Free SEIZED Part 5: A Steamy New Adult Romantic Suspense Thriller (Seize Me Romance Fiction Series) by JC Coulton

cried before. I cry like a child, and it soothes me somehow.
    After a while, calm comes over me. I don’t know if it’s the expulsion of so much emotion. All I know is I feel better. The situation is exactly the same, but I feel a determination so fierce it leaves me breathless. I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight. What I do know is I’m not the first person to face this. I won’t be alone.
    I don’t know how long I have until they come for me. I shift April’s mattress again and wrench the board up, putting the notebook back after reading it. Now that I read Sarah’s journal, I can prepare for what’s ahead.
    Before I return it to its small hiding place, the book falls open in the back. I see some writing on the last page. It’s a list. Sarah has made a list of everything she knows about this place. It’s evidence. It contains tips and tricks for anyone who’s trapped in here. I greedily read every word. Unfortunately, I know most of what she’s written down already—details on when the guys come and go with the shots, the way they enter the room together, who’s more violent, and the things they said to her.
    She has also written about the weaknesses she noticed about them. She talks about the mattresses and the way they could be stacked to force an escape through the window. She makes a point of noting it would only work with the smaller girls, which I know I am not.
    Sarah writes that other weak spots include the bathroom, the corridor and the spot where they load girls in and out of the van before and after a shift. I swear to myself I’ll watch out for these things and start jotting down my own observations.
    I write in the space below where Sarah started. I note that they only take me to the bathroom for shots after they put me in handcuffs, and they don’t let me pee unless I’m already stoned. I also write that they haven’t double-checked or noticed that my handcuffs are unlocked. They also have never looked under my mattress—not even once. I think they figure there’s nothing we can use as a weapon, or we’re too drugged up to do anything major, so they don’t bother.
    I note that they leave me alone most of the time; that the best plan of action is not to resist when they administer the shots; that they only take one girl to the bathroom at a time, and one of them is supposed to keep watch, but sometimes they leave us to do other things. I also write about what the thugs look like. I am used to giving approximate descriptions because of my work at the news station. I think I do a pretty good job.
    I want to pay it forward too; just like Sarah. If I don’t make it out of here alive, the next girl should have it easier. If she finds the notebook, she should know as much as possible about what’s going to happen. I finally slide the notebook back into the hole. Before I replace the floorboard I pick up the feather. It’s so soft against my wrist; I can see why Lucy loved it so much. I pick up the diamond stud after that, and think about Sarah’s father. Whatever happens tonight, at least there’s something written down. One day, that man is going to get justice for his little girl.
     

Chapter 10
     
    Blake
                 
    The apartment walls feel hollow around me. I’m on the couch with a full cup of coffee in front of me, and the folder Ryan gave me. The more I read, the more I realize that combined with what I already knew, this evidence is irrefutable. Everything in here tells me Neon took April.
    It turns out Neon is based in more than one location. There have there been similar cases where she’s been interviewed as a possible suspect. More than one missing girl has turned up, and they were found working in her turf. Strangely, no cases could be made that point directly at her. The girls never talk. She has her thugs run things for her wherever possible. It seems she has an endless supply of these men at her disposal.
    I can only imagine the sick little