Page 6 of Rescued By the SEAL
“You don’t have any fucking idea what my problems are,” he yells, but I don’t suppose it’ll get any attention because the more that I listen in, the more I can hear screams and shouting coming from everywhere. “You have no goddamn idea, you little princess bitch. My fucking wife, the whore, is in jail. I’m stuck in this shithole, and the cost of what I need to survive is growing by the minute. Sticks is an asshole dealer who I just want to tear to shreds. He would rather die than just give me a fucking tasteof what I need, and you… you might be the key to my solution somehow. You can help me, but I don’t know how.”
“Money?” I don’t want to give a junkie any cash, but I also don’t want to die here. “I can help you with money.”
“You might look like a rich, prissy bitch, but you don’t have enough to help me, I can assure you. No, I need to use you for something. I need to… to work out a way to find the goddamn silver lining on this cloud. It’s there… it’s there.”
“I’ll help you,” I weep harder, my voice becoming increasingly muffled with every single word. “I’ll help.”
“I don’t needyouto do anything other than shut the hell up, okay? You walked into this. You let this happen.”
“No, no.” I shake my head hard even though I know this is the horrid truth. “No, I didn’t know this was going to happen.”
“I saw it on your face ever since I mentioned my son’s name.” His lips twist up into a nasty looking smile. “You can’t resist finding out about him, can you? Even though it was over with the pair of you years ago. I just knew it. You bitches are all the same. You’re just like my slut wife. You can’t let shit go. Just fuck off and let me deal with my own shit, okay?”
I don’t know how much that actually has to do with me, so I shake it off. “Just let me out of here, please.”
“Oh, fuck off.” Bill’s nose screws up in disgust. “You and your asshole father always thought you were better than us.”
“No, not me.” Dad, maybe, but he isn’t the one fighting for his life right now. “I never think that about you.”
“Fuck off.” He leans down now, getting so close to my face that his hot breath tickles over my skin. The spittle flying out of his mouth combined with his horrible breath makes for a traumatic experience, but I do my best not to break eye contact. I think Bill might want to break me even more than he already has, and I don’t want him to have that satisfaction. “Fuck you, Heather.”
He slams the door closed again, shrouding me in darkness and helplessness once more. What could he possibly want to use me for? I don’t understand. What I do understand now is what my dad was trying to protect me from all that time ago. I can see now where his worries lay. I don’t know if Landon followed the same path as his parents since I’ve never been able to find him, but there is a big chance that he’s in the same line of work. Seeing what happened to Roger, it’s possible.
Fucking hell, I finally understand my father and find a way to forgive him internally, just as I’m going to die. What the hell can I do? Any noise I make won’t be heard in a meaningful way in this hellhole, and it will only lead Bill to kill me faster.Think. I need to work out a plan. There has to be a way out of this. I can’t just lie back and wait to die. No way.
“Hey, buddy.” I hold on to my breath as I hear Bill talking to someone else. His tone has changed now. He sounds all friendly, so this can’t be for me. “Yeah, I’ve got some good news. I have some… shall we say, baggage in my room.”
Oh, God. My heart stops beating and I can’t force any more air out of my lungs however hard I try. I’m stuck, frozen in this terrifying moment, waiting to see what horrible fate might come next. This is dreadful, the absolute worst.
“No, what I mean is I have a girl,” he continues, exasperated with whoever he’s talking to. “Cop’s daughter. Yep, Buchan. Iknow her, so I managed to get her in my room easily. I think she wanted me, if you know what I mean.”
Urgh, oh, my God, does he want me to throw up all over this cupboard? Christ, at no point did I give him any indication that I ‘wanted him’. He knows for a fact that I only followed him to find out what’s going on with Landon, and I didn’t even get that.
“So, I’m trying to work out the best course of action. Do I sell this bitch to the traffickers? Do I get some cash outta her father for her ‘safe’ return? Do I risk handing her over directly as payment, you know? I’m in a fucking pickle here, mate. I finally have something, something tangible to do something with. I could do some serious shit here, but what? What should I do? There are pros and cons to every idea, you know what I mean? It’s all about coming up with the most cash quick.”
Holy fuck, now I’m starting to see how I can help. Now I can see why he rejected my offer of assistance because from the small bit I know about human traffickers, they will pay a fucking fortune for someone. They also know how to make someone disappear completely, never to be seen again. My dad has already lost my mother. He doesn’t need to lose me too. Not like this. It will kill him. Instantly, my brain whirs trying to find a way I can leave him a clue about what happened to me.
DNA. That will be my best chance. I’ll have to try and leave my fingerprints everywhere, and maybe some blood too. I would prefer to leave a note so he knows exactly what happened, but this might have to be enough. I don’t even care if Bill gets in trouble for this. I honestly don’t give a shit as long as he doesn’t do it to anyone else. I just want my dad to know.
I’m going to have to try and cut myself somewhere, just so they can identify that I was here. Just so the answers can be found.This is no longer about me and trying to survive. It’s all about trying to leave a set of clues behind.
6
LANDON
Idon’t like this one bit. Not at all. The closer that I’ve gotten to this apartment block, the worse this anxiety has become. I just don’t know what my father is going to be like and how I’ll deal with him. It’s been such a long time, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll be capable. Handling war zones and Navy SEAL work is one thing. Getting Pablo out of Argentina was okay too, but facing off with the man I blame for turning my life upside-down in the worst possible way is something else entirely.
“You have to do this,” I growl at myself as I pull up in the parking lot. “Don’t wuss out now. It isn’t worth it.”
I have so many people relying on me, including Max whom I respect the hell out of and wouldn’t ever want to let down, and Lola Rose. Whoever this mysterious Lola Rose may be. She doesn’t have anyone else she can rely on other than me. But that doesn’t stop the nerves from clinging to me as I slowly pull myself out of the car. It doesn’t help me to feel any better as I walk toward the crumbling building with people ganged up outside looking like they’re at the end of one fix or the start of another.
Urgh, when I think about being a child when my dad was my hero… I never would have suspected him to end up here. Sure, I was blind to him and his misdeeds then, but still, I never would have assumed that he would sink this low. It half breaks my heart into a million pieces and half leaves me grateful that I got out when I could. I saved myself, really.
“Hey,” I call out to the first man I come across within hearing distance. “You know a guy called Bill Ross?”
His expression twists up into a nasty frown. “Who the fuck are you? What do you want to know for? You a cop?”
I let out a laugh. “Do I look like a cop to you? I’m just looking for a friend of mine, that’s all. Do you know him or not?”
