Shielding Gillian (Delta Team Two #1) - Susan Stoker Page 0,95
that plane, do you? Out of all the people you befriended, you have no idea who wants to see you and everyone else dead.”
“No,” Gillian whispered.
“And you told the authorities that too, right?”
She nodded.
“Bet that pissed them off,” he muttered.
“They weren’t thrilled,” Gillian said hesitantly. She’d hated letting them down, but she’d told them everything she could think of. She knew nothing she’d said had helped in the slightest. They’d been polite and thanked her for her insights, but deep down, she was aware she’d disappointed them.
Salazar shook his head and muttered more to himself than her, “Fucking bitches and their drama.” Then he lifted his chin at the man holding the knife to her hand and he let go. Gillian breathed a sigh of relief. But it only lasted a heartbeat, because the man behind her then wrapped his hands around her head and tilted it backward.
Gillian lost sight of Salazar and struggled in the man’s grip. But with her hands tied behind her and her legs immobilized, she had no leverage. No way to protect herself.
“Relax, chica,” Salazar said. “I believe you. I apologize that you were inconvenienced today. I should’ve done a bit more looking into the situation before believing one of my falcons. But that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t simply drop you back into your world of ignorance.”
“Please, don’t kill me,” Gillian whispered as she stared up at the ceiling. “I won’t say anything about what happened. Hell, I don’t even know what happened, or why.”
She heard Salazar chuckle. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you. You’ll tell someone. A friend, a boyfriend, the cops, someone, then I’ll have to worry about that shit, along with all the other crap piled up on my plate at the moment. But…I can’t help but be intrigued by the innocence and goodness you wear like a fucking cloak.”
Gillian shivered as she felt a finger trace along her vulnerable throat. Salazar had obviously gotten up and approached her. With her head forced back like it was, she was completely at the mercy of this man. “I was like you…once. But that ended on my ninth birthday when I was introduced to the way my life was going to be. I saw my first man killed that day. He deserved it for snitching on the Sinaloa, but it was…jarring, to see a man’s blood spurt out of him and watch as he writhed on the floor, begging for mercy.”
Gillian couldn’t stop the tears that fell out of her eyes. She wanted to be brave. Wanted to be the kind of person who could kick ass like the ones in the books she read. But she wasn’t. She was tied up and helpless. She had no idea if Walker or anyone even knew she was missing at this point.
“In a second, you’re going to be offered a drink. You’re going to drink it without fuss. All of it. Every drop. Understand?”
She didn’t want to. She knew whatever was in the cup was probably poisoned and this was literally her last seconds to live.
“I can see your mind working overtime. It won’t kill you. It’s Rohypnol. It’ll relax you. In fifteen or twenty minutes, you’ll fall asleep. You won’t remember what happened here. You won’t be able to tell the cops anything about me or what we talked about. It’ll be as if it never happened. This is in your best interest. It’s this…or my lieutenant slicing your throat and you bleeding out.”
Salazar leaned over her until Gillian was looking up into his steely brown eyes. “But this is your only free pass, Ms. Romano. If I hear you’ve somehow remembered our little talk today, and you’ve snitched, it won’t go as well for you a second time. And I understand you have some good friends in the area too, right? You wouldn’t want your friends—Ms. Pierce, Ms. Reed, or Ms. Thomas—to have an accident, would you?”
The thought of Ann, Wendy, or Clarissa being in the hands of this cold-hearted monster made her physically sick. Gillian shook her head as best she could.
“Good. So we’re on the same page. Now, drink up.”
Before she could agree or not agree, a plastic cup was pressed against her lips and the goon who held her head pressed on an area of her jaw that made her cry out in pain. With her mouth open, the second man tipped the glass and she had no choice but to drink.