“In my name,” I say. Like hell, I need a paper trail with her name on it.
He pauses, sweat glistening on his brow as he unwinds the stethoscope from his neck. “Of course.”
I bet anything, right about now, he’s wishing he hadn’t made the mistake of gambling with me. Some people are naïve to the Pandora’s Box of shit they’re opening when they decide to dip their toes into illegal waters. One thing that’s for certain, though, when you sell your soul to the devil, you never really get it back.
He quickly packs up his bag, not bothering to completely shove the blood pressure cuff inside before he stands. His accusing gaze holds mine for a moment. He’s probably thinking I did this to her, but I don’t give a shit as long as he gives me the damn prescription.
“Please help me.” Tor latches onto his arm just before he moves away. “They drugged and kidnapped me. They tried to—” Her voice breaks.
Drugged her… “Who drugged you?”
“Rich.” She stares at me, hate blazing in her eyes. “When you sent him to kidnap me.”
Rich drugged her? My jaw sets and my heartbeat steadily climbs until I’m dizzy with rage. That not only means that he went up there with the intent to take her, it means she absolutely has nothing to do with Tom. But he sure as shit did. I swipe a hand over my mouth, trying to control the urge I have to take everything around me and smash it.
The doctor unwraps Tor’s fingers from his arm. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, then crosses the room. She stares straight ahead at the wall while Caleb shows him out. A vacant look fills her eyes. The grim reality of her situation must be setting in. If someone shows up at this house, they will not help her. She has no idea that this right here is the least of her worries. If she’s nothing more than a pawn to whatever fucked up game Tom has in store for me, as soon as he gets what he wants, she’s as good as dead.
Maybe we both are…
She rolls over on the bed, facing away from me as she slips under the influence of the painkillers the doctor gave her.
I take a seat on the floor, watching her sleep in my bed while I try to come to grips with everything. I feel a need to protect my family, my business, but, for whatever reason, I also feel the need to protect her.
And why should I? Because it’s obvious she’s an innocent girl who was with the wrong damn guy. Just like my mother. I swipe a hand over my face, trying to force the memory of that smoldering house, the video footage of Tom mutilating my mom and my sister out of my head. But I can’t. All I can do is think about the pain losing them caused me and my brother, and all I can think about is the pain I’m inadvertently causing Tor’s family. I’m no better than fucking Tom.
I sit on the floor for two hours, hating myself more with every passing moment, and when Caleb comes into the room to check on Tor, I push up. “I’m going for a smoke,” I say, heading into the hall. I just need a second outside of this room to sort through the shitstorm swirling through my head.
The humid Alabama night air swirls around me when I step onto the porch and light a cigarette. I stare out at the dark woods. Tom must know where I live. Maybe he’s out there right now waiting… And that’s where I get hung up. If he knows where I live, what reason did he have to put Tor here? Why not just come after me?
I watch the limbs shift in the breeze as I blow out a stream of smoke. Maybe nothing about this makes sense, but one thing’s for sure, when that fucker shows up at my house, I’m going to blow his ass away.
Headlights turn onto the drive. I toss the cigarette over the porch railing as Marney’s old Chevy rumbles to a stop beside my truck. He cuts the engine and heads up the stairs, swinging a paper bag.
“There’s Big Ole Boy’s money.” He drops the sack to the wood, then hitches his pants back under his gut. “And I can’t find hide nor hair of Bob’s bastard ass. Caleb said he clipped him in the leg. Hell, maybe he bled out and ran his truck off into the river or something.”
I drum my fingers over the rail. I should tell Marney about the magnolia, about Rich–
“I’ll keep looking for him, but in the meantime…” Marney lifts a brow as he pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket then lights one. I know what he’s thinking—I need to get rid of Tor.