Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)(92)

Mrs. Decker sat back in her chair, and although she rested the gun on her lap, she kept her hand on it. “I want to see you suffer the way Reed did. At first, I was just going to kill you outright, thought I had with the rock, but then I decided that would have been too easy for you. When you’re addicted to the drugs I’m going to make you take, when you’re begging me for them, when you no longer care about food or being clean, then you’ll know what my son’s last days were like.”

“I was there. Believe me, I know. He refused to eat or bathe no matter how much I begged.” Her lips trembled. “I was there! It broke my heart to see him like that.”

“Well, I can tell you right now, it’s not going to break my heart to see you slowly die in your own filth.”

Riley pulled the thin pillow to her chest. God, she was sleepy. “Go away. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

“Not until you fall asleep. Don’t want you trying to throw up the pill.”

There went that plan. If she didn’t do something, and do it now, she would be too out of it to attempt anything. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Tough.”

Rage proved stronger than the pills in her body, skyrocketing her blood pressure, and she lunged at Mrs. Decker, managing to take her by surprise. They both landed on the floor, and Riley struggled to get her hands on the gun, desperately fighting against the sluggishness making her limbs feel like they were sloughing through mud.

She had her fingers around the barrel, could see them there, but couldn’t feel them, and Mrs. Decker was able to jerk the gun away. Using the handle, she hit Riley on her head where the stitches had recently been taken out. Pain exploded in her face and skull, and she gasped as she tried to catch her breath.

“Stupid girl. Get on the bed.”

Somehow she managed to crawl onto the mattress, but it felt like her brains were going to leak out of her pounding head. As soon as Mrs. Decker left, Riley reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, squinting at the screen. She wasn’t connected to anyone, which meant she’d failed in her attempt to call for help. With trembling fingers, she found Cody’s number and pressed Call.

“Riley?”

His voice washed over her as tears filled her eyes. “Cody, I-I love you.”

“Talk to me, darlin’. Where are you?”

“Dunno. Drugged. She . . . she gave me Oxy . . . Oxy . . .”

“OxyContin?”

“Yeth.” What was wrong with her tongue? She lost the battle to stay awake, giving in to the lure of nothingness that the drugs in her body were offering. The next time she woke up, she tried to move her arms and legs, but they refused to obey. Squinting her eyes against the bright light coming in from the window, she lifted her head and stared down at her feet, then at her hands. She was on her back, spread eagle, tied to the bed somehow. Funny, she thought that should concern her, but she couldn’t quite seem to get her mind in order.

The door opened and Mrs. Decker walked in, pulled the chair next to the bed, and sat. “I found your phone, Riley. Bad girls get punished.” She held up a needle.

“Wha-what’s t-that?”

“Oh, you’ll like this. It will make you feel wonderful, and then when you learn to crave it, I won’t give you any more. Or maybe I’ll give you enough to kill you. Haven’t decided yet. To answer your question, it’s heroin.” She eyed the needle. “It’s surprisingly easy to get, but I suppose you already know that.”

“Please, don’t do this.” The tears leaking from the corners of her eyes burned. She wanted Cody. Wanted to curl up against him with his strong arms wrapped around her, where she’d be safe. Sad. That’s what she was. So damn sad. She didn’t have Reed or Cody, and if that wasn’t worth crying over, nothing was.

“Oh, it’s too soon to give you a shot of this. You’d probably OD if I did, what with the other drugs already in you. I just wanted you to know what you could look forward to. You’re going to suffer just like my son did.”

“But I love him,” she whispered.

“You killed him,” Mrs. Decker screamed. “You deserve everything I’m going to do to you.”

She’d meant Cody, but even in her drugged state, she knew to keep that to herself.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR




Cody pulled over to the side of the road, got out of his truck, and slammed his fist down onto the hood, not caring that he’d put a dent in it. He’d had her on the phone, but after telling him she loved him, and that she’d been drugged, all he’d heard was her breathing. For fifteen minutes he’d listened to Riley’s labored breaths while begging her to talk to him.