by Ryan Michele
Eli had on his uniform, and I had to admit it looked good on him. It was why all the women flocked to him. There was one woman in particular that I knew wanted him to flock to her, but Elliot wasn’t ready for that yet. He still had some playing left.
That was what I was worried about with Killian. Had he gotten all the play out of his system, or was I just a string in a long list of others?
Elliot pulled me into his arms, kissed the top of my head, and left.
I turned and faced the desk. The same desk that Killian had fucked me on, and I could feel my body getting hot. Maybe I was in heat or something. Never had a small thought perked me up to a point I could come without anyone even touching me.
Corey told me she’d cleaned the desk, and she did because all the papers were organized, and the laptop appeared to be working just fine. Maybe I should just smack myself and maybe, just maybe, it would knock some sense into me. Being the great friend she was, she didn’t ask questions or tell me whether she wore a hazmat suit or not. She was a little weird about germs, and I didn’t blame her.
Letting out a deep breath, I got to work.
Four hours later, my eyes were seeing cross. While I loved my spreadsheets, going over them for a second time line by line killed my eyes. Corey had already done it once, and it all looked correct.
I emailed the sheet to my accountant and closed up shop. While I should stay and help with the evening rush, I wanted to sleep. With everything going on, it was starting to wear on me.
There was a bit of good news today. The insurance man was geared up to come take a look at my place. Hopefully, that would get the ball rolling.
I’d spent two nights at Killian’s since Bri left to be with her brothers. She’d done what she’d said and texted me every day. I would call her when she got off of work so she could tell me all about it. She was doing great, but she still hadn’t heard from Khloe.
Diesel was supposed to come and be my guard today, but according to Killian he had ‘shit to do,’ which was their way of saying they were busy. With what, I had no idea. Therefore, I had a man named Vane. He had long brown hair that was just below his shoulders and was a bit straggly, but it worked for him. He had bright blue eyes that were striking against his olive skin tone.
Vane looked about as happy to be watching over me as I was to have him here. How actresses or celebrities did this twenty-four-hour security thing was beyond me. Being followed to the bathroom or going back to get a burger was driving me crazy. I liked to be free, and this entire situation was pissing me off.
“We’re heading out,” I told Vane, knowing he’d take me to Killian’s. Luckily, I’d be there alone for a while with Vane on the couch. It would give me the time I needed to screw my head on straight.
Vane got up without a word and came to my back. He was close enough I could feel his heat, but I still had a small bit of distance.
I waved to Aiden who was behind the bar. “I’m heading out.” She lifted her chin and filled more drinks. Tonight Carter was in charge because Corey was out. He was very competent, and I knew my bar would be in good care.
Making my way through the bar, Vane took me out the back where he’d parked the SUV earlier that night. When the door opened, the night turned and not for the better.
Two steps out, there was a muffled noise I couldn’t discern before Vane went down beside me. A man in dark clothes looked at me and snarled. Something touched me, and I was out.
13
Ellie
Needless to say, I was kidnapped. It wasn’t a fun time and never, not ever, would I want it to happen again. My head was groggy, and the bumpy roads were not helping as I bounced on the seat, unable to control myself. My wrists and feet were taped up, and a dirty ass rag was lodged in my mouth, laying on my side.
Squirming did nothing except rub the sticky tape on my wrists to the point of pain. Fighting to clear my mind, I decided to take in what I could around me. I needed to be smart to survive. We were in a four-door car, and two men were sitting in the front. The driver had a blondish red copper color to his hair with a full beard. The passenger I could only get a profile of. Short-cropped brown hair and a prominent nose.
Neither of these men I knew.
Scared wasn’t even the right way to describe the feelings bursting from me. Even though fear was on the forefront, I pushed it down and started thinking about a way out of this mess. Who knew where these men were taking me. Who knew what they were going to do to me. Who knew if anyone knew I was gone.
Even pushing the fear away didn’t stop my hands from getting clammy. I had to get out of here. This entire situation was going to end badly.
Vane was nowhere to be seen. My heart was beating so fast I could feel it clogging my throat. I felt like I had an elephant on my chest. Every breath was hard to inhale.
“She’s a pretty one. We need to ride her before we take her in.”
My vomit caught in my throat, but I swallowed it. Ride me? They wanted to rape me? No. That was not happening. I had to do something. I couldn’t allow them to violate me.
Reaching back, I tried to search for something sharp. Something that I could use to get this tape off of my wrists. Each time I moved, pain shot through my shoulders because of the angle my body lay.
I couldn’t find anything, and the car looked clean as a whistle. Shit. Why couldn’t they pick me up in some beat-up car with shit everywhere? Then I’d at least have a chance of finding something to help me.
Even though it hurt to do, I started moving my hands back and forth to try to loosen the tape. I should have paid better attention when Elliot made Bri and me watch that stupid video of women getting out of bad situations. There was some trick to breaking tape around your wrists, I vaguely remembered.
“Can’t. If we’re not back in fifteen, it’ll be our heads on a platter. I’m not dyin’ for some piece of pussy.”
The passenger guy chuckled. “Me either. Maybe when he’s done with her, he’ll let us have a go.”
“If you’re into that shit. I don’t fuck someone who has the come of another man inside of her.”
“That’s why you use a condom, idiot.”
I listened to this idiotic conversation, wanting to scream and kick. But if I did, they would know I was awake. Right now, my leverage lay in their ignorance to study me and know I was no longer passed out. Hell, the only tool I had to catch them off guard. No way I was squandering this.
The tape barely moved, clinging to my skin with each turn. It wasn’t working. If I could reach my feet, at least I could get my ankles free. I bent my knees and tried to reach my feet. It was a stretch, and I barely could touch it. I tried not to give up. In my head, I kept saying I would certainly start yoga next week. I needed more flexibility. Not that I could have ever seen this shit coming into my life, but if I had done yoga or Pilates, maybe this wouldn’t hurt so much.
I could hear cars which meant we were around people. If I got out of this car before we got to wherever they were taking me, I could get help. People wouldn’t ignore a woman with her body tied up and a gag on her mouth, right?
The tape was strong, and even using my pincher fingers trying to tear it wasn’t helping. If I just had something to get it started. That would be ideal. I didn’t, so I kept trying.
A cell rang, and the driver engaged his phone. “Yeah.”
Then a pause. “Five.”
He started to turn to look at me, and I closed my eyes, feigning sleep. “She’s out.”
Another pause. “Yeah.”
“What did he want?” the passenger asked.
“Make sure we got her, and we’re coming.”
I squinted my eye open, seeing no one was looking, then got back to my task.
“He’s a paranoid sonuvabitch.”
Driver man shrugged. “Maybe, but you say that shit, and he’ll skin you alive.”
Passenger man looked as though he shivered, and he wasn’t a small man. If he was this scared of whatever my
stery man we were visiting, I really didn’t want to go there.
The car stopped, but I wasn’t able to get free. It would have been the perfect opportunity to get out of here. Unfortunately, it was lost as we started moving again.
While I kept working, we kept moving. The car came to a sudden stop, and the ignition was turned off. My eyes wide and frantic, I tried to sit up. What I was going to do from there was up for debate, but the answer was nothing. Sit there like a wall ornament was about all I could do. Even trying to wiggle away from the man only got me inches.
He reached in and plucked me from the seat then threw me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. I only knew it was called this from TV, and I hated it instantly because everything was upside down. Squirming got me a hard slap to my ass. It stung all the way down my leg, and I screamed out into my gag.
I so wanted to hit this guy in the nads. Fuck him.
Not so delicately, I was placed in a chair, but I wasn’t taped to it.
A shorter man with salt and pepper hair came from one of the doors with two bodyguard type guys behind him. “What’s this?” the man said to the two behind me.
“Wanted to make sure she didn’t get away,” the driver said.
“And so you duct taped her?” The older man looked up to the ceiling and said, “Zip ties. How many times do I tell you? Tape is always a pain in the ass.”
“Sorry, boss,” the passenger said, and I plugged that into my memory banks. This guy was the boss of whatever in the hell was going on here.
“Take it off her mouth,” Bossman ordered.
I cried out as they ripped the tape from my lips, taking my hair and some of my skin with it. They then pulled out the rag. My jaw hurt, and I moved it to try to get it to go again. Not to mention how dry my mouth was.
“Assholes!” I said to the two men who had brought me here. The passenger seat man lifted his hand and smacked me right across the mouth. Not gonna lie. It hurt pretty fucking bad. It took me a moment to compose myself.
I’d never been hit by a man before, and never knew what to expect. Now that it had happened, I could go a lifetime without it happening again.
“Danny!” the boss yelled out. Passenger guy, or Danny, stepped away from me as I lifted my head, and I could feel the blood rolling down my chin. Great. Just great.
The boss took some steps forward, coming to me. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ellie.” My eyes narrowed at the use of my name. “But I’ll let Danny-boy here loose if you don’t tell me what I want to hear.”
My eyes shifted from the boss to the other men in the room. All of them had their eyes on me.
G.I. Jane. Ever see that movie? That was who I wanted to be right this moment. The type of woman who kicked ass and took names, not giving a flying hell about anything. I knew if I got out of this, I’d do training or something. Kickboxing maybe. I’d have moves in my arsenal that could take all these men out and wipe those damn smiles off their lips.
The boss cupped my chin, giving a bite of pain, but I didn’t flinch. I stared him down.
There had to be a way to escape. I wasn’t going out like this.
“You’ve got grit. That’s good,” Boss said mysteriously. “Tell me where Bri is.”
My heart stopped. I’d rather he kill me right where I was, than tell him where to find Bri.
I said nothing.
“See, she was involved with some business of mine, and I need to find her.”
“How did you find me?” The question was out before I could stop, but I needed to know the answer. How in the hell was I involved with any of this? I wanted out. Away from it all.
“Your Jeep plates. Easy to run. Some digging led us to Bri, the woman who hid in the bathroom and fucked my crew.”
“She did not. She knew nothing about what was going on. A friend invited her to the party, so she went. That was all she did wrong. Going to a damn party.”
“Is that so?” Boss said, looking to his right and lifted his chin. “What about Khloe?”
My head shook. “I have no idea what’s going on with Khloe.” Why in the hell was I answering this man? He was probably going to kill me no matter what I did or said.
Throwing anyone under the bus wouldn’t help the situation. But what I said about Bri was the truth and would hopefully get this guy off her tail. These men weren’t choir boys, that was for sure.
“Khloe has something of mine, and I want it back,” the boss said, and my mind reeled. What else had Khloe gotten herself into? “Do you know what it is?”
My head shook. He tightened his grip on my chin, pulling it to him so my eyes flew up.
“Talk,” he barked.
“I have no idea. Swear.” Khloe was a friend, but not close like Bri. We didn’t share secrets regularly. We didn’t tell each other what we were doing and when. We’d talk after the fact, but I was much closer to Bri and Corey.
The boss took me in, obviously trying to read my face and see if I was lying. Good thing I wasn’t. He was a scary man.
“Does Bri know?”
“No. Neither of us have any clue what’s going on.” So that was a bit of a lie, but bossman didn’t need to know that either.
“Khloe was supposed to be at that party your friend Bri was at. She was the one I wanted, but mysteriously, she didn’t show up, and this Bri did. You have anything to do with that?”
“No. I didn’t even know about it until I got a phone call from Bri telling me to come and get her.”
He released my face, put his hands behind his back, and moved away, staring down at me. This boss guy was serious, and I needed to figure out how the hell to get out of this mess.
“Right, that call from Bri. I have a feeling I need to speak to her.”
“No!” I said immediately. “She doesn’t know anything! If she did, she would have told me. There’s no need to talk to her.”
The chair tipped a bit when I tried to move, and then I steadied myself. Great, just want I needed was to fall. Chances were, these guys wouldn’t have done much to help me get up.
Bossman nodded at Danny, and the man lifted his hand. I knew it was coming before the actual hit, and my head flew to the side. Yes. I was going to take classes, even hire a personal trainer as soon as I got out.
Blood coated my teeth, and instead of spitting it out, I swallowed it down. “Nothing like some extra iron.”
The boss laughed at this, and I realized I was a smartass just as Killian had said. Great.
Danny pulled out a hunting knife, and that was when the fear threatened to take over. The huge blade could do serious damage to me that could never be repaired.
Keep it together, Ellie!
“What Khloe has is worth over two point five million dollars. Have you ever had that kind of money in your possession?”
I shook my head.
“Right. She also has something that’s priceless. No amount of money would be enough for it. A thumb drive. Do you know what a thumb drive is?”
His condescension did not go over well with me and, biting back a retort, I kept quiet but nodded. “That thumb drive is very important. I want it back.”
“I would too,” I said, not thinking once again.
“Let’s make a deal. You leave here with your body intact and bring the bracelets and thumb drive back to me in one week. If you don’t, I’ll kill Bri, Khloe, Elliot and burn that trashy ass bar down to the ground,” Boss warned.
This was a dire situation, but my bar was not trash. I purposefully redesigned it so it wasn’t. So fuck him. I kept my mouth shut and just glared. The smartass in me was raring to let my anger fly.
This was good, though. He was going to let me go. That worked for me, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Now, Danny here is going to show you what will happen if you don’t get my things back.” Boss nodded to Danny who took his fist and slammed me in the side of the head. I fell to the ground with my arms still tied behind me, my ankles taped as well.
Stars cloud
ed my vision, and I rapidly blinked them away.
A cell rang. “Yeah,” Danny answered.
“Fuck.” A pause. “Yeah. Out. Need to motor. Killian’s crew is on their way.”
Thank you, God. The relief was short-lived because Danny took that opportunity to kick me in the ribs three times as I cried out in pain.
It was so intense, keeping my eyes open was difficult, but I could hear the footsteps leaving the room. Then something rattled on the ground, and a spark hit.
“If you get out, make sure I get my stuff, or I’m going after Bri,” Boss called out and then was gone.
The room filled with smoke, and my lungs were having none of it. I coughed and struggled for air, and with each movement of my chest, the pain hurt worse.
Yeah. It was time to go.
Rolling to my side, I tried to stand, but I couldn’t get up. Just then the shattering of glass filled the space, and I covered my head. Several booted feet and bright lights surrounded me.
It wasn’t until I heard a familiar voice did I have an ounce of relief.
“Baby, I’ve got you,” Killian said, and only then did I allow my body to go limp.
14
Ellie
The smell of bleach and sickness surrounded me. Hospital. There was no mistaking that concoction, as what happened over the last few hours came back to me. If I could go back to sleep so none of it would filter through my head, that would be great.
But no. My stupid brain thought it was a great time to process the pain in my ribs and face.
Turning my head to the side, Killian sat in the chair, elbows on knees, head in hands looking down at the floor. It wasn’t the strong confidence that he’d shown me, but a reflective posture. One I wasn’t accustomed to seeing on him.
“Hey,” I said, and Killian’s head popped up. He stood, coming closer to the bed, then he leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
“Thank Christ. Thank Christ.” He looked into my eyes, and agony clouded the sapphire blues. Seeing me injured obviously pained him.
