She wasn’t my kid, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. What if he changed his mind? He could just keep assuming for all I cared.
“What about the other kids?”
“I’ll find a way. I don’t know who their parents are or what countries they’re from.”
“How did you know about Payton?”
“I think you know how.” He spun around quickly and then took off. I closed the lid on the box and covered it with dirt. If guards were around, I didn’t want anyone seeing my stash. When no one came by after ten minutes, I opened the box and took my first bite of the sandwich. It wasn’t like the ones I had gotten in the past. This one was loaded with lunch meat, leaving me feeling like I’d had an actual meal by the time I had finished. I had hope now and I wasn’t going to let myself get dragged down again. I would regain my strength and I would get off this fucking island.
✯✯✯✯✯
After two days of eating such large portions, I started to work out as much as I could. I was weak, but I had to push through if I wanted to get stronger. I had to start small with push-ups and sit-ups, but then added in jumping jacks as well. The mud made it harder, which gave me a better workout. When I felt strong enough, I then moved on to one-handed push-ups and started using the wall for climbing.
When I reached the metal grate, I started doing pull-ups. Since I couldn’t go above the bars, I started with scapular pull-ups and in-line pull-ups. After a few weeks, I moved on to harder things like tucked-in back lever pull-ups, horizontal pull-ups, and straddle pull-ups. My arms were building muscle so much faster now that I had a little more room to work out.
Mark started bringing me protein powder for my water and snuck some steak and burgers in to me whenever he could. I wasn’t completely sure that I trusted him, but so far I didn’t have a reason not to trust him. The next time he talked to me about escaping, I had to make a choice that could mean life for me or possible death for my teammates.
“The phone number at your job says it’s out of order. I need another way to contact them.”
The only other way was to give out Cap’s private number. Only teammates had that number because it was only used for emergencies. As of right now, no one knew about that phone and it wasn’t billed to anyone at Reed Security. But if I gave him the number, it could be used to track down my team. Everyone could be killed. I didn’t know what to do.
I had to take the chance. If I didn’t, how would anyone ever find me? Mark must have seen the doubt in my eyes.
“I swear to you, I want to help.”
“My boss’s name is Sebastian Reed. I’ll give you his phone number, but it’s a private line. He won’t trust you, so you’ll have to give him something that he can verify.”
“Do you have a message you want to pass on?”
“Just…tell him not to make any attempts to come here until I can figure out a plan. I won’t risk leaving Payton behind.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know when I contact him and what he says.” He threw down a pen and pad and I scribbled the number down. Putting the pen and pad between my teeth, I climbed the wall and handed it to him. The look of shock on his face was hilarious.
“I guess those meals are paying off.”
“They are. I appreciate the extra food.”
He gave a nod and then hustled away. As I sat in my mud pit, I tried not to get too excited about the possibility of getting out of here. But now that I had bulked up some, I actually had a chance of fighting off the guards again. I could scope out the compound more closely and then I could start planning.
✯✯✯✯✯
They came for me just a few days later. I knew it would be soon because they had left me alone for weeks. I didn’t give them a chance to get me more than a few feet from the mud pit before I took them all down. I briefly considered shoving their unconscious bodies into the pit, but then they would most likely discover my box. I couldn’t risk that.
Caked in mud, I ran through the trees and got as close to the compound as I dared. The compound was surrounded by trees, so it was easy enough to move around the tree line and see the guards and time out their movements. Overall, it didn’t look like the compound was highly guarded. There were two guards at every entrance, but I hadn’t seen anyone on a lookout station and there were only a few guards patrolling the grounds regularly. It looked like they had actually cut back on guards since the last time I did recon. I had to figure out a way to get inside the building and mentally map it out so I could move fast when the time came. There was no way I could do that today. I was naked and filthy. I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without someone seeing me and taking me down. And I wasn’t ready for them to know why I was escaping the guards. Right now they figured I was trying to find a way off the island.
I stayed hidden longer than I had planned, but I was enjoying my freedom. I made my way down to the water once it turned dark and cleaned myself. Being clean for the first time in months was amazing. I scrubbed my fingers in my hair, getting the feeling of caked on dirt out of my scalp and my beard. When I looked at my body through the crystal blue water, I actually looked like a normal person. I laughed lightly to myself and swam for a few more minutes.
I was floating on my back, staring up at the sky when I heard their voices. I should have gotten out and ran, but I knew they would find me eventually and I knew that this time I was going to pay more than any time before. I closed my eyes and continued to float on my back, enjoying what little peace I had left. I took deep, calming breaths to prepare for the inevitable. Splashing in the water told me they were near, but still I didn’t move. Something hard came down on my head and I sank in the water.
Days later, I was tossed back in the pit, barely alive. At least it felt that way. My body was covered in burns from a branding iron, large bruises from a baseball bat, and I was bleeding from the multiple knife wounds all over my body. After they had inflicted all that on me, they took me to a shed of sorts where I was strapped to a chair for two days. My legs and arms were tied up and they left me alone. I didn’t know what the point of it was until I started to fall asleep. Every time I started to drift off and my head drooped, a shock was sent through my body. Not only wasn’t I able to sleep, but I also had to try and hold myself upright at all times.
As I laid in the muddy pit, I didn’t even try to move. I just stared up at the sky as the light of the day started to rise in the sky. This time, there was no peace as I looked up. There was only pain.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cap
Hell, none of these numbers were very promising. If we kept down this road, there was no way in hell we could survive. I wasn’t too worried about myself. I had invested well and I could survive on that while I got back on my feet. But what about everyone else? I had no idea what everyone’s financial situations were. It had been suggested that they all sell their houses and we pool our money so that we could keep going. I didn’t want to take from them though. They had already lost so much.
My phone rang and I didn’t recognize the number. I let it go to voicemail and pulled up my personal assets to see what else I could liquidate. My phone rang again with the same number. I slid the green button and answered.
“Hello?”
“Is this Sebastian Reed?” It was a male voice, shaky and quiet.
“Yes.”
The line was silent for a moment and I considered hanging up. I wasn’t sure who could have my number, but if they did have it, it was most likely someone that was friends with someone I knew.
“I know where Chance is.”
I sat up straight in my chair, sure I had heard wrong. “Say again.”
“I know where Chance is. He gave me this number to contact you.”
I stood quickly from my chair and ran to the IT room, snapping my fingers at Becky. She immediately understood and started tracing the call.
“How do I know that you’re telling the truth? What proof do you have?”
“I don’t have a
ny. I could tell you what he looks like.”
“You could find that on our website.”
“I know that he’s trying to rescue a little girl named Payton.”
I was silent for a minute, trying to decide how he would know that. “Is he with you?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Almost nine months now.”
“Where are you located?”
“I’m sure you’re tracking that right now. Look, this line is monitored and I can’t be on the phone for too long. It’ll look suspicious. He asked me to tell you not to come for him until he had a plan in place. He said he won’t leave without Payton.”
“And why isn’t he contacting me himself?”
I knew I didn’t want to hear the answer, but I needed to know.
“He’s being held prisoner.”
“How bad is it?”
There was silence for a moment. “There have been some bad times, but he’s pushing through. I’ve been making sure he gets plenty of food.”
“Why are you helping him?”
“Because I found out kids were being kept here. I came in to run the facility about the same time that Chance was brought here. Nothing has sat right with me from the start, but this isn’t something I can just walk away from.”
“Why?”
He was silent, so I took a chance that he might answer a different question.
“Who’s your boss?”
“I can’t tell you. Look, you have the coordinates. Plan what you need to, but wait for me to call again.”
He hung up before I could ask anything else. Becky grinned as the computer showed exactly where Chance was being held.
“That little island is part of Honduras. We had the right country, but we weren’t looking in the right spot.”
“Get me everything you can about the island. I need to know how easy it is to get in and out and what kind of air restrictions might be in place. You know the drill.”
I stormed out of the room, glad that I could finally give the guys some information on Chance. Sinner was walking toward me.
“Get the teams together and meet me in the conference room.”
I walked away before he had time to answer and went straight to the conference room. Knight had seen me and started following without question.
“What do you need?” he asked as I pulled out the tablet for the screens.
“Honduras.”
“We’ve been looking there-”
“There’s an island off the coast. Pull it up.”
Knight got to work and enlarged the image. Then he started pulling up other images on the other screens. There were topographical, road, and climate maps which would be helpful in planning a rescue. The guys filtered in quickly, everyone eager to know why they had been called in suddenly.
“I received a call on my private number just ten minutes ago. An unidentified man told me that he knows where Chance is. He didn’t even try to mask the call. We were able to trace the call to an island off Honduras. From what he’s told me, Chance is planning an escape, but Payton is there also and he won’t leave without her.”
“Is he okay?” Gabe asked.
“I’m not sure. He said that there have been bad times, but he was holding his own.”
“How do we know that we can trust this guy?” Derek asked. “For all we know, this is a ploy to draw us out and kill us.”
“We don’t know, but we can’t ignore this either. We have a location and we have to start planning. According to this man, Chance said to wait until he had a plan in place, then they would make contact again.”
“I think we should go in and take them by surprise. Blow the fucking place sky high and get him and Payton the fuck out of there,” Jackson said fiercely.
“What if there are other prisoners on the island?” Cazzo said. “We can’t put other innocent people in danger to save Chance and he wouldn’t want us to.”
“For now, I want you all to break up into groups. Look into the island and find me the best fucking way to attack this head on. Becky’s looking into logistics. We need an updated inventory of what we have to work with. When we’ve got a plan in place, we need to see if we have the supplies necessary or if we need to buy more”
“Cap,” Ice looked at me uncomfortably, “do we even have the resources to fund this trip? We’ve been out of work for so long and we’ve already done several missions. We’ve got to be running low on funds.”
There was no point denying it. At this point, we were all in it together. It was their lives just as much as mine. “We’re pretty low. Honestly, we may not have enough to pull this off, but we can’t give up.”
“Then let us buy in,” Hunter said. “We could sell our houses like the girls suggested.”
“I won’t let you all sell off your homes.”
“If we don’t have a business, then what exactly are we supposed to go home to?”
Gabe had a point, but even if we pulled this off, where was everyone supposed to go?
“And where does everyone go when this is over?”
“The panic room,” Burg said. “There’s plenty of room for all of us until we rebuild.”
I looked around the room at all the guys. They all looked dead serious about doing this. It felt wrong, like I had failed them. And hadn’t I? I was their leader, their boss and I had brought this down on all of them.
“If you are serious about doing this, then the ownership of the business changes. It will no longer be my business, but a team run business. While Cazzo, Derek, and I currently hold the highest percentage of the business, you will now have the power to replace me, if you choose.”
“Why would we replace you?” Cazzo asked.
“I failed all of you and I’m man enough to admit it. You all deserved better than to be on the run, torn away from your lives because-”
“Alright,” Sinner stood. “Enough of this bullshit. It’s time to vote. Now, seeing as how Cap and I are practically brothers-”
“Lovers,” Burg coughed.
“Hey, who took a tranie home?”
Burg stood, growling at Sinner. What was the point of all this again?
“No snappy comebacks?” Sinner grinned. “As I was saying, since I’m closest to Cap, you know, helping deliver his child and all, I suggest that I be appointed to run Reed Security. I think it’s time we shake things up a bit.”
“What are you proposing?” Lola asked.
“Whoa, now hold on a second, Lola. I know it was always meant to be you and me, but we’re both married. This thing between us can’t go anywhere.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Not an asshole, but I am the sexiest of the bunch of you meatheads. The ladies are naturally drawn to me. All those damsels in distress come crawling-”
“Their crawling away from you, dickhead,” Ice retorted. “If anyone’s going to take over the reins, it’s going to be me.”
Jules snorted and then coughed as he choked on his water. “You think you can have the biggest buy-in? With what money? I wouldn’t give you one hundred dollars for that shack you call a house. You’d get more from the insurance if you just burned it down.”
“How can you still make Lindsey live in that?” Chris asked. “It’s so fucking cramped.”
“If I wasn’t always out there saving your ass, I could actually try and build a bigger house.”
“Wait a minute,” Jules stood, shoving back his chair. “Let’s get one thing straight. I was the one that took the fall so you two assholes could get out of the building. If anyone laid down their life, it was me.”
“If we’re gonna compare who gave the most, remember that I was tortured and I still didn’t give up my client. Now, which of you did that?” Sinner asked smugly.
“I lost the ability to walk and came back stronger than all of you,” Cazzo replied. “So, you lost the use of your dick for a little while. I couldn’t fucking walk. I think the honors should go to me.
”
“Let’s not forget why Claire calls me Superman,” Derek said, puffing out his chest like he was a superhero.
“Yeah,” Hunter snorted, “let’s get the man that dresses in tights to run the company.”
“Why not have Lola and I run the business?” Florrie suggested. “There’s way too much testosterone in this place.”
“Because we don’t want our clients thinking we’re weak.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Lola shoved back her chair and got in Gabe’s face.
“Oh, come on. Ever since you married Ryan, you cry at the drop of a hat.”
“I don’t shed a fucking tear over putting a bullet in someone. Should we test that theory out on you?”
“I’m all for it,” Alec nodded. “Let the women take over.”
“You’re only saying that because you’re fucking Florrie.” Craig punched him in the arm. “Thanks for telling me, asshole.”
“You were on a team with them all this time and you didn’t know?” I asked.
“It’s not like I was in the room when they were fucking.”
“Okay, I vote that we do not elect the douchebag that didn’t know his teammates were fucking for two years,” Rocco said. “And I know I’m still new here, but maybe that’s what you need. Fresh blood.”
“I’ll give you some fresh blood,” Chris said, whipping out the knife from his leg holster.
“No need to get touchy. It was just a suggestion.”
“What about you, Knight? What do you think?” I asked.
“I think if I was in charge, I’d shoot every fucking one of you just so I didn’t have to hear the stupid shit you say.”
“Alright,” I sighed, “let’s put it to a vote. All those in favor for Sinner to take over, raise your hand.” Sinner raised his fucking hand and Cazzo slapped him on the back of the head.
“Okay, all those in favor for Cazzo to take over, raise your hand.” No one raised their hand.
“Can we stop this fucking bullshit and get some actual work done?” Knight growled. “All those in favor of Cap staying exactly where he fucking is so we don’t have some fucking idiot take over and ruin the whole goddamn business, raise your hand.”
Chance Page 11