Running Scared by Christy Reece

Author:Christy Reece
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Christy Reece
Published: 2016-05-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Knoxville, Tennessee

The small accounting firm, housed in a small office off the interstate, was a cross between shabby chic and upscale contemporary. Designed to look like a moderately successful CPA office, it boasted two full-time accountants, three full-time assistants, and an administrative assistant. No one would suspect that five of the people in the small firm were better trained to annihilate an opponent than assist clients with their tax woes.

On one side of the building stood a bakery, on the other side a consignment store. Each business had recently acquired a new employee. If anyone noticed that the new hires spent more time standing at the window or walking the perimeter of the building, no one mentioned it.

All three businesses looked moderately successful but were in no way flashy. That was the name of the game for this op. Flashy would attract attention. No one would believe that a young woman hiding from her former life would risk exposure by working in any kind of business where she might be seen or noticed. Working in a small office with minimal exposure to the public was believable, and the cover was easy to set up.

Even though this was the perfect cover, Riley fought an unfamiliar panicky feeling. Not because she feared facing Dimitri or any of his goons. Since she had made up her mind to confront her past, she was ready to make this happen. No, her fear came from something more elemental and disturbing. She felt confined in the small office. Penned in. One of Dimitri’s favorite punishments had been locking her in a small area. When he’d realized how much it freaked her out, he had commissioned a box to be built just for that purpose. And since the sadist believed in getting his money’s worth, she had spent hours in that box. Twice he had left her in there for over twenty-four hours. When she’d been released, she’d been punished and mocked for soiling herself.

“You okay, Riley?”

Hearing her name, Riley jerked herself from the past. Standing before her, compassion in their eyes, were both Anna and McKenna.

“Sorry. I was—” Was what? Torturing myself with memories? One of the most important things she’d learned in her therapy was to never allow herself to go back in time and ruminate. The present and all the possibilities of the future should always be her focus. Those practices had sustained her, helped her heal. Damned if she would regress back into a victim.

“You don’t have to explain anything to us.” McKenna reached for her hand. “Been there, done that. Returning to hell, even if it’s just in your mind, is never a pleasant journey.”

With anyone else she might be embarrassed, but not with these two. These women knew her pain better than anyone.

She straightened her shoulders and turned to look around the room. “We should be hearing from Noah soon.”

“He said it could take a few days before anything happens. Right?” Anna said. “He’s just going to dangle the hook a bit?”

Taking a breath to center herself, she nodded.

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