.”
My heart hammers inside my chest when he stares back at me wearing that evil politician’s smile he’s perfected. “Who?”
“Doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t know him. But he’s perhaps the only man your little boyfriend wouldn’t dare cross.” As he strides toward me, I kick myself back in a laughable attempt to get away from him. He kneels to the ground beside me, and when he reaches out to touch my hair, I crane my neck away, my whole body trembling with rage and fear. “I understand a number of these men enjoy young pussy as much as I do. Once they’re finished poking and prodding you, I’m certain they’ll have a number of unorthodox tests to run.” Hand stroking my head, he grips a handful of hair in his fist and gives a hard yank, sending hot streaks of pain across my scalp. “They’ll test your tolerance for pain like you’re a fucking guinea pig in a blender.”
“He’ll find you.” My voice chokes on the tears that I won’t give him the