be set ablaze. Letting Johnny into my hotel room was the last wrong move I planned to make.
My ankles were attached to the chair legs. Free hands, but nothing to do with them. If Johnny came close, could I do something? Punch him in the teeth is what I want to do, but that won't help me escape.
Looking at my phone, it became clear. If I can grab it, I can tell someone where I am. My stomach coiled over and over. But where am I? Johnny hadn't said. Looking around, it was clearly a motel room. But which one?
Scanning the floors, the walls, I looked for something iconic. A crumpled pile of towels revealed the name in poor, faded embroidery: Greenmill Motel. It was like a drum had exploded in my brain. Sean told me that! My brother had visited Johnny here. He'd know where to find me.
I peeked at Johnny. He was lying on his side on the bed, his back to me. Inching my aching arms around, I reached for my phone. My fingertips hovered just as it vibrated. The noise touched my bones.
“For fuck's sake!” Johnny cried, rolling over on the old springs. “That damn phone of yours needs to shut up and—hey! Stop!”
Desperately I snatched my phone, fumbling with sweaty palms to open it, to dial anything. Johnny was on me, digging his nails into me, wrenching for the device. No, no no no! Inhaling to capacity, I started to scream for help.
His backhand shut me up, but it didn't stop me. Releasing the phone, I rolled forward, knocking the chair over beneath me. Holding onto his legs, I prayed he'd crack his skull on the side-table as I brought him down.
“You little fucking bitch!” He buried his grip in my hair. “I told you to stay quiet, you lying—aahh!” I'd buried my teeth into the meaty part near his thumb. Dug in, and just worked my jaw as hard as I could.
When he hit me that time, I saw spots of white.
My eyes lolled to the side; the phone rested near my face, open so I could read the missed calls. Drezden. So many calls from him.
Johnny shoved the gag in my mouth, tying it so tight I struggled to get air. “Shut up.” There was no sympathy anymore. “Were you always the sort to betray people, or did you pick that up from Drez?”
I tasted coppery blood—his, not mine. It filled me with glee knowing I'd managed to hurt him. Grunting, Johnny lifted my chair up, forcing my arms back behind me. “You actually got the tape off?”
Yanking at him was pointless, but I tried anyway.
Something made a plastic-squeal. He bound my wrists with more tape, but that wasn't enough, and we both knew it. “You're more trouble than I was ready for,” he muttered. Cloth wrapped over my wrists next. Socks? A shirt? I didn't know.
Picking up my phone, Johnny frowned. “You think the cops can trace this?” Glancing at me, he waited, like I could answer. “Guess it doesn't matter.” Looking around, he stomped out the smoking remains of his fallen cigarette. “They're going to find me eventually, huh? Fucking fuck.”
Watching blood drip down his arm from my bite marks, I shivered. He really didn't consider what to do next. What would happen to him next.
For the first time, Johnny was debating what to do with me.
- Chapter Twenty-Nine -
Drezden
“Why the hell would you bring her to meet Johnny?” I growled.
Sean bent over the steering wheel, one great hump of regret. “I didn't know he would do something like this!”
“How much further?” I'd been digging my fingers into the tops of my thighs the whole ride.
Squinting out at the growing evening sky, Sean sighed. “I'm not sure. Fifteen minutes. The motel is on the edge of the city.”
“You better hope she's okay,” I whispered. There were shadows on my tongue. "For your sake." I'd burn the whole world to the ground if it meant saving Lola.
“Why the hell are you so pissed at me?” he asked, pulling us sharply around a turn. “It isn't my fault that the crazy motherfucker kidnapped her!”
Scrunching my face, I looked out the window. It was too easy to imagine the scene—Johnny stealing Lola from her hotel room while she fought tooth and nail to escape. The images fueled my rage even more.
“Now you've gone silent on me,” Sean muttered. “Seriously. Why are you such an asshole to me?”