by Brook Wilder
“L-Lawrence.”
“Surprised to see me, you asshole?” I asked, cracking my knuckles. “I’m gonna kill you.”
“Hey! Hey!” Hector started out, holding up his hands to block his face. “I came to help, I swear it!”
“Hold up, Lawrence,” Derrek said, grabbing at my arm. “Let the man speak.”
I gritted my teeth, shaking off Derrek’s grip.
“Fine, you got two minutes, and one of them better be telling me where Nataliya Zebrovskaya is.”
Hector’s shifty eyes darted around, his face still a mess of bruises in various stages of healing from his beating by Zebrovskiy’s security. I wanted to add a few new ones to his ugly mug.
“C-can I get a drink at least? Something? I’m putting my neck out here.”
“No can do,” Derrek answered for me. “Not until you tell this man where his woman is at. If you come up to be right, I will get you that drink, maybe two, but not before.”
“Fine, fine,” Hector sighed, rubbing his face. “I didn’t want to hurt that lady. She was nice, kinda sad even. She’s not what they say she is.”
“Did you take her?” I asked in a lethal voice.
“N-no,” Hector answered, his eyes wide with terror. “I didn’t take her. I don’t kidnap people. I-I just followed her, to see what she’s like. They paid me a hell of a lot of money do to that.”
“You believe him?” Derrek asked softly.
I didn’t want to, but I didn’t think Hector was smart enough to take Nat without coming out looking like he had lost the war. Plus, he wasn’t either of the men that had scaled the wall.
“Yeah,” I sighed, scrubbing a hand over my face. “I do.”
Derrek clapped his hands together. “Well, Hector, my man! Looks like you will live to see another day.”
Hector sagged in relief.
“I didn’t do nothing to her, but I know where she is. I know where they took her.”
“Spit it out,” I urged, feeling a spurt of anxiousness in my body.
I was ready to have Nat in my arms and see for myself that she was okay.
“You see, they have this place,” Hector started, the words tumbling out. “One of them shoe shops, you know? She’s in the back, until they decide what to do with her. I seen her myself.”
“What if it is a trap?” Derrek asked, saying the words I was thinking at that moment.
It would be easy to send a rat like Hector to feed us information, so that we would go charging in there, only to find we had been set up. If Hector was out for the money, it would be too easy for him to make a quick buck by leading us to our deaths.
“It ain’t no trap, man,” Hector said, his eyes wild. “I don’t have a dog in this fight, I swear it. I want to get out of town.”
Derrek crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the man.
“Why? You do something for the Cazadores to come after you too?”
Hector narrowed his eyes.
“I’m here, ain’t I? That’s enough for them to dump me in a ditch.”
He had a point.
“You will take us, then.”
“T-take you?”
I nodded.
“That way I can use your ass as a shield, in case you are setting us up.”
Derrek burst into laughter.
“I like the way you think, man.”
“Aw, come on!” Hector begged, dropping to his knees on the hard floor. “Please don’t make me go. They will kill me.”
“Fine, get up,” I said, just wanting to see him beg. “But if you double cross me, then you better hope that they kill me.”
Hector scrambled off the floor.
“Thank you. You need anything, Fox, I will be your man. I swear.”
“Get out of here,” Derrek said, opening the door. “And don’t let me see you around here for a while.”
“Yes, sir,” Hector replied, hurrying out of the room before we changed our minds.
“What’s your plan?” Derrek asked after a moment. “You can’t just go in there guns blazing.”
“The hell I can’t,” I grumbled, hating that he spoke exactly what I was thinking. “Thanks for calling me.”
Derrek placed his hand on my chest as I turned to go, his jaw clenched.
“Let me help.”
I pushed him away.
“I don’t need your fucking help. This doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
His eyes darkened.
“You know, I could have just gone and got her by myself. Her daddy would have likely paid out a sweet reward. But instead, I called your ass. You owe me.”
I arched a brow.
“You want to get yourself potentially killed? Why?”
He ran a hand through his hair, looking away.
“It sounds like fun times.”
I didn’t believe him, but I wasn’t about to turn down help in rescuing Nat.
“Fine. But if you get in my way, I will shoot you.”
He chuckled.
“Same here.”
Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I dialed Jack’s number.
“We know where she is at,” I said as soon as he picked up. “Get some of the guys ready and meet us at Legionaries.”
“Legionaries?” Jack questioned. “Why the hell are you there?”
I sighed.
“Long story. Just do it, alright?”
“Alright, keep your pants on,” Jack grumbled, hanging up.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket before looking at Derrek.
“I’ll take that drink now.”
He grinned, and we walked out of the room and into the bar, where he motioned for Johnny to pour those whiskeys.
“I see your fan club is still waiting around,” I remarked, as the women from the hall encounter waved their fingers at us.
Derrek chuckled as Johnny slid the glasses of whiskey in our direction.
“That will have to wait now. One last drink for the road.”
I picked up the glass, feeling the anxiety laced with anger. I needed to keep my head level, focused on the task at hand. If I allowed my emotions to override me, Nat could wind up dead.
And then, I would cease to live myself.
Throwing back the whiskey, I slammed the glass on the bar top.
“Let’s do this.”
Derrek did the same, a grin on his face.
“Alright man, let’s go kick some ass and rescue your girl.”
I nodded and walked out of the bar, the heat of the Nevada sun hitting me full force.
That was right. Nat was my girl, and I was going to do everything I could to get her home safe.
Chapter 17
Nataliya
I squeezed my thighs together, wondering if I was going to make it until someone came back. I had to pee like there was no tomorrow, but no one had come for the last few hours to even check up on me. And if they didn’t soon, I was going to have to lose it in this chair.
How embarrassing.
Letting out a groan of frustration, I licked my dry lips, glad that I had at least been able to work the rag down out of my mouth. Now, it hung around my neck, though getting rid of it hadn’t given my dry throat any real relief.
When I made it out there alive, I was going to drink water like there was no tomorrow.
And I still believed I would be getting out of there. The hours I spent, staring at the four walls, waiting for someone to come through the door, would have easily done a number on anyone else, their hopes dwindling with each passing hour.
But not me. I hadn’t given up just yet on being found, and until they could prove to me that my father and Fox were dead, then I knew someone was still out there searching for me.
If only they would hurry up and find me.
Blowing out a breath, I rotated my sore wrists and ankles the best I could, wincing as the plastic cut into the raw skin. I was trying to keep my hands from falling asleep, scared that if they did, I might lose hope. Plus it g
ave me something to do, counting off seconds in my head until I would do it again.
Anything to keep from going crazy.
And from peeing on myself.
I shifted in the chair, trying desperately not to think about any sort of water products. I had to get out of there. I wasn’t stupid. I was just a pawn, and when they used me for whatever they wanted, I would be killed, if not tortured first. I knew the way it worked, having walked in on my other father once when I was twelve. The memory still haunted me to this day.
I ran down the hall, taking two steps at a time toward the basement. I had gotten an A on my math test, and my father had promised me a shopping trip if I aced it. I knew that, at this time of day, he would be in his basement, and usually I wasn’t allowed down there, but this could not wait. There were a pair of shoes at the mall that I had to get, today before Kiera did, just so I could rub her nose in them.
Rounding the last step, I walked toward the steel door that was normally shut, finding it cracked open.
“I-I didn’t do it, I swear! I wouldn’t steal from you!”
I froze as a shadow crossed the threshold, giving me a perfect view of a bloodied man kneeling on the floor, my father’s head of security holding his arms at an unnatural angle. Blood was running out of the man’s mouth, his clothes torn, and I saw more blood splattered on the white sheet under him, as if he had been beaten.
I took a step back, my hand over my mouth to keep from uttering a sound as my father came into view, squatting down to the eye level of the man on the floor.
“You mess with me, you cross me, I take your life. You understand?”
“I didn’t do it!” the man squealed, desperately trying to get out of the grasp of the man behind him. “Please, don’t do this.”
My father pulled out a gun, and I turned around, hurrying back up the stairs as quietly as I could.
I had never told him what I had seen, but from that day on, I knew that my father was not the perfect man I had thought him to be. That was why I knew he was coming. He would stop at nothing to ensure my safety. It was in his blood.
And Fox. I believed Fox would do the same. Not matter how much I had hurt him, how much I had played with his emotions, Fox would come.
The door opened, and I sat up straight, watching as two men walked in. Neither was the man who had visited me earlier, and the way their eyes raked over my body, I knew they were not here to talk.
Oh no, they were here to do something very bad to me.
“She is pretty,” one of them said, leering at me, his hand touching his crotch. “You sure we can have a go?”
The other grinned.
“The boss ain’t here, and she ain’t gonna talk. Are you, sweetie?”
“I scream,” I said sweetly, my voice coming out raspy. “I bet you like a screamer, don’t you, sweetie?”
His eyes went wide, and I gave him an indulgent smile, pouting like I wasn’t tied to a chair. “Come on, let me show you what I can do. You’ve never been with a girl like me. Rich girls have a lot of time on their hands to learn things.”
The crotch toucher started toward me before his buddy put an arm out to stop him.
“Wait. She’s trying to trap us. We should just leave.”
“Come on, man!” crotch toucher whined, upset that his buddy was changing the plans. “She wants it. You said we could have some fun with her. Don’t tell me you’re backing out now.”
“I’ll be good, I promise,” I added demurely, using a downcast look so that they thought I was going to go along with their plans. “If you promise to be rough.”
“Shit,” Crotch toucher swore, pushing his friend aside. “Get out of the way. She wants it bad, man. We can handle her.”
They both started toward me, and I hastily thought out my plan. It was going to be hard to take them both out, but a distraction or two, no matter what that had to be, would be all I needed.
The other walked behind me, reaching for my hands and snapping the zip ties.
“One wrong move, we will kill you. You understand?”
“Y-yes,” I said breathless, hoping they were taking it as excitement.
They were going to let me free. They were idiots.
Crotch toucher snapped the ties at my ankles, and I allowed them to help me stand, the blood running back to my feet in a painful prickly sensation. His hand slid to my ass, and I didn’t flinch, allowing him to get a handful. Let him think he had the upper hand with me. The surprise would be even sweeter in a few minutes.
“Can I please use the bathroom first? I’ve been tied to that chair an awfully long time.”
The clear ring-leader eyed me suspiciously, still skeptical that I wasn’t going to pull a gun out of my dress and shoot them both.
“We watch, or you don’t do it.”
I gave him a nonchalant shrug.
“I don’t care.” Looking at my new lover boy, I batted my lashes at him. “Please? My bladder is about to burst.”
“Just let her go, man,” he said, ogling my heaving breasts. “Then we can get to the fun sooner.”
“Outside,” the ring leader said with a growl, pushing me toward the door roughly. “We ain’t got all day.”
I drew in a breath, wondering if these guys were really that stupid, to let me get outside those four walls where my options were endless. Apparently, yes.
I painfully walked on the concrete floor, the soles of my feet raw. If I got out of this alive, a long spa day was in my future again. Preferably with Fox at my side. Hell, screw the spa day. A naked Fox in a hot tub was what I would love to have.
And I would, as soon as I got out of there.
I had intended to keep to my plan prior to my capture, to tell Fox that he was the one I wanted to be with. I didn’t care about the money now, though I hoped my father would still gift it to me so I could do some good with it. I just wanted the man that would make me happy.
We made it outside, and I nearly laughed aloud as I saw that it was still dark out. That would make it easier to get away. Well, if I hadn’t been wearing a white dress, that is.
Still, I doubted these assholes would be able to catch me.
“Here,” crotch toucher barked, pointing to the side of the building. “Do your business and let’s get to it. The boss will be back shortly.”
I leaned against the wall, forcing myself to squat down and relieve my bladder. I wasn’t lying. I did have to pee really badly.
But while I was urinating in the sand, I also grabbed a handful in my hand, using my squatting position to cover up what I was doing. It was going to be my best chance to get away from them.
“Hurry up, will ya?” the other replied, rubbing a hand over his belly. “Or we ain’t gonna have enough time for the both of us.”
“Almost done,” I said, feeling ten times better now that I had emptied my bladder. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, whatever,” crotch toucher growled, grabbing at my arm to pull me up.
I allowed him to pull me up halfway before I attacked, bringing up my other elbow to connect with his nose, while chucking the sand in the face of the other guy.
Crotch toucher screamed like a girl as blood spurted everywhere, the other asshole swatting at his face to clear the sand from his eyes.
I took off, the rocks cutting into my feet as I ran down the alleyway, attempting to figure out exactly where I was at.
“You’re gonna pay for that!” one of them hollered behind me.
I kept going, seeing the end of the street in sight. If I could get there, I could hide behind a building, find someone who had a damn cell phone, something…
I wasn’t going back.
The first gunshot had me hitting the ground, covering my head as a hail of bullets echoed into the night. It took me only a few minutes to realize that the assholes weren’t shooting at me, nor were any bullets coming my way, and I pushed off the ground, moving back toward the gunfire. If there was gunfire being exchanged, that could only mean one thi
ng.
Fox was here.
My heart pounding against my chest, I rounded the corner of the building, seeing my captors down on the ground, blood pooling under their bodies. Someone was on my side tonight.
