Against the Odds

by Tori Carson

  She was obviously still under the effects of whatever drugs they’d given her, but maybe her words of encouragement would sink it. If something happened and Alexa didn’t make it out, she wanted to give Crissy whatever help she could.

  A whimper came from Crissy’s direction. “I hurt.”

  She bent low near Crissy. “I’m going to get help. I promise I’ll get you out of here as soon I can.” Instead of a response, Crissy ground her legs together and rocked back and forth, seemingly unaware of Alexa.

  As quickly but quietly as possible, Alexa made her way to the stage. She stayed in a crouch. Nearing the bed, she grabbed the shirt the man had discarded and slid her arms through it. The smell of tobacco and sweat hit her hard, but anything was better than being naked.

  Alexa avoided the bed and headed directly toward the window.

  “We’re right outside, baby. We’re coming for you,” Sid’s voice crooned into her earbud.

  She gasped and her legs wobbled. He’d found her. She covered her mouth with her hand to keep a sob from escaping.

  Suddenly, from all sides of the building, she heard loud crashes and banging. The lights came on and she saw smoke filling the building. Alexa pulled back the curtains and prepared to force the window open. Instead of the darkened alley she’d expected, a used red-brick wall met her gaze. It was a stage façade.

  “You didn’t really think I’d let you get away from me again, did you Lexi?” Danny taunted from behind her. His whiskey-laden breath assaulted her nose.

  She turned to fight, but he gave her no room. Crowded against the wall, she had nowhere to go. Danny bent his knees and plowed his shoulder into her gut. The back of her head hit the bricks and she crumbled, fighting to breathe. She felt Danny’s hands grabbing her thighs and she tried to push him away. He easily overpowered her and pulled her into a fireman’s carry.

  “Help!” she screamed, doubting anyone could hear her. Each step he took jarred her ribs, and blessed darkness hovered on the edges of her vision. All she had to do was reach for it and the pain would be gone.

  “Describe your surroundings, Alexa.” Sid’s calm voice gave her a surge of energy.

  How was she supposed to do that? Then she remembered a microphone was woven into the braid of her hair as a backup. “Danny, put me down. Let me go.” She had to give Sid enough clues to understand what was going on without letting Danny know she was communicating with Sid.

  Alexa continued to struggle, but Danny locked an arm around her legs, limiting her movement.

  “Where are you taking me? It’s dark down here. You know basements scare me, Danny. Please let me go,” she pleaded with him.

  “Shut the fuck up! We’re being raided again, goddamn it. You haven’t changed a bit. You’re still a whiny little bitch.” Danny was breathing hard as he navigated the steep stairs with her over his shoulder. “I’ll knock you out if I have to.”

  “Find the door to the basement. He’s taking her out that way,” Sid advised the troops with him.

  Alexa grabbed the banister and held on, knocking Danny off balance. He spun into the handrail, pinning her leg painfully between him the metal. He smashed his fist into her broken wrist then continued down the stairs.

  She screamed in agony and fought to stay conscious. Dear God, it hurt.

  “Alexa, baby, what happened? Talk to me,” Sid whispered to her through their connection.

  “I’m okay,” she managed to get out without whimpering much.

  Danny laughed. “Ha! I forgot you used to talk to yourself. I’ve got the cure for that. Pain. I’ve found when given in large enough doses words become too much trouble. Eventually the only sounds that you’ll be making are screams and whimpers.”

  Alexa didn’t doubt his knowledge of torture techniques. The brother she’d played hide and seek with in fabric stores while growing up was long gone. This man carrying her to a fate worse than death was a caricature of the worst things hidden in the human psyche.

  They came to a halt and Danny bent down, allowing her tippy-toes to skim the ground. She heard the scraping of metal before he grabbed her shoulders and forced her down on her knees.

  “Get your ass in there.” He swatted her butt and shoved her.

  “No tunnels, Danny. There are rats down there.” She was also afraid her tenuous connection to Sid would be lost once she entered the tiny passageway.

  Danny kicked her through the opening and she scrambled to get away from him. Her left wrist refused to bend or take her weight. His next kick sent her tumbling. Her teeth rattled as her shoulder and jaw crashed onto the ground.

  The squeaks of rodents were loud as they protested the intrusion into their space. Their proximity was almost as frightening as Danny’s. Alexa cradled her left arm against her stomach as she crawled as quickly as she was able.

  Hope flared as she noticed how tight the tunnel was. She was small and flexible. Maybe she’d be able to put some distance between her and Danny. The rough concrete hurt her knees and it was almost impossible to keep her weight off her injured wrist, but she moved as fast as she could. As the sounds from Danny grew more faint, her optimism increased.

  Alexa couldn’t hear anything from Sid, and she prayed once she was above ground again their connection would come back.

  As a light appeared ahead of her, she wondered where the passageway led. Would one of Danny’s men be waiting for her? She’d been so focused on getting away from her brother and avoiding the rats, she hadn’t noticed if the tunnel was straight or angled upward.

  God, she hoped she’d be at street level once she reached the opening. Being enclosed in earth and concrete was a nightmare all its own.

  Nearing the light, she saw the shaft opened into a storage room of sorts. Kegs of beer were lined up along one wall. Was it a bar or nightclub? If she screamed would anyone help her or would she just bring more vultures down onto her?

  Before she could take the final step out of the tunnel, Danny grabbed her ankle and yanked, bringing her flat against the cold, dirty concrete.

  “Don‘t even think you can get away from me, bitch.” He slipped something tight around her ankle then punched her in the back of the thigh, giving her a charley horse that made it difficult to move.

  Knowing he wanted to hear her cry out, she kept her grunt of pain locked between clenched jaws and scurried from the confined space.

  * * * *

  “Alexa! Alexa!” Damn it, their communications were severed again.

  “Teague, he’s taking her out through a tunnel. Get me all the information you can on the surrounding buildings. I need a direction,” Sid ordered into his phone as he found a set of steps leading to the basement and took them two at a time. Her sharp exhale right before he’d lost her had him scared. The bastard had hurt her again.

  He was setting himself up to get shot. The lighting sucked, if Desi had hidden away in a corner, he could have easily picked Sid off. There was no cover to speak of. Not that it mattered. Sid half wanted Desi to take a shot at him. It’d give Sid a direction to vent his anger.

  Throughout the vast warehouse, they’d found twenty-three girls. A few were as a high as a kite and in Sid’s opinion those were the lucky ones. Most showed signs of continued abuse. None of them looked like they’d eaten a real meal in a long time and Sid wouldn’t even hazard a guess at the last time they’d been given a shower. To think that each one of those girls had a family and friends worried sick about them registered on a new level for him.

  Sid continued checking the walls for any possible opening as he waited for Teague to point him in a direction.

  “South is my best guess. There’s a neighborhood tavern across the alley. The liquor license is sketchy at best. An elderly couple from Kansas City isn’t likely to own controlling interest in a bar in New York. I suspect it’s really owned by an associate of Desi’s.” Teague sounded as frustrated as Sid felt.

  “I’m on it,” Sammy joined in.

  Sid hadn’t been aware his fr
iend had rejoined the search, but he was glad to have someone he trusted on Alexa’s trail and covering his back.

  He went to the south wall and quickly found the hastily covered tunnel entrance. Knowing he was being reckless as hell, he holstered his gun and dropped to his knees to charge through. The space was tight. Crawling on all fours had both the walls and ceiling brushing against him. At what he gauged was the halfway point between the two buildings, he thought he saw a glimmer of light up ahead. A noise sounded, but it was difficult to make it out. Each time he moved, his clothing scraped against the concrete.

  He stopped in the shadows about a foot from the entrance. Two men stood near the doorway. Sid paused to listen. Though the men were quiet, Sid recognized one set of boots. They belonged to Sammy. He climbed out of the tunnel and refused to acknowledge the disappointment at not seeing Alexa.

  “We must have just missed them.” Sammy pointed to a few still wet drops of blood.

  Sid’s jaw tightened. He had little doubt who the splatters had come from. He pushed away his feelings of failure and desperation. There’d be time later for recriminations. Right now he had to keep his focus. Alexa was alive and he would find her.

  “None of your fucking business, Albert. Give me the goddamn keys. I’ll call you later.”

  Sid waved his hand for silence and pressed the bud in his ear in a little tighter.

  “Get in the car.”

  “No! H—” A grunt of pain took the place of the rest of the word Alexa had tried to shout.

  “They’re getting into a car.” Sid sprinted across the room and through the doorway. He headed toward the kitchen, praying Desi had taken her out the back. Near the stoves, he spotted another drop of blood, signaling he’d chosen correctly.

  “Get in, Lexi. I’m sick of your shit.” Desi’s voice rang loud and clear through Sid’s earpiece.

  A sharp cry followed by the slamming of a door had Sid shoving the bar’s employees out of the way as he searched for the rear entrance. Finding it, he threw his weight against the door’s push bar, tossing it open with gusto.

  A man Sid assumed was ‘Albert’ took a step back in alarm. One glance at the loaded Sig Sauer a few inches from his face and Albert put his arms in the air.

  “Where’s the girl?” Sid demanded.

  “No habla ingles,” Albert answered smugly.

  Sid smashed the man’s nose into his elbow and shoved the Sig Sauer into his mouth. “Maybe you ‘habla’ Sig Sauer, then.”

  “Dude, we ain’t got time for this. Just end him and let’s go,” Sammy reminded Sid.

  Albert started to shake and a glossy wet stain began spreading across his black pants.

  The van Sid had been using during the stake-out blocked off the alley entrance.

  “Are you going to tell me what type of car they got into or do I blow your head off?” Sid asked with finality.

  Albert put his hands in a begging position, which Sid interpreted to mean he’d spontaneously learned how to speak English. Testing his theory, Sid withdrew the pistol a few inches.

  “White Taurus. Brand new. No plates.”

  “Get the hell out of here and if you call Desi and warn him, I’ll come back. Trust me, you won’t like how this ends.” Sid, Sammy and the local NBIA agent took off running for the van.

  Sid related the car information to the rest of the units and began searching the street cameras for any sight of it. It would have to be white. Every other motherfucking car was either white or silver.

  He pressed the switch opening his private link to Alexa. “Baby, talk to me,” he pleaded, needing to hear her voice.

  “Sid?” Alexa sounded shocked to hear him.

  He breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of her voice. “I’m here baby. Where are you?” He needed a direction or he was going to lose her again.

  “Sid, don’t leave me. It’s dark and I hate the dark.”

  The road noise coming through their connection was louder than it should have been. Sid looked out the van’s windshield. With all the street lights and other cars going by, it wasn’t all that dark. He must have shoved her in the trunk.

  “I know. We’ll fill our bedroom with candles so it’s never dark again.” Though he wanted nothing more than to comfort her, he needed some idea where they were heading. “Do you know where he’s taking you?”

  “No. He said he had customers lined up.” She whimpered. “They paid him so they can rape me.”

  Sid imagined her huddled on the trunk floor with her chin quivering as her voice broke. He slammed his fist several times into the side of the van.

  “Breaking your hand won’t help us locate her, Sid. Find your happy place, man.”

  He flipped Sammy off.

  “He said he was going to keep me alive until I looked like a two-bit whore then he was going to kill me and leave my body where Mr. Hawkings can find it.” Alexa was talking softly, but he heard her clearly enough.

  He suspected she’d pulled her braid containing the microphone nearer to her mouth.

  “He drugged Crissy and tricked her into making a porn movie. If she doesn’t do what he wants, he’ll send copies to her friends and family. You have to stop him, Sid. Don’t let him keep ruining people’s lives.”

  “We will stop him, Alexa. You and me together.” He didn’t like the way she sounded, almost as if she’d given up.

  “I won’t be raped. Not again, Sid. I’d rather die first.”

  Now it was his turn to beg. “Don’t leave me, Alexa. You own my heart, baby. You live, for me. For us. Don’t throw our chance away. No matter what, you fight to live.”

  For the longest time all he heard was road noise, then finally she answered, “I’ll try.”

  Sid let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

  “We’re slowing down, I think.”

  Oh God, the connection was breaking up again. He got on the radio and started barking orders. If the chief were here, he’d have already relieved Sid of command. He knew he’d lost all pretense of professionalism.

  “I’m scared…I…”

  He couldn’t make out the words.

  She sounded like she was underwater. “Not again.”

  The road noise stopped and Sid feared they’d lost their link. “Stop the van. Turn it around. Head back in the direction we were coming from.”

  For long moments, only silence came through their com link.

  “Oww, Danny, that hurts.” Alexa’s voice sounded tired but strong.

  “Like I give a shit. Get your ass out of there. Time for you to start earning your keep.”

  “Danny, there’s glass. I don’t have shoes. Danny!”

  Alexa’s groans of pain shot through Sid until his vision was a haze of red. Once he found Desi, he was going to kill him, slowly and with great malice.

  “Little Dick’s Inn?” Alexa asked incredulously.

  “Welcome to your new home away from home until the fallout from the raid calms down.”

  “Little Dick’s Inn, is that the name of a motel?” Sid asked over the radio.

  Some scraping sounds came over the link. “Get your ass moving,” Desi ordered.

  “I’ve got glass in my feet, quit shoving me,” Alexa pleaded.

  “In a few hours that will be the least of your concerns, I assure you,” Danny responded gruffly.

  “I know that place. It’s a flea bit motel a few miles east of us. Heading there now, sir,” his driver reported before he tossed the van into a sharp turn and floored it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Danny had said ‘in a few hours’. Did that mean she was fairly safe for the time being? She prayed that was the case.

  “Get on the bed,” Danny ordered.

  “Please don’t do this, Danny. You’re my brother. Why do you want to hurt me?” If Sid had heard her say the name of the motel, she knew nothing would stop him from finding her.

  “Oh, bitch, please. Don’t waste your breath. The only loyalty I have is t
o money and right now you’re standing between me and a substantial piece of the trust fund.”

  Alexa sat on the bed, relieved to have the weight off her bleeding feet. She looked at the door only a few feet away and wondered if she could reach it before he grabbed her again.

  “We’re on the way, baby. Hang on. Just keep him talking,” Sid reassured her.

  Danny pulled open the drawer of the nightstand and retrieved two pairs of handcuffs. Since neither had the custom-made quick-release catch, it wouldn’t be possible for her to escape once he put those on her.

  “I’ll sign it over to you. Just let me go, Danny. I’ve never told anyone about Ezzy. I’m sure it was an accident anyway.”

  He snorted. “Like hell! I beat her brains in using the fire extinguisher. Dumb bitch thought she could order me around.”

  Maybe if she fed his ego, he’d keep talking. “She didn’t understand that Mom and Dad meant for you to run the company the way you thought was best. She just thought you were an upstart.” Please forgive me, Ezzy.

  “What?” Danny slipped one cuff from each set around the brass bars of the headboard. “You can’t really be that stupid, can you? What am I saying? Of course you are. Mom and Dad were about to change their will. I had to get rid of them before Dad signed the updated version Hawkings sent over for them.”

  Danny couldn’t have hurt her more had he tried.

  Sid’s soft voice centered her. “I’m sorry, baby. Stay focused and keep him talking. Just breathe in and out for me. You can do this.”

  I might be able to, but I don’t want to. I want to just lie down and die. Danny shares my genes. Is there a monster hidden inside of me too?

  “Damn, if I’d known that’s all it took to shut you the hell up, I’d have told you first thing.” He grabbed her broken wrist and hauled her to the top of the bed then cuffed her there.

  Alexa had tried to remain stoic, but the pain blinded her. She screamed as stars danced in her field of vision. Before she could catch her breath, he’d handcuffed her right wrist as well.