Recoil

by Evelyn Drake

  “Want me to close shop for tonight?”

  “No, stay open. If we haven’t found Kyle by then, I want to know who shows up for work and who doesn’t. Who has bruises.”

  Mary-Ann gave a curt nod.

  “Thank you for sharing this,” Tobias said as he stood, preparing to take his leave.

  “You just bring our boy back,” Mary-Ann said, her face stony but with now-red eyes.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Mary-Ann showed him to the door, and he heard its lock click as soon as the door closed.

  Tobias called the station as soon as he settled into the front seat of his car.

  “Any news, sir?” Officer Roberts asked as soon as he answered the phone.

  “Some. There’s video of Kyle Rivers being stun-gunned last night, dragged into the back seat of his car, and then abducted.”

  Officer Roberts blew out an appreciative breath. “Must have been a big guy.”

  “That’s the thing—even though the attacker was covered from head to toe, they had small shoulders and they really struggled to get Kyle into the car. They had to make a rope harness and pull him in. But in the process, their hand slipped and they slammed the back of their right arm into the doorframe, hard enough to leave a bruise.”

  “Want a injury check of all the women working at the club?”

  “I do,” Kyle said.

  “On it!”

  The call ended and Tobias started the car. He texted for several names and addresses to be sent to him to follow up personally, but none of them led to any new information, and it was with a defeated, exhausted trek that Tobias made it back into the precinct.

  There, at his desk with Officer Roberts, the two of them laid out all of the information that had been collected. They reviewed connections and argued suspects, yet it was not until hours later when Kyle sat at his desk, eyes closed and his face in his hands, that he ran back through the case step-by-step in his head. He envisioned each turn, re-heard each nuance of voice, and every look of unspoken words.

  Dropping his hands, Tobias’s eyes flew open and his palm slammed down onto the desk. Then his fingers snapped the air as additional connections fell into place.

  “Sir?” Roberts asked.

  “I’ve got it!” Tobias bellowed.

  Hold on Kyle. You fucking well hold on. I’m coming for you…

  24

  Kyle

  Pressure from the inside of Kyle’s head muddled his thinking as he tried to make sense of where he was and what was happening to him. He was in a pitch black room trapped in heavy cloth that left him tangled and unable to move. Panic set in as he felt himself choking under the unmoving, insipid air. The need to fight set in but the harder he fought, the more his energy drained from his body—and his body hurt. Every muscle hurt, his bones hurt, and even his hair hurt.

  He groaned and was thankful that at least he could hear himself unfettered.

  Unfettered… The word nagged at him, trying to tell him something. Stilling his struggles, he paused, waiting, as he took an account of his body. His head hurt, yes, but it didn’t feel broken. And while his body did hurt all over, there was no spot that stood out with searing pain even though his ribs and chest felt as if they’d been kicked repeatedly with steel-toe boots.

  He started out small. He wiggled his toes and then his fingers.

  Okay… that’s something. Not paralyzed. Yet, when he tried to move his arms, they wouldn’t budge.

  My wrists… He localized his next attempt to just his wrists. They were trapped behind his back, and again he found that they could not be moved.

  Elbows… His heartbeat quickened when he was able to flare his elbows back and forth at his sides. Refocusing on his wrists, he butterflied them back and forth and found that he was able to move them a little.

  Okay… I’m tied up. Who tied me up? Oh fuck… the killer? That kid? I’m gonna die. Things just got good, and I’m gonna die!

  …But you’re not dead yet, dipshit, so pull it together.

  Refocusing again on his body, Kyle determined that his knees were not tied but that his ankles were. Making it worse, there seemed to be a line leading between his ankles and his wrists, making it impossible for him to straighten his legs or stand. But his mind did clear enough for him to recognize that at least some of the weight he’d felt when he’d first regained consciousness had been the weight of his own body as he lay on something soft. And instead of being locked in a pitch black room, at least some of the darkness that he was experiencing was because of a blindfold tied tight around his head.

  A faint whoosh sounded in Kyle’s ears followed by air movement and fresher air.

  “Hello? Hello? Is someone there? I need help. Is someone there?” The words tumbled out of Kyle’s mouth. Rationally, he knew that if the killer had him that he or she wasn’t there to do him any favors, but regardless, his dire need for help took over and he found he was ready to beg if that’s what it took.

  “Shhhhh.”

  Kyle froze and turned his head in a better effort to hear everything that could possibly be heard.

  Male? Female? He couldn’t tell. Then, a soft, delicate touch lighted on his cheek.

  Kyle jerked back as hard as his constraints would let him, but the sudden violent movement left his body in pain and his head in agony. He groaned into the the softness below him as he struggled to regain his senses above the pain that threatened to swallow him whole.

  “Shhhh, shhhh… there now,” came a sweet, feminine voice.

  Who? Kyle struggled to place her voice. He’d heard it before. He’d heard her. He knew her. Who!

  This time when gentle fingers touched his cheek, Kyle only jerked a small amount, and he surrendered to her touch as she pushed the tight covering up his forehead to unveil his eyes.

  Kyle blinked against the light and fought for the blurred shapes and colors he was seeing to gain their shape. Then it happened, and he stared gape-mouthed up into Ella’s face.

  And he knew this place. She had him trapped in the prison that Therman Johnson had built for Victoria.

  “Why?” he rasped.

  “Shhh, baby, you’re fine now. We’re together. That’s all that matters.”

  “My arms hurt and I can’t feel my hands. I mean, they feel like they’re burning. Are my hands still there? Are they okay?” Kyle’s voice shook as he spoke, and he didn’t have to fake it. He was terrified, but everything else was a lie.

  Ella’s expression transformed into one of concern, and Kyle said a silent prayer of thanks.

  She cares what happens to me.

  “Ella, honey, why are you doing this?” He inwardly cringed when he called her “honey,” but the need to keep her caring about him won over any objections he might have about it.

  Rule number one, don’t piss off the woman who holds your life in her hands.

  Then Kyle groaned as if in agony as he moved his arms to emphasize his claims of painful, burning hands.

  “Hold still now and let me see what I can do,” Ella said, positioning herself on the bed in a kneeling position on her knees so that she could lean over his back.

  Kyle thought about lashing out at her by kicking up at her head with his bent legs or trying to grab her with his hands as she worked on his wrists, but any chances for trust building would be gone if he did. On top of that, there was no way that he could overcome her tied up as he was. She would break loose of any attempt, and then she might simply leave him there to die a slow death of dehydration. So, he played the good boy.

  Kyle held his breath as Ella worked his wrist bindings, hoping that she would remove them altogether, but her gentle fingers merely loosened the constraints.

  “How’s that?”

  “They still really hurt,” Kyle complained.

  “Well, let’s give it a few minutes,” Ella said, stretching out on the bed so that she was laying face to face with him only inches away. “You had me so worried,” she said as she stroked his cheek.
Her face was bright and her pretty cheeks flushed with color, and she had the look of a woman in love on her wedding day. “You’ve been asleep for so long. You hit your head so hard,”—her fingers caressed a spot that throbbed and ached along the length of his forehead—“and then I had to keep tazing you. You kept waking up.”

  “What was wrong with me waking up?” Kyle needed to keep her talking. He needed her to connect more with reality. She was looking at him like they had a future together.

  Well, at least there’s that, he thought to himself, noting that if she was looking at him with plans of a future then maybe she wasn’t planning on killing him. And if she wanted a future with him, maybe she wanted him to stay whole and healthy.

  I’m important to her.

  At Kyle’s question, Ella expression turned into one that might be used with a simple-minded child. “I couldn’t have you waking up before I got you some place safe, sweetie.” She smiled and laughed as if it were the silliest question in the world.

  “Would you mind untying me, Ella?” Kyle asked and then tried to mask his fear when the good humor dropped from her face. But then her face transformed again, this time into the seductress, and she dragged a finger down the length of his spine.

  “Now why would I go and do something like that,” she cooed, “when we could have so much fun with you tied up.” He hand slipped beneath the hem of his shirt and she ran her warm palm up the flesh of his back. “You’re so strong, so beautiful,” she said, giving his shoulder a kiss. Then a scowl overtook her pretty features. “Why’d you have to go making eyes at that cop?” She withdrew her hand and rolled over onto her back where she proceeded to ignore Kyle as she picked at her fingernails.

  She wants me to make up with her, tell her she’s special.

  “I’m not a prude or anything. I’ve been with a few girls. I get it. Being with your own kind can be nice. A thrill.” She shrugged but still avoided looking at him. “But,” she said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, “you seemed to like it an awful lot.” Her words came out sounding more like an accusation than a statement.

  If she cares for me, maybe she’ll care about what I want…

  “He and I were childhood sweethearts,” Kyle said, watching her expression closely.

  Ella’s eyes flew wide and she looked at Kyle full on before turning on her side and propping her head on her hand. “And all this time, I thought you were anti-gay. But you’ve been bi all this time?”

  Nope. Gay. 100% gay.

  “Yeah, I mean, I tried to deny it. My parents didn’t approve and I’d wanted to make them happy.” It was a drastic simplification of what had happened, but they were talking and connecting. He needed that. He needed her help in breaking free.

  “So,” she said, her gaze dropping coyly as she drew circles on his shoulder with the tip of one finger, “you were just working out unfinished baggage and you’ve worked him out of your system now?”

  Kyle nodded yes, not trusting his voice. In the light of the room, he took in the size and thickness of the door with his peripheral vision. It looked as if it were solid steel with a steel door frame. No way I could break through, especially not tied and weak.

  “It’s just that you looked like you enjoyed him so much,” she said, scooting closer. As she talked, she adjusted her position and began squeezing her hand beneath his hips and the bed. “I was there, you know, when you fucked him. I saw how deep you worked him and how much he liked it… and I saw how much you liked it, too.” Her gaze gained a glint of disapproval. “I saw you orgasm with him, and you never come with anyone.”

  With a hard shove, her hand reached its destination under Kyle, and Kyle felt her fingers play and tickle at his cock and balls through his jeans.

  “We can have fun, too, baby. You and me.” Sliding her other hand under his shirt, she dragged her nails lightly over his back, causing him to shiver despite himself. His reaction brought a happy, satisfied smile to her lips. “Those other girls, they were liars. I knew you never came with them.” Her tickling fingers at his groin became a massage. “That’s because you’re saving yourself for me, aren’t you, baby?”

  Kyle fought against the intense urge to ram his shoulder into her in an effort to push her off. His mind spiraled out of control as he flashed back to his youth and of being restrained in the mental hospital as people touched him… as people tried to do more than just touch him.

  “Stop…” he whispered as the room whirled. “Please, stop.” He was trapped, physically as well as with his choices. If he balked too hard against her advances, she could storm off and he could lose any chances he had at escaping. She was his captor and his salvation. She was life and death.

  Her face twisted into slow disgust. “Why aren’t you getting hard for me? Aren’t I good enough for you anymore?” She yanked her hand out from under him. “You want me to go dig those whore bitches up out of the ground so that you can get hard? Or maybe I need to grow a dick, is that it? I’ve done everything for you. It’s all been for you. I even delivered that perv Therman to you because I know how much you hated him. But do you thank me, no! The only thanks I get is you screwing some tight-assed cop and you quitting your job!” She got to her feet and started to pace the tiny room. “Why do I bother! Are you even worth this? I should leave you here. I should fucking leave you here to die!”

  “Ella, baby,” Kyle said, resting his head with his eyes closed as he willed his panic attack to recede. “Sit. I need to tell you a story.” He kept his voice just above a whisper so that she would have to calm herself if she wanted to be able to hear him. That tactic worked. Opening his eyes, he could see that she was still fuming, but it was no longer a rage that was building. She was coming back down from her anger-high.

  “Sit next to me, baby,” he said again. “There are things you don’t know that I need to tell you. These ties… I’m not into being tied up. I got tied up a lot as a teenager.” Empathy. Build empathy and trust… “The ties are giving me a panic attack. If you touched me when I wasn’t tied up, I’d be happy. I’d love it. But I can’t handle it when I’m tied up.” Simple truths. She’ll hear the truth and will trust more.

  With her eyes wide again and the anger gone, Ella slid back onto the bed next to him and she rested her hand on his shoulder. “What happened, baby?”

  “I got locked up as a teenager. I got locked up, tied up, drugged, and tortured. People tried to touch me, people I didn’t want touching me. Now you have me here in this tiny room with no windows. I can’t breathe, Ella. I feel like I’m suffocating. It’s why I didn’t get hard. I want you, my body wants you, but not here. I’m too freaked out, Ella. I can’t think straight.”

  “Oh my God, Kyle, I didn’t know! I’m so sorry!” Getting onto her knees, Ella went to work on his wrist bindings.

  Oh thank God. Relief flooded Kyle and he fought the urge to cry even as nausea rolled in his stomach. If she unties me, I’m not going to die. I’ll be able to overcome her. I’ll be able to escape. He nearly sobbed. Not least of all in his mind was Tobias—Tobias would now have a chance to know what happened to him. Kyle would not be the disappearing man all over again.

  In the distance, past the still-open door to Kyle’s personal hell-hole, a sound echoed down the long hallway leading to the prison Therman had built.

  Ella’s working fingers froze.

  “Ella, these really hurt,” Kyle said, trying to draw her attention back to untying him.

  “Shut up,” she hissed as she turned an ear toward the door, leaning toward it as if that would help her hear all the more.

  The faint sound of footsteps followed. Then, the sound of that one set of footsteps turned into the sound of many sets.

  Twisting his head, Kyle looked up at Ella with wide, panicked eyes as she looked down at him with the eyes of a vulture unwilling to give up her prey.

  “I’m here!” Kyle screamed, and Ella threw herself against the steel door, slamming it shut. But it was for a fleeting moment
that Kyle got to see Tobias once more as he rushed down the tunnel toward the little room. Kyle’s and Tobias’s eyes found each other just as the door severed their connection completely.

  With her back pressed to the door, Ella pulled a small remote fob out of her pocket, and she clicked on it frantically until Kyle heard a lock click into place. A second later, the sound of Tobias’s body hitting the door echoed in the small room.

  “Kyle! Kyle!” Thunderous banging filled the small room as Tobias’s voice cried out.

  Ella covered her ears and closed her eyes as she paced, mumbling to herself until her voice grew. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Lunging, then, she dug under one corner of the bed until she’d found her treasure—a gun.

  Aiming it with her arms stretched out in front of her, she squeezed the trigger and a wall of sound exploded in the room.

  25

  Tobias

  Tobias’s knees almost gave way when he heard the gunshot ring through the cramped hallway leading to the small confinement chamber that Therman had built. He stared at the large, blue-grey door. His entire being wanted to throw himself at the door and beat on it, screaming, shouting, cursing, and begging. But the cop in him held him in place, assessing and making a decision on what to do next.

  Stepping close to the door, Tobias laid his palm against the door’s cold surface and imagined that he could touch Kyle on its other side.

  He’s alive… Or rather, he’d been alive before the door closed and before the gun fired.

  “Ella,” Tobias called out. “Ella, can you hear me? Everything’s going to be okay, Ella. We just want to talk. That’s all. We just want to talk. We want to be friends, Ella. Can you hear me?”

  Tobias fell silent and then waved a hand at the men behind them as their rustling made it more difficult to hear any noises that might escape from the room behind the door.

  “Ella, can you hear me? If you don’t want to talk to me just yet, that’s okay. I understand. There’s a lot going on. But, if you could let me know that you hear me, I would be very appreciative of that. Could you knock on the wall or on the door, just something to let me know you’re with me?” Tobias listened but only silence answered. He’d picked his words deliberately, each one designed to create a sense of unity, cooperation, and teamwork.