One Good Reason by Nicole Salmond Read Free Book Online

eventually reach him,
wherever he may be in the world, and he will seek us out.”
    “So
what do we do now?”
    “We
wait,” replied Stevenson. “Price is the best at what he does. There is no way
anyone will find her, and no way will she escape. Harris will come forward. He
may not have been in her life very much, but she is still his only daughter. He
will give us what we need, mark my words.”
    Stevenson
pressed the ground button again. “Now, excuse me.”
    Riley
nodded and stepped back, letting the lift doors close.
    If
Harris wasn’t going to cooperate with Stevenson, then he would have to do what
he has had to do so many times before. Flush them out, and silence them
forever.
    Damn
journalists ,
Stevenson cursed to himself. One day they will get the hint. You mess with
me and the consequences are life altering.
     
    ***
    Day
8
     
    The
sound of the locks opening on the bedroom door woke Ava.
    After
two days of being given water only, Ava was starving. Hayden didn’t have to
tell or and neither did the Thai men, she knew this was their way of punishing
her for not giving information about Thornakorn’s whereabouts and activities.
    How
was she meant to tell them anything about the man when she had no idea who he
was?
    Hayden
had come to her earlier in the evening, trying to bribe her with food. He told
her if she told him anything at all about Thornakorn ,
he would give her any type of food she desired, and she would be rewarded with
things like toiletries, a bedroom with a window, etc.
    Ava
wanted those things. Ava craved those things. She begged him to give them to
her, but she could not tell him anything about Thornakorn ,
because she didn’t know who he was.
    After
an hour of trying to sweet talk her, and teasing her with a plate of food, he gave
up and left her with nothing.
    She
could barely even cry when he left. Her energy levels were so low, crying only
made her more exhausted.
    It
must have been only a couple of hours after Hayden had left her in the dark room
again, that she had woken to the door being opened. She opened her eyes slowly,
still curled up on her bed, expecting to see Hayden at the door; instead, she
saw the shadows of two men walk in.
    She
heard their voices whispering to each other. The hairs on her body stood up,
she knew whom these two men were. It was the Thai man who had kicked her in the
ribs on the second day, whose name she found out was Aran. The second man, also
one of the men who guarded her door, was Daw.
    She
quickly pulled her body up on the mattress against the wall as the men walked
towards her. They had never been in her room before. They had only stood at the
door and passed the food through the doorway, and it had only been one of them
doing it at a time. Now there were two of them walking towards her in the
darkness.
    She
had not had much contact with Daw, but she feared Aran, and Aran knew this.
    “What
are you doing in here?” Ava asked as they approached her. “Does Hayden know
you’re here?”
    The
men didn’t reply, instead, they quietly laughed.
    Ava
stood up on her mattress, preparing herself to make a run for it.
    “Answer
me!” she demanded, but the men took two more steps and were directly in front
of her mattress.
    She
could see the expressions on their face now, and it frightened her to the core.
She looked between them, then at the open door behind them.
    She
took her chance and quickly jumped off the mattress to run for the door, but
the men were expecting it. Daw grabbed her arm and slammed her up against the
wall. Just as she was about to scream, she felt a jab against her stomach.
    Her
eyes followed the direction of the stabbing pain. She saw a long knife pushed
up against her dress below her left breast. It hadn’t punctured her skin, but
she could feel the pressure of it just about to.
    She
looked at the Thai man’s eyes. He shook his head and put his finger to her
lips. She sucked in a deep breath. He didn’t need to tell her to be