Deceiving Lies

14

Rachel

THE STORM HADN’T LET UP AT ALL, and over the next two days, the power continued to go out. Only staying on for maybe fifteen minutes at a time, a few times a day. I was feeling desperate suddenly. I knew I needed to get out of there, but I had no idea what had come over me that morning that was terrifying me.

I’d spent hours after breakfast trying to convince Trent to get me out of there, but he wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I know something bad is about to happen!” I hissed and grabbed onto his forearm before bringing his hand to my chest so he could feel my racing heart. “I won’t turn you in, Trent, I swear, but we need to get out of this place.”

“Rachel”—he pinned my shaking hands to the bed—“you’re just feeling anxious because the power has been off. You know we can’t get out of here.”

“No, I don’t know that!”

“Look, I want to get you away from here, you have to at least know that. And you heard Jaime the other night, because of what I’m doing for you, I’m out, do you understand what that means?”

“No—”

“It means, when Romero gets word of this, or gets out, I’m dead. Trust me when I say I want to get out of here just as much as you do. But you’re out of your goddamned mind if you think they don’t have men stationed at the exits!”

I flinched away from his harsh tone, and immediately one of his large hands cupped around the back of my neck, forcing me to look at him again.

“Shit, I’m sorry. We just can’t get out of here, okay?” When my eyes kept going down to my lap, he spoke gently. “Don’t be scared of me. I’m sorry for snapping at you. You have to understand that I would do anything to get you away from here, and it’s killing me that I can’t.”

I nodded and waited until my heart was going at a normal pace before asking more questions. “Who is Romero? Where is he getting out of? Is he in jail or something?”

“Rachel,” Trent said in a clear warning, but I didn’t stop.

“Why is he the one that decides if you’re ‘out’? Oh my God, are you in a gang, Trent? Are all of you in a gang?”

“Please stop asking questions,” he begged and stood quickly from the bed. Dragging his hands agitatedly through his hair, he blew out a heavy breath and began pacing.

“You are!” Oh my God, thank God. “He’s going to find me. He knows all the gangs in this area better than anyone. I know he’s going to find me.” I started chanting to myself, and for the first time in days, I had hope that Kash would come rescue me.

“Who is going to— Oh. No, Rachel, he . . . he’s not.”

It felt like my heart had dropped to my stomach as I forced out, “W-what . . . did you . . . you said you wouldn’t hurt him!”

“And we haven’t,” he hissed and stalked back to the bed, bending over me enough that I fell back onto the pillows. “They stopped looking for you over a week ago. They all stopped looking for you.”

Fat tears began rolling down my cheeks before I even realized I was crying. “No, he wouldn’t. He can’t. He has to be looking for me . . . right?”

“Rachel.” He reached out for my cheek, but I smacked his arm back and turned away from him. “Please talk to me.”

But there was nothing for me to say to Trent anymore. He’d just confirmed everything I’d feared the other night. Kash probably thought I was dead. And the department, Mason, and Kash had all given up hope of finding me. A hollow feeling had filled me, and I’d wondered if this was what it felt like to give up on life.

Even when I’d been terrified, and afraid that I wouldn’t make it out of here alive, I’d always kept hope that Kash was coming to find me. And now that I knew he wasn’t, I felt my body succumb to the knowledge that I was gone from Kash for good. I hadn’t even felt that way when I’d been with Blake last year, or when Kash and I had broken up.

I was positive that being tortured by Blake was easier than dealing with that sense of loss.

Hours passed before Trent tried to get me out of his bed again. “Come on, we’re going into the kitchen, and you’re going to eat something.”

I didn’t respond.

“Rachel, let’s go. You didn’t eat lunch, and I’m not about to let you starve yourself. Get up.”

When I didn’t make any attempt at even moving, he lifted me out of the bed and walked me toward the door before setting me on my feet. He made sure I wasn’t about to fall over, and when he stood directly in front of me, he sighed heavily and pulled my body close to his. I stumbled over my feet and smacked into his chest but didn’t make a move to get away from it.

“He stopped looking for me. He thinks I’m dead,” I whispered into his chest.

Trent’s arms tightened around me. “I’m sorry.”

“I have—I have to do something. I have to let him know I’m alive.” A thought hit me, and the desperation I’d felt this morning came flooding back to me. I pushed away from Trent, and lunged for the workout equipment blocking the door.

“What are you doing? I’ll get that.”

“I have to get out of here! I have to find him, I have to let him know I’m alive!”

Trent’s arms went around me, pulling my back against his chest. “If you try to get out of here, they will catch you. They won’t let you out, don’t you understand that?”

“I need to try! Kash needs to know!”

“Rachel, no!” Spinning me around, he wrapped one arm tightly around my waist, the other hand cupping the back of my neck so I would look at him. “I can’t let you do that, you don’t understand what these guys will do to you if they get their hands on you. I can only keep you safe if you’re with me. What you saw that first time you tried to escape, and what you saw last night, is nothing compared to what they have planned for you.”

“I don’t care!” I nearly shrieked. “You can help me this time, I have to try to get back to him!”

Turning us, Trent pressed me against the wall and covered my mouth with his large hand. After a dark look, he dropped his head, and turned it slightly as he listened for anything coming from the hall. When minutes passed, and nothing happened, he removed his hand and leaned in to whisper softly in my ear, “You can’t yell things like that. If one of them heard you, they’re going to be waiting for us. There are men waiting upstairs, there’s no way for both of us to get past them without them trying to take me down . . . and take you.”

“I need Kash to know I’m alive,” I said hoarsely. “I’ll do anything, I’ll risk it, I don’t care.” I hadn’t tried to escape since those first couple days here . . . but at the time, I’d known Kash would try to find me. Knowing he’d given up had changed everything for me. “If he isn’t coming for me, then I’ll die trying to get back to him.”

A brief, choking noise left Trent, and the arm still curled around me tightened. “I can’t let you do that, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let something happen to you now. I— Fuck. If I . . . Rachel, if I try to get in contact with him, will you please make an effort to keep yourself alive while you’re here?”

My head flew back, and my gaze rested on his pained expression.

“But know that even if I do get in touch with him without one of the others finding out, it might not end well for him. This place is full of armed men; he might not get in here, and get you out, alive. I can’t be the person responsible for that. You would hate me.”

“Trent, please! Please, anything, I’ll do anything! Just let him know where I am and that I’m okay. I know they’ll come for me.”

His dark eyes took on more hurt as he nodded his head. “I’ll try. I can’t promise anything, there’s no cell service down here, so I’d have to go up toward the top. Getting close to the outside right now with everyone against me might not be easy. They might already know if Romero wants me out, and if they think I’m trying to leave, they’ll kill me in a heartbeat. It would leave you unprotected, and without him knowing. I just . . . I don’t know. I can’t put you in that position.”

“It’ll be okay.” I tried desperately to reassure him, and just watched as the pain on his face turned to sorrow. “Everything will be okay, but we need to try!”

He watched me for a few seconds before nodding and releasing me. “I’ll do it, if that’s what you want.”

Yes, that’s what I want. I want my fiancé back. I want my life! I want to get out of here and never leave Kash’s side again.

I launched myself back into Trent’s arms and hugged his neck hard. “Thank you. I can’t say that enough, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, let’s see if this works first.” He pushed me back and turned to move the exercise machine away from the door leading to the hall. It then hit me what he was doing for me.

“When they come for me, I’ll let them know what you’ve done for me. I’ll do everything to make sure you don’t go to jail for this, Trent.”

He dropped his head, stopped pushing the heavy equipment, slowly straightened and faced me. “For what I’ve done, I deserve to go to jail at the very least. That’s not what’s hard about doing this for you, Rachel.”

“Trent,” I whispered and reached for him, but he moved my arm away.

“Let’s go get something for us to eat, and then get back in here. All right?”

I nodded hesitantly and grabbed onto his shirt when he opened the door.

Trent hadn’t felt comfortable leaving me in his room while he’d gone to get our food during the power outage, so I’d been going with him and sticking closer than usual as we did.

We stepped into the hall and quietly made our way to the kitchen. I watched as he quickly went through the pantry and pulled enough food down to last us for a while, I guess in case the power stayed off throughout tomorrow so we wouldn’t have to come back out.

That same feeling I’d had all morning was back, and I knew we needed to hurry. Something wasn’t right, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

“Trent, we really need to go,” I whispered and turned to look around us in the dark kitchen.

“Okay, come on. Hold on to me.”

“Something bad is coming.”

“I told you, Rach, it’s the weather. It’s hurricane season, but we’re underground, we’re okay if anything happens.”

“No, I—” My scream was muffled by the hand that went around my mouth, and I immediately began thrashing against whoever was holding me.

I heard all the food drop to the ground and watched as Trent spun around to look at us.

“Carson, let her go.”

“Fuck you, Trent. They’ve completely stopped trying to get everyone out. We need her to get them out.”

“Carson, let. Her. Go.”

The hand around my mouth tightened and my eyes widened when I saw what was in Trent’s hand. “What are you going to do? Shoot at me in the dark when she’s in my arms? We need her to get them out, and when we’re done, you can have your whore back. What’s left of her anyway.”

“If you do anything to her, know that your death will be painful,” Trent said, and the sincerity in those words chilled me.

“Jaime! Come get her!”

“Already here.” Jaime’s voice came from behind Trent, and I watched as Trent straightened and raised his hands in surrender, gun still in hand. “Go take her to the room, I’ll be there as soon as I finish this.”

Carson didn’t wait for anything else; he turned and started walking me away from Trent. I bucked against him and bit down on his fingers, and when he began cursing, three gunshots went off in the hallway. I cried out, not from the loud echo in the hall, but because I knew Trent was dead. And it was my fault.

Before I could try to turn away from Carson and run back to Trent’s body, another shot rang out, and Carson and I fell forward. Landing with my hands behind me hurt like a bitch; and with Carson’s weight on me, I knew I was going to be bruised all over. But still I didn’t move, and I didn’t make a sound as I waited to see what Jaime was going to do.

Loud, running footsteps pounded down the hall and suddenly Carson’s weight was off me, and another, much louder, shot went off aimed directly next to me. I couldn’t force myself to look at Carson; I didn’t want to see what he looked like after those.

“Rachel, get up, we need to get back to the room. Now. Let’s go, come on.”

I looked up at Trent and sat there in shock until I heard distant yells echoing down the hall. I jumped up and, when Trent took my hand, sprinted back with him to the room with the mattress on the floor.

“I’ll be back,” Trent whispered and I grabbed his arm.

“No, Trent, don’t!”

“Trust me, I’ll be back. If anyone else comes in here—”

“I know, I know, I have to scream.” I sobbed and scrambled to the mattress when he rushed out the door.

Over a dozen shots went off and my hands clamped down over my mouth as I waited for what happened next. I now understood why all those stupid girls in horror movies couldn’t shut up. Though I tried to hold back my sobs, I was still making a choking noise, and my breathing was rough and heavy. A minute that felt like hours after I’d heard the last shot dragged by before the door slammed open.

I screamed.

“Rachel, it’s me!”

I’d never been so happy to hear Trent’s voice, and I ran toward him to help take the heavy chairs from his hands.

“Move back,” he ordered and went about putting both under the lever handle of the door until he was sure it would hold.

“My room locks, but they can shoot through it. They don’t have the ammo to shoot through these walls. My magazine is almost empty, and the rest of it is in my room, but I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

“I know you will,” I cried and wrapped my arms around him, fitting myself to his body. “God, Trent, I thought Jaime killed you!”

His big arms tightened around my waist and he led us over to the mattress. When we were sitting, he pulled me onto his lap and held me there like a child. “I’m okay.” His labored breathing was all that filled the room for a torturous amount of time before he admitted, “I killed three others in the kitchen.”

That should terrify me, but right now, I was just so happy that he was okay. My hands gripped his shoulders, and I looked at his blurry face when his hand went under my chin.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt from falling? I’m sorry, I didn’t have any other option, I had to shoot him.”

“I hurt, but I’m okay. I’ve had worse. How did—how did you know it wouldn’t go through to me? I was right in front of him.”

“I have hollow point bullets, it was highly unlikely it would go through him to you. Where are you hurting?”

I sat up and looked him in the eye through the dark room. “How are you worried about me right now? Did any of them get you? Oh God, Trent, did they?” I started to get off his lap, but he quickly pulled me back down.

“No, they didn’t. Tell me where you’re hurt.”

“I’m fine, it was just a lot of weight to fall on me when I couldn’t stop the fall. I’ll be fine—”

There was a loud banging coming from the metal door and I cringed into Trent’s chest. I felt his right arm go up and stay there as he waited for something to happen. But the chairs held under the handle, for now.

“You’re out, Trent! You’re out, you hear me? You will pay for every one of our brothers! I’ll fucking kill you, you son of a bitch!”

The screaming and pounding continued for countless minutes until it eventually slowed, and then stopped completely.

Trent and I sat there, gripping each other as we waited to see if it would start up again. When nothing happened for a long time, my eyes started drooping as the exhaustion set in. Trent gently removed me from his body and laid me down on the mattress before dropping to his side next to me, so his body was closest to the door, and pulled me into his chest.

“I’m sorry you had to kill them,” I murmured before I fell asleep.

His breathing suddenly halted, and the hand around my waist curled tighter. “I’d do it again if it meant keeping you away from them.”

I nodded into his chest and blew out a shaky breath. “I’m so glad you weren’t hurt, Trent. Thank you for protecting me. I don’t know how close you used to be with them . . . so just, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Rachel. Just know that I’ll do whatever it takes for you.”

My chances of escaping were rapidly weakening, and it was hard to keep hope that I had a chance of getting out of here. But if by some miracle the department found me, I knew I would do whatever it took to keep them from hurting Trent or blaming him for this.

Trent

I WAS IN SO MUCH FUCKING PAIN, and all I wanted to do was sleep . . . but I knew I had to push through that. If the guys tried, they could easily hit the door hard enough that the chairs would start coming loose, and eventually give out. A part of me knew I would wake up if that happened, but I also felt like I was on the verge of passing out, and I was terrified I wouldn’t wake if that happened. Staying awake was the only option I had if I wanted to keep Rachel safe.

Unwrapping myself from her, I sat up on the small mattress and ran my right hand through my hair a few times. I thought about Carson and Jaime, Dominic, Eddie, and Miguel. Since I’d been with Romero Juarez and the rest of the brothers, I’d always been forced to end people’s lives. And every time after, I’d gotten physically sick. I could still see every single one of their faces clearly in my mind, like they were right in front of me. I still hated myself for what I had done. Regardless of acting under the pressure of Romero’s gun pointed at the back of my head, I was the one who had pulled the trigger and ended so many lives.

But with the five tonight, I felt absolutely nothing. I didn’t know if it had to do with the fact that I’d hated every minute of my forced life with those men, the pain that seemed to get worse with each passing minute, or if it just had everything to do with her.

I knew now, without a doubt, I would do anything for the girl asleep behind me.

I stayed silent as I listened to Rachel’s breathing. Making sure it was deep and even, I prayed to God she stayed asleep. Keeping low to the ground, I searched the dark room until I found a plastic bag. Trying to keep quiet, I grabbed the first shirt my hand touched and pulled it out. Once I got a small tear started in the material, I gritted my teeth and ripped the shirt open. The pain in my left arm exploded and I had to bite back a string of curses. Pulling in a ragged breath, I held it in as long as I could manage before attempting a silent rush out.

Once I was able to breathe somewhat normally again, I moved over a couple inches on the shirt, and repeated the same process until I had two thick, long strips of the cotton. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make a tight enough tourniquet, but I had to try something. Tying them together on one end, and using my teeth and right hand, I wrapped the material around the entry wound and tied it off as tightly as I could above the bullet hole. I ground my jaw as the pain intensified, and sat still as I tried to calm my breathing, but it was so goddamn painful.

Moving so I could lie down on the mattress again, I stilled when a scraping noise accompanied my harsh breaths. Turning, I let my eyes slowly roam the dark floor until they fell on Rachel’s journal.

She never had told me what she was always writing about, and after we’d been interrupted the other night, I hadn’t asked again. If it were something trivial, she would have told me by now. But it had to be significant in her life, because all I could see was the way she had choked up when I’d given it to her.

Knowing that if she ever saw this journal again, I would already be gone from her life in one way or another, I felt around the floor until I found one of her pens. Sitting down on the mattress, I stared at the journal in my hands, trying to talk myself out of what I was about to do . . . but I needed to do this. I needed her to know.

Opening it up to the last page, I looked over my shoulder and took in Rachel’s sleeping form one last time before bringing the pen down to the paper.