What was happening….?
Damon Carrie watched his twin. He crept further into the room. His footsteps were nearly silent. Damon watched as his sister lowered the mirror. He immediately recognized the serious expression upon her face. With cultured instincts, Damon only nodded his head at his sister as they quietly conveyed a silent message to each other.
Damon swiveled toward his left and tip-toed toward the other room. Within a moment he leaned inside the room and searched the area. The living space was adequate size. He saw his mother sitting on the sofa, flipping through a newly published interior design magazine. Sibby Carrie was marking notes in the margin of the publication, taking notice of new design trends.
Damon noticed his older brother and sister. Brisa sat beside their mother, flipping through a dessert cookbook. Both women were clad in relaxing loungewear. Damon noticed that even in the late night hour, his mother still wore her ever-present pearl necklace.
Cray Carrie sat in the corner, hunched under a poorly lit lamp, reading a psychology textbook. He wore a pair of dark brown dress pants, boring white button-up shirt and a tan sweater vest. Damon padded into the room, trying not to make noise.
He stood in front of his mother. “Have you heard from dad?”
Sibby glanced up from the magazine and glanced at her watch. “No.” She sat up straighter and placed her feet on the floor. “It is getting quite late. Have you heard from him?”
“No.” Damon motioned his mother to quiet her voice. “Mom, Ellie is in the next room. She has a mirror peaking out into the hallway. There are two damn armed guards stationed outside this room.”
Complete and utter fear burst through Sibby’s body.
It was unbelievable.
It had to be a mistake.
Where was Samuel?
He had been gone a long time…
His business meeting…
The armed guards outside their door…
“What did you just say?” Sibby now stood. With her motherly instincts kicking into overdrive, she snapped her fingers at her children. Brisa and Cray immediately looked at their mother.
In a hushed tone, Damon said, “There are two armed men outside our hotel room. Ellie is in the other room, she held a mirror up and can see out in the hallway through the top of the glass door.”
“The top of the glass door?” Cray asked. Genuine puzzlement crossed his youthful face. “What’s going on?”
Damon rushed to explain. “Ellie got concerned when dad did not return from the business meeting.” Damon turned toward his older brother. “You know that little section of glass on top of the outer hotel door? Ellie put her make-up mirror thing up there so she could see out in the hallway.”
Cray got to his feet. “Where is dad and who is outside the door?”
Satisfied that he had gotten everyone’s attention, Damon shrugged his shoulders. “We’re trying to locate dad. Ellie has been calling his cell phone, but can’t get through.”
“Hell.” Cray immediately put his feet in his loafers. He tilted his head as he brushed a small speck of dirt off his gleaming shoes. “I didn’t even want to come to this country.”
Now was not the time to cast blame. “You thought you could see some nude women on a beach,” Damon reminded him. He had wanted to see the same thing. No such luck.
“Boys,” Sibby said as she held up a hand. Her take-charge attitude was present. Cray and Damon turned in unison to look at their mother for guidance. “This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to get on our shoes and go in the other room.” Sibby ignored the throbbing of her own heart. So much was unknown….armed men positioned outside the hotel room door. So close…
Where was Samuel?
What were they going to do?
Think. Think. Think.
Ellie Carrie peaked around the corner. She was dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and tucked in black t-shirt. Her long auburn hair was tied in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She wore black shoes and a pissed off expression on her beautiful face. “I have mace in my purse.”
Sibby watched as her youngest child swiftly walked across the room and picked up her small bag. Ellie was the first person to take charge. “Let’s keep the window blinds closed and let’s go quietly into the bathroom. We can lock the door from there.”
“You have mace in your purse?” Sibby asked. “When did you decide to put mace in your purse?”
Without questioning a soul, Brisa skittered across the wooden floor toward the bathroom. She absently picked up her tennis shoes off the ground, and swiped a hand through her long, thin black hair. Silently Cray followed his oldest sister out of the room.
“It’s not a big deal, mom,” Ellie said thinking for a brief moment that she would be in trouble. Then she realized she didn’t care. “I carry mace on campus and I actually bought a few more small canisters when dad decided we should all attend this business trip.”
“I can’t believe you thought to bring mace,” Sibby asked with both respect and awe within her tone.
“That doesn’t matter, mom,” Ellie simply told her parent. There was a glint of mischief laced inside the dark emerald green eyes. “Let’s just go into the bathroom, lock the door, and stay there until we hear from dad.”
Sibby nodded her head in agreement. “Of course.” She glanced around the area, making certain her children were headed toward the bathroom. Hopefully that would be the most secure place.
In quick haste, Sibby and her children scrambled toward the large bathroom located at the end of the hallway. She did not bother to grab any of her belongings. Her mind was simply on protecting her most prized possessions….. her children.
After Sibby stepped into the bathroom, she immediately turned around and locked the door. She saw Brisa sitting on the edge of the tub. Cray was beside his sister.
Sibby noticed that both of them nodded in her direction, silently indicating that they were okay. She then shifted her eyes to the twins. Damon, the older of the pair by nearly five minutes, stood with his back to the wall.
He held a small can within his hands and Sibby knew it was mace that he had obviously gotten from his sidekick. Damon raised his hand, indicating he was safe. Sibby thought it appeared as if her son would attack an intruder at any moment.
“Mom,” Ellie whispered. “Here.” Sibby turned her attention to her lastborn child. The vibrant redheaded young woman held out her hand. Sibby took the small canister of mace that appeared similar to the size of a tube of lipstick.
“Thank you,” Sibby automatically replied to her daughter. She then turned toward Cray who had his cell phone clasped tightly within his hands. A cold chill raced through Sibby’s spine as she said, “Cray? Are you calling your dad?”
“Yes,” Cray responded. He did not need to mention that he had been calling the number nearly nonstop. Now, he tried desperately to hide his nervousness from his family. “I’ll keep trying.” And then because his mother seemed very quiet, he added, “I’m sure I will get in touch with him soon.” He pushed the screen on his cell phone.
Damon exchanged knowing glances with Ellie. Neither of them needed to speak. However, Ellie slightly turned her body when she noticed her mother now crouching near the back of the door.
Raw emotion ricocheted around the room as each of the people were trying to comprehend their current situation. The unwelcoming feeling of emotion was bubbling near the surface.
“Mom, now may not be the best time to mention this,” Brisa began in a quiet sing-song tone of voice, “but I want to thank you and dad for adopting me from the orphanage all those years ago.”
“You might be killed in the next five minutes and you’re thanking mom and dad for adopting you?” Damon asked as a pure look of irony fell across his features. “Hell you would have been safer in the damn orphanage, sis.”
“Damon!” Sibby hissed. She glared at her son while looking around the clean and elaborate bathroom as if she wanted to throw something at him. “Now is not th
e time to be a smart ass.” Sibby then turned toward her oldest daughter.
Now, with a gentle demeanor across her face, Sibby said, “Your father and I love you very much.” The words were there, providing an elegant sort of grace amongst the dire situation. “Remember that out of all the little girls in the world, we picked you.”
“I love you too, mom,” Brisa whispered. She felt the dampness from her eyelids and quickly wiped her tears away. Brisa turned toward her siblings. “I love all of you.”
“Now we sound like an afterschool special,” Damon muttered in response. That caused Cray to look up from his phone.
“What the hell do you want us to say, Damon? We’re locked in a bathroom with armed guards outside our hotel room door that may or may not kill us.” Cray shrugged his shoulders; a sheer indication that he was getting upset with his younger brother. “What are we suppose to say to each other? Are we supposed to use humor?”
“Well, Cray, considering that we may die in the next few minutes, I want you to know that you suck at singing,” Damon announced as if it were an important fact. Damon ignored Cray’s shocked expression and said, “All these years mom has been telling you how great of a singer you are while in reality, you are completely freaking tone-deaf.”
“I am not,” Cray replied. The earnestness of his denial made Ellie want to laugh, but she contained her emotions.
Cray looked at his mother in horror. “I’m a good singer, right?”
Sibby knew that now was no time to dash her son’s dreams so she deliberately replied with, “Of course you’re a wonderful singer. You’re fantastic.” Sibby hoped the lie would not send her to hell. She tried to make Cray feel more confident by adding, “Your brother is just trying to pick on you. You have a fantastic singing voice.”
“Yeah remember when you were going to try out for that singing show and couldn’t make it to the audition because of a flat tire?” Damon asked. He jutted his chin out a notch. “Don’t you think it was extremely convenient that the driver took so long getting the tire changed and you missed your audition?”
“Ah!” Cray got to his feet. “I was going to sing Johnny Cash at that audition.” He looked around the room, wondering what other secrets his family had kept from him. He turned toward his mother. “You said you loved hearing my Johnny Cash songs.”
“Johnny Cash is rolling over in his grave every time you open your mouth to sing,” Damon put in. And just because he was a jerk of a little brother he added, “Or were those awful sounds coming from your butt?”
Match. Meet. Fuse.
“So help me, if we make it out of this situation, I am personally going to kick your ass,” Cray growled.
Damon did not let it go. “You’re going to kick my ass by wearing a sweater vest? Good luck, dork.”
Cray took a seat and picked up his cell phone. He punched the screen and then looked at his entire family once more. “I can sing. I’ll ask dad when I see him.”
“Can we concentrate on what we have to do in case we can’t get ahold of dad?” Damon asked. “For all we know dad could be dead and we need to know what we’re going to do to get out of this situation.”
“Dad isn’t dead,” Cray snarled. Ellie knew her brother said the words with force, as if they would all believe it. It was Cray that quietly pleaded, “Just give me a few more seconds and I’m sure that he’ll answer his cell phone.”
“Keep trying that,” Damon said. The smart ass tone was enough to make Sibby shake her head.
She took one step forward. “Cray, call the front desk and ask why there are armed guards outside our room.” Sibby waved her hand in the air, showcasing her small canister of mace. “Ellie-”
Sibby suddenly stopped.
She could hear voices.
Male voices coming from the other room.
Ellie crouched lower and watched her family. Damon scooted closer to her. His voice was barely above a whisper when he said, “I figure we came into this world together so we should go out the same exact way.”
The words did not surprise her. “I feel the same.”
With sadness and knowledge fleeting through his deep green eyes, Damon stated, “From the womb to the tomb.”
The impact of that statement caused an enormous amount of hurt to pulsate through Ellie’s soul. She completely understood her twin.
“Always.” She then nudged her dear brother. “If we make it out of this, you know-”
“I know,” Damon cut in. He stared at his sibling another moment. They had been together before they were even born. “Same here.”
“Shh…” Cray nudged Brisa into the corner and knelt in front of her as if trying to shield her with his body. “They are getting closer.”
The voices were mostly muted by the door. Sibby continued to hold her mace steadily in her hands. She kept her eyes on the bathroom door but whispered to her children, “I love you all very much. Always remember that.”
The Carrie children exchanged the heartfelt sentiments with their mother and each other. Right now, faced with the possibility of death, Damon told his family that he loved them. It was a painful and quiet declaration.
The doorknob jiggled. “Sibby?” The familiar voice was full of deep desperation. “Sibby? Are you and the kids in there?”
Sibby Carrie immediately opened the door and took a step back in horror. Samuel stood in front of her.
He appeared like a man possessed.
The once vibrant eyes now appeared wild with uncertainty and turmoil. Before he could utter a word, Samuel grabbed his wife and brought her into his secure arms as he glanced around the bathroom and noticed all of children were alive and safe.
“Time to go, Sam,” came the gruff reply from behind. Axe Liam, known to civilians as John Smith, stood off to the side of the room with a pistol in his hands. “Gather your family so we can get the hell out of here.”
“What is going on?” Sibby asked as Samuel pulled her out of the room. He motioned for his children to follow. “Who are these men and why are they carrying guns?”
“I’ll explain everything on the plane,” Samuel vowed. He eyed his children, double-checking to make certain they were all alive. Now he waved everyone toward the exit. “We have to leave as soon as possible.”
Ellie Carrie stepped from the bathroom, the can of mace still in her tight grasp. It was then that she noticed the man standing near her father.
The muscular man stood in a pair of faded jeans and charcoal gray t-shirt. A large scar ran down the left side of the man’s face. His dark brown hair was cut very short but it was the almost nearly black eyes that concerned Ellie the most.
The man contained no soul.
There was no life behind the eyes.
There was no conscious.
There was no mercy.
Ellie shifted her mace canister from one hand to the other. She noticed the two other men in the room. Both wore jeans and t-shirts, had their weapons pointed, and frowns on their faces.
“Don’t even think about it,” snarled the man with the scar on his face. With uncertainty welling up within her gaze, she coolly eyed the stranger who continued to point a gun off to her side. “Lower the mace.”
The man took a step closer to her. Axe was mildly surprised when the woman did not retreat a step but he noticed she tucked the can of mace away in her back pocket.
“My men and I will be getting everyone to your corporate jet as soon as possible,” Axe told the family. He did not mince any words when he said, “We’re leaving in exactly one minute so get your stuff together right now.”
After walking toward the outer door, Axe began to converse with the other men. Ellie picked up her steel gray suitcase and noticed the man spoke in Spanish.
She then turned toward her siblings, as each one of them hurried in different directions. “I’m all packed. Does anyone need help?”
Cray strapped a heavy backpack across the back of his shoulder blades. The young man then picked up his briefca
se, as he was anxiously ready to be on his way. “I’m ready.” He turned in a near full circle before adding, “Brisa? Damon?”
“Ready to rock,” Damon announced. He began to walk toward Ellie and grabbed one of Brisa’s bags as he navigated his way through the hotel suite. “Brisa, I got your bag.”
Brisa was busy tying her shoes. Her fingers shook. “Thanks.” After tying a secure knot, she stood and was thankful she did not faint. The men in the room, all carrying deadly weapons made her want to weep. Right now she wanted nothing more than to be at home, curled up on her couch with her cat in her lap, watching a romantic comedy on the large screen television and eating popcorn.
Lots and lots of popcorn, Brisa vowed to herself. With a ton of extra butter. It was her vice and right now she wanted it. “I’m ready,” Brisa quietly announced to the room. She stood by her siblings.
Axe stepped into the hotel room. Samuel stood in front of his family and Axe admired the man for that. Too often he had seen men hide behind their families, trying to protect their own self.
He briefly eyed the children, which were actually young adults. Two females. Two males. Axe noticed one female with straight black hair, while the other had thick auburn waves.
Definitely not biological sisters, Axe thought to himself. He then eyed the two young men. One stood with reddish like hair, much like the girl. The other male with dark brown hair appeared older. All four of them looked at him with different emotions.
“My name is John,” Axe Liam told the group. He pointed toward Duff and Riot who continued to secure the hotel area. “My men and I will try our damnedest to get you to the airport and get you on your plane. Sam can explain everything once you’re safely in the air.”
Axe glanced at the auburn haired female. He noticed she stood by her brother with the same hair color. Both of them peered at him with their dark green eyes. The seriousness of the situation was evident on their faces. Axe focused his attention on the young woman. “Just trust me for the next twenty or thirty minutes and don’t mace me or my men.”
“Of course,” Ellie acknowledged. “You saw me place it in the back pocket of my pants.”
Humping Her Hero Page 16
