me to a bank and I'll empty my account."
"Give me a number." Kaden crossed his arms in front of his chest.
I thought back to all the checks I had received for graduation, my trust fund which had kicked in on my twenty first birthday and had yet to be touched, and the bribes my father had given me for staying out of trouble.
"Twenty five," I finally answered.
"Twenty five hundred? That's not going to last me very long considering I have to split it three ways."
"Thousand. Twenty five thousand dollars."
He stopped and turned around, eyeing me with the same suspicious look he had given me downstairs. "What is a hitchhiker doing with that kind of money?"
"If I can get it for you, why would it matter?"
"Tell me, what makes you think you are in any kind of a position to be asking questions?"
I looked at the ground. I was in no position to be asking anything. But I didn't want him to know the truth. If I told him where all the money came from, he would know I was connected to people who could give him much, much, more. No, it would be better to lie, let him take what I had and leave me be.
"My parents passed away and the twenty five thousand is all that's left of my inheritance."
He walked back to me, raised my chin with his hand and, once satisfied that I was looking at him, signed his response.
L-I-A-R
I flinched and looked away again, furious at myself for thinking the plan would work. His long fingers wrapped around my arm and started leading me out of the bathroom and back downstairs. We reached the living room where Ray and the small guy sat at the table. My possessions were still strewn about.
"What did you find out?" Ray stood up and walked over to me.
Kaden shook his head, turning it slightly toward me so I could read his lips.
"Nothing, she can't say a word."
Ray frowned and gave me a disgusted look. "So, do some of that signing shit with her."
"I will when it's worth my time."
Why was he doing this? He knew the truth yet he was keeping it from the others. My limbs began to shake as I realized he was hiding my secret for a reason. What that reason was, I couldn't imagine, I didn't want to know. I turned back to Ray.
"Well, genius, it was your plan to bring her here instead of leaving the bitch on the side of the road with her friend. You better make this inconvenience worth
my
time."
"If she won't talk, I'll get her to scream," Kaden said, his devilish smile sending shivers up my spine. Without another word, he walked me out of the room.
Chapter 4
Kaden did exactly what he said he was going to do. He sat me down in the kitchen and made me a tuna sandwich. I hated tuna. I hated the smell and the look of it. I hated that it could be kept in a can for years and never turn bad. Would that happen to me? Would I be kept here for years and never turn bad? I didn't think I was as lucky as a can of tuna and certainly wouldn't survive if I didn't eat so I begrudgingly picked up the sandwich and took a bite once he set it in front of me.
After I had choked down the last of it, Kaden took my plate and tossed it into the sink. He leaned back against the counter and stared at me from across the room.
"You want to tell me who your parents are?"
I shook my head.
"Do you want me to guess?"
I glared at him.
I was telling the truth,
I signed.
"Shit…" Kaden mumbled something about my handicap as he walked from the room. I sat there, unsure of what to do. I could call out his name but Ray would realize Kaden had been lying. As much as I disliked Kaden, I hated Ray even more. The man had been prepared to kill me in cold blood. Not a crime of passion, just a crime of convenience. I believed him capable of it.
Kaden returned with a piece of paper and a magic marker. "Write it down."
I picked up the pen and removed the cap.
I didn't lie.
"Bullshit," Kaden spat at me.
I shrugged and sat back in my chair. In a flash, his hand was at the back of my head, gripping my hair and forcing my face down to the table. His