Blurring the Line (The Line Series Book 2)

by Nikki Rose

  I needed to figure something out. I couldn’t count on someone coming to my rescue. I didn’t know how many people knew Chris was coming to find me. My best hope is that someone would find the crash site, help Chris, and that he was okay. Then he could come help me. But if he was anywhere near that car when it exploded — I couldn’t let myself think about that.

  “Let’s go. Pick up the pace.” Petrov barked the order at his men.

  “It’s the girl. She’s dragging her feet.”

  “Then encourage her to move faster.”

  Without warning a barrel of a gun was shoved into my back making me yelp. It definitely encouraged me to move faster. The farther we got, the thicker the woods became until there was practically no trail at all. That was it. They were taking me deep into the woods to kill me. That way no one could hear and no one could find the body. My body.

  My breathing grew shallow and my head spun. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. This was it. Fight or flight. I had to get out of this situation somehow though I had no idea how. I scanned the woods in front of us and glanced to the sides. There was nothing but trees, no way to tell which way was which. If I ran, I’d be running in circles for who knows how long. If I did nothing, they might kill me.

  There had to be something else, another option I hadn’t thought of. The Russians’ leader seemed like a smart man. What reason would he have to take me out here to kill me, especially since they already left Chris by the road for dead. I shook the image of him lying there dead and bleeding from my mind. I had to focus on what I could do for now.

  That means there’s a reason they were taking me. If they wanted to kill me they could have done that back at Chris’s car. Maybe it's ransom they want. If so, they’d have to contact my dad and even if it was more money than he had, they’d have to meet him to get it. He was smart, he’d save me. I just needed to hold tight and stay alive.

  A few more yards and we stepped through some overhanging branches to a clearing where more cars were parked. “Misha. Lev. You two and the girl are with me. The rest of you take the cars and follow formation.” Petrov motioned to the cars and everyone scattered.

  The one he’d called Lev grabbed my bicep with enough force I was sure they’d be able to lift fingerprints from the bruises. He drug me toward the car, tossing me in the backseat and climbing in beside me. Misha climbed into the driver’s seat and Petrov sat on the passenger side.

  I wasn’t sure how it was, but almost all the men looked like they were out of some Russian GQ magazine. Except for the scars and half healed bruises a quarter of them sported.

  The three cars found the road through the rustic trails and took off down the highway as though they’d done it a million times. I did my best to note any mile markers or landmarks but it was hard to distinguish one section of trees from the others.

  We turned onto a long private drive that was nothing more than a dirt path. It led up to a large farm house that I could tell had once been a beautiful home. It had clearly been abandoned or fallen into disrepair. Its wrap around porch sagged with age and the roof was badly weathered. To one side was a big red barn that was missing half its paint. The lead driver got out and opened the barn door and each car pulled in. They’d done this before and I guessed it was probably some kind of hideout of theirs.

  We walked from the barn to the house and I did my best to take in as much of the surroundings as I could. By the look of the overgrown fields, rotting wood fence, and rusty tractor overtaken by weeds, the farm hadn’t been functional in years. At least not for the purpose of farming.

  They forced me up the old rickety porch steps and through the creaky front door. I was pushed into the living room covered in dated wallpaper that peeled at the corners. A couple of the men plopped down on the sagging threadbare couch in front of an old fashioned T.V.

  “Take her downstairs. I'm going into my room to freshen up. Make sure to secure her well.” Petrov ordered and I tensed.

  We'd come in on the ground floor so downstairs had to mean a basement or cellar. Lev gripped my arm again with bruising force as he guided me through to an old kitchen that looked like it hadn't been used in years. It was awkward to be led with both wrists still zip tied together but I managed.

  He opened a wooden door with white paint chipping off and I stepped back, away from musty stairs that disappeared down into the dark like some stairway to hell.

  “You can't be serious. I'm not going down there.”

  “That's cute. You think you have a choice. Get.”

  He yanked my arm, forcing me down the steps and I struggled to keep my footing. Once we were downstairs he flipped the light switch which controlled the flickering fluorescent light above.

  The basement was worse than I'd imagined. Filthy concrete walls and floor echoed every sound. A small stream of water trickled down one wall and there was dirt mixed with what I feared was blood around a floor drain near the center of the room.

  A metal table and chairs were grouped to one side and was the cleanest section in the whole basement. Lev held me still by one arm and drug a metal chair over the drain with an ear piercing screech.

  “What are you doing?”

  He didn't answer. He just shoved me down into the chair and grabbed a handful of zip ties from his pocket.

  “Please no. Please don't leave me down here?” I begged and thrashed around in the chair but it was no use with my hands already bound together.

  “Still.” he barked and roughly grabbed my ankle as I tried to kick away. He forced it against the leg of the chair where he quickly secured it with more zip ties. It didn't take him long until both feet were secure.

  He pulled out a large knife from a sheath on his belt and stepped toward me. My body tensed and I instinctively lifted my arms in front of my body as best as I could with my wrists bound.

  “No, please,” my scream echoed off the surrounding concrete.

  He grabbed hold of my wrist, controlling both arms at once. “Be still, you stupid girl or you could end up with your wrists slit.”

  I gasped, trying to control my panic. “No. Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry.”

  Just then another thick Russian voice called down from the stairwell. “Boss wants to know if everything is alright down there?”

  “Da. Glupaya suka panics for nothing.”

  “Let me see if I can help.” Misha stepped out of the shadows of the stairway and stalked toward me.

  He bent so that he was right in my face and I could smell the vodka on his breath “Scream again and I will give you something to scream about little otrod'ye.”

  Being so close to him reminded me of the self defense training Chris had taught me. I reared my head back and brought it forward as hard and as fast as I could so that my forehead struck Misha right in the nose.

  Chris's lessons worked. I barely felt a thing but his nose made a loud crunch as the fragile bone broke and he stumbled back, blood seeping from his cupped hands as he held them to his face. The training had worked except for one small oversight on my part. I was outnumbered and still very much bound to the chair. All I managed to do was anger my captors.

  Lev rushed over to me but Misha stopped him. “Oh no. This little suka is mine.

  Misha wiped his bloody hands on a handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket. Before I could reflect on how ironic it seemed for a kidnapper to have a handkerchief like the ones gentleman carried in the old days, he charged after me. The blood covering his face only made him look scarier. I lifted my arms defensively but he grabbed them with one hand. The other came down hard across my face, flinging my head to the side, sending pain exploding through my cheek, and making my teeth rip open my lower lip.

  I cried out, keeping my head hung to the side and peeked up at him through the hair that now covered my left eye. He lifted his hand to strike me again and I screamed, my entire body tensing to prepare for impact.

  “Stop you idiot. The Boss said to keep her unharmed. We need her unmarked.”
<
br />   “And what about my retribution? She does this to me and I am expected to do nothing?”

  “You are expected to follow orders and know that she'll get what's coming to her soon enough.

  What's coming to her?

  The words echoed in my mind but I was too scared to reflect on what that could mean. Lev approached me again with his knife in hand. “I'm sorry. Please. I'm so sorry. I'll be good. Please?”

  “I'm glad to hear it kotik. Now hold still.”

  I held as still as I could considering my whole body trembled and closed my eyes for whatever was coming. Lev cut the ties holding my wrists together but I wasn't given the chance to try anything. He kept a tight grasp on my wrists, sheathed his knife and wrapped my arms around behind the back of my chair before securing them once again with new zip ties.

  Once they were certain I couldn't get free, the two Russian thugs went back upstairs, switching off the light, plunging me into complete darkness.

  Chapter 25

  “Hey, He’s over here.” A male’s voice called out but I couldn’t distinguish who. My ears were still muffled from the explosion. I fought to open my eyes but they wouldn’t respond. I tried to get my mouth to form words but I wasn't even sure if I was awake or dreaming.

  “He’s breathing. Chris. Hey man, just hang in there. Helps here.”

  Finally, I was able to pry my eyes open but everything appeared like I was looking through frosted glass.

  “Mason?”

  “Yeah, man. It’s me. He’s awake. Can I get some help over here?”

  I blinked and my vision finally cleared. It took me a moment longer to get my thoughts in order. I remembered everything in vivid detail, including the horror filled cries of Caroline.

  “Caroline.” I cried out and grasped Mason’s arm.

  “She’s not here. They found her crushed phone in the back of the Audi and some tracks going off into the woods. They are assembling a search party now.”

  “I need to find her. The Russians —.” I was suddenly surrounded by two EMS workers checking me out, one shone a bright light in my eyes making me follow his finger while the other checked me out for other injuries.

  “I know. The Director received a video from them while we were on our way to you.”

  I pushed myself up to sit despite protests from the EMS. “I’m fine. I wasn’t in the car when it exploded. I was running from it. The blast just knocked me down.”

  One of the EMS guys insisted on continuing to check me out. “We just need to —.”

  “It’s a minor concussion at most.” I swatted my hand like he was a mosquito.

  “The Director is still going to want to have you taken to the hospital to be checked out.”

  “There’s no time for that. We need to find Caroline.”

  “Chris...” Mason’s face fell and my heart rate spiked.

  “What? What is it?”

  Mason shook his head. “The Director took you off the assignment.”

  “Like hell — assignment or not, I’m going into those woods to find Caroline.”

  “I figured you’d say that. Just promise me you’ll be careful and get checked out as soon as Caroline is safe?”

  “Deal.” Mason offered me a hand up and I took it.

  My head spun and the earth shifted beneath my feet when I stood. I stumbled and Mason offered me his shoulder for support. It took me a minute to get my balance. Mason helped keep me balanced until I could walk on my own.

  “The teams all ready to go.”

  “Great, let’s get going.”

  “Figured you might need this.” An old familiar voice came from behind me. I turned to see the smiling face of Hunter holding out a handgun and holster.

  “Thanks man.” We took a minute to clasp hands and shoulders in the typical guy hug fashion. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Hey, your girl’s in trouble. You know I’m gonna be here. It's what we do.”

  The three of us led the group down the path, following the footprints and broken twigs through the brush.

  “So tell me about this video the Russians sent.” I looked to Mason for an answer.

  “From what I hear, It was just a video of Caroline with a Russian talking behind the camera.”

  “Was she okay? What did they say they wanted?”

  Mason glanced to Hunter and my stomach dropped. “What are you not telling me?”

  “She was okay. She had a busted lip and a bruise on her cheek. Probably got slapped for fighting back. From what you told me about her, I’m sure she’s giving them hell.” Hunter forced a smile of reassurance but the idea of those bastards laying a hand on Caroline made me see red.

  Mason interrupted my rage with words that filled me with a sickening dread. “They aren’t looking for ransom.”

  My head spun his direction. The movement making me stumble to the side but I righted myself quickly. I thought for sure their motive was to make the Director pay a ransom. “Then what do they want?”

  Mason’s face turned hard as stone. “To make the Director suffer.”

  Those words were like a sucker punch to the gut. My footing faltered and I froze. I couldn’t breathe. It was like someone had sucked all the oxygen from the woods and my vision blurred for a moment before recovering.

  “Suffer, how?”

  “They’ve set up an online auction. The video is live streaming of her. We can still see that she’s safe for now and we can watch the bids coming in but they all use screen names.”

  “Then have Mikey shut down their servers to stop it.”

  “They say if we try to hack into their system to track them or stop the auction they will kill her, live online.”

  “Shit.” I whirled around and punched a large oak nearby. The bark bit into my knuckles and making them bleed but I barely felt it through my rage. “I want to see her.”

  “Chris, I don’t think —.” Hunter started but I didn’t care what he thought at that point. I wanted to see her. I needed to see her.

  “I want to fucking see her.” I roared. I’d never talked to him like that — ever. But, my best friend knew I was hurting and didn’t even miss a beat. He pulled his phone from his pocket and unlocked the screen before handing it to me.

  I took the phone and the image in front of me ripped my heart from my chest. She was crying. Dry blood was caked on her lip from where it had been split open and her dark hair clung to her tear soaked cheeks. Her whole body shook with the sobs that poured from her and the worst part was there was not a damn thing I could do about it.

  I wanted to reach out and wipe her tears away, to wrap her in my arms and keep her safe from everything but I couldn’t. I had no clue where she was but I’d find her. I had to.

  “Do we have any idea where this is?” As hard as it was, I pried my eyes from the screen and handed the phone back to Hunter.

  Mason spoke up. “We’ve had analysts scanning the video for any signs of where they could be but there’s been no luck. Our best bet is to follow their tracks and try to narrow down which way they’ve gone. We’ve got a bird ready to fly as soon as we find anything but the tree cover is too thick for them to see anything if it’s in this area.”

  I had Hunter pull up the feed on my phone and checked the live feed again. Caroline had stopped crying but was still trembling and sniffling. I needed to get to her. I had to find her, to make her safe again. If anything happened to her, I’d never forgive myself. She only ran off because of the terrible situation I’d gotten us into because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants.

  But that wasn’t true. Not really. Yes, I was attracted to Caroline, but it was so much more than just sex. I cared for her. I wanted to be with her, to hold her, to take her out, to show her the world. I was so worried about throwing away my job which had become my whole life that I hadn’t realized I hadn’t truly been living.

  I followed behind Hunter and Mason, watching the screen as the bids came in. Twenty bids already. Twenty perverts l
ooked to buy my beautiful Caroline so that they could do God knew what to her. The current bidding price blinked below the video feed. Fifty thousand dollars. Fifty five thousand. Sixty thousand.

  I put the phone away again. I had to focus on getting to her. I picked up the pace, passing Hunter and Mason on the trail. “We’ve got to find her. Now. The bidding is already at sixty thousand dollars. Those greedy bastards aren’t going to wait much longer to get the money and sell her off to whatever perv wins.”

  “The longer they are online the better. Our analysts are trying to discreetly trace the live feed.”

  “Are you crazy? Those guys are smart. They could detect our analysts and kill Caroline like they said they would.”

  “The orders came directly from the Director.”

  “What was he thinking? These guys are about control and making the Director suffer, both of which will happen if he gives the order that kills his only daughter. Call Mikey and have all the analysts back off.”

  “Against the Director’s orders?”

  “Yes.”

  “They won’t just stop because you said so, Chris. Think things through.” Hunter interceded. Leave it to my best friend to be the voice of reason. That was normally my place but when it came to Caroline and her safety I was anything but rational.

  “Then what would you have me do? He’s going to get her killed.”

  Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell again, and offered it to me. “Call him.”

  “Who?”

  “The Director. You think he’s making a mistake when it comes to Caroline? Tell him.”

  I’d always been the kind to follow the rules. Hunter was the one always pushing the boundaries. If someone drew a line, he was going to cross it but not me. I took the phone from his hand and dialed the Director’s private line.

  “Applegate.”

  “Sir, it’s Chris. You need to call off the analysts before you get Caroline killed.”

  “Chris? I thought I took you off this assignment.”

  “You did, but I’m not going to stop looking for Caroline no matter what. You need to stop the analysts now before her kidnappers catch on.”