Page 52 of Sentinel's Kiss

“Beverly.”

“Beverly, I’m going to kill those people out there.”

“Good,” she said. “Kill them all.”

“I will make them pay for the terrible things they’ve done to you. But I need to know who outside this cabin has hurt you. How many men?”

Beverly let out a shaky breath. “Too many.”

Sentinel nodded. “What about the owner? Peter Reynolds?”

“He’s the worst,” she spat. “He’s got two girls with him now in his room.”

“Against their will?” Rage blinded him for a moment and Beverly flinched from him.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. It’s probably Rachel and Terri. The girls rotate shifts one night here and one night in the lodge and one night off. I’m here always. They drug me sometimes. Most of the times they don’t.”

“The women out there and the ones with Reynolds, do they know you’re here against your will?”

She gave another keening laugh. “Oh yeah. I trusted them. I believed them. Now I have to rely on them to bathe and feed me. If I do a good job, they unchain my feet and I can use the shower. Otherwise they give me a sponge bath.” She shuddered. “I can’t do this anymore.” Her voice rose.

“Quiet,” he whispered, pointing the pistol at the door. But no one came through. “I’m going to get you out of here. But you’re going to have to do exactly what I say.”

“I will. I knew you would come.”

“What?” Sentinel wondered if his ski mask had slipped. Or did she recognize his voice from that afternoon?

“They talk about you in whispers. But I hear them. You’re their boogeyman. You’re the only reason I kept hope. If you could escape them, so could I. And then you started getting revenge. Good for you.”

“What have you heard? What do you know?” he rasped.

“You went after their wives.”

“Their wives?” Sentinel said slowly.

“You’re a sick bastard, stuffing them in the trunk. I’m not judging.” Beverly held out her chained hands. “I understand the rage and the need for revenge.”

Sentinel swallowed hard. Shit. Another vigilante was killing these women. Fuck. It wasn’t Stan after all, not directly. It was this boogeyman who had killed them to get back at the men who hurt him. Did Stan rape the guy who escaped, and the guy killed Sarah for revenge? Maybe. “How long?” he rasped out.

“What?”

“How long has it been since I escaped?” Maybe Sentinel was reading the situation wrong. It bothered him that the vigilante was killing innocent people. He understood killing for revenge, but in Sentinel’s book you killed the ones responsible, not their wives and children.

“I don’t know. A long time. They haven’t dared to replace you. It’s just been me.”

Sentinel nodded. “Okay. I’m going to kill them.”

She blinked at him.

He pointed to the door. “Then I’ll get the keys and some clothes for you. Is there anything else I should know? Like is there another group coming in tonight?”

Beverly shook her head. “No one should be here until the morning. Then Kim and Dana will take over. I don’t want to be here when they get here.”

“You will be long gone by then,” he said.

“I can’t believe you. I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

Actions spoke louder than words. Sentinel took a few deep breaths and screwed on the silencer on his pistol. “How many are out there?”