I try to sit up, to find out what is going on a few moments later, after I calm myself slightly but there is a hand at my throat, pushing me back into the couch.
I fling my eyes open and I am met by an older man, smiling at me with his yellow broken teeth.
“You must be Olivia?”
I don’t say anything. I know right away he is not good
He confirms my suspicion when he reaches his other hand over towards me. I notice he has a gun. He brings the barrel of the gun over and points it right at my forehead. The cold metal pressing painfully into my skin.
“Let’s try this again, shall we? You must be Olivia, yes?”
I nod slowly, afraid to move. Afraid to speak and anger him.
“Good. My name is Leo, I work for someone who has a very high interest in you. However Mr. Corvus has been keeping you a secret. It’s too bad he is no longer here to keep you safe, isn’t it?”
He licks his lips, his breath assaults my face. It’s disgusting. Smelling of tooth decay and garlic. My stomach roils, the vomit is rising into my throat. I quickly take a deep breath, trying to calm my stomach but not upsetting this man with my movements.
“I don’t have anything to do with Dean, he’s keeping me captive.”
The man releases my neck and slaps me. Hard. “Learn quickly you do not lie, and you do not speak unless spoke too. I won’t warn you again. Next time there will be a bullet in your head. Now, we both know that you are not captive. You are sleeping on a couch that is worth more than my apartment. You’re dating Dean, we all know this but despite his hard work…” The man stops for a moment rethinking his words “Despite the bridges he has burned, I have you now. And you are coming with me.”
He reaches down onto the floor and grabs my black flip flops. Placing them roughly onto my feet.
He forcefully pulls me up off the couch, dragging me across the room. His fingers are sinking into my arm, I can tell there is going to be some serious bruising.
We walk into the hall and that is when I see Marco, lying unconscious, with a bullet wound in his shoulder.
The man notices me looking at him. “He aint dead, but you will be if you don’t walk faster.”
My ability to refrain from being sick up to this point ends suddenly I bend over quickly and throw up. I can’t stop. The man seems really disgusted by my action. He spins away from me trying to avoid being splattered. He grabs the back of my head, I can feel the strands of hair being pulled from my scalp.
“Fucking disgusting, I don’t get paid enough for this shit.”
I finally finish, and he grabs me again, stepping around the mess I have made a few feet from Marco.
I start to think of Dean, is he going to know who took me. Is he going to care? And what about my baby. Are these people going to kill me?
I realize now, that my fear of being held captive by Dean was minimal to what I am now feeling being led away by this man. He is not good. Whoever he is working for is going to be so much worse. I have no idea what is going to happen to me, I have no idea what I am going to do.
Chapter 8
The man leads me back down a dark hallway. He knows his way around this building. Do Ryan and Dean know him?
He pulls out a cell phone. One of those disposable phones that you see in the drug store on display; ‘pay as you go.’
“Yeah boss, I got her.”
He mumbles a few more things, and then hangs up the phone. He lets go of me long enough to dismantle the phone into several pieces. He throws the pieces to the ground and steps on them. The sound of crunching plastic echo’s against the heavy cement walls.
He grips my arm forcefully once more, and pulls me towards a black van with dark tinted windows. When he opens the door, two men with guns are sitting on the inside. Neither of them look any friendlier than the man beside me. None of them look like they give a shit what happens to me.
I risk a glance behind me, the way that we came through. I think of Dean. I think of how I can show him I have been here?
Suddenly I think of the only thing I can leave behind that will tell him I was here. I carefully as though not to attract attention to the men who surround me as to my real motives, stumble. When I do, the man with the bad teeth grabs me picking me up and tosses me into the van giving me the chance to accidentally “drop” my flip flops off.
The men are so annoyed when I scream at the action of being thrown that they don’t notice. The man gets in behind me and quickly slams the door shut. The woman driving the van pulls out quickly.
She’s pretty. Or she was probably pretty at one time. She is older, maybe in her 50’s. She has pretty eyes, but the rest of her looks hard. Hard and pretty.
She peels out of the garage. She drives through at a speed that is going to attract the attention of someone on the outside. That makes me feel slightly relieved.
However as soon as we leave the garage, she slows down. The man reaches over to me and pulls a black pillow case from a bag that is lying on the back seat. He pulls it over my head roughly, pulling my hair as he does.
“Now, I have already told you what outbursts will get you.” I feel his gun at my side now. I want to scream at him to move it. But I know better than to open my mouth. “I don’t want to hear a peep from you until we get there. The boss is waiting for you.” Then he says nothing. No one says anything. I hate the silence.
We drive for what feels like hours.
We drive down a bumpy road, I know right away that unlike where Dean was keeping me, this place really is in the middle of nowhere. Which means I will not be escaping.
“The boss will be here within the hour, he wants you to bring the package inside and leave it handcuffed to the desk.” The woman driving says
Her voice gives me a chill. It’s emotionless. As a woman I had hopes that she might feel some level of sympathy for me, for what these men were doing to me. But her tone tells me she is not going to feel anything for me.
I am yanked from the car. Tossed down onto the pebbled ground. I wince as my feet are cut and scraped by sharp rocks.
Someone must notice the way my body tightens because I hear: “where the fuck are her shoes?”
I recognize the next voice as the man who captured me “She had flip flops on when we left.” He’s worried,
I hear another man yell “what do you mean she had them on when she left. Simon check the fucking van. Leo you better hope her fucking shoes are in there.”
They weren’t. The other man yells, he says that I was not supposed to be hurt, and makes a comment on my feet bleeding.
Then the conversation turns to leaving signs behind of where they were waiting at the other building.
He asks Leo if he touched them.
Leo says nothing.
They discuss where the shoes could have been left.
Leo says he does not know
Each time his voice grows softer and softer. He’s scared.
I hear the sound of a punch, and my arm is quickly released.
Someone else grabs me shortly after, and tells me to follow them.
Like I have a choice?
We enter the building. Soft carpeting meets my hurting feet. The person pulling me stops and someone else leans over and picks me up.
This man is large, I don’t like his touch. His hand is on my back side, and it’s squeezing. It’s the first time I really consider that worse things than death might happen to me at the hands of these men. They don’t seem to have a whole lot of morals.
We walk several feet before I am placed onto a cold metal chair.
I feel my right hand jerked away from body and then feel someone place a cold, metal handcuff around my wrist.
The click of the metal startles me in the otherwise soundless room. The other cuff is attached to an object rather than my other hand. When the room goes quiet I try to pull my wrist. Hoping that I can remove the cuff from whatever it is attached to. I reach my free hand up to where the pillowcase is covering my h
ead. As soon as my fingers touch the fabric, I hear the sound of a gun being cocked. Then the barrel being placed against my temple.
“I believe Leo told you what would happen if you tried to escape.”
I say nothing. I wait for the man to pull the trigger.
He does. But nothing happens. Just an empty click. Just the fear breaking my soul down a bit more.
He laughs. An evil torturous laugh.
He steps away from me. His laughter carries across the room.
I know I am not alone, I know that someone is with me, so I don’t move again.
Chapter 9
Time passes. No one moves. I hear nothing. Nothing but the sound of a two way radio of these people telling one another where they are and what they are doing. All in code. I understand nothing.
Nothing. Until I hear a deep baritone voice speak into one of the radios: “Red’s driving up now, everyone get ready.”
Who the hell is Red?
Still not moving, I strain to hear whether or not anyone is talking outside of the room. There’s the sound of footsteps, and then someone else is in the room.
An older sounding, but still intimidating voice booms: “Nice of you to join us Miss Taylor.”
Funny.
I hear the sound of an office chair on wheels being moved back and the air squeezing from the cushion as the person belonging to the voice sits.
“I have been waiting for this day for quite some time now. You have caused a lot of mess for me. I don’t really care for mess Miss Taylor.”
I don’t move. I don’t say anything.
I hear the sound of fingers snapping. Footsteps approach me, and the pillow case is ripped quickly from my head.
I look around quickly at the room. It’s an office of some sort. I look at the man who removed the pillow case. A much shorter man, stocky rather than strong. He has a sinister look on his face. Daring me to move. His hand is resting on his gun.
I look back to the man ‘Red’. He’s older around the same age as the woman who was driving the van here. He looks familiar though. Something about him. I know him. I just can’t remember where I have seen him. His eyes are honey brown. I have seen these eyes. Many many times. But who do they belong to?
Then I remember. Her small chubby face. Josslyn. But why does he have the same eyes as my niece?
As if he can read my thoughts the man leans forward and speaks in a lower tone “I suppose you don’t know how I am, do you?”
I shake my head
“Well, my name is Red Kennedy. You might know my daughter Ashley?”
Shit, this is Ashley’s dad
My stomach drops. I can tell my face visibly pales because Red tells me to ‘relax’.
How is one supposed to relax when in a situation such as this?
“Unfortunately, my daughter hired your boyfriend’s services. Which wouldn’t be an issue, if it weren’t for the fact that my daughter also went to one of my men for the job. When Mr. Corvus decided he fancied you, he killed the man who held the other contract. That man was my right hand hit man. He was the best I had. Which does not make me very happy.”
He continues: “I don’t give a shit what my crack head whore of a daughter does. I disowned her when she failed to convince your loser brother to agree to the adoption of that brat to one of my connections. We were offered $5.3 million for a baby girl with my blood ties. A long term debt you could say. When that boy decided to ignore the offer… well that put quite the damper on my long term plans. I know you played a part in him believing he could actually raise a baby on his own. So now I have 2 very large problems that all surround you.”
I remain silent
“SO now, I have to keep you. Until your boyfriend can come up with $5.3 million and I want his most valued employee. I also want his brother’s club and for him to call off the guards that are keeping my human trafficking business out of business. You see before Ryan and Dean Corvus took over, Matthew Corvus and I had an agreement. I turned a blind eye to his shady dealings and he turned a blind eye to mine. Since I have been unable to transport things have been tight financially.”
I look around the room. This place is fancy, even just in the office. The suit that Red is wearing is expensive. This man isn’t hard up for money. He’s just an asshole.
Red can tell what I am thinking obviously because he jerks forward quickly and slaps me across the face “Disrespect will not be tolerated Miss Taylor.”
“As I was saying. Your boyfriend and his brother own the underground business’s in this town. Matthew had the largest cut of everything. Since he died, my pieces have been dwindling. I have had to rely just on the drug cartel aspect of things, which isn’t quite satisfying my appetite if you know what I mean.”
Of course I don’t. He knows I don’t know anything about any of this.
“So, we have a really nice room all done up for you. Later tonight we will film a little video and post it online for Dean and Ryan. I don’t know if they will be willing to accept our negotiations, but if not… Well I have a nice little plot out back with your name on it.” He smiles motioning with his hands towards me again.
The scary man with the gun approaches me, he leans over and removes the handcuff that was secured to the heavy desk. He drags me down the hall, I try to look around for signs of where I am but there is nothing. The window’s outside show nothing but wooded area on one side and miles of field on the other.
I am pulled down old wooden steps. They don’t seem safe. The basement is scary and old, unlike the one where Dean had me. That was musty and a little damp in some areas but this was not safe. There was an abundance of cobwebs, old paint cans and boxes of cloth. The support beams holding the house are showing signs of rot. There are nails sticking out of random parts of the wall where clearly boards have fallen off with neglect over time. On one wall there was a large assembly of weapons. Bullets on the book shelf. And rolls of clear plastic. I shudder when I consider what those are used for.
The tall man laughs noticing my line of vision “don’t get any ideas girly, you won’t be free in this room.”
He drags me across the room to a small area that looks even more disgusting than the first part of the basement. There are chains sticking out of the wall. Chains I thought were only used for slaves.
That’s exactly what I pretty much am at this point.
He shoves me down and begins to strap my leg to the one chain, then he attaches another to the same leg “you won’t be getting both of these off, so don’t bother trying.”
He makes quick work of locking me up, and without another word he is gone. Leaving me alone in the dark room. I look around, the only window in the basement is 10 feet behind me. No way can I reach it. It’s letting in very little sunlight, but there is a dim light across the room that I pray stays on. I don’t know that I could handle being here in the dark.
I wonder if Dean knows where I am. I wonder if he is even looking. Maybe he is relieved that I have been taken off his hands.
There is an old sheet folded up and placed in the corner. I reach for it and slowly unfold it. Dust billows up from the dirt and grime of the room. I know it’s been here for a while. But the alternative is laying on this floor bare, and the thought of what is on this cement makes me shiver. I lay it out around me so that I can sit. Trying not to pull my chains.
The chain is only about 6 feet long. So it gives me a little moving room, but not much. The fact that I have 2 chains on the same leg is really weighing down my one limb. It’s starting to hurt already. I decide to lay down and try to get some sleep. I have no idea how long Red is going to keep me here. I haven’t eaten since early this morning, and between the pain and the hunger I need something to distract me.
The man comes back moments later, he has a video camera. He advises me not to speak, he does all the talking. He tells Dean that he has a week to make contact with his agreement to the demand for the money and the man. He tells him that if he doesn’t not follow thro
ugh, they will not hesitate to kill me. The man with the camera still in hand walks up to me and kisses me roughly on the lips, aiming the camera so that Dean will see what he has done. I yank myself away from his grasp. The man turns the camera off, and crosses the basement. Laughing at my reaction.
I lay back down, wiping my mouth with the back of hand. I fall asleep quickly and I don’t wake up until I feel someone kicking my foot.
Chapter10
I slowly open my eyes, whoever is kicking me isn’t trying to hurt me, but is rather trying to get my attention.
I look up and notice a fairly good man standing over me. He is dressed in dark blue jeans, with a black polo style t-shirt. His eyes are dark green and I notice that he is muscular, not Dean Muscle, but very close to it. He’s the biggest man I have seen since I was taken. Which worries me until I look at him more closely.
He doesn’t look mean like the other men all have. In fact, something in his facial features makes me feel like he is probably not here to hurt me, or scare me.
“You are Olivia, yes?” he asks
I slowly nod my head. I know he looks nicer than the others, but I still remember the rules. I don’t want to be hit again.
He crouches down so that he is nearly sitting on his knees, he reaches his hand out to me to shake “I’m Adam.”
I hesitate, but eventually I take his hand. Eyeing him speculatively
He notices and laughs lightly “I am Red’s son, Ashley is my sister.”
I quickly scoot as far back as I possibly can away from him. The chains rattle against the sudden movement. The clanking metal is loud and I worry that it will attract attention of other’s upstairs. I don’t want him near me.
He notices this and frowns. “No, you don’t have to be afraid of me. I am here to help you.”
I still don’t move. I don’t trust him. Red and Ashley are the only people who have really tried to hurt me to this point.
“There are a lot of things you need to know, none of which I can tell you here.” He pauses and looks towards the stairs on the other side of the basement. “There is a room upstairs, it’s barred and it is fitted with a security system so you cannot get out, but I am going to take you up there. You will have your own bathroom and a comfy bed.” He moves to begin unbuckling my chains.
Sweetest Torture (Sweetest Kill Book 2) Page 3
