Page 57 of The Forbidden Secret
As we rounded the hallway toward the attached garage, where I knew we’d find Zeke, I saw two guards outside the door and hesitated. This wasn’t right.
Jaimie didn’t hesitate, though. She stretched her hand out for the knife I was holding.
She then showed me exactly how easy she had gone on me during our self-defense lesson.
She moved like the wind. There was no hesitation or additional thought behind her moves as she took on the two large men, disarmed them, and somehow managed to take the upper hand. They each gave it their all, trying to stop the strange woman from her clear mission to take them out. But neither of them could.
Somehow, in the process of obliterating the two men, Jaimie also managed to keep the fight quiet.
She plunged a knife up through the chest of one of the men and eased him to the floor while dodging a blow from the other.
Once it was one-on-one, there was no hope for the other man, and I could see it in his eyes as he turned toward the garage as if to use his dying breath to warn the people inside.
He didn’t have the chance.
When they were both on the ground, Jaimie turned back to me, and I shook my head slowly. She tilted her head as if to ask, “what’s wrong?”
“Those aren’t my father’s men,” I explained. “I don’t know who they are, but I’ve never seen them before. He could have hired new men, but heneverlets new men into the house. He only uses his most trusted ones.”
Jaimie looked between me and the door. “You’re sure he’s inside?”
I nodded. “It was the garage. Iknowit was.”
Our hushed tones gave me a sense of anxiety. We needed to get in and out quickly and without notice, or we would be trapped here. This was such a big risk that we couldn’t afford to make the wrong choice.
“We’re already here, and we won’t get another opportunity—especially not after taking out the guards. They will boost security, and we won’t get inside again. We better follow through, or he’ll be lost.”
I nodded. “Let’s go,” I replied, though something felt too wrong.
Whatever I was sensing wasn’t good. Whatever was happening inside that room had my stomach roiling. For thefirst time, as we strolled forward, I wondered if Zeke would still be alive as my father had promised. Or would I walk into the room and find him dead and decaying?
I nearly tripped over one of the guard’s arms as Jaimie grabbed the handle of the door and shoved it open.
It wasn’t my father waiting on the other side of the door.
Six armed guards raised their rifles immediately, pointing them at our chests as we stood in the doorway. Zeke sat in a chair, head hanging before him. But even from here, I could see his shoulders rising and falling.
Despite the guns pointed at us, I felt a sense of undeniable relief.
But when my eyes drifted to the final person in the room—the one standing behind Zeke—something in my stomach sank.
I had never seen the man who purchased me. I had only ever heard his name and learned about how horrible he was. But somehow, I knew deep in my gut that this was the man. This was the one who had turned my life upside down.
Iknew.
Zeke raised his head, his eyes piqued from a lack of sleep. But the moment he met my eyes, a mix of devastation and terror filled every inch of his face.
“This is unexpected,” Clide Newton said with a wicked smirk. “Your father wasveryexcited to get his hands on you first. He won’t be pleased.”
“I don’t give a fuck what my father wants.”
He looked excited. “You have fire in you. You’ll be so much fun, Ms. Evelina. Maybe I’ll keep you for myself for a while.”None of the guards moved as their guns remained trained on us. “I didn’t expect to see you again, Jaimie.”
I looked between them, and her lips were drawn in a thin line.
“That was the goal,” she replied, holding her gun upright.
“We’re in a predicament,” Clide said, clicking his tongue. “I can’t let any of you leave this room alive—save for you, little Evelina.”
