Bennett Mafia
Chapter 11 - BENNETT MAFIA

CHAPTER TEN

I woke in a bed with the softest sheets I'd ever felt, and drool. So much drool.

It took a second for me to catch up, but once I did, I bolted upright with a gasp.

It was pitch-black outside.

Glass doors. The same modern bedroom with an entire apartment just beyond the doorway and the soft glow of a light on in the other room.

I was in Kai Bennett's room, in his bed.

Could I close my eyes, go back to sleep, and wake up in Oz? Was that an option? I'd take it in a second if so.

The sound of a page turning came from the next room. Then I heard a chair push back.

Soft footsteps came until he stood in the doorway.

The light was on behind him, casting him in full shadow, so I couldn't see any details except his very trim and toned silhouette.

Why'd someone so evil have to be that good looking?

"Why'd you take me?" I shifted to a sitting position, pulling the sheets around me and noting that I was in a different shirt and wore boxer briefs over my underwear. He'd changed my clothes.

That was low on the list of problems, but... "Where are my clothes?"

He let out a soft and tired-sounding sigh. "You stumbled going into your room and hit your head. My brother didn't notice the blood trickling down your back, but my guards did. They alerted me." He nodded. "Your clothes were bloody. They had to be changed."

Now that he mentioned it, my head was pounding.

I touched the back of my head and hissed, feeling a large bruise. The fact that I hadn't noticed that spoke volumes. I was too consumed by everything else.

And speaking of that, on to my second question. "What do you know about 411?"

He answered without hesitation, crossing his arms over his chest and propping one shoulder against the doorframe. "I know they helped hide you and your mother. I know they're relatively new, but they're effective. They have heavy funders backing them, and I know they set up one man for murder, who is now in prison. I know your employers might mean well right now, but they are dangerous."

I blinked a few times, taking that in.

I winced on the inside when he mentioned the frame job. That had been an operative who went rogue, but no one fought to defend the guy.

I scowled. "He tried to murder his wife."

"But he didn't."

I snorted. "You're sticking up for the one slightly innocent monster? You?"

Watch your tone, Riley. You forget who you're talking to.

I could hear my mother's voice admonishing me, and I bit my lip as soon as the words were out. It was too late, though. I waited, watching to see if this infamous murdering monster would come toward me now.

He didn't move, just murmured, "You are not a good enough fighter to speak like that to me."

That same shiver went up my back. There was a deadly warning in there too.

I swallowed over a lump. "I'm sorry."

But was I? Was I really?

He had murdered. Cord. His father. Brooke?

I frowned. "You're looking for Brooke? That's why you kidnapped me?"

"Among other reasons, yes." He lifted his head again, straightening from the doorframe and taking a step toward me. Just one step-enough to be imposing, slightly intimidating, but still giving me space to breathe so I didn't scare away. He was so measured, so calculating.

"My sister contacted you the day before yesterday. I want to know where she is."

All the oxygen left the room, and my head started spinning again. "You think-what? No."

"Yes." His voice was hard now. Gone was the subtlety. "Brooke asked me to keep tabs on you. She cares about you. You work for a network that specializes in helping people disappear, and I know she was desperate. She went to you; I know this much."

He took another step toward me.

I sat up straighter, rolling to my knees and then to my heels, ready to spring if I needed to.

Another step.

He squatted next to the bed so he was level with me, and now I could see him. He'd shifted out of the shadows, and I saw how fierce his eyes were. They blazed with anger and determination. His perfect lips barely moved as he grated out, "You will tell me where she is."

I swallowed again. The lump in my throat had doubled in size.

He wasn't going to take no, but I had to try. "Before I saw your sister on the news, I hadn't really heard much from her since you drove her away from Hillcrest. I swear to you that's the truth."

His eyes narrowed. "I know you know where she is, but don't worry. If you won't tell me, I know others who will." He stood abruptly and went back to the main room.

I scrambled out of bed and padded after him.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw. I don't think anyone could've been.

I thought he had been reading a book, maybe looking over files for his business. I'd been sleeping in his bed, and he was waiting with a glass of wine beside a fire. Something cozy like that. I was so wrong.

As I got to the doorway, I saw them, and someone started screaming.

It was me. I knew it was me, but I didn't hear it that way. I heard someone else scream from far away, even though I was the only one who had her mouth hanging open, the only one who started vomiting right there on the floor. I fell down, not feeling a thing, as I couldn't bear the scene in front of me.

He had four Hiders there.

I recognized them by the way they were dressed: all in black and all with the same pin we wore to signal who we were. It was the one thing survivors were told to look for, a penguin. As my senses came back to me, I knew these were the four Hiders dispatched to rescue me.

Their hands were bound behind them, and they lay on the floor, their feet crossed over each other, bound around the ankles. Rags had been stuffed in their mouths, and all of them looked bloodied and bruised.

That sick feeling slammed back into my chest again, and I bent over, emptying the little that remained in my stomach.

I wretched in a corner, and no one made a move.

There were three guards standing behind the four Hiders. Kai stood off to the side. They all waited for me to finish. No one had a look of disgust or irritation-just patience, and that sent my stomach hurling once again. "Are you done?" Kai asked a few seconds after my last round.

I didn't trust what I would say, so I didn't look at him. I didn't respond.

"Riley."

That same softness as before. Damn him. I felt him pulling, chiding me for not paying attention, and feeling that power I hated come over me, I looked at him. I couldn't refuse. My body reacted without my permission.

His eyes were hooded. He gestured to my co-workers. "You know where my sister is. I know this. You know this. Perhaps even these four know, so I will give you an option. You tell me where she is, and I will let your friends go." His head tilted to the side. "I will let them live, if you tell me right now where she is."

He was delusional.

He was mad.

He was cruel.

"I'm not fucking lying!" I spat. "I don't know where she is!"

Let these people live. Let them go. Let them be free.

He stared at me a full thirty seconds before he nodded.

One of the guards jerked forward, grabbing the back of the nearest man's shoulder. He pulled him up. The Hider began kicking, trying to lift his bound hands, but he couldn't do a thing. He flapped around like a fish. He was wearing a cap, the penguin emblem sewed into it. He rolled, but that cap stayed on.

It stayed on. Like it was trying to tell me something.

Stay on. Stay true. Stay strong.

The other Hiders began rolling around, one female screaming around her rag.

I couldn't I didn't I screamed, "I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS!"

The guard lifted his gun, placing the muzzle against the back of the guy's head, pressed right up to the cap. He waited, watching Kai for the order.

"Oh my God. I don't. I swear I don't know where she is," I sobbed.

I dry-heaved again. My vision was swimming. If I moved for him, the guard could pull the trigger. If I stayed still, he could pull the trigger.

His life was in my hands, and I had nothing to give up for him. Nothing.

He was going to die.

The Hider stilled, coming to the same realization, and his eyes found mine, a stark pleading there. I felt it deep inside of me. He was scared, so scared, but calm.

He shouldn't have been calm.

I swallowed the tears streaming down my face. "Please, Kai! Please. My God. Please! I don't know. I swear I don't know. Please don't kill him—"

Then, two soft words, "You're lying."

And the guard pulled the trigger.

All the time with the Network, I saw people near death, but I'd never seen someone die. Never.

Until now.

The Hider's body jerked forward. Blood splattered everywhere, and the guard stepped back, releasing his body. He fell limply to the floor. His eyes were closed. He was so still, and I fell to my knees, trying to hold everything in my tears, my vomiting, my screams, but it wasn't working. I felt my entire body jerking, and then I hit the floor, hard.

I had no control. I was having a seizure. This had never happened to me, and I couldn't stop myself. My teeth banged against each other. My head was going to slam into a chair, but then someone cursed.

The floor shook as footsteps rushed toward me, and someone scooped me up.

"Get them out!" Kai held me, barking over my body. "I want the fucking medic in here. NOW!"

I flailed around. My hand hit his head. He cursed again, but wound his arms more tightly around me to still my movements.

That wasn't what he was supposed to do, but I couldn't tell him my EMT training. He carried me back into his bedroom, and we sank down on the bed, his entire body wrapped around me to keep me from hurting him or myself. When he heard my teeth clacking together, he grabbed for a pillow and shoved it into my mouth, then sank back and held me immobile.

I shouldn't have felt safe, but I did.

After a moment, I could feel the seizure slowing, and an intense exhaustion settled in. I heard knocking on the door, then footsteps coming in just as I fell asleep. Again.