by Nic Saint
They’d ridden the elevator down without uttering a word, Alicia darting frequent glances at the mustache Roland had chosen to adorn his face with by way of a disguise. It made him look… hot, she thought. Like a seventies French porn star. Big and hulking and even more virile than before, she briefly considered telling him to keep it from now on. Then she remembered they weren’t an item anymore, and she deflated.
Focus, Alicia, she scolded herself. Don’t think about Roland the seventies porn star and all will be well. Just think of him as the man who will save your father. A friend. Nothing more than that.
They had a strict schedule to keep, the cleaning crew limited in its movements and restricted to only certain areas of the compound. One of those areas was the lab and another the sleeping quarters of the scientists, which was where they were now headed. Six bedrooms to clean along with six bathrooms. They had exactly two hours to do this in, and then they had to be out of there and on to the lab. Thirty minutes, max, and if they weren’t out of there, security would be on them like white on rice.
Roland flashed his badge against a pad located next to an inconspicuous looking door. Bedroom number one.
“We’re in,” he whispered for the sake of Scott, and she heard the latter’s voice announce they had forty minutes to get in and out before the door irrevocably closed and their badges would have their permissions revoked.
Even though Alicia knew all about this, she still felt a chill of apprehension at the words. One foot wrong, and they’d be locked inside, prisoners like the rest of the people inhabiting these concrete halls.
She knew the chances of them actually seeing her father were slim. The cleaning crew was not allowed direct contact with the scientists, who were now either in the lab or the recreation area. Still, they had to find a trace of him, so the moment they entered the sleeping quarters, they split up and started checking every bunk for personal items or any other sign of the professor.
It was a long shot but it was the only shot they had, save from raiding the compound with a troupe of armed men and risk the lives of every scientist in the process. That was Plan B, and Alicia hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.
So she pushed her trolley along, swished her mop under the bed, wiped her rag along the bunks and checked each and every one briefly before moving on to the next.
The room reminded her of an army barracks: four bare walls and dozens of iron bunks forming three rows, thin mattresses covering them and ratty blankets providing cover. This was not a dormitory, she decided, but a prison ward, and the thought that her father had spent the last six months holed up in here almost sent tears to her eyes.
To her distress, she found few personal belongings stuffed beneath the pillows or mattresses. Here and there a drawing was attached to the bottom of the upper bunk, or a diary lay concealed under the covers. She moved quickly and methodically, and when she reached the end of the first row, she hadn’t found a clue, and neither had Roland.
They quickly finished up sweeping the floor for the sake of the security cameras, then moved to the bathroom and did a cursory cleaning of the place, briefly checking toiletries—Alicia knew her father preferred white musk deodorant of a specific brand so she hoped he’d been able to lay his hands on one.
She watched Roland sniff at a seemingly pungent shaving cream and frown disgustedly, and wondered briefly if they’d ever find a trace of her father this way. Then she pushed the discouraging thought from her mind, and moved along, keeping up with him.
They did three sleeping halls in two hours like that, and at the end of the third one, she was exhausted. Exhausted from the cleaning part of the work for the sake of security, exhausted from the constant tension they were working under, and exhausted from her hope rising and crashing and then surging once again, the emotional roller coaster taking its toll.
“Still nothing,” she heard Roland mumble into his throat mic.
All the while she kept her eyes peeled, in case they caught a glimpse of the elusive scientists. Roland gave her shoulder a tight squeeze when she heaved a deep sigh, and mouthed ‘Hang in there.’ She nodded and directed a grateful smile at him.
Maybe her father wasn’t even here? Maybe they kept him in a different part of the building altogether, or at a different location? Or maybe he was dead after all… She tried to keep a brave face, but as they entered the lab, she fought the sickening thought she might never see her father again.
The door of the lab slammed behind them, and they found themselves facing row after row of long desks overloaded with science equipment, the familiar test tubes and machinery forming an overwhelming array. Here was where they created and tested the plant life that would be brought along to Mars and provide the settlers with food to sustain their stay on the otherwise uninhabitable planet.
It was one of her father’s main areas of expertise, so if he was here, this would be where he spent his days.
She pushed her trolley to the left while Roland walked over the right, and were about to start their now customary routine, when suddenly the lights in the room were doused and flipped to a dark red, a siren howling in their ears. And before they had a chance to react, the door behind them was slung wide, and dozens of armed men stormed in, their guns trained on them.
As both she and Roland heaved their arms to the ceiling, the lights switched back from red to normal, and a hulking man ambled into the room, dressed in black, his head shaved and puffing a cigar. Alicia frowned as she thought she recognized him from somewhere, but it wasn’t until Roland growled, “Ty!” that she realized she was looking at Ty de Montesquieu, Harlan’s oldest son.
Chapter 34
“So. We meet again.”
Roland stared at the man who was his mortal enemy with disgust, his hands itching to knock the other’s block off. With dozens of guns trained on his head, he didn’t think this was such a good idea so he gathered what little equanimity he could and projected it into his voice. “I’d say it’s good to see you, but I’d be lying.”
Ty laughed a rasping laugh. “Too true. Likewise, I might add.” He directed a leering grin at Alicia that made Roland’s skin crawl. “Hi, there, Miss Sumner. A pleasure, I’m sure.”
“You have five minutes to tell us where my father is,” Alicia shot back, not intimidated by the hulking man’s presence in the least.
Ty laughed his cruel laugh. “That’s a good one. Five minutes, huh? And then what?” He gestured at the ceiling. “Hell fire will rain down on me and my men? Little green men will pop up out of nowhere and drag me away?”
“Where’s my father?” she demanded, valiantly standing her ground.
“He’s around,” riposted Ty casually. “Just like your brother Scott, I might add, my dear Roland.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you do. Pity you didn’t bring that sweet wife of his along as well. I have some unfinished business with the delectable Anna Moonstone.”
Roland shot forward, intent on giving Ty a piece of his mind and fist, but found himself staring into the barrel of a shotgun the big guy suddenly spirited out of nowhere.
“Huh?” cried Ty, posturing provocatively. “Wanna piece of me? Do you? Huh?”
“I will have a piece of you, you little turd.”
Ty shrugged dismissively. “Not now, not ever.” He gave him a wink. “And when your little sister takes possession of your scattered remains, I’ll be sure to add that tiny prick of yours in the mix. I hear she’s quite fond of it, the incestuous little minx.”
Roland’s face worked as he dug deep and slammed the other man with all he had, going for a knockout punch. Ty was struck down and hit the floor hard. Exploding up, he hurled himself on top of his nemesis with a roar of rage, and the two men exchanged blows until the clear sound of a shotgun being racked had Roland look up and the sight that met his eyes was his worst nightmare come true.
One of Ty’s men had the barrel of a shotgun trained against Alicia’s temple
.
He immediately held up his hands, and stepped back, spitting a wad of blood and mucus to the floor at a panting Ty’s feet.
“Take him and the bitch out of here,” the vicious thug rasped. “String them up. I’ve got big plans for the both of them. Very big plans.” And he laughed his vicious cackle at the prospect.
Alicia looked down, her chest heaving. Ty’s men had stripped off her clothes and tied up her arms and legs and trussed her up, suspended above the cement floor. One of the guards was staring up at her, his gaze fixed on her pussy, and she couldn’t stop the shaking of her limbs, both from fear and the exertion her muscles were subjected to in this awkward position.
The man took a step closer and reached out his gun, then stabbed it at her cunt, prodding her labia briefly and cocking his head as he examined her. She whimpered both with the extreme embarrassment from the treatment and the fear of what was to come.
Next to her, Roland roared, “Get your filthy hands off her, you son of a bitch!”
The man merely smirked and slapped Alicia across the tits, hard, shoots of pain racing through her.
“You’re so dead!” warned Roland, though Alicia couldn’t see how he would be of any help to her now. Like her, he’d been trussed up, hands and feet bound, and clothes stripped off his body. He looked formidable, she decided, like Samson must have looked, tied to the pillars of the temple, his corded muscles working, rolling beneath glistening skin as he struggled against his restraints.
She looked around at the bunker they were being held in. Concrete floor, walls and ceiling, the room was circular, and looked more like a missile silo than a torture room. Probably at one point it had been a storage facility for nuclear missiles, she decided, before Harlan had bought it from the government and turned it into his space station.
The door to the room slammed open, and a small man was brought in. Her eyes filled with tears at the sight of her father, looking bedraggled and emaciated, his beard long and gray now, his costume ratty and threadbare, his eyes glazed over and confused.
“What’s all this?” he croaked as the men marched him into the room. “Why have you brought me here? I have work to do—important work to do. I—” His voice broke off when he caught sight of Alicia, and the eyes behind the small glasses went wide with shock and horror. “Alicia? Honey? What-what-what—”
Only then did he seem to realize she was naked and bound, and his lips trembled and he sank to his knees, a sobbing wreck.
A cry escaped her lips at the humiliation of her own father having to see her like this, and she cast down her eyes, not being able to see the hurt in the old man’s eyes. She cried out in pain and desperation at Roland’s howled, “I’ll get you for this, Ty de Montesquieu! If it’s the last thing I do, you’ll pay for this!”
Chapter 35
There wasn’t a thing he could do, Roland knew, and still he struggled, rage lending him an almost superhuman strength. The men had left the room, and now it was just him and Alicia. They didn’t have long. Soon Ty would return to claim his prize. And to kill them both.
He didn’t know how the crook had found out about them, and he didn’t care. This couldn’t be the end. Not if he had any say in it.
“Ro?”
Alicia’s soft whisper hit him like a karate chop to the plexus, and he looked over to her. The sight of her naked body trussed up like an animal, her beautiful tits red from the slaps she’d endured and her face grim and hard after having to watch her old father be treated like a dog almost made him scream in agony. “I’m sorry,” he throatily admitted. “I’m sorry, Alicia.”
“There’s something I need to know, before…” She looked up, her eyes questioning. “W-why did you stop caring for me, Ro? Why—we had such a great time in Colombia—why did you… not want me anymore? Do I disgust you so? Do you think…” A sob escaped her lips. “Were you tired of me?”
“God, no!” he cried, the question stunning him beyond comprehension. “Of course not, honey. You could never—I could never tire of you—never! I…” He swallowed convulsively. Then, considering this was their final hour, decided to spill his guts before it was too late. He hung his head, his voice low and quiet. “I’ve never met a woman like you, Alicia. Never. I told you I was a one woman guy, remember? I told you so in Colombia. And you—you’re that woman for me.” He shook his head, closing his eyes, and didn’t care who heard it. “I love you, Alicia. I love you, honey.”
“But you—why did you push me away ever since we stepped off the plane? I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”
His throat constricted but he had to tell her—had to make her understand. “You’re so gorgeous, Alicia. So smart and talented and sophisticated and, and… I’m just a musclehead. I went straight from high school to working for my dad. College never appealed to me. My grades… I was a failure in that department. A disappointment to my family. That’s why I’m doing security. It’s all I was ever good for.” He gestured at his restraints. “And now I’m a fuck-up even in that department.” He sighed and looked over to her when she didn’t respond.
“Roland…” she murmured, an odd emotion reflected in her eyes. Was it… pity? It wouldn’t surprise him.
“You don’t want to get involved with the likes of me, honey. You’re a scientist. You’re fucking brilliant, for God’s sakes. I’m the Thornton bouncer.”
“Oh, Ro,” she whispered, her eyes now brimming with tears.
“Yeah, I know. I fucked up. Big time.”
“It’s not that. You just told me you loved me.”
“I did because I do.”
He would have said a lot more, suddenly feeling chatty now that his final hour had struck, but the door to their prison had swung open again, and Ty strode into their midst, his swagger having returned after the crippling blows Roland had dealt him.
Too bad, Roland thought, he hadn’t simply snapped his neck when he had the chance. Now it was too late.
Alicia didn’t even care that Ty was back to mete out his final punishment. She didn’t care about anything or anyone. Roland loved her! Fay was right, and so was Anna. What the two women had said hadn’t even registered, but she now saw they’d been telling her all along that Roland Thornton had fallen for her.
He’d been so detached and aloof, that she thought he’d lost all interest, but exactly the opposite had happened! He loved her and thought she couldn’t possibly love him back, but she did. She did!
Then she noticed Ty approaching her with a horrible look in his eyes. As he approached, he stripped off his clothes, and her eyes dipped down to the enormous erection rising up between his legs, a cock ring adorning his length. Oh, God. Not like this. She didn’t want to die like this. Not in front of Roland!
She started pulling against the ropes digging into her skin but it was no use. Then she saw him slip a knuckleduster over his fist and stroking it lovingly, and now she understood why Anna hadn’t wanted HdM or this thug mentioned at the breakfast table. Had she gone through the same ordeal at the hands of this monster?
“I’m going to enjoy this so much, Roland,” Ty called out, and briefly pressed his face into Alicia’s crotch, sniffing up her scent like a dog before the hunt. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this so much!”
“Get off her, you fucking animal!” roared Roland, and he jerked and pulled at the cords that bound him with renewed vigor.
“D-don’t do this,” whimpered Alicia, then decided not to give the beast the satisfaction of her tears and steeled herself for what was to come.
He fondled her fleshy mounds, then, testing the weight in his hands, squeezing first one, then the other. “Quite a handful, my friend. You got lucky with this one, huh? Finally to third base?”
He grinned up at Alicia and she noticed a small scar separating his left eyebrow. It made him look even more savage. “Something probably very few people know is that Roland here has been virtually celibate for years. You must be quite special, dear, to have enticed him to break that streak.
”
Alicia’s heart constricted at this bit of information. She’d completely misjudged Roland, she now saw. And it had taken this thug to force the real Roland to be revealed to her at last.
She spat the fiend in the face. “He’s twice the man you are.”
He grinned, seeming to relish in her outburst. Then that glint was back, and he backhanded her with such force that her head was slung back, and she was slammed from this world into one of near unconsciousness, her field of vision a bright scarlet.
A deafening roar sounded in her ears, and when she came to, she realized it was Roland going berserk next to her. When she opened her eyes, she blinked against the mirage she was sure to be witnessing, for Ty was on the floor and Roland sat atop him, dealing crushing blow after crushing blow to the thug’s face.
“Ro—Roland!” she cried, seeing the torn cords used to bind his hands and legs. He must have managed to rip them to shreds—must have found that last reserve of strength to tie him over the edge.
Men streamed into the room, ready to tear Roland away from their leader, but before they could reach him, he reared up and she saw a knife flashing in his hand. With quick jabs, he cut the binds that tied her and she fell into his arms, then he thrust the knife into her hand and gave her a knowing glance.
He dove for a nearby rifle, and sent a first salvo shattering the silence, peppering bullets into the approaching goons, sending blood and brain matter splattering their teammates. A thug reached Alicia and she brought up her hand, arching the knife straight at his stomach and sent the man sprawling, his gut pierced and blood spraying from his wound.
Gritting her teeth, she took a warrior’s stance, the knife at the ready, and when the second guard attacked her, swinging up his gun, she whirled with all her might and embedded the knife in his right temple and watched the life drain from his eyes as she yanked it back out.
Two down, a dozen more to go, she thought, but that was before Roland threw her a gun, and side by side, they started pumping out bullets, taking out each and every hired hand streaming into the room. And when they were out of ammo, it looked like Ty was out of men, for it was just them and a heap of bodies, Ty the most prominent among them.
