True Sacrifice

by Amanda Mackey

  Staring down the barrel of metal, a stabbing pain quickly shot through my chest. He could pull the trigger at any moment if he chose to and I’d lose everything. My breathing had practically stopped in fear. Now that we had arrived at our destination, the reality of the situation gripped me hard. I froze.

  And then the unthinkable happened. My cell vibrated to alert me of an incoming call. Shit. Shit. The twisted eyes of the goon next to me widened in manic anger, and before I knew what was happening, he had the gun pressed to my temple and screamed, “Give me your cell! Now!”

  The dig of metal had me whimpering as my fingers fumbled into my pants to retrieve my cell. Before I handed it to him, I momentarily glanced at the screen.

  Char.

  Snatching it out of my hand, he opened his door and threw it as far as he could. I watched in horror as it smashed on the concrete, my lifeline gone.

  Turning back, he barked at me in his native tongue, and while I couldn’t understand the words, the venom with which he spoke drove a line of terror up my spine.

  Without warning, he flicked his hand and drove the butt of the gun into my head, hard, jarring me to the right. Pain sizzled through my scalp and my hands instinctively came up to cradle the point of impact. He still screamed, but changed his lingo to English at the last moment.

  “Get out! Get out!”

  My head throbbed. Both men exited and hovered, waiting for me to follow them. When I faltered through sheer terror, one man leaned in and ripped the seatbelt off before dragging me from the car. It all happened so fast, I couldn’t think. Both men spoke to each other in a foreign tongue.

  Tears began falling from the blow I’d taken, and the very real dread of being led to my death. I’d had no time to say goodbye to anyone. My parents were happily vacationing. Living life to the fullest without a care in the world. If I died, their world would come crashing down.

  I stumbled, unable to walk in a straight line with the way both men pushed me along, my shattered cell crunching under my flats as I attempted to keep up.

  My body and mind were disjointed. Not working together. My brain tried to come up with a plan, but couldn’t, because at the same time, it registered the pain of my attack and had a hard time focusing on anything other than the agony in the side of my head.

  We approached an elevator and hustled inside when the door opened. The building didn’t look tall enough to have one, but what did I know? It flicked through my brain in a millisecond and I internally laughed at my stupid observation in such a desperate time. Perhaps my mind had shifted into survival mode to protect me against a total meltdown.

  In another few seconds we were exiting into a large warehouse-type room. Two other similar-looking men stopped what they were doing to watch us. Four against one.

  My captors threw me into the middle of the space and began raving like lunatics, waving their arms around as they rattled off in their own language. The other two closed toward me, causing me to stiffen and then cower. Insufferable odds.

  My earlier tears had stopped momentarily but flowed freely again as I watched and waited.

  Four hate-filled faces surrounded me as I spun each time they inched closer.

  “Please!” I begged. “Don’t hurt me.” No more than the first asshole already had with his gun.

  The tallest guy wearing scruffy jeans and a black shirt laughed at my futile plea. He crept forward until he stood before me. His eyes bored into me, dark as night. Evil as sin. He lifted a hand and I flinched, expecting him to harm me, but instead he held my chin steady. With an unconvincing grin, he spoke.

  “So. You are our lure, hmm?” Moving my chin from side to side, he studied me, his eyes dropping to my nurse’s scrubs, the stupid smile plastered in place. I wanted nothing more than to wipe it off with my fist, but it would only get me killed sooner. I needed to remain compliant for now. To assess my situation and figure out why they were using me as a bargaining chip.

  The word ‘leverage’ played over and over on repeat in my mind. It definitely had something to do with Harley. Did that mean they wanted to trade me for him?

  I couldn’t do it. He’d been through too much already. I couldn’t feed him to the wolves. If I had to sacrifice myself, then so be it. I would. Even though I didn’t want to die, I’d had a good life thus far, apart from Nick and I, but that seemed small fry compared to the battles Harley had been involved in. I’d saved many lives in my career. My own existence hadn’t been in vain.

  Staring my would-be killer down, I steeled my spine, determined that if my fate already involved death, then I wouldn’t go down cowering.

  For a brief second, his eyes flickered at my change in demeanor, and then he licked his lips as if my slight show of courage turned him on in a sick way.

  Repulsed by his hands on me, I pulled back but didn’t get very far. A fierce slap to my face made me cry out, as the force of it threw my head to the right. My neck jarred, bringing about sharp shooting pain at the base of my skull. I needed to simmer down and comply, but that proved easier said than done when everything in me screamed to fight for my life.

  The guy who had gripped my chin and slapped me apparently didn’t like my resistance regardless of his continued smirk. He towed me as if I were nothing but a bag of garbage to a wooden chair sitting against a large, dirty window. He threw me down and barked at one of his goons, who disappeared and returned with rope.

  In a moment he’d tethered me to the chair, my torso bound. He failed to be gentle, as the restraint bit into my chest.

  “Please. I won’t say anything. Let me go and I’ll forget this happened.” I knew I clutched at straws and that they had no intention of freeing me until they got what they wanted. Namely Harley, or should I now call him Declan?

  Had I known he would come with such danger, I wouldn’t have taken him into my home. Perhaps doing the right thing had ended up being my downfall.

  I wished I were at my apartment reading or doing something mundane like loading the dishwasher or toiling with the laundry. I’d willingly go back to my boring life in a heartbeat if it would put me out of harm’s way.

  Every sound and smell came to life, as if my mind prompted me to take in the tiniest of details, either due to the flight or fight response, or whether to assist police when it came time for my rescue. My rescue. That seemed the most unlikely of scenarios at present. I may be able to recall how dank the warehouse smelled or how the skitters of rats or mice sounded behind me occasionally, or descriptions of my captors, but all of that information wouldn’t actually help me get freed. I didn’t have a hand in that at all.

  I searched the large space looking for an out. The only other door apart from the one I had come through stood on the far right wall. A bathroom perhaps? If I said I needed to pee, could I lock the door and climb through a window? Doubtful. Why would they make it easy for me?

  Still, it could be my only lifeline. I needed to get untied.

  “I need to use the bathroom.” Shooting all of the men a pleading look, I waited for their reply.

  They simply laughed at me. Each of them. While I wasn’t desperate, I could feel pressure on my bladder. I’d been going to use the bathroom at the hospital on my break but had never made it.

  Sagging my shoulders, most of the fight left me. Glancing at my watch, I noted the time was seven p.m.

  Harley would be frantic. So would Char after attempting to call me earlier and failing. I took little comfort in the fact that the authorities had probably been notified. The waiting game had my name on it.

  Chapter Nine

  Harley

  A nurse I recognized from my stay in the hospital exited a door and made her way over to us.

  Concern marred her features.

  “Hi Harley, I’m Charlotte. I’m not sure if you remember me from your time here. I’m a friend of Mac’s. What’s going on? I tried calling her cell numerous times but it remains unanswered. I’ve tried again and again but can’t get through. She never retur
ned back to work. Where is she?”

  I could tell she was attempting to remain strong, but tears swelled at the corner of her eyes. She looked between me and Viper.

  Sighing out a weighty breath, I wasn’t sure how much to tell her. Chancing a glance at Viper, he nodded for me to speak.

  “We have reason to believe she met with foul play. Cameras show her leaving with a male and getting in to a black SUV.”

  “Jesus! Have you called the police? Are they looking for her? What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be doing something?”

  Her face became frantic. I could feel Viper tense beside me at the woman’s impending breakdown.

  “We’ve got men on it. We were just about to leave when you came out,” I appeased her.

  “I’m coming with you. I want to help look for her.”

  “What?” I asked, stunned. No way.

  “I’ve finished work now. I’m coming. If I have to I’ll damn well go and look for her myself.”

  Viper finally said, “Bullshit, you will. You need to go home, Ma’am, and sit tight. We’ll handle it.”

  Resting her emotional stare on my friend, she shook her head. “Like hell! Mac is my friend. I’ve known her a long time. I want to help.”

  Placing both hands on her hips in a show of defiance, I couldn’t help but admire the will of the stubborn woman. She clearly loved Mac. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to help.”

  Turning back to Viper, I said, “It won’t hurt. We don’t know Mac as well as Charlotte. Maybe she can give us vital information.”

  Gripping my arm and leading me away from the anxious woman, Viper whispered in a low voice, “You can’t be fucking serious, man! This is heavy shit. I won’t bring an innocent female into it. There’s already one been taken. We don’t need any more.”

  Knowing he had a valid point but not wanting the woman to go off half-cocked on her own, I made a suggestion. “If she wants to come with us, she can follow us to your place and wait there. That way we can keep an eye on her until we figure out our course of action. We can’t exactly just go driving around aimlessly searching for an SUV that is probably out of town by now. As much as it burns my blood, we need to wait for intel.”

  Giving me a death stare, he nodded curtly. “Fine, but she’s your responsibility.”

  Heading back to Charlotte, I filled her in on our plan. She still didn’t look happy but agreed to follow us to Viper’s place.

  ***

  Darkness closed in. We’d arrived at Viper’s house a little over an hour ago. I felt the dread building with each second that passed.

  Viper’s cell pealed out, making both Charlotte and I jump. We sat on the couch with an enlarged map of the city spread out before us waiting on city surveillance to track the vehicle and get back to us.

  “Go.” My friend had a cell reserved for military calls so he dismissed formalities.

  “Aha. Yep. Can we get a couple of men to check it out? Good. Get back to me with details.”

  The call ended.

  “What did they say?” I asked, standing from the sofa, ready to leave if needed. It had been pointless going on a search of the city. We had nothing to go on yet.

  “Vehicle is registered to Mohammad Ahmed. He’s leasing an apartment in the city. Two men are on their way over to search for clues. He has links to the cell leader we killed. I’d bet my life he shot you and trashed Mac’s apartment. He won’t be working alone.”

  My hands clenched so hard my fingers hurt. “She’s in grave danger, man. Sitting here, I feel so helpless. It’s driving me insane.”

  Nodding in understanding, Viper pocketed his cell. “As soon as we hear from our surveillance guy, we’ll have a clue as to whether they left the city and the direction they headed.”

  “It’s taking too long,” I snarled.

  “Damn straight it’s taking too long. I would have been out searching by now, but ‘His Highness’ over there won’t let me go look.” Charlotte piped up.

  Viper had banned her from going off on her own in the hunt for her friend. So far she’d merely been sitting on the couch, frustrated, and I couldn’t blame her. I hated waiting. There must be something we could do.

  Viper stalked toward her. “And where are you going to look, huh? Do you have any idea? Do you think she’s going to magically appear out of thin air? You have no idea who we’re dealing with here. Like I said at the hospital, I suggest you go home and wait for us to call.”

  Rather than cower down to him, because in all honesty he looked pretty scary in a macho, pretty boy kind of way, she stood her ground and lifted her face defiantly. Yep, she had balls.

  “Excuse me! You can’t boss me around or keep me from doing anything! In fact, I’m leaving. At least driving around, I feel like I’m actually doing something. She could be dead by now…”

  Her voice trailed off as she hurriedly moved to the front door, retrieving her purse from the small table beside it. I truly did feel for her and I knew her anger came from a place of love for Mac. I hated seeing her leave like this.

  “Charlotte, wait!” I called out.

  She turned slowly, her eyes glassy. I agreed with Viper about her not getting involved, so I said the only thing I could. “We’ll call you as soon as we find out anything. I know you feel as helpless as I do right now, but Viper has more resources at his fingertips than the local police. You have to trust him to find her.” It sounded hollow as I said it, but we needed to remain positive.

  Her mouth pressed into a quivering line and her eyes softened, but she didn’t add anything and quietly let herself out.

  Guilt swamped me. Turning to my friend, I blurted out, “Did you have to be such a dick to her about it?”

  Viper had both hands clasped behind his neck, glaring at the ceiling as if at war within himself. He stood like a marble monolith, every bit the warrior, arms almost busting the seams of his shirt.

  “She needed to be told the cold, hard truth. I won’t put anyone else at risk. If she goes off half-cocked, she’s going to endanger herself. I can’t be looking out for her and helping you find Mac.”

  He had a very good argument. Hopefully Charlotte would just drive around town for a bit and then return home.

  Viper’s cell rang again. He gave me a brief scowl before turning on his heels and walking into the kitchen. The sound of his voice quieted as he moved away.

  My heart thudded double time, bringing about an ache in my chest where my wound sat. Perching on the edge of the sofa, unable to relax, I awaited the intel that would hopefully bring us a step closer to finding the woman who had burrowed under my skin, big time. I didn’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her. She’d been my constant since I’d awoken from my coma. My memory could remain locked away forever as long as she came back to me. Realizing the depth of my feelings, one thing became clear. I had fallen for my kind-hearted, stunning nurse. Clarity washed over me. Unsure what she felt in return, it didn’t matter at this point. I would kill for her. I would stop at nothing to bring her home. She’d spent her life caring for others and now she needed someone to fight for her. Unlike her ex-boyfriend, Nick, I would be that person. I didn’t need convincing.

  Viper strolled back in with two beers in his hand. He threw one at me and I caught it midair.

  Perhaps some alcohol would quell my disquiet. Doubtful but worth a try.

  “So, the CCTV shows the vehicle driving through town and leaving on Interstate 94. My guess is Detroit’s the destination. There’s nothing much in between. I can’t imagine suspected terrorist members holing up in some hick town in the middle of nowhere. It doesn’t make sense. I’m going to get some men from the area to scour the city and any cameras that may be able to pick up the vehicle. Sarge is getting a team together as we speak.” Pocketing his phone, he added, “Tomorrow we need to get you a cell.”

  I blew out a deep breath. At least we had some sort of a lead and backup. Hopefully Viper’s call about Detroit would prove correct, othe
rwise we’d be wasting everyone’s time. I hoped Mac remained safe until we found her. From what little memory I had in combat, those assholes were ruthless and didn’t care about casualties.

  “So what now?” I popped the top off my beer and took a long swig, letting the cold soothe some of the burn.

  Plopping down on a chair, Viper shut his eyes. “Now we wait.”

  Chapter Ten

  Mac

  All the men except one left, which pleased me. They had ogled me like a fresh piece of meat. Now that I’d been captured and restrained, their part in the sick plot had ended.

  The ringleader skulked toward me, his satanic eyes fixed on me. I shivered as he stopped within touching distance.

  His hand stretched out and his knuckles grazed the length of my neck. “You and I are going to get to know each other better.”

  Turning my face away from him, not wanting to witness the depraved thoughts written all over his face, my rebuttal didn’t last long. Another hard slap had me sitting front and center again, my eyes finding his black polo shirt. Still, I couldn’t look at him. How did one stare down evil and not lose it? I needed to keep it together. I didn’t want to give him my fear. He had everything else.

  The sting rose in my cheek and lanced outward into my temple and down my jaw. A short, sharp whimper escaped but I didn’t allow any more.

  “Do not cower away from me!” he roared, seizing my chin and thrusting my face upward so that I had no choice but to focus on him. “Now. Let me introduce myself. My name is Mohammad Ahmed. Your friend killed one of my top men, and now I come seeking revenge.”

  My insides plummeted, my worst fears being confirmed. This man had shot Harley. It had all been connected to his life in the military. Reno. His nightmare.

  Not waiting on a reaction from me, he continued, his grip on my jaw increasing.

  “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to use you as bait to draw him out. He has feelings for you, yes?”