“Can I get you some coffee?”
Gavin looked at the waitress and told her no. When he turned back around, the man was checking out.
If the stranger hadn’t given him the tip, he would have never paid attention to the turn-offs leading to the secluded homes. His driving back and forth during the weekends had given him a chance to see which turn-offs were being used. Then, during the weeknights, he would find a spot to watch the homes. That was when he had seen Memphis turning into one of them.
If Memphis had been watching him, then he also knew he had been watching the houses. That he had made several missteps with his safety made him want to kick his own ass. He should have gone to Viper immediately when he discovered what was going on with the patents, instead of taking Memphis’s friendship with Viper into consideration.
But, because he’d been so determined to do everything on his own and prove to Viper that he was just as capable of taking care of himself, he hadn’t even alerted Lucky. If anything happened to Lucky because of him, he would never forgive himself.
Sleeping intermittently, Gavin didn’t know how much time had passed. When he woke up and the pounding in his head was gone, he slowly rose to his feet, then walked around the small room to get his circulation going again.
The lights had been on constantly, and without any windows, he had no idea how much time had passed since his kidnapping.
Stretching out his tight muscles, he still felt the soreness in his body. He refused to think about what had happened to him while he’d been drugged, clinging to thoughts of Taylor’s image. To pass the time, he recalled the different outfits he had seen her in since they met. When he exhausted that, he moved on to the different places he had taken her.
His growling stomach interrupted his chain of thought, and he wondered how long it had been since he ate the sandwich. Just as he sat back down on his cot, he heard the lock disengage. Before he could get back to the steps, he saw something tossed from the top to land on the floor, and then the door was slammed closed. He picked up the aluminum foil and opened it as he went back to the cot. It was a baloney sandwich.
Taking a small bite, he started counting seconds then minutes. If they were feeding him once a day, then it was the second day of his captivity.
He knew he was in deep shit when he could have sworn he had been there for an eternity already.
Chapter Twenty
Gavin knew his fifth day of captivity was going to be different when he heard Ink yell at him to get against the wall.
While his body wasn’t as sore, he felt weaker due to the lack of food and water he’d been given. His captives switched back and forth between peanut butter and baloney sandwiches and rarely gave him a bottle of water.
Going to the wall, he watched Ink and Hock come down the steps.
“Jesus, it stinks down here.” Ink gagged at the smell when he reached the bottom, training the gun on him.
“That’s what happens when you don’t let me use the bathroom.” Gavin was just as disgusted with it as the other two men, but he didn’t let it show.
“I’ll get one of the bitches to bring you another bucket. I’m not touching that shit. Now turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
“No.”
“You really want me to get Slate down here?”
“You really want Slate to know that you and Hock can’t get the cuffs on me?” he mocked.
“I’m man enough to know I can’t handle you on my own. How about you, Hock?”
“I don’t have a problem with it either. Slate!”
Gavin watched the door, mentally counting the seconds for Slate to appear. It only took two minutes, so either the walls were thin and Hock’s voice could be heard throughout the house, or there was an air vent that had carried his voice.
Slate came down the steps with anticipation in his eyes, taking the gun away from Ink. “You giving my boys trouble?”
“Not really. I just told them, if they wanted me handcuffed, they could do it themselves. Your buddies being as much of a coward as you, isn’t really a shocker.”
“Getting pretty sick of you not appreciating how your ass could be buried where no one knows, instead of being thankful that I’m keeping you alive. Makes me wonder if it’s worth the effort.”
“Why don’t you come here and find out?” he goaded.
“You don’t want me to have to shoot you up with Butcher’s juice for tonight’s show, do you? Going to give you a chance to take a shower, but I need you to do one thing for me, or I can juice you up and we’ll move directly to the second part of the show. It’s your choice. Either way, I’m going to make money on you. It’s up to you if it’ll be on your feet or on your back.”