“I don’t understand who could have done something like this,” he said to no one in particular.
“This is my fault,” Greg said from the couch. “I should have told her to turn around and go back inside to wait for me.”
“Hey. In no way is this your fault. Nadia was already out the door when she called you. There was nothing you could have done differently,” Steve said as he sat next to Greg.
Jackson tuned out Steve trying to console Greg. He knew nothing Steve could say would convince Greg that he wasn’t to blame. Jackson had a feeling that only the safe return of Nadia and Addison was going to do that for him.
As he continued to pace, Jackson tried his best to think of who would want to take the girls. He thought of Nadia’s parents but quickly ruled them out. They didn’t seem the type to go through that much trouble. Plus they had disowned Nadia. There was a possibility it could have been someone that knew Nadia came from money and wanted ransom. The police weren’t ruling that out, but there had been no ransom demand made yet.
“What if we’re looking in the wrong direction?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.
Jackson didn’t answer at first as he tried to gather his thoughts. “We are all focusing on Nadia because of her background, but what if she wasn’t the target?”
“That would mean they were after Addison. Why would anyone want to take her? No one knew about her but us and the hospital,” Greg said.
Jackson ran to his room without answering to grab Sarah’s letter. He hadn’t let the guys read it yet, but now they needed to see it. His gut was screaming he was on the right track. He pulled the letter out of his top drawer and went back into the living room. Handing it to Steve, he waited as Greg looked over Steve’s shoulder and they both read.
“Don’t you see?” Jackson said when they finished reading. “Sarah says Addison’s father was bad news. She even had to hide her pregnancy from the man. What if he somehow found out about Addison and decided he wanted her?”
“That would mean that Nadia got caught in the crossfire,” Greg said. “I could hear her fighting through the phone. She didn’t go down easy, so maybe the guy had no choice but to take her also.”
“Either that or she saw the guy’s face and he didn’t want to leave witnesses.” Steve jumped up and headed over to his computer. “Even though Sarah never says who Addison’s father is, I should be able to do some searching and find out who he is. If he is as bad as your sister says, then he more than likely has a police record or something linking him to Sarah.”
Jackson left Steve to do his computer search and began pacing again. They were on the right track. He could feel it. The question was what they were going to do with the information they found. If he had a vote, it would be to hunt down whoever had dared to lay a hand on his girls and make them pay. He had a feeling Greg and Steve felt the same way.
* * * *
The smell was the first thing Nadia noticed when she regained consciousness. The dull throbbing pain in her head was the second. The smell won over the pain for her attention though. The dust was so thick it was almost suffocating. She lay there trying to figure out where the smell was coming from until suddenly everything came back to her.
“Addison,” Nadia said, gasping as she tried to sit up but couldn’t. She hadn’t even noticed her arms were tied over her head to what looked like some kind of pipe sticking out of the floor.
Turning as best she could while trying not to panic, Nadia looked around the room. She was lying on the bare floor in what looked like an old office. There were random papers scattered on the floor, an overturned chair, and an old desk that had been pushed into a corner. Nadia thought her heart was going to stop beating until she spotted Addison’s car seat sitting on the desk. From her angle on the floor, she couldn’t see inside the carrier, but she could see one of Addy’s little feet sticking out. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the foot move slightly. Addison was okay at the moment and probably sleeping since she was so quiet.
“I see you are finally awake,” a voice from the other side of the room said.
Nadia let out a scream but quickly cut it off so she didn’t wake the baby. She turned her head to the voice and saw an old leather couch on the other side of the room. She could see a man sitting on the couch with his ankle propped on the knee of his other leg. He was in the shadows so Nadia was unable to see his face.
“Who are you? What do you want with me?” she asked, almost afraid to hear his answer.
The man laughed. “I’m Robert, and what makes you think it’s you I want?” He leaned forward.
“You’re the man from the park,” Nadia said, surprised when she saw the red hair. She had forgotten all about the man, but it seemed her instincts had been right about him. When she’d seen him that day, she had known instantly there was something not right about him.
“Yes. I figured you saw me that day. I’d hoped you hadn’t figured out who I was before it was time and ruined my plans. It seems I had nothing to worry about. It was too easy to track you and wait for the right moment.” He lit a cigarette.
Nadia wanted to snap at the man for smoking around the baby but held her tongue. She didn’t want to make the man angry by ordering him around. She just had to hope that, since Addison was on the other side of the room, she was far enough away from the smoke. Nadia needed to think. She knew the guys had no idea where she was. That meant the police didn’t know either. She had been on the phone with Greg when she’d been taken, so that meant he knew she was missing. That was a blessing at least. He could get the police looking for her right away. She just needed to stall whatever the man had planned for her and give herself more time until her men found her. She had no doubts they would come for her.
“The right moment for what?” she asked. Her goal was to distract the man by keeping him talking.
“Huh?”
“You said you just had to wait for the right moment. The right moment for what?”
“Oh, that. Well I had to wait for the right moment to take my daughter of course.”
Deep down Nadia knew Addison was truly his daughter. They had the exact same shade of red hair. From the slight glimpse of the man’s face, Nadia even had to admit Addison had a few of his features, just softer and more feminine. Nothing made any sense. Why would he need to kidnap his own daughter? Things weren’t adding up.
“I don’t understand. If you knew she was yours, why not go to the courts? Once you proved paternity, she would be yours by rights. Why kidnap her and risk going to jail when she is legally yours anyway?” The man laughed again, which frustrated her even more. The pain in her head was building, and he was really starting to get on her nerves.
“I didn’t even know about the brat until I went looking for that stupid bitch,” he spat.
She assumed that the bitch he was referring to was Sarah. Nadia felt her anger swelling. She had never met the woman, but she was Jackson’s sister and Addison’s mother. She didn’t deserve to be disrespected by this loser.
“I didn’t even know she was pregnant. I had to find out after the bitch ran from me. Too bad she had to go and die because I would have really liked to teach her a lesson about running. It’s because of her that I’m in this situation now.” He began to pace. “All I needed was her paycheck to pay off a little debt, but no, she had to go and disappear.”
Nadia tried to process what the man was telling her, but she was confused. From what he’d told her, she was able to figure out why Sarah would have left this loser, but what she couldn’t figure out was where she and Addy came into his plans.
“Why did you kidnap us?” she asked, trying to get him to hurry up and get to the point.
“Well, like I said, I need to pay off a small debt. Since I don’t have the bitch to help me, I figure her daughter is the next best thing because without her I’m dead. I have a buyer coming in about an hour for her. I get the money I need, and a nice family gets the child
that they always wanted.” The man beamed like he had just come up with the greatest plan in the world. “It’s a win-win for everyone. Well, except for you. You unfortunately had to be a hero and fight back. I would have never taken you if you hadn’t seen my face. Don’t worry. After my little sale, you and I are going to have some fun before I decide what to do with you.”
“I will kill you before I ever let you touch me,” Nadia said with as much venom in her voice as she could muster.
“Ohh feisty.” Robert adjusted his crotch. “I like that. I’m hoping your claws come out again. It wouldn’t be fun without them.”
She felt bile rise in her throat at the look the man was giving her. There was no way she was letting him touch her. If Robert wanted claws, she would show him when she tried her best to claw his balls from his body.
“You know what your problem is? You are a selfish pig.” Nadia knew her mouth was going to get her into trouble, but she couldn’t help herself. Listening to this idiot tell his whole sob story about the world being against him was causing her head to hurt worse.
“You sit here and blame all of your problems on everyone else when you have no one to blame but yourself. How dare you blame your gambling debts on Sarah’s death? The woman died from giving birth to your child for crying out loud, and the only thing you are concerned about is she wasn’t home to give you her paycheck. You are truly one pathetic man.” The stinging slap across her face let Nadia know she had gone too far with that last statement.
Her ears were ringing, and her head instantly went from throbbing to what felt like someone pounding on it with a hammer. To make matters worse, her outburst must have caused Addison to wake up because she began screaming at the top of her lungs. It was as if the baby sensed things were not right and she was making her displeasure with the situation known.
“Shut up!” the man shouted at the baby while shaking the carrier.
“Don’t you dare touch her!” Nadia screamed, and began struggling with the ropes. She could feel them cutting into her wrists, but she ignored the stinging pain. She had to get to the baby because she was scared of what the man would do.
“Don’t touch her. She’s just scared. If you just untie me, I promise I can make her stop crying.”
Either the man believed her or the crying got to him because, after a few seconds of staring at her, it seemed he came to a decision and walked over to untie her. Nadia lay as still as she could and waited for him to finish. The man was too close, and she couldn’t hold back the shudder of disgust when she felt his hot breath on her neck. As soon as she was free, she jumped up and rushed over to Addison. She was grateful when the baby immediately calmed once Nadia had her in her arms.
Now that she was free, she needed a plan. She had no clue if the man would try to tie her up again, but there was no way she could let that happen. Who knew if she would get another chance before his so-called buyers got there? Plus her head was hurting. She had a feeling the man had given her a concussion when he took them from the mall parking lot. Add that to the stinging slap she had received earlier and it was no wonder she was seeing spots. No, she needed to make her escape while she still had the chance.
Nadia was glad to see Addison’s diaper bag sitting next to the car seat and took her time changing and feeding the baby to give herself time to think. She noticed that Robert became more and more agitated as time went on. He continued to pace and mutter to himself. He didn’t seem to be paying her any attention. That was perfect. She took extra special care swaddling Addison in her blanket, making sure it was tight and then sat her in her car seat. She didn’t bother strapping her in because she had no intentions of running with the bulky thing. It would be easier if she just carried the baby in her arms. Nadia knew there was no way her kidnapper was going to let her walk out of there without a fight, so she scanned the room looking for anything she could use as a weapon. She spotted the broken leg of an overturned desk chair. The metal leg that had somehow come loose still had the small wheel on the end. It wasn’t practical, but Nadia knew it was her only choice. The question was how did she get to it without her kidnapper knowing?
Addison gave her an answer when she started whimpering again. It was as though she knew they were in danger and she didn’t want to be away from Nadia for one second. That was perfect because she could use the baby as an excuse to get close to the chair leg. Now that she had a plan, there was no reason to wait any longer to carry it out. Picking up the baby, Nadia laid her against her shoulder and began making bouncing motions as she slowly made her way around the room. She made shushing noises and rubbed the baby’s back in order to calm not only the baby but herself.
So far, so good. Her plan seemed to be working. As she inched closer to the chair leg, she glanced at her kidnapper. He was still pacing, not paying her any attention. For all he knew she was walking to calm the baby. That is exactly what she wanted. When she was next to the leg, she stood still and waited. She needed her timing to be perfect so he didn’t see her pick it up. After a few passes, he finally turned his back to her, and she bent down as quickly as possible and scooped up the chair leg. She tucked it alongside the baby and turned to slowly make her way back over to the baby’s car seat. There was no way she could do what she was about to do with the baby in her arms, so she needed to lay her down.
Nadia had to force herself not to draw attention by running back. She was scared to death that he’d seen her pick up the chair leg and was right behind her. She held her breath the whole way and forced herself to walk slowly, still keeping up the act she was walking to calm the baby. Once again she laid the baby in her seat, keeping her back to Robert so he couldn’t see the large piece of metal she had picked up.
You can do this. You can do this. All you have to do is hit him hard enough to knock him out. Then take the baby and run.
The mental pep talk seemed to boost her confidence, and Nadia grabbed the broken end of the chair leg. Her palms were sweaty, so she gripped the metal until her knuckles turned white. There was no way she was letting it go until her kidnapper was down. She could still hear him pacing and mumbling behind her and closed her eyes so she could focus. When she heard the sound of his footsteps get closer, she turned with a loud scream and began swinging.
The scream may not have been the best thing to do because it seemed to alert the man that something was wrong. Robert was able to get his arm up in time to stop her from connecting with his head. Instead the leg hit his arm, and Nadia heard a sickening crack before she heard him yell out. She then winced when her kidnapper lunged at her and tackled her to the ground. Nadia’s head hit the concrete floor with a thud, and she saw stars as the pain traveled from her head down into her back. She lost her grip on the chair leg, and it skittered a couple of feet away from her. He was immediately on top of her with one hand around her throat.
“You stupid bitch. I’m going to kill you for that.” He began squeezing. “I planned to have fun with you later, but you aren’t worth it. I don’t need you, just the baby.”
Nadia clawed at the hand around her throat, but his grip just tightened. She tried to bring her legs up to kick him, but with the way he was sitting on her chest, there was no way. Her head felt like it was about to explode from the lack of oxygen, and her vision began to darken around the edges. She knew that she was about to die, but all she could think about was that she’d never gotten the chance to tell the guys that she had fallen in love with the three of them. As her vision darkened even further, Nadia heard the baby cry out. Addison. If she died, Addison would be all alone with this crazy man who planned on selling her. Who knew where she would end up? There was no way Nadia could let that happen. She had to live for the baby’s sake.
Out of the corner of her eye, Nadia could see the metal chair leg. She tried to reach for it, but she was too far away. There has to be a way. She had probably about twenty seconds left before she passed out. She needed to do something now. Nadia noticed that one of Robert’s arms was hanging
limply by his side, and she grabbed it and squeezed as hard as she could. The man screamed and let go of her neck to snatch his arm away from her grip.
The first breath of air she was able to gulp down felt ragged against her raw throat and sent Nadia into a coughing fit. The blow to her jaw was a shock because she hadn’t seen it coming. Her kidnapper had her attention now, and she was able to see the next one coming and turn away. The hit landed on her temple, and pain radiated all the way down the side of her face. As he raised his arm to hit her again, Nadia lunged for the chair leg and brought it up as hard as she could against the man’s head. There was a look of shock across the man’s face, but she didn’t give him time to react before she swung again. This time when she hit him his eyes glazed over and he slumped down on top of her.
Nadia lay there for a minute panting. Every breath of air felt like razor blades to her raw throat, and her head throbbed in time with her heartbeat. She could feel her jaw and her temple swelling, and her head began to swim. She knew she had to get moving and get herself and Addy to safety. The longer she lay there, the less likely it was that she was going to get up. It took her a few attempts to push him off her, and she groaned as she rolled over to her knees. There was no way she was going to be able to stand on her own, so she crawled over on her hands and knees to the desk the baby was on and used it to help her stand.
It took a minute for the room to stop spinning once Nadia was upright. She stood still a moment, fighting the urge to throw up everything in her stomach. Once she was steady on her feet, she lifted Addison out of her seat and grabbed the baby’s blanket. She tied the blanket around her with trembling hands and made a sling. It was a tight fit once she placed the baby inside against her chest, but Nadia didn’t care as long as the baby still had room to breathe. As tight as the sling was, there was no chance of the baby slipping out. That was good because the room began spinning again, and Nadia had a feeling she was going to need both hands free if she was going to get them out of there.
Midnight Call (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 13
