by LM Terry
“Oh, I will get to that motherfucker even if he is in prison. When I do, he will pay,” I grit out.
“I know you will, brother. Tell the guys what I told you and stay the fuck put. I got to go, I’ll call as soon as I locate her.”
I watch him turn to walk out. He will find her, he loves my baby sister. Loves her so much that he has been carrying around a goddamn engagement ring in his pocket for the last few years. I helped him pick it out one day. We thought we were close then too. We lost them, we’ve failed more times than I care to admit.
We are all ruthless killers. Liam used to be a part of the team until deciding to give the FBI a try. Dustin, Mark, Anthony and I have all done unsettling things to get to these fuckers. Well unsettling to most civilized human beings, to us it is just another day at the office.
I sit up and pull my crap back out of my bag. I want to say fuck it and get on a plane. I can’t, Liam is one hundred percent correct. If any of Oliver Wright’s men see me they will know I am there for them. I have been hunting and killing his men for the last eight years. In the beginning it was not Oliver that led the scum sucking traffickers, but a man named William Ramirez.
I hate Ramirez just as much. I have learned that he had health issues. No one has seen nor heard from him. I hope he is dead. Before he disappeared off the face of the earth, he passed his business dealings down to Wright. Wright is the one who ordered the massacre at the Velasquez estate.
Mr. Velasquez was a private investigator who worked to find girls that had been kidnapped or somehow ended up in the sex trafficking world. He was the best in the field and made himself a great fortune. He put a large target on his back in doing so. He saved my mother from Ramirez. He also saved my mom’s friend Annette Velasquez. Annette ended up marrying Mr. Velasquez, it was quite the love story. But they are all gone, killed in the massacre.
The guilt over my mother’s death sits hard on me, crushing my soul. No one knows why Wright came with such vengeance. The theory is that he was trying to impress his predecessor by taking out the man that had caused so many headaches for them. Wright took the young girls from the estate that day, my sister included. I have been working to find her ever since then.
Mr. Velasquez was like a father to me, to all of us. We were all in the states when the attack came. He was providing the best training money could buy so we could work for him. My mother was so proud of me the day I left, I was eighteen. She was happy with the man I was becoming under Manuel’s tutelage.
Sophia was seventeen when I left. She was a year younger than me. She had also worked for the Velasquez’s as a nanny for their daughter. She loved the job so much. I can picture her pushing the little girl on the tire swing, both laughing happily in the sun. Sadly, the girl died the year before I left for training in a drowning accident at a small pond on the property.
It shook everyone. Mrs. Velasquez had been entertaining friends of hers and each of their two daughters snuck away to the lake to swim. Sophia was off that day, running errands in town. I remember Annette coming frantic asking me to go find my mother for her.
After, the funeral my sister briefly went with the couple who had been visiting back to the states to help with their daughter. I guess the girl was so shook up due to watching her friend drown that they wanted her to have someone to turn to until the grief eased. Anyhow, she returned a few weeks later. She didn’t like to talk about any of it. She mourned for Anna. Her and the dark-haired little girl had become friends despite their age difference of six years.
I shove my clothes in a drawer. So much has changed since then. If only we could all go back to the early days on the estate. Mr. Velasquez had me listed as a benefactor, no other living relatives left. I am now the reluctant owner. I can’t bring myself to return. Someday. Maybe when we get Sophia, I can take her home and try to glue all her pieces together.
The guys are whooping and hollering in the kitchen, back from their shopping trip to the store for beer and steaks. I need to fill them in. We need to be ready when shit hits the fan. I smile thinking of the many ways I will tear the bastard, Oliver Wright, to shreds with my bare hands.
Chapter Seven
∞∞∞
Anna
I wake up to Sophia shaking me fiercely. As soon as my eyes open, she is pulling me to the ground beside her. I slide down hearing keys clang together. She tells me to keep my hands behind my back and my head down. My brain doesn’t even have to time to comprehend what is going on as the door opens sending a bright light skittering across the floor of our tiny cell. Black boots enter my vision and stop in front of Sophia.
“Good morning ladies,” the man with the boots says. He has an English accent. “Sophia, I see you have a new friend.”
The sound of a zipper grates over my ears. “You know what to do baby, aww yeah just like that.” His accent rains down over Sophia as she gags. I know what is happening next to me. I may have never been with a man this way, but I am not stupid. Tears creep down my cheeks. Somehow I need to get her out of here. This is all my fault.
The man takes notice of my tears. He laughs lightly. “Honey there is plenty to go around, don’t worry I will let you have a taste too.” Before I can leap up and run, he fists a handful of my hair shoving his cock into my mouth. “Don’t bite,” he says through gritted teeth. I try to turn my head away, but he has my hair pulled so tightly I can’t move as he pumps in and out.
“What the fuck,” a man bellows. The asshole let’s go of me abruptly making me fall backwards onto my ass. I peek up to see Brian standing in the doorway. “You stupid son of a bitch. This is Wright’s girl.”
“I’m sorry boss, I didn’t know.”
I glance at the guy, he looks like a punk rocker from the eighties. He has spikey blond hair and black eyeliner highlights his shocked eyes. I can see that he is afraid. He knows Mr. Wright will hear about his poor judgment.
Brian steps close to him towering over the man. “The hell if you didn’t you jack-hole. You were all given specific instructions not to touch this one,” he yells and points down at me.
“I’m sorry, she looked so innocent with the tears and all. I wanted to let her in on the fun. I would have pulled out.” He tries to leave but Brian grabs his arm. “Anna follow me, Sophia go down to breakfast with the other girls.”
I hesitate but Sophia shoots me a pleading expression and pushes me out behind them. I agree but all I want to do is throw up. I wish I could curl up in a ball on the bed and pretend none of this is happening.
I follow Brian through the house, making note not to stare at the door to the outside world as we pass by this time. He is angry. I do not want that anger directed at me, not after what he did yesterday.
He knocks like the previous day. “Come in.” Mr. Wright stands as we enter, I can tell he was not expecting us to come with punk rocker in tow. “We had an incident boss.”
I purposely hide behind Brian. Mr. Wright might blame me for what took place. I know Brian is mad at the punk and not me. What if Mr. Wright doesn’t see it that way? The man who assaulted me keeps his head down.
Mr. Wright passes by Brian and holds his hand out to me. I reluctantly take it. He pulls me around to face Brian and Mr. Punk Rock. “What happened?”
Brian looks at the punk to respond. When he doesn’t, he hits him in the back of the head with a thud. My assailant spills, pleading his case. Mr. Wright grips my hand tighter with each word that comes out of his mouth. I wince and must make a whimper of protest because he lets go only to wrap his arm possessively around my waist.
The punk finishes with, “I am so sorry Mr. Wright. I don’t know what came over me. She is just so…”
Before he can finish his sentence and before I have time to process what is happening, Mr. Wright reaches behind him. He pulls out a handgun from the back of his waistband. He aims it directly at Mr. Punk Rock and pulls the trigger, putting a bullet right between his eyes.
I scream as blood sprays. I turn to run from
the gruesome scene before me, but he catches me around the waist and pulls me close to him. He picks me up off my feet hauling me into the bathroom and into the shower.
He reaches out to twist on the faucet. I watch as bright red mixes with the water swirling over the stone tile floor. He removes his clothing and tosses them into a pile outside the door. I must be in shock because I don’t move. I stand as still as a statue. He washes my body running his hands over me then turns to wash the blood off himself.
I glance up at him as he closes his eyes to rinse the soap out of his hair. The old saying devil in disguise enters my mind as I study his angelic like features. I’m numb. I don’t know what I should think. One day he orders Brian to punish me, the next he is putting a bullet in a man’s skull for touching me.
How many people have died because of me? The man in the motel, the punk rocker. Who else has suffered at the hands of this man? Something tells me he has hurt many lives to get to me. And then there is Sophia, she is nothing but a shell of her former self. This is all my fault. All of it. Why does this man want me so bad?
The steam from the shower is closing in on me. I feel as if someone is sitting on my chest. The weight of everything weighs heavily upon me. I can’t seem to draw in enough air. I see stars and they send Mr. Wright to a blur in the distance.
His strong arms wrap around me as he picks me up and removes me from the shower, setting me on my feet. I reach out to him to steady myself as he quickly dries me off. He is carrying me somewhere else now. Oh shit. He is taking me to his bed.
My senses come rushing back as I try to sit up. No. I am not ready for this. He sits on the edge and pushes me down. He has a hold of my arm. He is shushing me, telling me that I will be okay. “Breathe in and out kitten. Slowly. Everything is going to be fine. No one will hurt you.”
He wraps something tight around my arm and before I can ask him what he is doing, I feel a stick. I look down to see him inject a needle into my vein. Immediately I sense a warm fuzzy sensation that starts at the top of my head and slides down until it reaches my toes. My body appears relaxed, but my mind…my mind is crying out.
“There you go, breathe in an out. Good girl. I’m sorry, I am not a man of patience, I should have waited to kill him but...did he hurt you kitten?”
I wish he would stop calling me that. I am not his damn pet. I hate him. I want to return to my cell, to get away from him. When I don’t respond he stands up, I watch him go to his closet to retrieve some dry clothes. He watches me watching him. He pulls on his boxers and tosses something at me. It lands at my feet. I slowly sit up. It is a blue sundress, the same color as my eyes.
“Do you need me to help you?” he questions. I sense an undercurrent of excitement in his voice.
I stay sitting on the bed and pull the dress over my head. My movements are slow, my limbs seem heavier than they should. Having clothing makes me feel somewhat better though, but whatever drug he has given me has taken full effect. My mind wanders to a place far from here.
If I listen closely, I can hear her humming. It is comforting knowing she is waiting for me on the other side of consciousness.
I want to slip away to her, but Mr. Wright crawls up on the bed behind me to brush my hair. I can’t protest, I sit there silent. “I have a surprise for you today, kitten.” I shiver at his words, I do not need any more surprises. Watching a man die before my eyes, his blood spraying over me is enough for one day.
He finishes with a kiss to the top of my head. Before I can process what is going on, he drops to a knee in front of me. He opens a small box with a diamond ring inside. He grabs my hand and slips it on my wedding finger. I stare at it. It is heavy upon my hand. I raise my eyes to him.
“Soon you will be mine. No one will look at you let alone touch you unless they have my permission.” He is holding my hand running his thumb back and forth over the top as he speaks, a frightening smile slowly spreads across his face.
I want to pull away, but I don’t. None of this seems real. I am floating, watching this all happen to someone else. Is he proposing? No, this isn’t a proposal this is, well I’m not sure what the fuck this is. He killed a man before my eyes. Now he is slipping an engagement ring on my finger. I shake my head to clear my thoughts.
“I have another present for you.” He stands retrieving a book wrapped in a beautiful red bow with an engraved pen attached to the top. The writing on it is my name, Anna, written in delicate calligraphy. “Sophia told me you like to write poetry, consider it an early wedding gift. Something to fill your time.”
I take the book from him. “Why?” I don’t know what else to say. I am floating like a helium balloon in a windstorm, threating to break free never to be seen again. The only thing that anchors me to the ground is the constant hold he has on me.
“You will understand shortly kitten. We have a special guest coming for lunch today. He should arrive soon.” He kisses my hand and urges me to lie back down. “Sleep for a little while and I will come get you when he arrives.”
My eyes are heavy, I am confused, nothing makes any sense. Why would this strange man want to marry me? My thoughts come fragmented now. He kidnapped me…he knows things about me that no one else does…he has Sophia…he thinks I resemble my mother…”
“Anna.” Sarah’s voice is calling me. I think I should stay and figure out this puzzle, but she is giggling. I can’t help myself, I need to go find out what she is doing. “Look, I found a toad. Come help me catch him.” I follow her running, splashing along the edge of the lake.
Chapter Eight
∞∞∞
Anna
“Anna. Anna it’s time to wake. Come now, our special guest has arrived.” Mr. Wright is standing above me gently shaking my arms.
“What? Where am I?” My mind is so foggy that I panic.
“Kitten, everything is fine. You are here with me right where you should be.” He sits on the side of the bed and helps me to a sitting position. “Why don’t you freshen up. I left a toothbrush and other items for you in on the counter. Make yourself pretty, hmm.” He pulls me up patting me on the backside as he ushers me to the bathroom.
I stand looking in the mirror. I was right the dress he gave me matches my eyes. I look tired, my pupils are dilated. This has been a roller coaster ride from hell and it’s not over. In fact, it has just begun. I brush my teeth trying to eliminate all traces of Mr. Punk Rock. I brush so hard that I make my gums bleed. Gaging I spit into the sink.
I splash cold water over my face as I struggle to control the waves of nausea that have come over me. I hear a knock on the door. It opens without even giving me enough time to respond. It is him.
“Everything okay?” His eyes meet mine in the mirror. I shake my head yes.
“I would prefer that when I speak to you from now on that you answer me with words.” I see the threat in his gaze.
I lower my eyes and then force them back up to his and say, “Yes, Mr. Wright. I am fine.”
“Oliver, you can call me Oliver. I only allow the others to use sir. But you, you are special and if we are to be married, it is fair to let you call me by my name.” He moves behind me and brushes my hair to the side to place a feather-light kiss at the nape of my neck.
He watches in the mirror for my reaction. A single tear slips down my cheek. He reaches around and whisks it away with his thumb as he smiles at me. He seems to get pleasure from my discomfort.
“Let’s go shall we, it would be rude to keep our guest waiting.” He takes my elbow and picks up the book he gifted me then leads me down to a dinning room.
The room is painted the color of a crisp blue sky. All the furniture is a rich wood or white. It is bright and cheerful with four large floor to ceiling windows on one end. There is a long table in the center. I can see that someone set it for three guests.
He pulls a chair out for me then places the book and a small box of tissues beside me on the table. “You might need these, this will be a special reunion, kit
ten. If you excuse me, I’ll be right back.” He kisses the top of my head and leaves the room.
I glance around wondering to myself who this guest could be. He is toying with me. I am learning that he loves the game of keeping me in the dark, leading me to think one thing while presenting me with another.
I feel void. I don’t even care what is about to happen. It could be the drugs I don’t know. I’m hungry and nauseous. There is water on the table. I take a drink savoring the coolness as it runs down my throat. I need to keep my shit together, so he doesn’t drug me again. I need a clear mind if I am going to get Sophia and I out of here.
I hear voices and swivel to see Oliver help an older gentleman to the dinning room. “Anna, come I have someone I would like to introduce to you.”
I rise accessing the older man as I do. He is not as tall as Oliver, but he is slouched slightly so maybe he isn’t that much shorter. He has a dark complexion and eyes black as night. The same feeling comes over me as when I first met Oliver. This man is ill, but I imagine in his glory days he was just as ruthless as the younger version next to him.
Before Oliver can introduce me, the older gentleman stops and looks at me as if he has seen a ghost. “Annette?”
I halt mid step towards them. He called me by my mother’s name.
Oliver gently urges him closer. “She looks a lot like Annette does she not?” He cocks his head to one side questioning the old man. “Remember, I told you I found your daughter? This is Anna.”
Wait. What did he say? I back away until my butt hits the table stopping me from any further retreat. The older man gets a renewed sense of energy and rushes forward wrapping me in a giant bear hug. I can’t move. I don’t return the embrace leaving my arms hanging at my side. I watch over his shoulder, wishing I could slap the smugness off Oliver’s face. That or stick a knife in his chest, either would make me happy at this moment.
