UnSub

by Kendra Greenwood

  The side door of the van slid open and two men clambered in.

  “Pretend you’re still unconscious,” Alyx whispered to Lisa. Alyx realized she and Lisa still wore the handcuffs all submissives wear while playing at the club. It identified their status as well as the behaviors they were willing to engage in by the different colored charms they wore. Alyx’s soul pulsed with hope, the cuffs were lined with fleece and made of leather, not metal. If their captors forgot, and didn’t replace them with something sturdier, she could most definitely get out of them.

  The two men unhooked them from the chains and dragged them out, throwing them over their shoulders. Alyx stayed limp, surveying her surroundings, her chest inflated with a sudden optimism. She knew exactly where they were. The old Grumman site, where they used to manufacture fighter jets and space modules. If she could only find a way to contact the right someone.

  Standing in front of a massive metal wall, one of the men punched a code into the doorframe’s panel. The wall grinded noisily and a section of it moved up to allow them entry. Carried to the back of the giant airplane hangar and through a smaller door to a makeshift office, the men slid them to the ground, then reached overhead to grab the chains hanging from the ceiling. Attaching their handcuffs to the shackles they hoisted them up. Her captor gave the chain a yank and pulled Alyx onto her tiptoes, then anchored it against the hook on the wall behind her.

  “Go let Stan know the final two pieces of merchandise just arrived,” he ordered his companion.

  “Can’t we have some fun first?” the other man replied.

  “No. Last time you damaged the merchandise so badly we had to hold her back for the next auction until she healed. Stan nearly had my head, you cost him some serious coin that time. Besides, they’re unconscious.”

  “Makes no difference to me.”

  “Yeah, well I like my women a little more responsive than that. Now go and get Stan.”

  The slaver exited through another door and Alyx and Lisa were alone with their captor. Alyx felt her cheeks pinched between his thick fingers. “Wake up, bitch.” She kept her eyes closed, but then he slapped her across the face and her eyes popped open. “That’s better, doll-face.” His feral gaze fell on her breasts before running salaciously over her body. “You are one mighty fine piece of ass.”

  A few seconds later the door opened again and the other slaver returned with a tall, overweight companion. Sweat hung on his upper lip, his hair arranged in a greasy comb-over. He wore a silky black shirt and cheap black pants. What a goddamned cliché, right out of central casting.

  “You were only supposed to bring the one on the left, who’s the other bitch?”

  “They were together and I figured what the hell, two for the price of one. She’s a brunette.”

  Stan came close to Lisa, who’d roused after hearing the slap. He grabbed her chin, turning her head from side to side. “Name?”

  “Lisa.” Alyx was proud of Lisa; her voice came across strong and showed no sign of fear. Hopefully she could keep it together and Alyx could rely on her to help with their escape.

  “Fuck,” Stan yelled. “Do you know who this is?” His face blazed anger. “She’s the club owner’s sub. Are you out of your fucking minds? We don’t take anyone that has someone who’ll come after them. Her guy is going to be all over this. You’ve put the whole operation in jeopardy.”

  Stan began to pace, his fists balled at his sides, curses still flying out of his mouth. “We’ve got to get rid of her. Do whatever you want with her, then dump her body, use the boat we have docked at the Aquebogue Marina. I want her gone before sunrise.” Stan walked over to Alyx and stood so close she could smell the garlic on his breath.

  Stan seemed to have regained some of his composure. He leveled a smirk at her. “She’s a beauty, she’ll fetch a good price,” he said to his companions. “I’m tempted to keep her for myself.”

  His hand reached out and stroked Alyx’s breast through the thin latex of her impossibly tiny dress. “Bring them both to the demo room, we’ll have some fun with them and then you get rid of yours. I’m taking this one. I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.” Stan pinched her nipple through the dress and she clenched her jaw to suppress a yelp at the surge of pain shooting through her breast. He left through the door he’d entered. The other slavers unhooked them from the overhead chains and clicked their wrist restraints together, then led them by the handcuffs through the same exit Stan had used. Alyx struggled to stay upright in her black patent-leather stilettos; she didn’t need to injure herself by falling flat on her face. They coaxed them through another vast empty hangar and entered a square room that must have served as an office when this was still a functioning research facility for the Grumman Corporation.

  Alyx surveyed the contents of the room and her throat hitched. Daniel’s warnings came back to her. An empty dog kennel sat in the corner of the room. Plus spanking horses, restraining benches and St. Andrew’s crosses, enough for at least twenty women to be strapped into compliance. Shackles on chains hung from the ceiling, attached to an intricate roller system so they could be moved around the room as if on a sick-twisted merry-go-round. The walls had racks of whips and canes, nothing as mundane as a deerskin flogger for these sadists.

  “This is where our buyers get to sample the goods before purchasing. You’re the last ones we get to play with before the auction.” His sleazy grin roiled her stomach. How to escape? How! Daniel had made it clear the longer they remained in the slavers’ hands the worse it would be.

  A voice came across an intercom system. “Cage them and come to the office to help me finish the paperwork, then we’ll play.”

  The slaver depressed the lever on the wall speaker. “Yes, boss. Be right there.”

  Lisa’s captor dragged her by the handcuffs to the open door of the cage, then shoved her onto her knees and kicked her into the kennel. Alyx was forced inside with Lisa. The door closed and they snapped the lock shut with a click and left the room.

  “Lisa, we have to move fast. Unhook my cuffs,” Alyx ordered. She wriggled into position and pushed her clasped wrists into Lisa’s hands. No locks on these playtime cuffs, thankfully. Not much room to maneuver inside the cramped cage either, but they managed to get their wrists unhooked relatively quickly.

  “How are we going to get out of this cage? It’s got a metal padlock,” Lisa said.

  “Watch,” Alyx offered. She leaned over her chest and bit at the material of her dress until she reached the underwire, inching it out. She bent the wire into a ninety-degree angle, then slipped the “handle” of the make-shift wrench into the keyhole. She pressed down with her thumb, feeling for the opening that would release the locking mechanism. Most likely the key would turn to the right, so she moved the pick into the top part of the lock and wiggled it around, pushing it right. Ten seconds passed. Damn. She wriggled the wire with too much force and it felt like it bent in the wrong direction. It wouldn’t catch.

  Twenty seconds. Damn. C’mon.

  Finally, the lock gave. Thank you, God.

  “Shit. That was impressive,” Lisa exclaimed. “Did they teach you that in FBI school?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Alyx exited first and put a hand out to help Lisa to her feet. “Let’s go, move it. Do you know where we are?”

  “Yeah, it’s the old Grumman Plant in Calverton. I used to come here with an ex-boyfriend when they had the skydiving place.”

  “Exactly. Now this is likely our only chance to make a break for it.” Alyx slipped out of her black stilettos and held them in her hands. “We won’t be able to run in these things.”

  “Right,” Lisa agreed, removing her silver fuck-me heels.

  Alyx grabbed Lisa by the shoulders. “If we run into trouble I’ll try to hold them off, but you have to run for your life—literally. Stay off the road, run through the woods until you get to a house. First call 911, then Jack, if you can. He can reach my boss.”

  “Got it
. Totally, let’s go.”

  They sprinted for the door and found it unlocked. There was a God, there was. The hangar they’d passed through proved deserted and they bolted toward the exit. Freedom. She hit the button that controlled the massive metal door and the loud noise made her cringe, but they had no other recourse. Sliding underneath they made a run for it. Right into two burly men whooshing around the corner.

  “Faster,” Alyx yelled, spurring Lisa into action. Lisa ran in the opposite direction and disappeared into darkness. Racing for her life. Luckily the outside wasn’t lit up like it would have been if it hadn’t been abandoned. Alyx quickly dropped her shoes and leveled the first guy with a kick to the side of his knees. He hit the cement roadway in a heap. The second one got a knee in the groin. She poked two fingers into his eyeballs. He grunted and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Alyx headed in Lisa’s direction when Stan and his two goons bolted out the door and grabbed her. Someone had her hair in a death grip and her head jerked back viciously. She pivoted and leveled a right hook to his nose. Blood gushed down his face. Snap of bone. Not his. Hers. Pain seared through her arm in a raging torrent of heat.

  “You little bitch.” Stan backhanded her in the face and she plummeted, her head hitting the cement with a sickening thud. Stars erupted in front of her eyes and she struggled not to vomit onto his cheap shoes. Blood seeped from her lip again and she wiped it away with the back of her undamaged hand. Stan dragged her to her feet by her hair, pulling both arms taut behind her back. The searing agony in her wrist threatened to steal her consciousness.

  “You’ll pay for this, sweetheart,” he vowed. Then to his cronies he barked, “Go after the other one and don’t come back without her.”

  Stan dragged Alyx back into the hangar and into the demo room and shackled her into the chains hanging from the ceiling. Her heart sank and the ache in her arm made her gasp. Everything Daniel warned her about was about to happen and she steeled herself for lethal pain and agony.

  * * *

  Daniel leaned over the bar in the den of his empty house and hung his head in his hands. He tugged at the roots in despair. Grumbling, he poured himself a scotch. Visions of Alyx being raped by her tormentors threatened to snatch his soul. Not being able to do anything to save her sent his blood pressure through the roof. His heart pounded as white-hot anger seared his veins. He sat heavily on the couch and switched on the TV. Staring at the coffee table, he envisioned Alyx on her hands and knees, her cute little ass in the air. A huge knot formed in his chest, his breath difficult to regulate. Panic gripped him.

  The clock on the DVR displayed 2:53. They could do a lot of damage to her in eight hours. His fist pounded the cushion and he spilled some of his scotch. He threw his head back against the couch and closed his eyes and plunged into the dark daydream he’d indulged in over the past week. He tried to talk himself back to sanity, but he feared it impossible. He’d never forgive himself for letting her do this. Hell, he’d never forgive himself for getting involved in this pernicious mess in the first place. He tried to concentrate on slowing his breathing. Futile. He exhaled, a hard gust, then slugged the rest of his scotch and headed to the bar for a refill. He tightened his fingers around the curves of the tumbler, hesitated. His jaw tensed, then he hurled the glass at the wall, watching it burst into sparklers, heard the tremendous clatter, smelled the cloud of scotch. Rage assaulted his five senses. His soul deflated.

  In the distance, a phone ringing. Where had he left it? He hurried for his jacket, which hung on the back of one of the kitchen stools. Jack’s ID flashed on the screen.

  “Jack, tell me you have her.”

  “Not entirely, but we have a line on them. We’re on our way now.”

  “How? Where?”

  “They took them to the abandoned Grumman Facility, in Calverton, you know where that is?”

  “Of course.”

  “Alyx was able to free Lisa and herself and fought off a couple of thugs so Lisa could make a run for it. State police have Lisa and she’s unharmed.”

  “But Alyx is still in there with them?” His heart sank. He needed to get her out of there, have her safely in his arms.

  “Yes, Suffolk County PD and the state police are surrounding the place now, but Rob said not to breach the property until the FBI gets there. We don’t need anyone bungling this any more than we already have. We’re about ten minutes out.”

  “On my way,” Daniel said.

  “Daniel, we’ll probably get there before you. I’ll keep in touch, you might want to meet us at the hospital if necessary.”

  Good idea, thought Daniel, if Alyx was hurt he wanted to be there to take care of her. “All right, let me know the second you find her.”

  “I will. Drive carefully, I’m sure you’ve knocked one or two back by now, and we don’t need you to make this mess any more tragic than it already is.”

  “Okay, but please, Jack, call me as soon as you know something, even if it’s bad. Not knowing is killing me.”

  “You have my word.” The line went silent, dead.

  * * *

  Shackled in the Demo Room, Alyx tried to gather her wits. Odd, this was the same position she’d found herself in when Jason attacked her in her apartment. She had hoped to get the upper hand on him before Matt came to her rescue and she fully intended to do the same to this scumbag. Stan placed her feet into the black stilettos.

  “I like you in your whore shoes,” he said, rising to stand in front of her.

  Alyx couldn’t believe her luck. Was he actually arming her with a lethal weapon?

  Circling around her, Stan regarded her as if she were prey. She tried to focus on her attack plan. It was just the two of them and she was sure she had better combat skills than this overweight sleaze ball. She needed to bide her time, pick the precise moment to strike. He’d be distracted by thoughts of playing with her and he also had no idea she was a highly-trained professional, two points for her side.

  His slimy hand eased down the short zipper of her dress. She held her breath. Daniel’s voice echoed in her brain, “Breathe, little subbie.” She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. Focus, girl.

  His cold paws slid inside her dress and around her stomach, then toward her crotch. If he touched her there, she’d scream. Struggling to keep it together, she waited. She needed him in front of her. He grabbed her ass, sliding his hands over the back of her bare thighs. Revulsion rose in her throat. He pulled her hair, tilting her head back, and his teeth nipped at her earlobe. She bit her swollen lip to keep from crying out.

  “Ready for some fun, little subbie?” he said into her ear.

  The sound of Daniel’s words crossing his lips sounded sacrilegious and her stomach heaved. She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. “Do you enjoy the cane, little pet? I think we’ll start with that.”

  Stan came around in front of her and grabbed the neckline of her low-cut dress. He tore at it, ripping the shoulder seams and the sad excuse for a dress fluttered to the floor. No underwear. Naked. He’d pay for this.

  He was too close to her. She needed some space between them in order to get a good shot. He pinched her nipples hard and twisted them. She bit her lips to keep the scream buried, but he leaned in, sucking the flesh of her right breast into his mouth. He chomped down, hard and Alyx couldn’t hold back the shriek. The sadistic smile on his face made her blood boil. She’d kill the fucker.

  Behind her again, she felt the tip of the cane tracing lines across her back. She could do this. She steeled herself for the first blow. Daniel had taught her to lean into the pain. If she did, it wouldn’t hurt so badly. Shit. Daniel’s words came back to haunt her. He was right, she had no idea what she was getting herself into when she’d agreed to do this.

  The snap of the wood against her back felt like acid on her skin. She couldn’t keep herself from crying out as the lashes continued against her back, her ass and her thighs. She focused on her breathing and tried to send herself to a happy place. T
o stave off the blistering pain that threatened to shred not only her flesh, but her sanity. Can’t pass out. Mustn’t.

  Finally, the rod hit the floor with a sickening thud and his face was in front of her. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his upper lip again. He licked his lips and released the buckle on his belt, then slid down his zipper.

  Now or never. No way was she letting him get his disgusting dick anywhere near her. With the last bit of strength she could gather, she grasped the chain above her head firmly with her one good hand and drew her knees up. She unleashed a ferocious scream, and kicked him squarely in the face with the stiletto heels. One pierced an eyeball and blood gushed out thick and red. He flew backward and the back of his head smashed into the metal stanchion on one of the restraining benches. Alyx heard the crack of bone for a second time and this time it wasn’t hers. His one good eye rolled back in his head and his body twitched violently a few times, then stilled.

  Searing pain ran through her arms. Sobs wracked her body and hot wet tears streamed down her face. That moment, that half-second before her mind went completely dark, she muttered, “Daniel, where are you?”

  * * *

  Daniel had arrived at the intersection of county route 105 when his phone rang. He hit the hands-free button, “Speak.”

  Jack’s voice came across the speaker. “Daniel, we’ve got her. They’re transporting her to Peconic Medical Center.”

  “She’s alive?” Daniel said, horrified at Jack’s answer. Although somehow, if she hadn’t survived, he didn’t think Jack would tell him over the phone, he’d wait and tell him in person, right?