Rough Stock, the Novel

by Alexandria Hunt

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked, trying to focus on anything I could just to keep me sane.

  “I told you, my employers need a word,” he replied. “Shut up and enjoy the ride, tell them what they want to hear and you might just make it out of this alive.”

  I clamped my mouth shut and tried my best to not roll around as the van raced through traffic.

  At one point my hood pulled back off my face and I could finally see the man who had captured me.

  It was the same one from the construction site, the one Ty had knocked in the face. I could see his swollen, crooked nose, a bruise on his cheek and stitches in his lip.

  And the way he glowered down at me made me shudder.

  I feared for my life, but I also feared that they were going to try and force me to kill the story I was working on.

  I didn’t know how I was going to talk myself out of this one.

  Chapter 38

  The van came to an abrupt halt and I was knocked forwards onto my face. I groaned in pain and worried that my nose was broken as it crunched on impact.

  “Get up,” the man commanded and I rolled onto my back.

  “How the hell do you expect me to get up?” I snapped. At this point I was angry enough to fight back a little.

  He grabbed my wrists and yanked me hard, making me cry out in pain as he dragged me to my feet in one fierce jerk.

  “There, happy?” he spat, and dragged me along with him to the van door. “Now get out.”

  He shoved me and I almost fell out onto my face right on the concrete floor. At the last minute, I managed to get my balance and rolled out instead, landing on my arm with a cry. I felt something crack in my wrist and pain shot through my arm from the tips of my fingers to my shoulder.

  I cried out again and my kidnapper said, “Shut the fuck up,” as he grabbed me and dragged me to the corner of the parking garage we were in. He opened a metal door and shoved me into a dark room, shut the door and locked it.

  “Help!” I yelled and tried to beat against the door, but my wrist hurt and my hands were still tied. “Help!”

  I kicked the door frantically but it just echoed back against the walls of the room.

  I remembered my cell phone, but my hands were tied and I couldn’t reach it. It was tucked away in the left side of my bra, but there was no way to get it without my hands free.

  “Help!” I yelled again, but heard the van’s engine start up and drive away, leaving me in complete silence and darkness.

  “Fuck,” I said and sank down onto my haunches in despair. I had no idea what they wanted or who had kidnapped me, but I had an idea.

  I was sure it had to do with the story, the photos I’d taken recently linking the mayor to Bayside Properties and the Maynard family.

  I hated feeling helpless and I hated waiting. I tried to focus on anything I could do so I started to work the ropes around my wrists.

  The guy had tied them tight, I could barely get any movement in them and every time I worked too hard, my wrist shot lightning bolts of pain straight up my arm.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I gasped and kept pushing until the ropes were slightly looser. I didn’t know how long it had taken but it felt like an eternity of work. At most it had been an hour or so, tops, and it occurred to me that Ty would be looking for me by now.

  “Help!” I screamed one more time and heard nothing in response. I wiggled my wrists harder and groaned in pain but pushed through it and felt the rope loosen even more.

  Poor Ty, he would be desperately trying to find me by now. I wondered if he had called the other guys and what they were doing now. Where they rushing to the city? Had the police been called?

  I felt a sob of frustration bubble up inside of me and burst out as I exhaled in pain. I hated the way it echoed off the cold walls of the room I was in. I hated feeling so helpless and I hated the idea of my four cowboys searching for me in desperation.

  “Fuck,” I exclaimed one more time and pushed my wrist through the pain and felt the ropes loosen even more. Sweat made my hands slick and I felt the rope give way and I pulled my right hand free.

  “Yes,” I laughed. “Finally!”

  I swung my hands around and pulled the rope off my swollen left hand and threw it into the corner.

  I pulled my cell phone out of my bra and clicked it, dialled Ty’s number and waited.

  Nothing happened.

  I groaned and swore again, looked at the screen and realized I had no reception. I was out of range somehow, being underground in this room meant my phone was useless.

  I turned on the flashlight and realized I was in a utility room of sorts, there were breaker boxes and wires everywhere. I jumped up, holding my injured wrist carefully beside me, and rushed to the door. I flicked the light switch and held my breath.

  Nothing happened. I walked to the breaker boxes and started flicking switches off, hoping that if I could turn off the power to the building somebody would have to come down here and check it out.

  I stood back in triumph and looked at my handiwork.

  And immediately realized that none of the wires seemed to be attached to the breaker boxes. The building wasn’t wired yet.

  And that’s when it hit me. I was being held in the very building I’d photographed. The apartment tower wasn’t built yet, which meant that I really was all alone here.

  I worked the door handle and tried to find a way to open it, but it was locked from the outside. It made no sense to have a door lock on the outside of a utility room, so they must have installed this one to keep me in.

  And then I noticed something else that I’d missed in my panic. There was a dirty blanket and some empty water bottles in the corner of the room. I nudged them with my foot and saw ‘Help Me’ scraped into the base of the concrete wall.

  I shuddered and tears welled up in my eyes. I wasn’t the first person they’d held in here, but hopefully after my story went public, I would be the last.

  I sank back down onto the floor, leaned against the wall and turned my phone off to conserve the battery. I drew in a long, quivering breath and suppressed a sob. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something uplifting to keep my mind from cracking.

  I went back to the first night with the four cowboys and thought not just about the sex, but the love and security I’d found with them.

  It was that love and security that would get me through this, and it was the thought of their four faces that would keep me strong.

  They’d come for me, I had a feeling they would.

  They would never abandon their girl. Not those four.

  Chapter 39

  I must have fallen asleep because something woke me up with a start. I jumped and knocked my head against the wall behind me out of confusion.

  I didn’t know where I was.

  It all came back to me with a rush and I felt fresh tears on my cheeks. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. Five hours had gone by since I’d been grabbed from the front of my office. Five hours since Ty was supposed to pick me up.

  And that meant five hours for the guys to gather and start looking for me, which meant they were probably scanning the city already.

  I heard an engine in the distance and struggled to get to my feet. My wrist was throbbing and my head hurt, but my heart still raced like mad out of fear.

  I prayed that they wouldn’t kill me, I couldn’t imagine not seeing my cowboys again…or them not finding me.

  I stood in the corner of the room with my arms wrapped around myself, shivering and terrified. I tried to force myself to relax, but it was no use, the adrenaline was coursing through my body and my knees felt weak.

  The engine stopped right outside the door and I heard doors open and deep male voices speaking to one another. I felt tears well in my eyes and slip down my cheeks and my breathing became shallow.

  The door lock clicked from the outside and I mentally steeled myself against the door opening. I straightened my spine and rubbed the tears
off my cheeks with the back of my hands.

  The door handle rattled and a crack of light appeared along the door and it opened slowly.

  I blinked against the light from the parking garage and tried to make out the forms in silhouette in the door frame.

  “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a man’s voice said with a contemptuous tone.

  “Let me go,” I said in the toughest voice I could manage. “If you let me go now I won’t tell anyone anything.”

  “It’s a little late for that, young lady,” the man told me. I blinked my eyes a few times and let them adjust to the light. The man’s form came into focus and I recognized Mr. Maynard, the man behind Bayside Properties and the housing scam.

  The man I was about to expose with my article, the man who had gotten me thrown in jail and the man who was apparently behind my kidnapping.

  “This is illegal,” I said and stood straighter, staring right at him. “I know who you are, Mr. Maynard. If you don’t let me go, I won’t tell anyone.”

  “As I stated, Miss Reid,” Maynard said in a haughty tone, “it’s much too late for that. I know you’ve been snooping around our properties and I know you think you have it all figured out…but you know nothing at all. This is problematic to our business, though, especially if you decide to publish your findings or take them to the police.”

  “I won’t,” I said, “I was planning on quitting my job and leaving town anyways. I promise.”

  “In my line of business, I don’t take promises on face value, I’m afraid,” he said. “In fact, I don’t trust many people these days. I’m afraid we’re going to have to figure out what to do with you.”

  “Are you going to kill me?” I asked, my chin quivering with unshed tears as my voice cracked.

  He looked at me, his gaze dark and angry as he contemplated my fate. I thought about rushing him and running, but when I peeked around him, I saw four men standing next to the Range Rover, each one was holding a gun and wearing sunglasses and looked extremely menacing.

  I was trapped and completely at Maynard’s mercy.

  “That is up to you,” he told me with a snarl, “I’ll leave you to simmer in your own fear and see what you have to say for yourself when I get back.”

  “No!” I cried out and rushed towards the door. “Don’t leave me in here!”

  My mouth was dry and my lips were already starting to crack, my wrist was swollen and bruised and my phone was slowly losing its charge. The thought of being left here in the dark was too much, so I begged and pleaded with Maynard, all my tough exterior crumbling away as the door slowly closed.

  “Nobody can hear you,” he chuckled. “And the room blocks your cell phone. You won’t get anybody coming for you, girl. This room has been fully secured against any escape.”

  My reporter instinct kicked in and I found some well of strength to draw from. “How many others?” I demanded. “Who were they? Are you trafficking people?”

  Maynard stopped dead in his tracks and looked me straight in the eyes. “You’re very perceptive,” he said. “That’s too bad, it might weigh against your fate when I make my final decision.”

  “Wait!” I screamed as he shut the door and closed the lock on the other side. “Don’t leave me in here!”

  I heard the engine fire up and they drove away, leaving me back in the dark, in dead silence.

  I sobbed and slid slowly down the wall to sit against it and let my misery wash over me. I turned my phone back on and felt sick to my stomach when I saw that it was down to forty percent.

  I tried again to get service, but once again was disappointed by no bars.

  I moved to the door and slid my finger underneath, I was sure I could slip my phone through and try to get a signal.

  I desperately texted each of my cowboys a message where I was — where I thought I was — and hit send. As soon as the messages tried to send, I slipped my phone under the door just enough to try for a signal but not enough that I lost it.

  I waited a few moments and pulled it back in. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best, opened them and looked at my texts.

  They had been read.

  I sighed and smiled and turned my phone off.

  Suddenly being alone in the dark wasn’t so scary now that I knew my four guys had gotten my message.

  Chapter 40

  I let my eyelids fall heavy and curled up on the floor to wait for my cowboys to rescue me. I was certain they would come and save me before Maynard and his men came back.

  I slowly drifted into sleep and curled my arms around myself to keep the cold from seeping into my bones.

  They had to find me, they just had to.

  In my dream I was lost and running through a dark hallway with no doors. There were only flickering lights set out every fifty feet or so, and every time I thought I had reached the end, it only expanded into the darkness.

  I heard Maynard’s voice behind me, chasing me with his sneering laughter until I didn’t think I was going to make it another step.

  But every time I thought I was going to give up, I kept moving, driven on by my desperate need to see Charlie, Clive, Ty and Harley again. Their love kept me going, and it kept me strong and focused.

  I heard them calling my name and I called back, listening for their response. I heard them somewhere ahead of me, so I ran faster, away from Maynard’s evil laugh.

  I finally saw a door up ahead, it was outlined in bright light and was vibrating with glowing energy.

  I grabbed the handle and twisted the knob, I opened the door and stepped through.

  Right into the arms of my four cowboys. They surrounded me and I felt peace, love and security. I felt safe, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head, I felt love.

  They were yelling my name and I heard banging on a metal door. I whipped around and stared at the place I’d just come from, but the door was gone. I was back on the ranch with bright sunlight and serenity all around.

  I heard them calling again, “Morgan! Morgan! We’re here, hang on!”

  I jerked out of sleep and I realized it wasn’t my dream, it was happening in real life. I jumped up, desperate to see them again and yelled, “I’m in here!”

  “Stand back,” Charlie’s voice came through, deep and forceful. “I’m going to break the lock!”

  I backed up to the far wall of the little room and covered my eyes, waiting for them to do their work.

  I heard harsh bangs against the metal door, repeated blunt blows to the lock until it cracked and I heard the guys celebrate.

  The door opened and I ran through, sobbing and weakened by my captivity and fear and the simple fact that I was saved. Every ounce of strength I’d been hanging onto was gone and I let myself collapse into their arms.

  “Morgan, are you hurt? Who did this?” Charlie demanded.

  I held up my wrist and fell into Charlie’s arms. Clive held it carefully and moved it back and forth. I winced and whined, Ty and Harley knelt next to me and held my other hand.

  “The good news is that it doesn’t look broken,” Clive said and kissed it softly. It immediately felt better and I smiled at him. “My god, Morgan, we thought we lost you.”

  “I don’t know what we would have done,” Harley said, his voice almost cracking with emotion.

  “I’m so sorry, kitten,” Ty said in a somber voice. His eyes were dark and full of pain.

  “It’s not your fault,” I said. “I was grabbed right off the street. It was Maynard’s man, the one you hit.”

  “I wish I hadda killed him,” Ty growled. “If I had known he’d do this to you, I would have.”

  “I’m safe now,” I said, closing my eyes and letting the sensation of four, loving men flow over me. “I love you guys, I love you so much and I’m safe now.”

  “I love you too, darlin’,” Charlie said in my ear, his arms around me, lending me his strength.

  “And I love you, sweetheart,” Clive said, kissing my hand again, tenderly and lo
vingly.

  “You know I love you, kitten,” Ty said, his emotions replaced by a shy smile.

  “And I love you,” Harley said, “we all love you. We were frantic when you went missing, I can’t even explain to you how fast we drove to the city. I’m surprised we weren’t pulled over.”

  “We should text Selena and your boss to let them know we found you,” Ty said. “When you weren’t waiting for me, I went to your office. We called the cops but they said it’s not a missing person case until forty-eight hours have passed. There was no way we could wait that long.”

  I handed him my phone and he sent messages to the two people who were waiting to hear. Selena was elated, but Mr. Monty was probably fast asleep. I realized it was four in the morning.

  I yawned and said, “We should go, I need to take some photos of the area but I need sleep…and a hot bath.”

  Charlie lifted me to my feet and helped me take pictures of the room I’d been in. I wanted to document what was left in there from other victims.

  After I’d gotten what I needed, they helped me into the front passenger seat of the truck and began to get inside when bright lights flashed across us and Maynard’s Range Rover sped across the parking lot towards us.

  “Who’s that?” Charlie yelled and the four of them got back out and stood defensively around me.

  “Get in, let’s go,” I called to them, but they didn’t listen.

  “Is this the prick who kidnapped you?” Clive snarled.

  “Yeah, I think so,” I replied, desperation and fear mounting as it screeched to a halt behind us.

  “We need to get out of here!” I screamed. “They have guns!”

  As if on cue, Maynard and four men stepped out, each one carrying a large weapon.

  “Well so do we,” Ty growled and each one of them reached into the truck and grabbed a firearm.

  I curled up and dropped to the floor of the truck as bullets began to sail around us and glass exploded all over the back seat.