Chapter 29

The hole in the wall.

“Promise you won’t do anything stupid or dangerous?” I ask Micah, kissing him while Hunter waits in the van outside. I don’t want him to go. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen today. Earlier on Hunter had a call from someone. Apparently rat was seen in a certain area and the boys want to check it out as soon as possible. Micah runs his finger over my jaw, smiling.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before you know it. Have a dinner ready for me,” he says.

“You’re terrible, thinking about food in situations like this,” I say, shaking my head. It’s late evening and it’s snowing for the first time in days.

“God, I think I’m going to throw up because of you two,” Tequila mutters when Micah finally leaves. I flop on the sofa next to her, noticing how messy the whole living room is today. Tequila’s books and clothes are everywhere. I think she is trying to do anything to distract herself from Hunter, who keeps teasing her more than usual. They still haven’t sorted out their shit and I’m worried about her.

On the other hand, things between me and Micah are good. We are back to being our old selves. We’re both aware of the danger, but I try not to think about rat. He doesn’t know where I am, and I’m hoping that sooner or later the police will catch up with him.

“Tequila, stop acting like a child. We are in love,” I tell her.

She snorts. “No shit.”

“Where is Kiki?” I ask, hoping to change the subject. We have discussed my relationship countless times, and I don’t want to hear that I should be careful today.

“I sent her to the shop. She’s going to get us more ice cream,” Tequila replies, switching channels on the TV. We have been arguing about letting Kiki out. After all, she is eighteen, and since she’s with us, her mental state has improved, but for some reason I don’t trust her on her own. Kiki is young and sometimes I wonder what might happen if she decides to live her own life for a change.

“Good, because I’m craving something sweet,” I add, knowing that sugar might distract me from worrying about Micah. “I’m going to be upstairs dying my hair. Call me when she gets back.”

“Not sure, I think you should stick to black. It suits you,” she says, and I laugh. It’s true, for some reason black makes me feel good about myself, but I want to add some colour into my life. Tequila seems glad that Micah and I sorted out whatever issues we had, but for some reason she still doesn’t think we should be jumping into a relationship so quickly.

I head upstairs. In the bathroom I start taking out the die bottle and start mixing all the products. When the boys are out the house seems so empty. Tequila protects her privacy like a lioness. She can be difficult sometimes, but she has shifted her perception about having more than just one friend. I can’t go back to pink straight away, but I want to lighten my hair, so I start with light brown. When everything is ready I put the towel around my shoulders and pull some of my hair into a knot.

I stand in the bathroom ready to smack a brown messy mixture on my hair when I hear a loud bang downstairs. Tequila must have smashed a plate, or she is trying to tidy up the mess that Hunter made in the kitchen earlier on. I can’t help but roll my eyes. Since Hunter’s been here, Tequila has smashed a lot of plates. She always says that it’s an accident, but I know that she tends to lose her usual cool when he is around, messing with her things.

I walk downstairs, with the towel around my shoulders, wearing plastic gloves.

“Tequila, you’ve done it again, haven’t you?” I ask, trying to hide my amusement. “Smashing plates won’t make you feel better. What did Hunter do this time?”

I stop in my tracks in the middle of the kitchen, as waves of fresh crispy air run over my face. A man is standing at the back door, holding a knife at Tequila’s throat. It’s a complete stranger and I’m certain that I have never seen him in my life. Terror climbs in my throat when I dart my eyes to Tequila. The guy smirks, moving closer, wrapping his large tattooed arms around Tequila’s neck.

“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” I ask as calmly as I can. My mind wanders off to my gun upstairs, then to the knife that is hidden in my jeans. Kiki has been out for a while, so it won’t be long before she shows up.

“Such a pretty neck and such a pretty girl. It would be a shame if something happened to her,” the bastard snarls and then runs the knife over Tequila’s skin. She is shaking now, and a swell of panic rises in me fast. The guy has dark hair, is wearing a military jacket, and his neck is filled with tattoos. I smell the strong odour of cigarettes and alcohol. I tell myself he might be here hoping to make some quick cash or steal valuables. Whatever, I’m ready to give him anything, so he can leave.

I’m just about to open my mouth to ask him a question when Tequila’s eyes widen. I feel a sharp unexpected pain in the back of my head and then everything goes black.

***

Micah

We’re driving back home, both pissed off and tired. It turns out that Hunter’s mate was full of shit. When we showed up in his house, he was high on coke. Apparently one of his neighbours saw Rudolf in the car outside his house. Hunter nearly beat the shit out of him when he couldn’t confirm that was actually Rudolf or some random guy. I knew that this whole thing sounded too good to be true. On top of that, my phone has been silent for God knows how many days. I made a deal with the Russians, but I haven’t heard from them since they summoned me to that old warehouse. Josh is alive and I wonder what they are waiting for. They must know that he is back and most likely messing with their structure on the streets.

“Micah, listen, man–“

“Shut up, Hunter,” I cut him off, as frustration boils in my veins. “I’m done with this shit. We’re going home and there we will decide what to do. It’s too cold to have this conversation in the van.” For some reason I miss Braxton. At least there I had leverage, people that were willing to help me. Here I’m in Josh’s kingdom, in his world. He might be anywhere, planning to snatch Tahlia right from under my nose.

I wish I could kill that son of a bitch, in a fight or whatever. At least that way Steph would get her justice.

He starts the van without another word and drives away from that shitty bar that we just went to in Sudbourne.

I keep looking out the window at the lights in the shops and houses. I have patched up things with Tahlia, but I won’t let go of Josh. This whole thing has gone too far now and sooner or later he will make a mistake. Then, I’ll be waiting, ready to end him.

Forty-five minutes later Hunter parks the car outside and we head to the house. Hunter opens the door and a cold freezing air ruffles my hair. There is a draft in the living room; the door to the kitchen must be open.

“We are back and we are both starving,” I shout, letting the girls know that we are back. It’s been a hell of a day. Now I just need to relax with Tahlia and forget about it. The living room is empty and when I walk to the kitchen I instantly know that something is wrong. The back doors are wide open and there are bits of plates on the floor.

“Hunter!” I shout, my pulse rising sharply. Tequila never leaves the door open. She hates it when the house is cold.

I run upstairs calling for Tahlia, checking every room. I can’t panic just yet; maybe the girls left to go shop or something.

“What the fuck is going on?” Hunter asks, meeting me in the corridor upstairs.

“The girls are gone. Something must have happened. The back doors are wide open,” I say, pacing around.

I follow Hunter downstairs, panic clouding my thoughts. He checks the kitchen and then bedrooms again. My heart is doing a funny thing in my chest, and I suddenly feel hopeless. This isn’t happening. Josh couldn’t have known about this house, about Tequila.

“Something happened. Rudolf must have been watching the house, watching us,” Hunter says, looking pale. I want to smash my fists into his face, but that won’t change anything.

Tahlia, Tequila and Kiki are gone, but how? We have been careful, keeping the girls safe, away from busy places.

“Fuck! I need some time to think,” I say, and then step outside. The cold harsh wind sends goose pimples over my skin, pure terror inside every part of me. I look to the right and left expecting to see them, but the street is empty. Bitter anger surges through me, mixing with panic and terror.

“Micah, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

I hear a voice and turn around, seeing Kiki standing in front of me. Her face is red, eyes large and puffy. She is sobbing, holding a plastic bag in her hand. I grab her elbow and drag her inside, thinking maybe that it’s just a stupid joke, a prank. Maybe nothing happened and I’m panicking for no reason.

I slam the door hard and drag Kiki to the living room.

“Thank God, Kiki, I thought you were gone too. What the hell happened in here? Are you all right?” Hunter asks, but she starts sobbing harder. I can’t take this tension any longer.

“I’m sorry. He got me in the supermarket. I don’t know. He must have been following me.” She keeps sobbing.

The colour drains from my face and I drag my hand through my hair, shaking.

“Kiki, where the hell are Tahlia and Tequila? Start from the beginning,” I say as calmly as I can.

“I had no choice. I had to tell him; otherwise he was going to kill my little sister. He had a video of her all tied up,” she screams. “He said that I couldn’t disappoint him this time.”

“Kiki! What the hell are you talking about?” Hunter roars, shaking her.

“It was me. I told them where Tahlia was when we were in that flat in East London. That man was one of Rudolf’s men. They forced me to work with them,” she screams back.

I back away from her, disgusted at the words coming out of her mouth as she continues to cry and beg forgiveness. Anger lashes through me and it takes everything not to burst and start screaming at this stupid girl that is crying in front of me.

“You bitch, you have sold them to Rudolf?” Hunter asks, barely in a whisper, moving away from her. I slide down on the floor knowing that I made a terrible mistake. I shouldn’t have taken Kiki with us. She was working for that bastard from the beginning. He got to her, before the hospital. He must have paid someone to put Tahlia in the same room.

“I’m sorry … please, I didn’t want to, but they were going to kill my sister,” she cries.

“I thought that you didn’t have any family?” I scream. “I’m going to kill you for this. I’m going to snap your neck if anything happens to Tahlia!”

“Micah, calm down. We need to make a phone call, speak to the Russians. Do whatever it takes. We can’t waste anymore time,” he says, pushing me away from that little rat. We have given her a home, freedom, food and this is how she repays us. I want to kill her.

My head is spinning. Fear slips through, numbing me. Josh has Tahlia and he is back in the city, and he is going to do anything he can to hurt her again, to make her his.

“Micah … fuck, get it together! We have to put all the cards on the table. Time is not on our side and we need to get organised,” Hunter shouts, but his voice sounds strange, so strangled and thick with emotion. I can’t think straight. I have no idea what he wants from me.

“That Russian bastard won’t help us. She is dead; they both are,” I whisper, losing my strength.

Hunter punches me and I fall over the sofa. Blood starts pouring out of my nose.

“Call them, for fuck sake, or I swear to god I’ll kill you!”

Tahlia

The painful throb in my head is mounting. I try to open my eyes, but my head hurts, and a dull ache around my eyes is making me want to stay in the same position for a while. My skull feels like it’s been cracked open. I blink a few times not recognising where I am. I try to pull up my hands, but metal is digging into my wrist.

Memories are slow to come to me and everything seems hazy, but slowly a stream of images flashes through my mind from the moment when I found Tequila in the kitchen. There was a guy there and he had a knife at her throat.

“Finally you’re up. About time, your highness.”

A shudder of revulsion and fear rocks through me when I recognise that voice. Every muscle in my body seizes as my eyes pick out a large, bulky shadow by the door. Tiny hairs on the nape of my neck rise. The air is being pumped out of my lungs as fear sinks its sharp claws into my body.

I’m too petrified to fully open my eyes. I knew that the guy in the kitchen wasn’t just any guy. Rat caught up with me. I knew this was how it was going to end. Me back in the hole.

Finally, I force myself to look in his direction. It’s even worse than I thought it would be. When I meet his eyes, my brain starts shutting down. The beads of fear that are in my veins grow with each moment. Josh is in the same room as me, a bedroom of some sort. His head is shaved. There is a large snake tattoo on his neck that runs up to his jaw. And those grey eyes are already calculating which piece of me he is going to rip apart first. I’m too afraid to move, because seeing him already puts the image of a dark hole in my head, the ugly prison where he kept me. He opens the door and I let go of a scream when he throws Tequila on the floor, all tied up, with her hair tangled all over her face.

“Now, you’re finally where you always belonged. Let’s play then.”