Not to mention, I wouldn’t be able to breathe, if he were dead. He was my brother, my cousin, one of my best-friends, and I didn’t want to live in a world without him. Steadying my breathing, I swallowed the lump of tears working its way up my throat. Crying wasn’t an option. Showing weakness never was.
The interior of the car was dark but lit well enough I could see the seats in front of me and the empty seats to either side of me. I’d been muscled into the bench seat and strapped in, my hands tied at waist level in a sloppy way that suggested my kidnappers been in a hurry.
If they had stolen us away from the craziness on Tiny’s property, there was no surprise that they’d been in a hurry to get out of there. I still wasn’t sure who was winning or who was losing from the brief glimpses we’d gotten of the clash.
I tamped down the sudden need to know if Gray had made it out okay. Had she made it where she needed to go? She couldn’t be captured again. That would destroy her. I wouldn’t allow that.
I didn’t care how strong she was, I had to do what I could to protect her. That’s all that mattered. Keeping her safe.
“She’ll do what we want. Tell the Master we will be there in an hour.” A woman spoke from the passenger seat, her voice delicate and commanding all at once.
She leaned across the center console between her and the driver, glancing behind her in my direction. The neon green lighting from the dashboard and from the lights glowing at my feet cast the majority of her face in shadows, but the pert end of her nose and the almond shape of her eyes reminded me of someone I couldn’t get out of my head.
“Oh, he’s awake. Hello. It’s nice to see you’re alive. For now.” Her laugh tinkled through the back of the SUV and I winced at how deceiving it was. She worked with them.
I cleared my throat, aware that my mouth and throat along with my eyes and nose were raw from the smoke inhalation and heat that accumulated under the crawlspace. I swallowed, lifting my hands to rub at my nose and eyes. “Are you Gray’s mother?” My voice didn’t sound like my own. For some reason the answer to that question seemed more important than where Brock was, what they wanted with me, and just what they were going to do.
She tilted her head and the shift in lighting gave her the sudden appearance of a much older Gray – the way she held her mouth and the slope of her forehead. “I am. Well, a part of me is. Most of me… Not anymore.” She smiled, her teeth shining in the dark, giving her a wolfish appearance.
What would make a mother not want anything to do with her child? I understood why Brock’s mom was out of the picture. She couldn’t control her addiction. He’d even accepted it a year or so ago after searching for a long time for answers.
“Where’s Brock?” I shifted on the seat, aware of the lines in the leather and the warm air blowing around me.
Wherever he was, he most likely wasn’t warm. I turned, pivoting in my seat to look behind me. Jerking back at the sight of Brock’s body lying behind me unmoving, I inhaled sharply through my nose. He was warm, but I couldn’t be sure he was alive.
He wasn’t moving. I couldn’t get passed that fact. I’d seen him shot, but for some reason, I couldn’t help thinking it had been a fluke. Brock couldn’t be dead. If he was dead though, would they have grabbed him?
I held onto that unlikelihood with a determined grasp. No matter what, at least he was still with me. That’s all that mattered in that moment.
I turned around slowly, narrowing my eyes as I took in her gaze still watching me. “Is he dead?”
“Not yet. But I won’t make any promises. Demetri, here, has some medical skills, but he’s not exactly a fan of Ivanovs’ sympathizers, if you know what I mean.” She winked and turned around, grinning as she glanced at the driver. “Isn’t that right, Demetri?”
With a thick guttural Russian accent, the driver replied, “You’ve seen my work, Maria. You tell me.”
She wagged her finger his direction and giggled. “It’s art, I’ll give you that.”
Maria. So, Gray’s mother’s name was Maria. I felt like I had to store every facet of information that I could gather.
While they faced forward, their eyes on the road, I took in what I could. We drove past houses framed by trees, as the distance between homes decreased. Houses soon traded for businesses and the neon lights of Main Street in Timbercreek had me blinking more often than normal. My muscles ached and my tongue felt scorched. I took a running inventory of my body to see what injuries were present that I wasn’t aware of.
Maria reached back, handing me a full bottle of water. “Here you go. Can’t say we didn’t take care of you, right?” She winked and turned back around. A soft floral perfume wafted toward me. She was taken care of.
I blinked, staring at the bottle in my hands. Gray had said she’d been poisoned with food and water. Was that what was going on?
I opened the lid, twisting the small piece of plastic with both hands while stabilizing the bottle between my knees. Water gushed over the lip from the pressure of my legs. I ignored it as it dumped around my feet.
Hurriedly, I wrapped my hands around the bottle to hide the already missing quarter of the contents and raised the bottle to my mouth. I pretended to drink, gulping at air as I covered the hole with the end of my thumb and tilted the bottle back.
Lowering the bottle, I pretended not to notice the way Demetri studied me. I wiped the back of my hand across my face. I leaned forward, holding the bottle and the lid in my hands. “Thanks.”
Maria turned again in her seat and shook her head with a smile. “No, honey, that’s yours. You might want to finish it. I’m not sure when you’ll get more again.” She preened under my gaze and batted her eyelashes as if she were making nice to me.
“Why are you being nice to him, Maria? You know what Dominick said.” Demetri was hard to understand but I got the gist of it as he glanced sharply at Maria and then back at the streetlamp lit road in front of the car.
“Oh, Demetri.” Maria reached across the center console. She unclipped her seatbelt and moved to her knees on the seat. “Do you need special treatment? Are you feeling jealous?”
Demetri nodded, his eyes taking on a sultry slant as Maria rubbed her fingers through his thick hair and then leaned across the console. Her thick hair fell across her face, screening her expression as she bent over Demetri’s lap.
I squinted out the window to my right, trying my best to ignore the sounds of her mouth on him. I wanted to throw up, watching what Maria had been reduced to. Her demeanor reminded me of Danielle’s, as if that’s all she was on the earth for – pleasing men.
I couldn’t figure out the appeal for women to be used by men. It didn’t make sense. Maybe that’s just the way my dad raised me, and yet, my cousins didn’t act the same way. A lot of the men in Jameson proper didn’t have that attitude. I recited the Pledge of Allegiance over and over in my mind to erase from memory what was happening in the front seat, mere feet from where I sat.
The smell of sex filled the cab and Demetri swerved the wheel to the side and then straightened out. “You’re too good at that, Maria.” He wiped his forehead with his forearm and grinned lecherously at Maria as she straightened up, rubbing her fingers around her lips like fixing her lipstick.
Silence filled the car, slowly replacing the shameful odor left behind by Maria’s actions and the way Demetri used her.
A slight buzzing pulled my attention from the window. I glanced forward, watching as Maria pulled her phone in front of her. She squealed softly, bouncing in her seat. Forcing herself to calm down, she took a deep breath and then swiped the screen before lifting the phone to her ear. “Yes, Master.” The deep sultry tones of her submission brought a wave of nausea over me.
She didn’t make any sounds again, waiting until whoever was on the other end to finish. “Yes, Master. Right away.” Then she hung up, turning to Demetri. “Dominick has the girl. We’re to head to the house.”
Looking over her shoulder, Maria winked at me
. “Let’s keep my special treat for Demetri a secret, okay? You don’t want to see Dominick upset.” Something flickered in her eyes and she looked forward, avoiding looking at Demetri even though he continuously glanced at her as if trying to grab her attention.
We hit a bump in the road and Demetri slowed down. Gravel ground under the tires, the sound louder inside the SUV as we traveled down a dirt road. We were outside of Timbercreek, heading south, and I had no recollection of ever being out that direction. Maybe Dominick was in deeper with the Russians than I’d previously known.
Anything was possible at that point.
How did Dominick have Gray? Had he stolen her? Hurt her? Gray hadn’t said for sure if she’d been raped. She wouldn’t go into the details, but she’d obviously been traumatized by whatever they’d done. Dominick specialized in dominance and with women – and some men – he chose sodomy and rape to establish dominance.
I snuck another glance behind me, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement from Brock. Feeble moonlight worked through the rear window, highlighting Brock’s hastily thrown in form. His eyes were closed and his mouth slightly parted.
But was he breathing? From what I could see, he didn’t have an exit wound in the front of his chest which could very well mean he still had the bullet inside of him.
Anxiety ripped through me. I’d made him stay with me. I could have sent him ahead with Gunner to protect Gray.
Judging by what Maria had said, that would have been the better move since Dominick ended up with Gray anyway. What had happened to Gunner that Dominick had been able to leave with Gray? I clenched my jaw at the thought that I’d potentially lost both of my cousins in one night.
I’d failed. I’d made a bad call and now Gray, Gunner, Brock, and whoever else was involved would pay the consequences.
Nothing they did to me would equal the pain of the guilt I felt at dropping the ball. I couldn’t explain myself. There was no way I deserved forgiveness. There was no way, I could accept it, if it was offered.
I had to distract Maria and Demetri, keep them from getting to Gray any time soon. Dominick was the leader and he already had her, but I could stop as much as I could. Maybe if I threw up enough road blocks, Dominick would take his anger out on Maria and Demetri and not Gray – at least not initially.
Studying the doors, I bit my inner cheek at the sight of the locks in the upright position. The doors weren’t locked. They’d cashed on the fact that most people wouldn’t try to leap from a car while it was moving.
I wasn’t normal people. If I could slow them down, then I could partially protect Gray. Maybe.
I took a deep breath, moving my feet slightly to gauge just how bound I was. They’d neglected my feet in their haste to get away from the scene. That would be their mistake. If the backseats were unlocked, then the back hatch would be as well.
At least I hoped it would be. There was no way I was going to leave Brock there. I outweighed him by a solid twenty pounds. I could hump him out of the car. I just had to hope I didn’t break anything as I landed outside the rig.
Demetri slowed further as we approached a bridge with a sign that read “Wolf Den Creek”.
If I was going to do anything, I had to do it in the next thirty seconds.
Taking a deep breath, then blowing it out, then inhaling deep again, I clicked the seatbelt at my waist, careful to keep it soft and silent. I let the seatbelt slide softly to its original position.
The sounds of the car traveling on the dirt road covered the sound of my foot as it slid in front of me. I braced myself on both hands on the cushion, placing my palms between my knees. I would have to do everything with my hands loosely tied, but tied nonetheless.
Before Maria and Demetri knew what I was doing, I spun and leapt over the backseats, grabbing Brock’s shirt above his shoulders with the collar clenched in my fingers. Pulling him toward the backdoor, I pushed against the panel with my shoulder while scrambling for the handle. I had to temporarily let go of Brock’s shirt to do that, letting him lean on my lower calf as I held my breath. What if I didn’t get the door open?
Before Demetri could lock the doors with the automatic lock, I had the hatch opening and swinging outward. Red light from the brakes reflected on the mud and rocks as it rushed beneath the SUV. I reached to the side and twisted my fingers in Brock’s shirt again. “Come on, Brock.” My mutter was more for myself than him. I was going to have to jump and I didn’t have time to get myself amped up for it.
One glance tossed back over the seats seared an image of Maria staring after me with fear in her eyes and something like approval I didn’t understand.
Twisting my hands tighter in Brock’s collar, I jumped from the SUV which had slowed to no more than ten miles an hour. My ankle twisted as I landed and I took the brunt of the fall on my knees. Brock landed on my back and I grunted, breathing out as I tensed my core to absorb the impact.
I couldn’t take a minute to settle into the situation. Maneuvering Brock’s body onto my shoulder, I hoped he was alive enough that he could take the hits of my shoulder in his abdomen instead of getting the wind knocked out of him. I refused to focus on the pain in my legs.
The bridge was even more rudimentary than I’d first imagined. Railroad ties created the width of the bridge with no railings separating the road from the air around it.
I carried Brock to the edge, looking down into water rushing fast toward dark trees I couldn’t quite make out. One more peek past Brock’s back toward the SUV made my decision for me. The brake lights glowed red as they stopped.
All of my choices were gone.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and stepped off the edge of the bridge – into cool night air.
Chapter 5
Gray
Gunner’s grandmother’s home wasn’t quaint or modest or even warm. The sheer size of it seemed to come out of nowhere as we turned down the driveway almost a quarter-mile from the road.
Columns supported the upper level which hung over the wraparound porch and railings. White vinyl siding set off dark green shutters and trim even in the dark of the evening.
Time had lost meaning while I waited to find out the fate of my friends. Two weeks wasn’t something I could track with a watch or a phone and I couldn’t train the time away. Not to say I wasn’t going to try. If I could, I would sweat so much the next two weeks and I would sink into bed exhausted late into the night. Would Dominick follow through with his side of the deal?
“Let’s park around the side. I don’t want to give Dominick any reason to think we’re home.” Gunner pulled Sara’s car into the back, parking the vehicle on the large blacktop which connected the house to the shop set up out back.
Motion lights clicked on as we passed and I jumped in the passenger side seat.
Nervously, I laughed and crossed my arms, digging my fingers into the flesh of my biceps. “It’s so stupid that I’m so jumpy.” I’d most likely never be normal again and that left me feeling discouraged that I had anything to offer anyone.
“Come on. You just need some sleep.” Gunner turned the car off and then faced me, gentleness in his expression as he studied me in the partial lighting. “Gray, this isn’t your fault. Sara will be fine. You’re going to check in with her every day, remember? It’s going to be fine. Let’s get inside and get ready for Stryker and Brock to get here. They’re going to be hungry.” Gunner’s nurturing side was showing and it didn’t seem like the appropriate time to tease him about it. Not to mention, I needed him to continue to reassure me. He had faith they’d show up.
I couldn’t help worrying that they wouldn’t.
We all needed to do what comforted us. He liked to take care of everyone and that was fine. I wasn’t going to comment, not even to tell him how endearing it was that he worried about his cousins and their hunger.
I followed him from the car, clicking the door shut behind me. The open clearing of the driveway and the lawn left me feeling exposed and I sped up my s
tride to close the distance between Gunner and myself.
He glanced at me as we climbed the wide steps to the porch. Leaning forward, he opened the wooden framed screen door and pushed the heavier backdoor inside. Shrugging, he grinned at me. “We leave the doors open. Don’t worry. No one is stupid enough to steal anything.” His soft assurances didn’t console me, but I nodded anyway.
He had no idea what anyone was stupid enough to try. Look at what had happened in Timbercreek, at The Pike no less. What about things they’d believed about their dads’ friend, Tiny? He’d turned out to be a traitor which had resulted in Brock and Stryker being stolen.
No. I couldn’t trust that their open-door policy was a good one or even that anyone would honor it. The house might have been out in the middle of nowhere, but that didn’t justify leaving the door unlocked in any instance.
There wasn’t much I could do to warn Gunner though. I would have to keep it in mind as I stayed there for who knew how long.
Gunner flipped on lights as we went inside. I lingered by the backdoor, pretending to put a lot of effort into pulling off my shoes. When I stood, I flipped the deadbolt lock into place, breathing a little bit easier as it slid into place with the softest scrape of metal on metal.
“If you want something to eat, help yourself. I’m going to run upstairs to change. Let me know when you see Brock and Stryker. I’d like to see them myself.” He jerked his head up and down as he turned, facing out of the rear foyer, but he didn’t leave.
He probably wanted to see them to make sure they were alright. He’d abandoned them to keep me safe. I had no doubt the last few hours had been rough and full of questions and doubts. I knew it was for me. I couldn’t imagine how Gunner felt.
I nodded as he seemed to be waiting for some kind of an acknowledgement. After a second of inspecting me, he turned and disappeared up the stairs.
Her Champions: A high school bully romance (Bad Boys of Jameson High Book 3) Page 4
