Free Old Lady by Evelyn Glass Page A

from this much talk, her throat began to hurt. Slowly but surely, her body was giving up.
     
    Lyle ran a hand over her cheek. If he’d touched her in a sexual manner, she would have cringed, but the way he rubbed his hand over her clearly showed his affection. She could tell that he was genuinely sorry about her state. “I just wanted to make sure that you were doing this out of your own will, but it’s obvious that he is forcing you into this. How did you get caught?”
     
    She told him the whole sordid tale. Once more, guilt hit her. If only she hadn’t left that day with Tasha to go to the damned store. “He is very angry. I don’t even remember how many days it has been since…he kidnapped me. What day is it?”
     
    “It’s Sunday, October 25.”
     
    Only two days had elapsed since she was snatched off the street and brought into this filth again, but for Gabby it felt as if she had been doing this for a lifetime. Her body had already been battered beyond recognition in forty-eight hours. What would happen if he continued this treatment for a week or months? She wouldn’t survive. She didn’t want to live like this anyway. If this was the way she was going to spend the rest of her existence, she preferred to embrace a quick end rather than prolonged agony.
     
    Lyle tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Emotions coiled in his eyes. She could see pity and sympathy. “I could ask him to keep you here for the day. My wife won’t come back before a week has passed. Let me tell him that I would be willing to pay double price. You could just rest and recuperate.”
     
    She couldn’t believe that he was so helpful. What did he want? Or perhaps she was being so paranoid that she couldn’t accept anyone’s help without being suspicious. “He wouldn’t agree to it.”
     
    “Let me just talk to him. He wants money so he will get it from me.”
     
    Lyle walked out of the door. Gabby took that moment to pull the sheet forward. She could perhaps rest for a few minutes. All she’d done in the past days – surely, it was days, and not weeks – was to either travel in the van or service men. Whatever sleep she’d snatched was in the back of the van while she was tied up tightly. Her mind was exhausted, and her body was almost near-death. She could feel her energy draining with each passing moment. Soon, she wouldn’t be able to move at all, and then the end would come. But would it be quick, or would Joseph drag it out for as long as he could?
     
    Nick would never be able to reach in time to save her. The distance from this town to his was a ten hour journey by bus. She’d thought it was enough to keep her save, but apparently it wasn’t, and now the same distance would get her killed. But she hoped that he would be able to make Joseph suffer for what the way he tortured her. Even though she wouldn’t live to see it, it gladdened her heart to know that Nick would do his best to get Joseph sent to jail. Perhaps she would, in death, be able to protect the other girls he enslaved. It would be an accomplishment, perhaps a minor one, but still she would be able to leave her mark on this earth in some positive manner.
     
    The door opened with a bang. She jumped up, knowing that her brief respite was over. Lyle was trying to pull Joseph back from the door, but the pimp swiped his hand and threw the younger man on the floor.  “Stay away,” he yelled as he strode forward to yank the sheet off Gabby. “You bitch! You managed to turn him over, didn’t you?”
     
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
     
    “I do.” Grabbing her hair, he pulled her off the bed. She landed on the floor with a loud thump. “We’re leaving right now.”
     
    Gabby could guess what must have happened. Lyle’s overeager desire to keep her here must have convinced Joseph that something was amiss. He was an extremely paranoid man, and these days his paranoia was even more fueled by the police investigation that