by K. L. Donn
“You’re a shit liar, Emily. Now, talk to me before I call Eric and he tells us, which will just piss us both off and your ass will be red by the end of the day.” He threatened. None to quietly, either, if the look of laughter of Kenny’s face was anything to go by.
“Nothing, Cooper, I promise. I just had a weird moment.” She tried to deflect; she really did. My ass is gonna be so sore, she thought almost gleefully.
“Baby girl, the only time you call me Cooper is when I’m buried inside you so deep you can’t see straight or when you’re upset. Now, since I’m not currently being soaked by your delicious pussy, I have to assume you’re upset or something’s happened. Explain,” he demanded. Probably not realizing just how turned on she currently was from his words.
Telling him about her hair standing up and the shiver of awareness was not something she delighted in and had to repeat a couple things because she spoke so low. Knowing that she was on speaker and Dane was listening didn’t help any either. The man was a beast and she knew when he exploded, she did not want to be anywhere in the vicinity.
Waiting for them to say something after she explained was not easy. She was on pins and needles. “Baby girl?” Dane whispered her nickname, but she could hear the anger in his voice, could practically see his jaw ticking and eyes blazing in anger over the line, too.
“Dane?” she whispered back.
“Give Eric the phone.”
Handing the phone to Eric she said, “It’s Dane.”
The horror on his face would have been comical if she wasn’t actually freaked out. “You ok, Em?” Kenny asked her as they listened to Eric and Dane’s one-sided conversation. Nodding her head, she watched as Dane presumably barked out orders and bitched that she was feeling like she was being watched.
Hanging up, he handed the phone back to her saying, “Let’s go, ladies.” Each of them grabbing their arms and almost dragging them away from the shoe store and to the secluded part of the lot where they’d parked.
As the driver, she still didn’t know his name, hit the unlock button on the keyfob, he was pointing towards the vehicle. They were just feet away as an explosion rocked the pavement and sent all four of them sailing through the air.
Pain blossomed in her back and head, and her right leg was throbbing. Coughing and looking around through the smoke, she thought she saw someone running towards her but couldn’t be sure since her vision was blurry and her head was swimming in pain. “Kenny?” She croaked out. “Eric?” She tried for a stronger voice, coughing again from the smoke and dust.
The smell of fuel was nearly overwhelming. And even if they had answered her, she didn’t think she’d hear because her ears were ringing. Seeing movement to her left, she tried to get up and crawl over, but her legs wouldn’t hold any weight. Move dammit! She screamed at herself.
When a hand grabbed her shoulder, she screamed and spun on the person, ready to fight. Noticing right away it was Kenny, she cried out. “Oh God! You’re ok! You are ok, right?” Nodding her head in confirmation, she tried to help Emily to her feet when she felt a stab of pain in her neck and a burning sensation travel through her blood before darkness started to take over.
The ringing of his phone had him jumping from his desk. On edge from his short conversation with Emily minutes earlier, they were worried. “Sheppard.” He barked out.
Hearing coughing and sirens in the distance, he waited impatiently. “Fucking Christ, Coop, they blew up the goddamn SUV!” Eric shouted, sending his heart rate into overdrive and making him impulsively toss the guest chair sitting in front of his desk across the room, shattering it against the wall.
“Where the fuck is Emily!” He screamed louder than he ever had before.
“He got them, man. He fucking got them both when we were nearly blown to shit!” He shouted right back. But Cooper wasn’t feeling the least bit sympathetic; Emily was fucking gone. Going to the door, he flung it open so the handle lodged into the wall, screaming, “Dane!”
A moment later Dane came crashing in the room, already knowing full well what happened. Ripping the phone from his hand, he punched the speakerphone button growling menacingly. “Where the fuck is our woman, Eric?”
“I don’t fucking know!” He screamed at them. “We got separated from the explosion —”
“Explosion?” Dane choked out, interrupting him.
“The SUV was blown away when Chad unlocked it. Any closer and we wouldn’t be having this conversation, and you’d be picking your girl up in pieces and fitting her in a body bag. So stop fucking screaming at me and get Creed and Linc on the line and find out who this motherfucker is!”
“Kennedy and Emily?” They heard a devastated voice whisper out from behind them.
Cursing, they turned in unison to see Keeley standing there shaking like a leaf. “Ah fuck, lil’ bit. Don’t you worry, we’ll get them.” Dane tried to soothe.
Pretty soon Nate and Ty were standing in the room with them, looking paler than normal and placed a phone call no sibling wanted to make to their parents.
Waking up with what felt like cotton in her mouth and her head pounding, Emily slowly opened her eyes to look around. Blinking rapidly, she realized she was alone and in what could be a basement or maybe cellar of some kind? Her hands were tied in front of her and her feet were chained around her ankles, with the metal biting into her skin with every move. The walls were cement and the ground was cold and hard. Her body hurt from head to toe. Trying to get her bearings, she looked around a little more to see if there was a door. Sitting up was more difficult than she could have imagined.
Startled by a thump and murmurs overhead, she paused in her struggles to get up. Listening intently, Emily waited to make sure that whoever had her didn’t realize she was awake yet. Letting out a deep breath, she was finally able to sit up against the wall.
Struggling to remember what happened, she gasped as her memory came rushing back…
Her and Kenny being escorted from the mall by Eric and the driver… The explosion… The prick in her neck followed by the burning. “Kenny.” She gasped on a choke. “Oh Kenny, I’m so sorry.” She silently cried.
Hearing a commotion above her again, Emily wiggled herself up the wall until she was standing, straining to hear more. She was startled by what sounded like Kenny crying. “Kenny?” she whispered out. “Kenny, can you hear me?”
Hearing a pain-filled moan, Emily knew Kenny was in trouble. When the screaming started she knew she had to do something; she couldn’t just sit here and let this man do what he wanted to the sweet young woman. With little else to do, Emily started screaming as loud as she could to draw their kidnapper’s attention away from Kenny. It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t deserve whatever was happening to her.
Drawing in a lungful of air Emily wailed, “KENNEDY!”, repeatedly until she heard him start cursing and footsteps pounded on the floor above, then down a set of stairs she failed to notice on the opposite side of the room. He exploded through the door in a flurry of rage, storming up to her. Emily finally got a look at his face and what she saw scared her more than not knowing who her tormentor had been all these years.
Blue eyes so deep they should be beautiful, but they were dead and soulless; you could see the evil lurking in his depths. Shaggy blond hair hanging to just below his ears. He was average height and build but his face screamed evil. He was bad to the bone and all Emily could think was, I just hope I can distract him long enough for Dane and Coop to rescue Kenny.
Her only concern was getting Kenny out of this alive and as untouched as possible. Whimpering as he got closer, she tried to shrink into the wall as he snarled. “What? Nothing to wail out now, slut?” The hatred in his voice shocked her. She’d never met this man before, yet he hated her with such passion.
Shakily she asked, “What do you want?”
Growling, he slammed his fists into the wall on either side of her head, leaning in until they were nose to nose and whispered, “What I wanted was yo
u, Emily. For us to finally be together. But you had to prove me wrong when I thought you were so innocent but turned into a slut and started fucking those men. Now, you’ll pay for it.” He smirked in a not so sexy way before ripping his body away from her in disgust and stomping back to the door. Looking over his shoulder he left with a parting shot. “Or at least, the precious and pure Kennedy will.” He laughed out before slamming the door behind him.
A scream ripped from her throat before she could stop it. Scrambling towards the door as fast as she could and stumbling often, Emily started pounding on it so hard her hands felt broken and her wrists were raw and bleeding from the rope rubbing against them with every move. She listened as he did unspeakable things to Kenny. She was helpless to stop him. What he did, she may never know, but all she could hear was Kenny crying and pleading with him to stop.
“Please!” She yelled up towards the roof in the hopes he would hear her. “Please leave her alone! Take me and let Kenny go!” She screamed.
Hearing his laughter at her begging, she heard what sounded like a whip hitting flesh as Kenny screamed out. “Emily! Please, help me!”
Feeling weak after hours of yelling for him to stop hurting Kenny, slamming on the door and listening as he tortured her, Emily was exhausted, mentally and physically. She didn’t know what to do anymore. She prayed for a miracle, to be rescued, anything. She just wanted to get Kenny out of this hell. She wasn’t concerned about herself. But Kenny… she hadn’t heard her in a while and she worried about what that meant. Could he have left her alone? Did he leave them to die?
“Kenny?” she whispered. Clearing her throat, she tried again, louder and with what she hoped sounded like strength. “Kenny, are you ok?” Listening, she waited.
When she didn’t hear anything after what felt like hours, she almost gave up hope. Hitting her head against the wall, Emily tried to come up with a plan. This man was much worse than what any of them thought. Coop and Dane seemed certain it was an old co-worker of hers that she turned down for a date a few times. But the man that came down earlier proved it wasn’t him. They wouldn’t know who to look for let alone where. She was scared. Tired. Hungry. But mostly she worried about Kennedy.
After falling asleep, she was awoken by a loud thump and an ear-piercing scream that sent cold shivers down her spine. Standing up on weak legs she started screaming again, hoping to gain his attention. When she heard his maniacal laughter, Emily knew they were done for.
“I’m so sorry, Kennedy.” She sobbed out. She kept crying until her throat was so tight she couldn’t breathe; let alone hear anything above it. So she missed it when the door opened and footsteps came towards her. She wasn’t aware anyone was in the room until she felt a harsh hand on her biceps rip her from the floor and throw her across the room into the door jam.
“You pathetic whore.” He sneered coming closer. Curling into a ball, Emily tried to make herself as small as possible. “What’s the matter, sweet, little Emily? You weren’t enjoying the show? That Kennedy is a delicious piece of ass.” He laughed out at the horrified look on her face.
“What did you do to her?” She tried to sound strong, intimidating, but she failed. She was so weak and tired she could hardly keep her thoughts straight.
“Nothing she didn’t enjoy.” He taunted. Grabbing Emily by the hair, he drug her upstairs in a flurry of movement, pushing her around so much that she couldn’t see anything. Or what she could see was just a blur. When they came to a stop in front of a padlocked door, she felt both dread and elation at what would be behind it. She knew Kenny was there. She had to be. It seemed like a small house. She wanted to be there for her, soothe her fears and just help her. But she dreaded the fact that Kenny must hate her now. How could she not? It was Emily’s fault she’d been violated for however long they’d been here.
Flinching when he reached around her to open the door, he quickly shoved her through, making her land face first on the floor in a pool of liquid. Hearing the door slam shut, she slowly pushed herself up realizing quickly what the liquid was.
Blood.
Getting home from the hospital after talking to Eric and Chad, the girls’ driver, they saw Creed and Linc were finally back from Roswell. Climbing out of the truck they met them on the porch. “Well?” Dane asked impatiently while he unlocked the door, stepping inside and going right to their temporary command center in his office.
“It definitely wasn’t Stubbs. The way he was slaughtered— I’ve never seen anything like it, man. There was a lot of hatred behind that act, but this guy had to have brought him this way for a reason, right?” Linc asked pulling out his laptop and booting it up.
“Fuck!” Dane slammed his fists against the wall when Linc confirmed it definitely wasn’t Henry Stubbs that had taken the girls. They were clueless. No leads. Nothing. Someone had their girl and they couldn’t do a fucking thing to help her.
“Cool it, Dane, that shit won’t help.” Linc told him in a cold voice.
“Fuck off.” He spat out. Leaving the room in search of Coop.
Finding him on the back deck a few minutes later left Dane feeling more frustrated and broken than he was before. Because when Coop heard him and turned around, he could see the unshed tears in his eyes. Emily wasn’t just a job or just their girl; she was their soul. The reason for them to breathe. And seeing his grief over the fact that she wasn’t here brought every negative emotion he had to the surface. Their life was gone and they may never get her back.
Walking up to him, Dane grabbed his shoulders in both hands, looked into his eyes and said with more conviction than he felt, “We’ll fucking get her back, man. She ain’t leaving us this easily. She’s ours. Fuck. We’re hers, man. She’s fucking coming home.” Taking a deep breath, he brought him in for a hug and slapped his back, hoping Coop believed him more than he did.
Pulling away Coop told him, “Let’s find this fuckwad and bring our girl home where she will fucking stay.” He laughed out because she kept telling them they couldn’t make her stay anywhere she didn’t want to. Emily was quirky, he thought. She loved to push their buttons at every opportunity.
Walking back into the office where Creed and Linc were currently running through every favor they had, Creed looked up and smirked knowing he’d lost his cool and had needed time to get the pussy out of his system. Nodding at the question in his eyes, Creed said, “Good ‘cause I think we got something.” The evil smile on his face told them he had more than something.
Perking up at that news, they both walked closer to the laptops they were currently bent over and poring through documents when Nate and Ty showed up. “What the fuck have we got?” Nate boomed out.
“Calm your tits, dude, we got a lead. We’ll get the girls back,” Linc told him distractedly. Not even looking up or shifting position.
“You got something, Linc?” Ty asked leaning in closer to see what had him so engrossed.
Jumping up a few minutes later, his head nearly collided with Ty’s chin as he ran over to check something on the map they had hung up in the office in Dane’s house.
After a few more minutes of him tracing lines in between looking at the paper in his hand that he had scribbled something on, he shouted, “Bingo! Grab your toys, boys, we got some hunting to do!”
“Where? And who?” Ty asked sounding confused.
“That guy, Henry Stubbs, he wasn’t the only one sniffing around Em. He was just less obvious about it. He hacked Henry’s computer and I found the trace. Stupid fool had no idea. His name is Adam Dover, and it seems he’s quite obsessed with your girl. Best I can tell, he found her through her designs and stalked her at her local library. She might not have been working under her real name, but she has a signature way she works.”
Seeming to lose his patience, Coop growled out low and deadly. “Where the fuck are the girls?”
“I managed to find an old property in Bay City, off the Colorado River, in Stubbs’ mother’s maiden name. I’m willing to bet the farm
that’s why he brought Stubbs to Roswell and where he’s taken the girls.” Linc looked at them with complete confidence, so Dane was willing to trust his judgment. For now.
Going to the basement where he kept his weapons along with Coop’s, Dane grabbed his semi-automatic SR-25 sniper rifle, 3 grenades, and 2 handguns, both 9mm Walther P99 German semi-automatics. Putting them in a duffle bag, he watched as Coop grabbed his favorite knife, the Federal Super, a tactical knife that he never left home without for a mission. Strapping the sheath to his thigh he continued to grab his Israeli Jericho pistols, sliding them in his shoulder holsters, grabbing a few extra clips and a small hand launcher aptly named, The Thor. It was compact but held quite the boom. Raising his eyebrow in question, Coop smirked and shrugged a shoulder before placing it in the duffle bag and grabbing a bulletproof vest, tossing one at Dane and putting another on. They made their way upstairs and out the front door, meeting everyone at the trucks.
“Alright kiddies, let’s get this show on the road!” Linc exclaimed before climbing in the passenger side of Creed’s truck.
Getting in their own vehicle, with Nate and Ty in tow and following behind Creed and Linc, they started the nearly three-hour drive to Bay City in the hopes of finding Emily and Kennedy intact.
Looking up from the pool of blood on the floor, Emily was terrified of what the scene before her would look like. There was so much blood it was soaking into the hardwood and sprayed about everywhere. Finally getting the courage to look up and around, she was more than shocked at what she saw. Kenny was chained to the wall, naked, with blood dripping from the underside of her breasts and thighs. She had passed out. Her gorgeous red hair was caked with more blood in stringy knots around her head. She was covered in bruises from top to bottom. You could hardly tell it was even her.
