Redemption (Men of Honor Book 2)

by Michelle Horst

  I smile widely as she starts to jump up and down, still holding me.

  “You’re home … ahhhh … you’re home!” she squeals with happiness. She pulls back, frames my face with both her hands and smiles tearfully. “My baby is finally home.”

  “Hi, Mom,” I whisper warmly.

  “Share her with us,” Dad’s deep voice says from behind Mom.

  Mom comes to stand next to me, her arm still around my waist.

  “There’s my baby-girl,” Dad says with a proud smile on his face. “You’ve conquered the world. We’re so proud of you.”

  His strong arms fold around me and he places a tender kiss to my forehead.

  “I missed you all so much,” I whisper, basking in this moment of finally being back with my family.

  “Who’s that I hear?” Logan calls from the passage and then he walks into the kitchen. He shakes Josh’s hand and gives him a pat on the shoulder, before he turns to look at me. “Riley, just look at you.” He grabs me in a bear hug, lifting my feet from the ground. I laugh into his shoulder. “You’re all grown up.”

  Sigh … nothing compares to finally being home. This is my happy place, right here with my loved ones.

  “Go put your bags in your room and let me have all the dirty clothes so I can wash them,” Mom says, and then she points to all the delicious eats. “We’ll eat as soon as you’ve finished unpacking. You must be tired from the long flight.”

  “Yeah,” I nod. “I’ll unpack it all quickly. I just want to shower the long flight off. I’m getting into my PJ’s and then I’m stuffing my face with all of that deliciousness.”

  “You do that, sweetheart.” Mom gives me a loving smile which warms my heart.

  I go upstairs, and as soon as I walk into my bedroom, I feel a sense of homeliness wash over me.

  Sigh … there’s just no place like home.

  It’s been a week since I got home. Everything is still the same as before I left for the trip so it’s pretty easy to fall back into my old routine.

  During the day I help Mom at the daycare. Mom’s always had a soft spot for kids, especially babies, so as soon as I finished school she opened Tiny Feet.

  Three other ladies help her so she doesn’t really need me, but I know she loves having me close to her after I’ve been away from home for so long. I really don’t mind. It gives me time until I figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.

  I plan on surprising Josh with some pizza tonight. I haven’t seen him since he picked me up from the airport, which sucks.

  Out of everyone in my family I’ve always been the closest to Josh. I look up to him, the way a little sister looks up to her big brother. I suppose it’s because he’s always spoiled me rotten. There was never a moment Josh didn’t have time for me.

  I’ve always been his little star … his favorite person.

  Traveling to other countries has made me realize just how lucky I am to have the support and love of my family. I do treasure it, even if I don’t always show them how much I appreciate them. I plan on changing that, starting tonight. I have something special planned for each of them. I’m definitely going to be spending more time with them so they will know how much I love them.

  I know Josh loves pizza and that’s why I’m getting it for him as a treat. We’re going to have a nice relaxing night where we can just catch up.

  I knock on Josh’s front door, excited to spend the night visiting with him. Suddenly the door is yanked open and the pizza is slapped from my hands. Fingers dig into my bicep, yanking me forward and into the house.

  A panicked sound escapes my lips as I take in the huge man in front of me. His watery eyes make fear slither down my spine.

  What the hell is going on? Who is this man? Where is Josh?

  I hear a growl from deeper inside the house. “Don’t dare touch her! Let her go. She has nothing to do with this!”

  It’s Josh. He sounds different, though. His voice carries a dark undertone I’ve never heard before and it makes a sinister fear bleed into my veins.

  “Nah,” the man snarls, “She’s coming, too.” He shoves at me and it makes me take a stumbling step deeper into the house. “You saved us the trip of finding you.”

  An alarm starts to ring somewhere deep inside of me … something is wrong with this picture.

  I get shoved again and take a few more stumbling steps forward. I glare at the huge man for daring to shove me around like I’m nothing.

  It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m in any danger because I’m still living in my safe little bubble.

  Right now, in this second, I still believe nothing can touch my happy life.

  Ignorance is bliss.

  Funny how you refuse to see danger when it’s staring you right in the face. You refuse to admit that just maybe your safe little bubble is not strong enough to keep the monsters out.

  But bubbles pop. You can feel the moment when your safety net gives way. It’s an earth-shattering shock. It’s a devastating blow to the axis that’s supposed to keep your perfect life in place.

  Josh comes into my line of sight and I feel a foreign shift in the deepest part of my life. As I gasp in shock everything that makes my life perfect starts to dim. A darkness starts to creep closer, tainting the edges of my world. It’s an alien feeling, something I’ve never felt before. Cold, volatile … a hostile intrusion.

  Josh’s face is bloody and all beaten up. He’s being held back by two men, each gripping one of his arms tightly. I can see how much of a strain it is for them to keep holding him.

  I blink a few times, unable to comprehend what I’m seeing.

  “Josh,” I finally manage to breathe. I try to move forward so I can get to him, but the huge man yanks me back.

  “Let her go,” Josh grinds the words out but this time the dark undertone is missing from his voice. He actually sounds scared, and that makes panic and dread wrap forcefully around my heart.

  He drops his head forward as if in defeat and begs, “Let her go … please.”

  I feel my heart crack at seeing my brother like this. He’s always been the strong one … unbreakable. I can only stare at him with wide eyes. My brain is refusing to comprehend what’s happening.

  Josh closes his eyes and when he opens them again, they’re flooded with pain and desperateness. His legs give way and I watch in suspended dread as my brother falls to his knees.

  “Please!” he screams. “Please, she has nothing to do with this! Your fight is with me.”

  The man starts pulling me back … away from Josh. I watch the distance grow between my brother and me and it makes the panic I’m already feeling ignite in my veins.

  I see his blood smeared all over his face.

  I take in the two angry men who are still holding him back ... and it finally starts to fall into place.

  I walked into something awful.

  This is bad, so very, very bad!

  I shake my head as shock ripples over me like tiny thorns pricking at my skin.

  “Josh.” The whisper comes from far away, as if it’s being dragged through a wasteland of despair as the reality of what’s happening slams hard into me, making me hiccup with fear.

  My pulse speeds up until it makes my blood rush through my veins.

  My mind switches over to a higher gear, until all my thoughts are a blur.

  The man’s fingers dig painfully into my bicep as if he can feel the realization seeping into me. He yanks harder and as I lose sight of Josh, fight finally explodes inside of my chest.

  “No!” I jerk my arm free and rush forward. I run into the living room where I’ve spent so many happy nights laughing with my brother.

  The men are busy pulling him to his feet.

  “Let him go!” I scream at them and in this irrational moment I actually believe I can take both of them down.

  The man holding Josh’s right arm actually smirks at me, as if I’m nothing but a pesky fly.

  I reach out and just as I’m
about to grab hold of Josh, arms come around me. My eyes meet Josh’s and I see nothing but dismay and despair reflected back at me. I don’t understand why he’s not fighting.

  I try to yank free from the tight grip, but it’s useless. I’m just not strong enough.

  The man who was smirking just a minute ago moves his right arm and only then do I see the flash of metal. A gun. For a stunned second I frown, but then I notice the other gun, glimmering in the hand of the man holding Josh’s left arm.

  These men are armed!

  Gears click into place and my mouth dries up with terror. My body goes stiff from the sudden wave of tension that hits me.

  These men are going to hurt us badly. I have to do something. I have to get help.

  I turn around to run but I’m stopped dead in my tracks as a fist slams hard into the side of my head. The pain is sharp, burning a scorching path down my cheek and into my neck. My whole body flies back from the unexpected blow. I try to reach out … to grab hold of something, anything. But there’s nothing. My shoulder blades hit the floor first, jarring my upper body. The back of my head slams into the side of the wall. A dull ache creeps down my neck and then my vision blurs.

  CHAPTER TWO

  RILEY

  Dreams offer us a way of escaping when there is nowhere to run to, when there is nowhere left to hide.

  If only I could dream us to safety.

  My memory is a foggy mess. I can’t remember everything that happened. I don’t know who has us. I don’t know why we were taken.

  I remember getting the pizza and driving to Josh’s house. I remember the smell of the pizza … but nothing else. My last clear memory is of parking my car behind Josh’s.

  I’ve tried calling out to whoever has us, but there has been no response to my pleas.

  I have cried.

  I have begged.

  I have groveled.

  I have even prayed.

  My eyes keep darting to the other chairs. Mom is closest to me and then Dad. Logan and Josh are at the far end. Every member of my family has been beaten. Mom’s one eye is swollen shut. The sight of her face beaten so badly keeps sending shudders through me.

  I keep calling to them, wishing they would wake up. They need to wake up. Once they’re awake we’ll be able to get out of this mess.

  I need them to wake up.

  I was shocked to see that we’re all here. I still don’t understand any of this. Why are we tied down to chairs? Why are we here? What’s happening?

  Josh starts to stir just as a huge man fills the doorway, and for a moment something looks familiar about him, but the thought disappears as quickly as it comes.

  The man grins, and it makes him look evil, like something from a horror movie.

  Maybe because I’m so incredibly terrified I give him more power than he actually has. Fear intensifies any situation. I learned this lesson while I was in Africa. Our camp was once ransacked by a pack of hungry monkeys. I was stupid enough to leave my tent to go see what all the fuss and racket was about. There was a monkey right outside my tent. Truth be told, he had a bigger fright when he saw me. He bared his teeth at me, sharp canines. Growling and hissing, his warning said clearly he would bite me if I dared to take what he had come to steal. They left the camp in a mess. We weren’t in any actual danger as long as the monkeys didn’t feel threatened, but I did almost wet myself when that monkey growled at me, and he was a tiny fur ball, come to think of it. Our tour guide then told me fear intensifies any situation. The monkey had been more afraid of me than I had been of him. I should remember this when facing danger.

  Staring at the huge man, I don’t think it counts for this situation. The man isn’t scared of me, or any of us for that matter, not like the monkey was.

  I, on the other hand, am terrified of him. Fear is liquefying my insides. Fear is definitely intensifying this moment for me.

  The man starts to stalk towards me like I had seen a lion once stalk its prey on one of the safaris I was on. Back then I found it captivating - but now I’m petrified out of my mind.

  “St-stay away,” I manage to stutter while it feels as if fear is enveloping me like a thick mist. My feeble plea only makes his lips curve into a disgusting sneer.

  He’s bad, all bad. I’ve read a lot of books where the bad boys have blue eyes, black hair and are ripped with muscles and tattoos. Somehow, those bad boys become the hero later in the story.

  I’ve even spent nights dreaming of my own bad boy kidnapping me and then falling hopelessly in love with me.

  Never again will I glamorize a horrible situation.

  This man with his watery blue gaze, greasy black strands that hang uneven in his face, is not the bad boy I’ve read about so many times before. Colorful ink covers his arms, every inch, until it disappears under the sleeves of his faded brown shirt. It’s all skulls and knives … angry tattoos.

  He takes another threatening step towards me and it makes me panic and yank at the bonds around my wrists. I have to get my hands free. I have to defend myself somehow.

  He shakes his head slowly … so slowly it’s unnerving.

  Suddenly, he storms at me and it rips a terrified scream from my throat.

  “Oh, my God!”

  For a precious moment my mind freezes in absolute terror as the bulk of his body hulks over mine. The sheer shock of my personal space being violated like this shudders through me.

  His fist slams hard into the side of my face and it makes me gag with pain. Awful emotions explode inside of me – confusion being the main one. I don’t understand why this man is hurting me.

  No one has ever touched me in anger. As child my parents didn’t even give me a spanking. Physical punishment is a foreign thing to me. I’ve only known love and shelter my whole life.

  Before I can try to make sense of anything, another blow crashes into the side of my head, making my ear ring with pain.

  The stink of his sweat wafts up my nostrils and it makes me feel nauseous. It brings me back to the here and now of this awful situation.

  The man walks over to Mom and then drags her chair over to the opposite side of the room. Halfway there Mom starts to whimper as she comes to. She tries to lift her head and then looks around her. I see the same horror I’m feeling wash over her face.

  “Mom!” I call out to her. “We’re going to be okay.” Josh will get us out of this mess. Josh always fixes everything. He just needs to wake up.

  Next, the man unties Dad and I watch with increasing dread as he drags Dad’s limp body over to the other side of the big room. It looks like we’re in some sort of warehouse, which only confuses me more. There are some empty crates scattered on the one side and metal sheets on the other. Nothing stands out about this place. I have no idea where we are.

  “Dad!” I yell, hoping he’ll wake up. He has to wake up. He has to help Josh so they can get us out of here. They need to talk to this man and tell him it’s all a horrible mistake.

  The man hooks the bonds around Dad’s hands to a hook and chain contraption. My mouth opens but the scream doesn’t come out. It’s sucked back into my chest where it detonates, wreaking havoc with my insides.

  Dad … he’s the foundation our family is built on.

  My eyes jump to Mom. She’s a whimpering bloody mess. I can actually see her body trembling from the pain she must be feeling. She looks dazed, not fully aware of her surroundings.

  Who would beat Mom so badly? Why? My beautiful and loving mother … who would be so cruel to hurt her like this, to hurt us all? What did we do to deserve this?

  Logan groans, and my eyes dart back to where the man is pulling Logan off the chair and then he drags him to the side of the room. He handcuffs Logan to a pipe that’s bolted to the wall, near the metal sheets. He looks even worse now that I have a clear view of his face. There’s a cut above his left eye that’s gushing blood. Stupidly I think that he’ll need stitches, and that it will definitely leave a scar on his handsome face.

&nbs
p; The man grabs the back of Josh’s chair and drags him to the middle of the floor and it’s only then that I realize he’s positioning us in a circle formation around Josh.

  Everything slows down until my world becomes a blur and it’s hard to focus on anything. It’s hard to make sense of what I’m seeing.

  I hear a roar of anger as Josh comes to.

  Everything will be okay now. Josh is waking up. Josh will fix this mess - because that’s all it is - some horrible misunderstanding.

  The man comes over to me and he unties the bonds that are keeping my wrists tied to the chair. He hauls me up onto unsteady legs and then his hand slams hard against the back of my already throbbing head. My body loses the will to stand, and I fall to my knees. Pain explodes through my kneecaps, vibrating up to my hips.

  Something cold and unyielding comes around my neck and then I’m pulled backwards. Cold steel bites into my neck and I feel it tearing at my skin. I start to gag, making awful noises as my fingers claw at the chain around my neck.

  My mind just can’t process what’s happening. If I process my surroundings, my beaten family, the pain and fear – then it will make all of this horribly real.

  “Fuck you!” I hear Josh scream and it sounds desperate … so desperate it makes my heart shudder with dread. “Let them go! They have nothing to do with this.” I hear him sob and then he begs, “Fuck … please … please let my family go.”

  I raise my upper body so I can see Josh. I need to try and offer him some sort of comfort. I hear a weird sound behind me, like metal running over metal, and then the chain around my neck bites at my skin, and I’m hauled up from the floor until I’m standing on the very tip of my toes.

  Through blurring eyes I see Josh. He’s fighting the restrains that’s keeping him tied to the chair. He growl in anger and his eyes dart to each one of us - Dad, Mom, Logan and then me. He looks almost feverish with panic.

  I’ve never felt fear like this before. The three men who have always protected me are tied up and severely beaten. The three men who have given me absolute shelter throughout my life can’t even help themselves, never mind me or Mom. The thought paralyzes me. I always thought my father and brothers were unbreakable.