Fight for Me

by Jessica Linden

  She pushed on the window, but it wouldn’t budge. Even if she broke the glass, she’d have a hard time fitting through, and then there was the two-story drop to contend with. No, escaping out of the window wasn’t an option. She might be able to signal for help, though.

  She pulled her shoe off her foot and used the heel to hit the window. After three hard smacks, the heel broke off of the cheap shoe. Damn. She tossed it aside.

  She looked around the room for anything she might be able to use. Perhaps she could break a leg off the cot. But then she wouldn’t be able to reach the window.

  Wait! There in the corner was the small bag she’d had with her. Its contents had been dumped out—no doubt they were looking for a cell phone or anything else she could use to call for help. She knelt next to it, sorting through the items. A compact, lipstick, a few pens, and the mini-recorder she’d planned to use to record her meeting with the board. She clutched that in her hand. It was made of hard plastic, so it might work.

  She shook her head in disgust at her own wishful thinking. All she’d do if she banged the cheap recorder against the window was break it. She stuffed it in her pocket.

  Now what?

  She crossed to the door and banged on it. “Hey! Is anyone out there?” She paused, waiting for a response. “I have to use the bathroom!”

  It wasn’t just a ruse—she really did have to go, and she figured it was a good excuse to tempt whoever was out there—if anyone—to open the door.

  How long were they going to keep her locked up, anyway?

  There was no response, so she banged and yelled again. Still nothing.

  Well, fuck. What was she supposed to do?

  She turned slowly, and leaned her slumped shoulders against the door. A big industrial bucket in the corner of the room caught her attention, and she grimaced as she realized what it was for.

  She squatted over the bucket to relieve herself, feeling totally and utterly degraded. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, there was fire in her veins and anger in her gut.

  Though X’s men had taken her, she knew her father had to be involved in this. And he was going to pay for this—for kidnapping her, for drugging Knox, for killing her mother.

  Natalie wouldn’t stop until she’d broken him.

  Chapter 24

  “Wait, where are you taking me?” Knox asked. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog away. Whatever they had drugged him with was wearing off.

  Tony glanced in the rearview mirror. “My place, so you can sleep this off. You look like shit.”

  “Fuck that,” Knox said.

  Tony sighed. “Where do you want to go?”

  “Give me a minute to think.”

  He had no fucking clue where they would have taken Natalie. He’d bet it was on the south side, though, where shady practices went either unnoticed or ignored.

  His thoughts wandered to the time he’d spent in X’s office, trying to find something incriminating. That venture had not proven to be as fruitful as he would have liked, but he did find one thing there: deeds to the many properties that X owned.

  And one of those was probably where they’d taken Natalie.

  “Take me to the gym.”

  Tony put on his blinker and cut through the traffic. Horns blared.

  Knox put his fingers to his temples. It felt like a sledgehammer was trying to pound its way through his skull.

  He would have been totally fucked if Tony hadn’t picked him up. Whatever they gave him did a number on his body, rendering him helpless for a short time. If Tony hadn’t come by and the pedestrians had called an ambulance for him, he’d be in police custody.

  And Natalie would be as good as dead.

  Fuck. They’d taken her right under his damn nose. A dangerous cocktail of fear, dread, and panic raced through his mind, and he forced himself to block it out. That would only cloud his judgment and make it harder for him to get her back.

  And he would get her back.

  They got caught at a red light two blocks away from the gym. Knox considered jumping out of the car and hoofing it, but the dizziness and nausea from the drug weren’t completely out of his system. He was better off saving his strength. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

  “Listen, Knox,” Tony said uneasily. “If you don’t mind, don’t say anything—

  “You’ve obviously been keeping a lot of secrets, but this secret”—Knox gestured to their luxurious ride—“is safe with me. Quite frankly, I don’t give two shits about what your name really is or that you obviously have money. All I care about is getting Natalie back.”

  Knox walked into the gym, not giving a fuck who saw him. X wasn’t going to be there, not when shit was going down somewhere else.

  He almost wished the one-eyed fucker would show, though. Knox wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet through his other eye.

  But X wasn’t his priority. Nothing mattered but Natalie.

  The few guys who were in the gym did a double-take when they saw Knox. They were all younger guys, ones he didn’t know well. Ones who were stupid enough to stick around after the discovery that X was skimming from the fighters.

  Murmurings of “What the hell?” and “Why is he here?” followed him into X’s office, but he simply slammed the door. He pulled open the drawer that contained the legal documents and pulled out all the ones that looked like they involved real estate.

  He started researching the addresses one by one, eliminating residential properties and ones that were in heavily populated areas.

  Something told him X wouldn’t want anyone around for whatever he had planned.

  Rage boiled in Knox’s blood, and he balled his hands into fists. He forced himself to relax. There would be a time and place for his rage, but this wasn’t it. He needed to stay calm and focused.

  But once Natalie was safe, blood would be shed.

  Knox typed another address into his phone, taking a closer look when Google Maps showed the property was in the warehouse district. He zoomed in on the map.

  He was vaguely familiar with the area. It was about five or six blocks away from the arena. With the economy in a downswing, most of the buildings surrounding the warehouse that housed the arena were vacant. This had to be where they’d taken her.

  He looked at the stack of papers he’d yet to wade through. Should he take the time to research every one? Every minute that passed was another minute Natalie was at X’s mercy.

  No. His gut told him this was the place.

  He double-checked the address just to be sure, then swept his arm across the desk to push all the documents into the trash can.

  He exited the office and strode back through the gym as the guys gaped at him. Right before he left, he turned to address the room. He widened his stance and balled his hands into fists.

  “If anyone tips X off that I’ve been here, I’ll put you in so much pain you’ll wish you were dead.”

  His gaze traveled around the room, and he looked each one of them in the eye until everybody had affirmed his statement with a nod. They wouldn’t cross him. Tony had once jokingly said that Knox was like a god to the younger guys. Seeing the looks of adoration on their faces after everything that had happened made him finally believe it.

  He turned to leave.

  “Wait,” one of them said, and Knox stopped, though he didn’t turn.

  “Are you coming back?”

  “No,” he said over his shoulder. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell out of here while you still can.”

  Then he left the gym for the last time.

  Natalie paced in the small room. She didn’t get very far—ten steps and she had to do an about-face. There had been no sign of anyone on the other side of the door. Was this part of their plan? Drive her stir-crazy by leaving her in this room? If so, it was starting to work.

  What did they want from her? That’s the part that was driving her insane. Obviously, it had something to do with her father clai
ming control of the family money. But how did they plan to accomplish that? Keep her locked away until she turned thirty and got the money, then kill her so her father would inherit it as her next of kin? It just didn’t make sense.

  Her father had to know about the terms of the new trust, or else he would have had her killed by now. Which brought her back to her original question: what did they want from her?

  Unless this wasn’t about the money. But what else could it be about?

  She ran her hands through her hair, frustration running through her until she wanted to kick the wall.

  She had been only an hour away from changing her future. An hour. That was all she needed with the board.

  She tapped her fist against her forehead. Being locked in this room had her thinking in circles. She had no idea how long she’d been here, either. There were no clocks, and she wasn’t wearing a watch.

  And God, she was thirsty. And hungry. Those were the least of her concerns, though.

  She’d avoided thinking about her biggest concern because it would drive her to insanity, and there was nothing she could do about it right now.

  Knox.

  Where was he? Was he okay? Did they circle back around for him?

  Was he going to come for her?

  She had mixed feelings about that. She didn’t want him in danger, but if he were here they could work through this mess together, just like they’d been working together since they’d met. She had no doubt they could figure it out.

  More importantly, though, she wanted to see that he was okay. He’d crumpled to the ground beside her and had to watch while they took her. That worried her most of all. He never would have let them take her if there had been any way he could have stopped it.

  What the hell had they given him?

  His pained expression as he’d fallen to his knees flashed in her mind.

  Worry swelled within her, causing her throat to tighten. She sucked in air, trying to breathe.

  She couldn’t do this. It wouldn’t do any of them any good for her to make herself paralyzed with worry, so she forced herself to turn it off. Right now, she needed to focus on getting out. That’s what Knox would want her to do.

  He would be okay. He had to be.

  And if he wasn’t? She wouldn’t rest until she made those responsible pay, and pay dearly.

  She sank down on the cot. Might as well not waste energy.

  Then came the sound she’d been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading: someone was at the other side of the door.

  “This is close enough.” The warehouse where Knox suspected X had taken Natalie was three blocks ahead.

  Tony glanced over at Knox. “Are you sure?”

  Knox nodded. “Just remember what I told you—if you don’t hear from me or Natalie in an hour, call the cops.”

  Tony shook his head. “I don’t like this. X is probably waiting for you.”

  Knox worked his jaw. Tony was right. By now, X had to have figured out that Knox wasn’t going to let Natalie go without a fight. He had to know Knox would come for her.

  And he was right. Knox knew the deck was stacked against him, but he had no choice. Natalie had already been in their hands too long.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Knox said. “I have to get her back. Now stop the car.”

  Tony pulled onto a side street and put the car in park. “I can go with you.”

  Knox shook his head. People were going to get hurt. Chances are he’d be one of them. Tony didn’t need to take that risk—it wasn’t his fight.

  Plus, it might be easier to slip in undetected by himself.

  Knox gave a final nod to Tony, then stepped out of the car. He crossed the street, which actually took him farther away from the warehouse but gave him a better vantage point. It was bigger than the building that housed the arena. Judging from the exterior, he figured there was a large open warehouse on the bottom floor and five levels above that. Probably office space.

  Though he wanted to charge in there with guns blazing, he forced himself to wait and observe the building for a few more minutes.

  He used that time to make a quick phone call, keeping his eyes trained on the warehouse.

  On the second floor, there were dim lights shining from several of the windows. All the levels but one were dark, so that’s probably where she was.

  If this was even the right damn building.

  There were too many damn ifs and probablys.

  Fuck. This had to be it. He couldn’t handle it if he wasted this time while Natalie was somewhere else.

  He walked farther up the street so he could see around the building. There was a metal fire escape attached to the west side, so that’s where he headed. Entering directly onto the second floor would cut down on the time he would spend wandering around the building with fuck knows how many of X’s men on the prowl.

  The fire escape was the kind where the ladder had to be lowered from above. He looked around for something he could use to pull it down or something he could stand on to reach it but came up with nothing. When he inspected it a second time, though, he discovered the damn ladder was missing.

  Shit. The fire department didn’t give a shit about this part of town, especially an abandoned building.

  Knox circled around the building, looking for a rear entrance. He found one, and the double doors were fastened together with a thick metal chain. He jiggled the doors and they gave as much as the heavy links would allow, so that was good. The chain was the only thing keeping them secure.

  That and a big-ass lock.

  The lock was rusted, so it had probably been there for a while. Knox picked up a brick and slammed it against the rusty metal.

  Clang!

  Fuck, that was loud. But he didn’t have Natalie’s lock-picking skills, and there was no other way in aside from the front door.

  He slammed the brick into the lock several more times, and pieces of mortar went flying. On the fifth hit, the lock gave way. He swiftly removed the heavy chain and tossed it aside.

  While he was waiting to see if anyone came running to check out the noise, he put his hand on the gun tucked in his waistband, just to reassure himself that it was there. He didn’t plan to use it, though. X and his men might not notice or pay attention to a banging noise, but gunshots wouldn’t go unnoticed or ignored.

  After about a minute, he felt confident enough to enter the building. The door opened into what looked like a break room. There were restrooms, a long counter with a sink, an empty space where a refrigerator should go, and a broken soda machine. There were footprints in the grime on the floor and the dust around the sink had been disturbed.

  He crept to the door and peeked into the hall where an overhead fluorescent light flickered, creating a strobe-light effect. The hall went about fifteen feet in either direction, then turned. Unlike when they’d broken into the arena, he didn’t know where these hallways led. He listened carefully, trying to hear any sign of inhabitants, but came up with nothing. He’d just have to guess.

  He hung right, keeping his back flat against the wall and moving slowly. At the end of the hall, he had to bite his tongue to keep from cursing out loud. The hall ended at a locked door. Probably an office or janitor’s closet. The door handle was covered in dust.

  He’d chosen wrong.

  He started to retreat, but he only got halfway back to the break room when a door at the other end of the hallway opened and footsteps sounded.

  There was no time to hide.

  Two men dressed in black with weapons strapped to their sides turned a corner. They looked vaguely familiar, and as soon as they saw Knox, recognition dawned in their eyes.

  Well, at least he had confirmation that he was in the right place.

  “Gentlemen.” Knox cocked his head, giving the men a once-over to evaluate them for weaknesses.

  Then he charged.

  Natalie stood, her muscles tensing in a fight response. Flight wasn’t an option.

  She co
uld hear deep voices on the other side of the door. What was taking them so long? They’d been there several minutes already. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the muted sounds. There were at least two of them out there.

  Her eyes scanned the room, looking for anything she might have overlooked that could be used as a weapon. Nothing.

  She was on her own.

  Finally, the door opened to reveal two men she’d never seen before. She didn’t know if that was better or worse for her. Or if it mattered at all.

  X’s men were more or less interchangeable, anyway. Always dressed in black with menacing expressions.

  The first one entered the room while the second one lingered in the hallway. He roughly grabbed her upper arm and pulled her toward the doorway.

  She tried to yank her arm away, and his response was to tighten his grip to bruise-inducing firmness.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  Neither one of them acknowledged her question or even looked her in the eye. In fact, they seemed to be going out of their way to avoid looking at her.

  Interesting.

  “How do you like manhandling women who are half your size?” she said. The man still didn’t look at her, but he did loosen his grip on her arm.

  “I’m innocent, you know. I haven’t done anything to deserve any of this.”

  She got nothing from them. So much for appealing to their humanity.

  They took her down the hall and around the corner to stop at another door. She tensed, and her heart rate skyrocketed in the seconds it took for them to open the door. This is it.

  The door swung open to reveal another sparsely furnished room. Instead of a cot, this one had a metal desk and a chair. But no one was there.

  They deposited her in the room and left, locking the door behind them.

  Now she really wanted to scream. Another filthy holding cell. That’s all this was.

  But they wouldn’t have moved her without a reason, right?