Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 – Shay

The next time I awakened to fire rapid Spanish being spoken in the hallway. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t tied up. My next thought was that it was a man and woman arguing, was one of the voices Marco? I had hopes that he wasn't as cruel as the first man had been. I wished to God I had paid attention during Spanish class at school because I had no idea what they were talking about.

I did catch her name, however. Because he yelled it at her like someone who knew you would. The roll of the g sound followed by an emphasis on the a. Who in the hell was Gina? Really, who was Marco for that matter. And why did they want me?

After that bath from the night before, I had climbed into bed in my wrinkled blouse and panties. Marco raised a brow at my unusual outfit, but thankfully didn’t say anything. I was so exhausted, and I knew that he wouldn’t tell me what the fuck was going on.

I slid from the bed and yanked on my skirt. If it looked bad yesterday, it was nothing compared to the train wreck that I was today. Slipping into the bathroom, I tried to freshen up. I found a comb in one of the drawers and washed it with the hand soap and hot water. I wanted to think that it would sanitize anything that might still be living there.

Thankfully there was a new toothbrush under the sink and I grabbed it as well as the toothpaste. My hair was a tangled mess from sleeping on it wet. The bruise on my face from Jamie had turned a deep purplish black. Cocking my head to the side, I assessed the damage. It was nothing that wouldn’t heal, but it sure looked bad.

I wrapped my reddish-brown hair up into a bun and secured it with the bobby pins I had taken out before my bath the night before. I looked like shit, no doubt about it, but this was as presentable as I was going to get in the current circumstances.

I heard the outside door open and a woman’s voice called out to me. “Shay? Where are you?”

“In the bathroom,” I called out and hurriedly cleaned up my mess.

When I opened the door, I was faced with the meanest looking girl I had ever seen. Her features were beautiful, high cheekbones, full lips, and dark curly hair. She had great boobs and a curvy figure that most women would die for. But her expression and cut arms gave me pause; this girl didn’t mess around.

“So, I am to be your babysitter for the time being. My name is Gina.”

I walked a little further into the room. “Can you tell me why they have me here?”

Gina laughed. “Can I? Yes. Will I? No.”

My heart sank, and I felt that urge to use, to escape. Trying to shove that down, I tightened my fists. “What do they want with me? I don’t have any money, I’m a fucking waitress.”

The gleam in her eyes was cold. “What part of no aren’t you understanding? I won’t give you any information.”

I sighed and sank down onto the bed. “Can you at least tell me where Marco and Jamie went?”

I was hoping that Jamie was far away from where we were. He was a mean bastard and I didn’t need any more enemies at the moment.

“Marco is downstairs, and Jamie, well, he won’t be bothering you again,” she snorted. “He won’t be bothering anyone ever again.”

I felt the color draining from my face.” What-what do you mean?”

“The boss doesn’t like to be crossed. I can see Jamie’s handy work on your face. He was a liability that was dealt with.”

Dead.

Jamie was dead.

“Are you going to throw up? Because if you are I would prefer you use the toilet.”

I glanced back up at Gina’s amused gaze. How could she find anything about this remotely funny?

“Who killed him?”

She raised a carefully manicured brow. “I never said anybody killed him.”

No. Because that would mean that she had given me information which she clearly had stated multiple times that she won’t do.

“Is Will the boss?”

Gina wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know any Will.”

This surprised me. “He was here yesterday with Marco. A tall man with black hair...?”

Gina eyed me with a new-found interest. “That sounds like the boss, but I have never heard his first name. Jennings is sexy as fuck, muscles upon muscles, and mean as hell. If that is who you are talking about...?”

Sexy as fuck—it’s funny because I would never have considered calling the Will I knew back in Tennessee anything close to this. But the man who had caressed my face last night, yeah, he was something else. I wondered what had happened to him in all the years that I hadn’t seen him.

I certainly didn’t turn out to be any prize. A former addict, cheater, thief, whore—these words could all be used to describe who I had become.

And yet the thought that Will Jennings was a murderer? That didn’t sit well with me.

“Yeah,” I said shortly. “The same guy.”

She looked surprised. “Well, Cupcake, you just became a fuck load more interesting to me. Tell me how you know the boss.”

It was my turn to raise a brow. “No information from you? No information from me.”

Her lips pursed. “Touché. I can tell you that your face is plastered all over the news. Someone named Stacy had a press conference this morning stating your disappearance.”

She opened one of the drawers of the dresser and found the remote. A smartly dressed reporter was speaking on the television.

“The FBI has joined police in Riverdale, NY, in the search for a 28-year-old woman who hasn't been seen since Saturday afternoon. Police say Shay Montgomery was last seen by a waitress at the Cricket Café around 1 pm before she exited the building, ABD 48 reports.

The woman was reported missing at 6:15 pm Sunday evening by a friend. The officers are now searching a wider area after scouring their home, neighborhood, and workplace.

Authorities say Shay has reddish-brown hair, green eyes, and weighs about one hundred and fifteen pounds, ABD News reports. She was last seen in a gray suit jacket and skirt in the company of business mogul Elliot Brand and his wife.

“A family friend tells ABD News that Shay was in the midst of completing the twelve-step program, having recently recovered from methadone addiction. She fears for Shay’s welfare and has concerns that there may be foul play involving the business tycoon.

Brand has released a statement that he and his wife had nothing to do with the disappearance and that they pray along with Montgomery’s family for a swift recovery. FBI agents are looking into the matter. If you have any information about Shay Montgomery or her whereabouts, please contact the police. Numbers will be provided on the screen.”

“Turn it off,” I croaked.

The images of Elliot and Mandy were plastered all over the television. They had more shots of them than they did of me. I felt sick inside and knew that Mandy would never forgive me now. How could things have gone so wrong?

I was trying to do the right thing and, in the process, fucked everything up.

My demons were insistent. You are worthless. You are nothing. This is all your fault. You shouldn’t be allowed to live. You fuck up everything.

I hadn’t noticed that Gina had approached me and jumped when her hand touched my shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

Her concern touched me, and I looked up at her and answered as honestly as I knew how.

“No.”