The Law of Motion (Law Series)

by Di'Nisha Robinson

  It was Myles that moved first, slamming his hands against the bars of my cell. "David's dead, bitch."

  "Oh?" I huffed in false surprise around another bite. "Sorry about that. Was it suicide? I couldn’t imagine someone like him had much to live for."

  Kris had to rub his face in order to hide his smile.

  "No, it wasn't fucking suicide," Terry sneered from behind a still panting Myles. "They found his car wrapped around a tree!"

  "Drunk driving." I concluded, shooting a glance over to Kris, who snorted softly, as he watched everything with rapt attention. Both Myles and Terry shook their heads. "I take it the boys weren't in this car," I stated, not even bothering to give them my full attention.

  "No, he was alone," Terry answered. "Tell me how you did it."

  "You let them get away," I accused, pointing at them with a potato chip in my hands. "Hell, they may still be wandering in the woods."

  "Oh no," Terry chuckled, pointing a finger at me. "I'm not fucking stupid... I know for a fact that you wouldn't just set two toddlers loose in the woods. No fucking way. You were meeting someone."

  "How could I meet anyone, Terry?" I sighed, rolling my eyes up at him. "No one knew where you took me. No one followed us. You said so yourself."

  "Who were those people at the station, Alyssa?" he yelled.

  "Friends...family...police..." I took another bite, looking up at them all, but my gaze fell to a very frustrated Terry. "Have you asked for the money yet? I'm curious as to what they say."

  "Funny you should ask," he said, pulling out a cell phone. "I was just about to make the call. Wanna listen in?"

  "Sure," I sputtered around the last bite of my sandwich. "Tell them ‘hello’."

  My nonchalance was killing Myles. In fact, Terry stopped him from opening my cell door. This was something that was safer for him than for me, because I wasn’t handcuffed anymore.

  "What's the matter, Myles? You miss being behind bars that bad? Mourning the loss of your cellmate?" I sneered as he called me every name in the book.

  They all froze like deer in headlights just staring at me. Kris bit the inside of his cheek as he leaned against the wall behind Myles and Terry, who were gaping like fish out of water.

  "You know, you can blame yourselves for David’s death technically. If you had checked your facts you would have saved yourself so much trouble," I sighed, scooting up on my cot so that I could lean against the wall, crossing one leg over the other. "Taking my Juan was a huge mistake. Huge. I'm a P.I. there isn’t much that me or my team miss."

  "She's lying," Myles yelled, turning to Terry. "There's more to it than that. David didn't run into a tree by accident... I'm telling you, guys!"

  "Shut up!" Terry snapped at him. "I'm calling now."

  I wasn't sure who he was calling, Paul or Adrian, but I did hope it was Adrian, because he would know to play along. Juan would have gotten my note to him, I was certain. Terry put the phone on speaker, and we all held our breath as it rang.

  “Gravity,” A tiny mousy like voice piped a greeting. It wasn’t her normal cheerful one, so something told me that Tink knew exactly who was calling.

  Terry huffed impatiently, “Put on Adrian Harris.”

  I could hear Tink in the background, just as impatient.

  "Harris," Adrian snapped on the phone, and I couldn't help but smile, because he sounded beautiful and frustrated, tired and angrya combination that was the epitome of sexy when it came to him. All coming through the phone with one word said, I totally swooned over my own boyfriend.

  "Hey, baby!" I called out, wearing a smile ten miles wide, because it pissed Terry off something fierce.

  "Shut her up," he demanded, and Myles dove into action, opening my cell and yanking me up to press a dirty hand to my mouth.

  "Alyssa?" Adrian called, a hint of relief and joy in his voice.

  I took my elbow and shoved it into Myles’s side, before cracking his index finger back making a delightful crunch. I called over his scream of pain as he kneeled in front of me my hand shifting to an unbroken finger. “Hi honey! How’s your day going?”

  The cage that separated the cells from the exit was still closed, but one of them had to come in to get this asshole out, and I could barely hear my guy over the sound of Terry ordering Kris to do just that.

  “No way man, so she can break my fingers too.” Kris protested.

  Terry gestured to my gun that was in his waistband. “Shoot her if you have to.”

  “Yeah, killing her will get the money.” Kris snapped back sarcastically.

  That threat worried Adrian. “Honey, are you alright?”

  “I’m fine, just teaching Myles how to keep his hands to himself.” I grunted snapping another finger back making him scream.

  Terry didn’t care. “Maim her idiot, or I’ll take care of her, and then you.” That did it. Kris pulled my own gun on me as he unlocked the cage. The safety was still on, but I don’t think anyone else noticed. His eyes begged me to cooperate, as he entered the cell door. I jerked my hands up in a frustrated surrender as he pulled Myles up by his arm trying not to smile. “Come on man.”

  “Stop attacking your captors, Honeyface.” Adrian cautioned amused yet worried for my safety.

  "Well, now you have proof of life, asshole," he said over the phone. "She fucked up, Harris," he told him. "She was supposed to come alone, not to mention she just fucked up Myles’s hand."

  "And you were supposed to bring those boys," Adrian countered as Kris locked my cell back and then the cage behind him, "…but you didn't." He said the last three words in a singing sigh, and at that point, I knew he'd gotten my note. He was totally playing these guys.

  "I assume you've got them now," Terry growled, rolling his eyes.

  "Oh, I do," my boyfriend said, "and I have a message for Myles."

  "What's that, motherfucker?" Myles yelled, like his voice wouldn't carry, trying to fix his fingers.

  "I will personally see to it that you die," Adrian stated, his voice menacing, and I knew he meant every word.

  "Who the fuck are you?" Terry demanded, shaking his head looking at me.

  "People you should have never fucked with," he replied. "Now, give me your demands for the return of Alyssa, and I'll think it over."

  Good boy! I mentally fist punched the air, because that was exactly what I'd wanted him to do. Terry thought he was in control, thought he was surrounded by protection; but he didn't know protection and he damn well didn't know control.

  "Thirty million," Terry demanded, looking a little nervous, but he maintained his composure. "Thirty million, and you'll get her back."

  It’s a good thing that we weren’t planning on paying this asshole. Because that was definitely the ransom of an heiress, and I wasn’t an heiress by far, financially or otherwise. Adrian sniffed over the phone, like he was thinking about it. "We'll see...but know this... If one hair is out of place on her head, if there is one bruise on her, if she has a fucking paper cut, I will see to it that you suffer. It will be long, slow, and very, very fucking painful. I shit you not."

  I bit my lip to keep from laughing, because I was sure I already had a bruise, and Terry's wide eyed glance at my face showed it.

  "Call me back in twenty-four hours with the time and place, and you'll have your answer," Adrian ordered over the speaker. "And one day, Alyssa...I'll do it again. I did it when we met, and I'll do it again. Warn them if you want, Honeyface. It won't fucking matter." With that said, he ended the call.

  Myles got up from the guard table and I sat down on my cot as they all looked in on me.

  "What the fuck did that mean?" Terry asked me, and I looked up at him.

  I knew exactly what that meant. Adrian had just told me that he was coming for me, that he would be have me, again. He was coming in one day, and I was pretty sure he would be bringing all the demons of hell with him. But on top of all that, he just gave me permission to tell Terry about what was about to happen.

&
nbsp; I shrugged, sitting back against the wall again. "A bit cryptic for me," I lied smoothly, because I didn't want to tell him just yet. “But I will tell you one thing, you boys were beyond misinformed. “Juan Carlos, isn’t my son. He’s my godson. Adrian, though amazing as he is, isn’t my husband, he’s my boyfriend. Paul Neil, I hate him as much as you guys do. To be honest you would have been better off taking him, because you would have gotten your money without the headache.”

  “So there won’t be any money?” Myles snapped looking Terry, still cradling his hand.

  I shrugged tilting my head, deciding to be a bit more honest. “Oh no, just because I don’t want my sperm donors wealth doesn’t mean that I didn’t make my own, just like my family. I’m more than certain between the nine of us, they could acquire what you asked for.”

  Terry eyed me for a moment, but I didn't break eye contact with him. He turned to Kris “I’m going to check with the boss, make sure she isn’t bluffing.”

  Kris looked a little worried, but went on. “We should at least give her back her shoes.”

  “Fine, do it.” He ordered before leaving back up the stairs.

  Kris nodded, but waited until Myles, Terry, and the other guard were far enough away before he spoke. "I'll get you your boots, but give me a few. They're at the main house. You should try to calm down, if their boss comes to the mountain I can’t protect you. "

  "Okay," I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. “Who is your boss?”

  He shrugged going to the other cells and pulling up the other blankets before opening my cell to give them to me. “Only Zoe, Myles, and Terry have ever met him. No one really asks questions.” I could tell that he was telling the truth as he handed me the blankets and picked up the bag that held the trash from my food. He relocked the cell door, but didn’t exit the cage, instead taking a seat on the floor in front of it.

  “Ah, the posture of a man with guilt.” I sighed looking over at him, sitting up on my cot, and leaning my head against the wall again. “Speak your mind.”

  His voice was low and penitent. “I’m sorry for pulling a gun on you.”

  I laughed at that. “The safety was on. Besides, I could have taken it from you by now if I wanted. The only reason I haven’t is because it’s easier to wait for my friends to come get me rather than fight my way out of here. But if Myles comes in here again, I don’t think that I’ll be able to keep much self-control.”

  Kris raised an eyebrow at me, his young hazel eyes were curious, but then they calmed and he nodded. “I’ll keep him out.”

  I shrugged, “Only delaying the inevitable I suppose, Adrian said that he’s going to kill him, and he will. Everyone involved with taking Juan has been marked. Taking me only made it worse.” I could hear him swallowing thickly, nervous of where that left him. “Don’t worry, you’ll live. But you better leave when I tell you, or even I can’t promise your safety. My friends are only going to see one thing in this.”

  "Who are your friends?" He asked, tilting his head at me. Nervous as shit even though I told him there was no need for him to be.

  I smiled, not opening my eyes yet. I took a deep breath, letting myself relax, if only for a few seconds. "You wouldn’t believe me if I told you."

  

  I couldn't fucking sleep. When I did nod off, my dreams were now horrific. I was just fucking glad daylight had finally dawned.

  We can do this for as long as it takes you to talk… No one is coming to find you….

  I squeezed my eyes closed at the memory of Garcia's voice, letting out a long, slow, calming breath and glancing over at the two guards leaning on the table outside of my cage, deep in slumber. Kris called them Lionel and Tobias, it didn’t matter who they were to me. In my head they were all walking around here with name tags that said, ‘Hello my name is… DEAD.’ Maybe it was being underground, maybe it was the waiting, or maybe it was just being away from home, but the dreams were back, and I couldn’t afford for them to be. Nightmares came from fear, and fear made me vulnerable.

  I debated and debated telling Terry what he had coming for him. I wasn't kidding when I'd told him that he had absolutely no idea what he'd done. He had no clue as to what he'd set in motion, because Bravo’s identities never really existed, nor did Liam’s old crew. My girl’s pasts were therebut they were a fairy tale compared to what they were capable of now. Not to mention my own unknown player, Hunter.

  They had pissed off the one group of people that could literally level this place in the blink of an eye, barely breaking a sweat. I'd decided to wait, or maybe not tell Terry at all, because he could panic and take me elsewhere. Where I was sitting was the best place, because I knew at that moment, there was an angry group of men and women studying this place up one side and down the other. I had to put my faith in them.

  Kris had eventually brought me my shoes, tossing them and my socks through the bars of my cage. Once I had them on and he'd left me, I'd activated the GPS chip. I'd thought about the tools on me, about using them to escape, but I wasn't stupid. I'd seen what I would face trying to just get outside the this place, much less down the fucking mountain. Footsteps constantly walked by the top of the stairs, there was someone at just about every point on the grounds, and the fences were not just topped with razor wire... It went from top to bottom. I didn't have tools to cut that shit, and there would be nowhere to hide if I did get out of my cell.

  Plus I wanted to personally end this Zoe bitch for hitting me. The main cell door creaked open, and I glanced up, rolling my eyes. "Speak of the devil," I muttered to myself as she strolled in alone. "You should be on a leash," I told her. "Terry and Myles should chain you to a tree to make sure you stay out of trouble or don't wander where you shouldn't."

  "Bitch," she snapped, shaking her head. Her accent making the word three syllables. "If we didn't need that money, I'd have kicked your ass already."

  "You could try," I chuckled, shaking my head and sitting up on my cot. "I doubt very much that you'd succeed."

  "Tobias," she sang, keeping her eyes on me. "Tell her I'm not a bad person."

  I didn't even know the guys woken up, but his eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.

  "We’ve been on cage duty without relief," he snorted, looking at her like she was insane. "What's nice about that?"

  "It's her fault that you're here," Zoe pouted dramatically, pointing in my direction. "She's the one that didn’t bring the money. If her daddy didn’t shut down C&K you’d all be somewhere else."

  I couldn't fight my snort if I tried. "Is that the game you're playing, Zoe? You want to set them against me? Well, fine," I snapped, standing up and grasping two bars facing them. "Yeah...it was all my fucking fault. Paul Neil abandoned my mom and I before she was born. I didn’t hear from him until I was nineteenan unwelcome contact, if I may addI’ve been telling him to leave me alone ever since. Not wanting his money, his love or anything else. But every year or so he seems to show up and try again this time trying to give me a company I don’t want to buy my love.”

  "She’s lying, who in the hell refuses a given fortune!" Zoe argued.

  "Someone that has worked to make their own." I sighed, rolling my eyes. I looked over at them, “Something that you idiots should be doing instead of trying to take mine.” I turned back to Zoe because they were indifferent. "Your little boss that’s hiding behind you isn’t going to back you forever, when it all falls, you don't have anyone. You're all alone."

  “I'm not alone," she said through gritted teeth opening the cage and facing my cell. "I have Myles."

  I smirked, my brow wrinkling, because I saw that she was lying. Whether she didn't actually need Myles, or she didn't believe her own words, I wasn't sure. But whatever it was, I knew she was all alone.

  “I'm pretty sure Myles is as invested in you as your usefulness," I chuckled. "All everyone else can see is dollar signs." She took the extra step I needed to grab the back of her head and jerk it forward against th
e bars.

  The gate at the top of the stairs flew open, and Terry, Myles, and Kris darted into the room, their eyes quickly assessing the situation with drawn weapons in their hands. Tobias and Lionel doing the same.

  “I hope you didn’t plan on modeling.” I laughed stepping back before she could grab me through the bars. I should have snapped her neck but its hard to dodge gunfire in such a closed space and I was sure that it would have pissed one of them off enough to shoot.

  "Christ, Zoe," Terry sighed exasperatedly. "You couldn't wait? I said you could have her once we had the money."

  "She was being mean!" she yelled as Myles helped her out of the cage to check the damage I had done. Her lip was busted on the top and bottom of the left side, and there was a red mark that showed the print from the cell bar.

  "Zoe, get the fuck out of here," Terry sighed, shaking his head as she stomped up the stairs. He was looking at her like she was a mess.

  I rounded on Terry. "Have her once you had the money?" I repeated to him, my mouth hanging open. "You double cross us this time, and you won't live to see another day," I swore, gripping the bars in front of me.

  "You guys keep saying that," Terry chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I just don't see that happening."

  I grinned up at him. "You obviously found out who I am, so go look up Gravity’s new additions, my boyfriend, his father. Then come back and tell me what you found. Maybe I can...fill in the blanks for you."

  Terry smirked and nodded his head. "Fine, Alyssa, I'll humor you," he stated, turning around to Myles. "Get Stan and Wes to relieve these assholes, they don’t seem to be doing their jobs anyway."

  "We didn’t tell her to go in there!" Lionel protested.

  “Looks like your share is getting cut anyway.” Myles snapped as they went upstairs.

  “Your fingers look like they might need a doctor.” I hinted, reminding him to keep his distance.

  "Well, that's tough shit, princess," Myles sneered, shrugging one shoulder, before sitting at the table. "There's a storm rolling in, and no one is going anywhere. The road won't allow it."