Page 5 of Property of Doc

“They gave me something different this time,” he mutters. “My heart is racing and I can’t catch my breath. I don’t think I’m gonna survive.”

Dammit! I’m restrained again since I attempted to escape the last time they left me unbound. Otherwise, I could see if there was anything I could do to help him. “Hang on, Alfie,” I plead. “And know this much, even if the worst-case scenario happens, until this shit, you were clean, okay? Promise me that you’ll remember that fact. You are a success story in my eyes.”

“No, I’m not, Gretchen. They got me hooked again. I’m what my family always said I was, worthless and no good.”

“That’s not true, Alfie,” I reply. “You went to meetings, you made your appointments for your medication and were about to go to an in-patient facility!”

“Yeah, it ain’t in the cards for me, apparently,” he mumbles, his words now sounding slurred. “Thanks for trying, Gretchen.”

“Alfie? Alfie! Answer me, please,” I demand.

Silence. As tears fall from my eyes and my heart shatters, I send up a silent prayer for him.

“We’re gonna have to move them soon,” a man’s voice states, pulling me from my drugged slumber. “Those fucking Kings have been nosing around, looking for some of them, especiallyher.”

I wonder if they’re talking about me, but instead of opening my eyes and asking, I continue to breathe evenly as though I’m still out of it. Maybe then I’ll find out what the hell is going on.

“Then maybe you should’ve found anothersourcefor getting these people,” a second voice says. “Grabbing them from meetings probably wasn’t your smartest idea.”

“Why the fuck not?” a third man asks. “Most of them are nobodies. They don’t have any family or friends left who’ll give the first fuck if they disappear. Besides, we can’t move them yet, the other location isn’t ready and we’re still waiting to hear back from the buyers.”

Buyers? Buyers of what?Us?My mind is whirling with so many questions, and I send up another prayer that if the Kingsarelooking for those of us who’ve gone missing, they’ll find us soon. Because I know if someone’s buying us, it’s for nefarious purposes. I may be an adult orphan now, but Idohave some friends who’d miss me.

“Fuck, this one’s gone,” the third man growls out. Peering from underneath my lashes, I see him at the end of Alfie’s bed, and I barely resist flinching when he kicks the cot in anger.

“I just hung the shit you gave me,” the second guy says. “Maybe it was a bad mixture or something.”

“Check the others,” the third guy demands. “If we got a bad batch, we’ll lose more, and we can’t afford to start over again, especially with the Kings on our ass.”

Once again, time becomes irrelevant. Two others were found dead in their cots, so the three men made the decision to pull all of the bags from all of us. Moaning, screaming, and crying now bounces off the walls as we each go through withdrawal. I’m covered in sweat, salt, snot, and vomit, and feel so disgusting that if I could find something to slit my wrists, I’d do so.

Not because I’ve got suicidal tendencies, but because I can’t deal with myself in this condition any longer.

“Please, please find us,” I moan out as I try to curl into a fetal position. As shivers wrack my body, my stomach churns again and I turn my head so I don’t choke on my own puke. Not like there’s anythinginmy gut except for acidic bile, but my throat is already raw, and I don’t relish the thought of adding more pain to what I’m already dealing with at the present time.

A lot of noise and shouting has me wondering if my prayer was heard, especially when I hear Dr. Brooks yell, “Gretchen!” before I pass out.

CHAPTER

THREE

Doc

Ever since I found out that Gretchen was missing, I’ve been a basket case. I’ve been interested in her for quite a while but never acted on it because I thought I had plenty of time. Nerd has come up with nothing, even using facial recognition software, which has me worried for her.

Still, despite the dread that I’ve been living with since our meeting, I’m with everyone enjoying the fruits of the fishing trip. There’s nothing better than having a couple of cold beers, some fried fish and hushpuppies, and all the sides the women come up with, although I did notice most of the green salad is still sitting on the table untouched.

“Where are you?” I mutter to myself. “Are you okay?”

I’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back to who she was before she was taken.

While I sit there watching the kids run around with bottles of bubbles, I see Nerd come flying out of the clubhouse. He’s notonly our treasurer, he also is our IT guy’s back-up since both are wizards when it comes to electronics and gadgets.

“Doc! Doc!I found her!”

As the other brothers and I stand, I hear Rio yell, “Church!” so I follow the rest of them inside, eager to hear what Nerd has unearthed.

“We’re coming for you, baby,” I murmur as I settle in my seat around our table.