Pink Shades of Words: Walk 2016 Read online

  Clearing my dry throat, I asked, “Where are you taking me?”

  He’d lived in a different home when he used to take me for the weekends. The sicko would only bring me there when his family was out of town. I’d seen the blueprints to this house while we mapped out our plan, but I had no idea which room we were headed to. Thankfully, I was being tracked through the tiny GPS superglued to the inside seam of my corset.

  “So inquisitive.” Narrowing his eyes, he got closer to my face, taking me by surprise when his mouth forcefully collided with mine. I cried out and pulled away when he sucked and bit my bottom lip, hard. “I’d prefer surprising you. Build up your anticipation.” He was so close to me, I was sure he heard my heart trying to beat out of my chest.

  His intimidating gaze went from my bloody lip back to my eyes. He’d always gotten off by hurting me. Drawing blood was just a bonus. “No more questions, angel. Get the fuck upstairs, now!”

  His threatening tone and his nickname for me made me almost double over with nausea. He’d liked using pet names for me, as if we were lovers. I’d assumed it was his way of mentally accepting what he’d done to me.

  Once at the top of the steps, we made our way down the long hallway, passing what I assumed were bedrooms. A symphony of grunts, moans, and cries came from behind each door. My stomach bottomed out when I saw Tommy on a hand drawn sign outside one room.

  I’d followed the senator’s social media enough to know his son’s name. I had no doubt this man was a monster, but I couldn’t believe he’d allow someone to defile his own child’s room. Clearly, his sickness knew no bounds.

  I felt a stronger sense of determination about what we were doing. His family would be better off without him in their lives. But first they had to see what he was.

  I placed my hand on the door, praying for the women on the other side, and made sure to get the plaque in the frame. “Sounds like there are people inside. Aren’t we alone up here?” I hoped he would take the bait.

  The crude jackass laughed. “A few of my friends are using the rooms while my family’s gone.” He had the audacity to look proud of this. As if housing his disgusting friends was a badge of honor.

  Perfect time to link him to those other guys. “Oh—” I lifted an eyebrow. “—the same friends I saw in the dining room with those tied up girls?”

  His lips pulled into a board grin as his eyebrows slanted down. “I see that freedom has given you a smart mouth.” He reached up and squeezed the back of my neck. “I’ll have to fix that.”

  Fuck, I hated when he touched me like that. I’d probably have finger marks later.

  As enraged as I was getting, it was time to play the roll I’d practiced. Sticking out a pouty lip, I poured it on thick. “I’m sorry, Senator. I didn’t mean to be rude, your authority just impresses me. I’ve kept up on your career, and not many people can get away with parties like this, and—” I peeked down while running my fingers over my cleavage. His eyes followed my every move. “—to be honest, I hoped I’d run into you again. Your power is so fucking hot, it turns me on.”

  The corner of his mouth tipped up maliciously. “So my mouse has become a seductive vixen. Maybe our time away from each other has been a good thing after all.”

  With a growl, he dug his fingers into my arm and pulled me to the end of the corridor. A large man with big broad shoulders was standing guard in front of the master bedroom.

  I stopped in my tracks, once again doubting this whole thing. Could I really be rescued again before he had a chance to attack me? For a moment, I’d forgotten about all the training I’d learned. And the fact that I knew exactly where to hit to not only hurt him, but knock him out.

  He put his palm on the small of my back, pushing me forward as he took something from the guy at the door. “Come on.” He spoke gruffly. “Maybe this time around you won’t fight it as much.” Running his fingers through my hair, he grabbed a handful and yanked my head back. “Then again, I liked when you fought me.”

  Oh fuck, no. We were going to finish this right now.

  My scalp stung when he finally let go, and I stumbled forward, landing on my knees next to the bed. Afraid he would immediately take advantage, I jumped up as he slammed the door behind him and removed his tie.

  “On the bed. Now.” His voice told me he was no longer playing around. “Or I’ll remind you how much I love punishing you for your disobedience.” He placed something on the dresser before stepping forward and blocking my view of it.

  I maneuvered myself up the side of the bed and scooted to the middle. At this point, it didn’t matter where I positioned my body. Marcus’s men would have overridden the system and turned the bedroom’s security camera on. If all went well, my face should be blurred.

  With quick steps, he was suddenly on me, hovering above with pure malice in his eyes. “This reminds me of the time we spent the entire weekend at my lake house. Oh, you were so fucking beautiful tied to my bed. I might have to do that for old time’s sake.” His hands began to roam my body as his lips came down to my neck and his erection pushed against me. The trail of saliva he left as he licked my throat felt like acid burning my skin.

  Before I threw up for the second time tonight, I had to come up with a different plan. The seduction route hadn’t given me the confession I wanted, but this man had the biggest ego I’d ever seen, and I knew just how to rile those big ass feathers of his.

  Turning on him, I spat out, “You mean right before you raped and beat me the first time?”

  His head jerked up and he looked...offended? “Now why would you use a word like that, princess? You’ve been my favorite lover by far.” He kissed then sucked the swell of my breast that had popped out above my corset. Looking down, he admired the hickey he’d just left. “And you looked so fucking beautiful wearing my marks.”

  I refused to let his words get to me and wrestled my way out from underneath him. My feet hit the floor when I jumped off the other side of the bed. I was about to unleash the monster and needed to have some place to run. “You bought me from a fucking human trafficker, and I definitely did not consent to that. To any of it.”

  There was a glimmer in his eyes, and a smirk on his lips. “Oh, you wanted it alright, and your resistance fueled me, making the victory that much sweeter.” He licked his lips as he got off the bed, completely unfazed by my outburst.

  Hot tears of rage ran down my cheeks now that I was finally saying everything I’d stored up for years. “I cried the whole fucking time, you sick asshole.”

  That did it. I saw the spark of pure rage in his eyes, and I poised to run, but I didn’t move quickly enough. He leaped toward me and backhanded me across the face. The sting was all too familiar, creating that feeling of hopelessness inside of me I’d once become accustomed to.

  He gripped my chin so hard, I felt a bruise forming. “Don’t ever speak back to me like that again, you fucking whore.” Hot spit flew out of his mouth.

  I clenched my jaw, showing him I wasn’t giving up. Never again. His words would’ve once made me weak, but now they were giving me the strength to fight. “Don’t you have a fucking conscious, mister ‘family values’ Senator?” I managed to say, despite his grip on my face.

  He picked me up and tossed me on the bed, whacking my shoulder into the headboard. “Nobody gives a rat’s ass about throwaways like you, or any of those other whores downstairs.”

  He reached over and picked up a syringe from the top of his dresser. My head snapped back, filled with memories of him shooting me up after he’d violated and battered me. Memories of me wishing that he’d given me enough to overdose. I used to pray for death.

  No..no..no...I couldn’t let him near me. I won’t ever go back to the thing that once destroyed my life.

  “You know who people do care about?” He flicked the barrel with his middle finger and pushed the plunger up enough to get rid of the air bubble. “Men who run countries. Powerful men who get whatever they desire. If we want some slu
t everyone else tossed aside, then we have every right to fucking take her. In the end, all you bitches end up loving us for saving your asses and taking care of your habit.” A drip of liquid beaded at the top of the needle, and I fought the urge to lick my lips “You came back because you missed me, so don’t try to make me look like the bad guy here.”

  For a split second, I believed him. I felt like that despondent girl again, the one who’d had her life ripped away, got hooked on drugs, and had her freedom stolen right out from under her. But a moment later, I heard the gunshots downstairs, and I felt my own sense of victory coming. I could feel the smirk pulling up at the corner of my mouth.

  Confused, he ran over to the door and peeked out. I could see a sliver of the hallway and heard frantic shouting, people scrambling around.

  Immediately, he slammed the door behind him and locked it. “What the fuck is going on?” he shouted at me, his eyes narrowing as if he knew this had been the plan all along. My plan.

  I looked directly at him, not allowing my fear to get the best of me. After all these years of being under him, I finally felt like I was on top. “Just a little media coverage. You assholes like that shit, don’t you?”

  He had the audacity to chuckle, looking less worried. “I don’t care what you think you caught. Nobody’s going to believe a lying whore.”

  If I wasn’t confident that he was grasping for straws, I might’ve believed his cocky tone.

  The bedside phone rang, calling our attention. This was part of the plan, and I knew exactly who was on the other end. I reached over and picked up the wireless receiver. “Hello, Mrs. Kendall.” I kept my eyes on the senator and that damn syringe.

  “Who is this?” the woman asked, her voice shaking.

  “The woman you’re watching.” I stared at the camera hidden in the smoke detector as the senator looked around trying to figure out what had my attention. He obviously didn’t have a fucking clue that the camera was on.

  “Please tell me this isn’t true. I got a security alert, opened the link from my laptop and I see my husband attacking a woman in my own bedroom.” My heart almost broke for her, but surely she had to suspect something was going on. As if reading my mind, she added, “I figured he had other women, but this? No. It’s not possible.”

  “I am so sorry, but your husband supports sex trafficking and uses your home as a brothel while you’re gone. He’s raped me and others, repeatedly.”

  Violent rage filled the senator’s wide eyes. “There’s no way. She’ll never believe you,” he spat out through gritted teeth as he reached for the phone, the syringe pointing at me.

  Howling screams came through the receiver, and my vindicated eyes met his. I held the phone out so he could hear what he’d done to her. What he’d done to all of us.

  He rushed forward, attempting to stick me, but I’d managed to kick the syringe out of his hand. His face contorted and was red with fury as he ran over, yanked a side table drawer open and pulled out a gun. With furious steps, he came at me with it, and I felt a jarring pain as he shoved it against my temple. I was too shocked to move.

  “You fucking bitch. You’ve destroyed my life.” The rage on his face should’ve scared the shit out of me, but watching him fall apart, completely losing control, got me higher than I’d ever felt before. Smack had nothing on the euphoric intoxication of revenge.

  With the cold muzzle digging into the side of my head, I closed my eyes, breathed in deep, and smiled. I didn’t think I was dying tonight, but even if he did pull the trigger, I’d rest peacefully knowing he’d never hurt another girl.

  “What the fuck are you so happy about?” He leaned in, seething, but his fury wasn’t getting to me. I’d prayed for death many times in the past in order to escape torment but had always been afraid. Now that I’d served my purpose, I was filled with tranquility, no matter what my fate was.

  As promised, my hotter-than-hell knight in full body camouflage busted down the door to get to me. With a ski mask concealing his face, Marcus pointed his gun at the senator. “Don’t even think about it, son of a bitch,” he growled. “You’re one move away from me not giving a fuck and shooting your dick off. Nothing would please me more than letting you lie in your own vomit and puddle of blood while you slowly die in agony.”

  Marcus’ eyes cut to me for a split second before returning to the senator, who’d just backed away from the bed. “You okay, baby?”

  “I’m fine.” I scooted up into a sitting position and pressed my hand to my forehead, filled with relief and ready to get the hell out of here.

  Marcus motioned with the gun for the senator to back away from the bed even further. “We need to wrap this shit up and get the fuck out before someone catches wind of it.”

  Senator Kendall looked back and forth between Marcus and me before he turned the gun on himself, holding the barrel under his chin. Oh no, this asshole was not going to kill himself after everything we went through to take him down. I was about to leap at him, make an insane move of trying to shove the gun off track, but Marcus beat me to it. Without missing a beat, Marcus shot his gun, forcing the senator to drop in pain to the ground.

  “You aren’t taking the coward’s way out, you piece of shit.”

  Damn right!

  I peeked over the side of the bed and saw the scumbag grabbing his bloody fingers. Looking between the two men, I smiled at Marcus. “Good shot, babe. You kept it on the fingers.”

  Marcus shrugged, but I knew under that ski mask he had the look of pride on his face. “I wanted to blow his hand off so he couldn’t touch another woman, but it would’ve been difficult to cuff him.” Then his eyes darted to the dark purple mark on top of my breast.

  “Son of a bitch.” Marcus shook his head, cursing. Taking long strides, he kicked the gun away before nailing the senator in the ribs with his steel-toed boot, several times. I winced, imagining the pain that caused, though I didn’t give a shit. “I should kill you for touching my girl, you lowlife cocksucker.”

  Flipping the senator onto his stomach, Marcus reached into his back pocket and retrieved his zip ties. He held them out to me with an expression of triumph. “Do you want to do the honors?”

  The senator continued to grunt in pain, blood spurting from his fingers, and I shook my head. “No thanks. I just wanted to bust his ass.” Which I did. At a price, but we got him.

  One of Marcus’ guys stuck his covered face through the door, and I recognized Tim’s voice. “Everything okay in here, boss?”

  Marcus stood up, peeled off his gloves, and shoved them in his back pocket before reaching his hand out to me. “Yeah, tie this piece of shit to the bed so he can’t leave before the cops get here. Is the video being streamed on all the TVs in the house?”

  Tim gave a curt nod. “He’s just waiting for you to give the go ahead.” Pointing to me, he added, “Oh, and the camera’s off.”

  Wrapping his arm around my waist, Marcus pulled me to his side and continued to give instructions. “Okay, go for it, then get the hell out of here. As soon as you guys take off, have him override all the stations and stream it a couple times before the cops have a chance to keep it from the public.”

  I could still hear the senator groaning as Marcus led me away. “I’ve gotta warn you,” he said softly. “It’s a bit gruesome downstairs.”

  I gave him a curious glance. “I can handle it.” Though, if any of the girls were hurt, I wasn’t sure I’d want to see.

  He swiped his thumbs across my cheeks as he stared into my eyes. “Remember when you asked about the law not being able to touch those men?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  His eyes were somewhat grave, though not sad. “You won’t have to worry about that now.”

  As that news sunk in, I buried my face in his chest and squeezed my eyes shut, feeling a little guilty about being happy. When I pulled away, something on the floor caught my eye.

  The filled syringe.

  I’m sure my face twisted up into s
ome crazed expression as an idea came to me. Before giving it a second thought, I reached down and picked it up. My eyes met Marcus’s and he shrugged, giving me a silent ‘go for it’.

  Careful not to step in his blood, I leaned down and whispered in the senator’s ear, “Let’s see how you like this.” He grumbled when I jabbed the needle into his neck and plunged the liquid into his body.

  “You fucking bitch,” he gritted out before I stood up and kicked him between his asscheeks with my very pointy shoes.

  Whimpering, he grabbed onto his ass.

  With a satisfied grin, I turned to Marcus. “I’m ready.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Pulling me close, he kissed the side of my head, the temple where the butt of the gun had just been. Marcus made me feel so safe, unlike any other man had.

  A shiver ran down my spine as I filled my lungs with the comforting scent that was all him. We’d captured the monster of my real life nightmares and helped free those girls. None of us would have to endure the horrors of the life we once had.

  Moments ago, I’d thought I had already fulfilled my purpose, but as we made our way down the stairs, I realized something. This second chance at life had only lit a fire within me. I wanted other girls trapped in the same situation I’d once been in to feel the relief and victory that came with freedom.

  At the bottom of the stairs, the smell of gunpowder and blood filled the air. Bodies littered the room that, only moments ago, had been filled with perverted men groping unwilling women. I didn’t want to take in too much in case one of the girls was hit by mistake.

  Once outside the front door, I scanned the driveway. “Where are they? Where are the girls? Please tell me they all made it out safely.”

  “They’re around the side, but—”

  I took off running before he had a chance to finish and felt him hot on my trail.

  The SUVs we’d brought to transport them were lined up, ready to leave. I pulled open one of the doors and focused on the girl in front of me. The one who’d been laid out on the dining table. “I promise you’re safe now.” I wanted to reach out to reassure her but didn’t know how she’d handle someone touching her. “You’ll be taken to a place where you are protected and you’ll have the choice of staying or going. You’re free.”