The Line: The Complete Series

by Nikki Rose

  Why was I letting this girl get to me? She was frustrating as hell. Then again, it was understandable considering what she knew. She thought I was a killer and technically that was true. She didn’t know I’d never really harm her. I couldn’t bear to see her hurt. Watching the pain in her eyes when I took her was hard enough. I hated that she saw me as a monster. But, maybe—maybe she was seeing who I really was.

  I needed to tell her the truth. I needed to explain to her the full extent of the circumstances. Maybe then she’d understand and see me for who I was and not who she thought I was.

  I ran faster, pushing myself farther into the woods as my feet crunched on the dry fallen pine needles. Losing my temper is not the way to win her over. I needed to show her the real me and the real me would never yell at a woman like that. The real you wouldn’t hold a girl captive either. I couldn’t risk her running away. If I could show her that it was okay to depend on me. That I wasn’t going to hurt her or take away her independence. I just needed to make sure she was going to stay put a little longer.

  I rounded a bend as my watch beeped. It was time to turn around and head back. I turned around and jogged up the path. I glanced down one of the smaller, less-traveled paths where the small stream cut through the tree-lined bank. Sunlight peered in through the tall branches and cast rays over the mossy stones. It was beautiful—peaceful. I stopped and breathed deep, taking in the view.

  I was sure Addy would love to paint a scene like that. Once I didn’t feel like she was going to run, I’d have to take her there with an easel and let her paint. It would be good for her to get some fresh air, see there still was a world outside those barred windows.

  My alarm went off again warning me my hour was almost up so I sprinted up toward the cabin. I knew Chris would give me hell if I was late.

  I walked in the door with only one minute to spare. Chris sat on my couch watching TV and eating my food.

  “Hey man, you feel better?”

  “Yeah, that jog did a lot to help clear my mind.”

  “Good. I gotta get going. Some of us still have to work.”

  “Email me the files and I’ll do what I can remotely. I just can’t leave her right now.”

  “You need to follow protocol and turn her over. Let someone else deal with her so you can focus on the job.”

  “I’ve turned her life upside down too much as it is. I’m not going to do that.”

  “So, you’re going to leave her locked up in that room?”

  “There has to be a way to make her understand. And I’m going to find it.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Addy

  I wasn’t sure how long I cried before I realized I was just wasting my energy. My eyes were swollen and sore as I stared out at the orange and blue swirled sky above the tree line. I’d been in that room all day with hardly any interaction other than the argument with Hunter.

  I just wanted to go home and he said that I could but just not yet. I wasn’t sure if I should believe that or not. Had he really fooled me before? Had he ever lied to me? He may not have been forthcoming but he had never outright lied.

  Was I foolish for thinking that maybe he really would let me go? That I just had to bide my time until whatever needed to happen, happened to make him release me from this prison?

  Heavy footfalls grew louder signaling someone was coming. I could hear the jingling of keys and the lock releasing. The door creaked open slowly and Hunter peeked inside.

  With damp hair slicked back, dressed and a button-down shirt and jeans, he looked different than he had before. Hunter studied me for a moment before stepping fully into the room and locking the door. I was relieved to see that he no longer looked angry when he turned back to look at me.

  “I’d like for you to come down for dinner.” His voice was softer than it had been.

  “That depends. Are you going to make me keep my hands tied?”

  “Yes.” There was no question in his voice.

  “Then I’ll just stay up here.” At that moment my stomach betrayed me and let out a loud growl. I barely had anything for lunch and all that crying seemed to have worked up an appetite.

  “Your stomach thinks otherwise.” He smirked. “Come downstairs and let’s have dinner. I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs.”

  A pang of hunger burrowed in my stomach. I knew he had won but I hated myself for it.

  “Fine.” I sighed and dropped my arms into my lap.

  After being bound and led to the table Hunter secured me to my chair just as he had done before.

  Once he knew I wasn’t going anywhere he turned his back to me long enough to retrieve two large plates of spaghetti and meatballs.

  The table was that with red wine and garlic bread and a basket. And the smells that drifted to my nose had my mouth watering.

  I looked down at my plate of spaghetti and garlic bread and tried to figure out how I’d be able to do this while maintaining the shred of dignity I’d managed to hold onto. I took the fork in my bound hands and attempted to twirl the fork in the noodles. It was harder than I thought it would be but I managed to get a few to stay on the fork. Just as I was lifting it from the plate, the fork slipped and made a loud clattering sound against the plate.

  “Shit.” I cowered as I looked over at Hunter. I was worried he might be angry with me but he continued to eat as if nothing had happened. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until the food was right in front of me.

  I grabbed the garlic bread and took a bite. It was so good that I crammed another bite into my mouth before swallowing. I laid down the bread and made another attempt at getting a bite of spaghetti. I managed to get two noodles into my mouth before the rest slipped from my fork onto the green shirt Hunter had picked out for me.

  I tried again, managing a few more noodles this time. At this rate, I guessed it would be morning before I finished my meal.

  Hunter let out a loud sigh and turned to me. “Let me help.”

  He scooted his chair nearly touching mine, and took the fork from my hands.

  “I don’t need your help.” I snapped.

  “By the look of it, I’d say you do.” He shot back while twirling the noodles on the fork.

  “Well, if you’d untie me, I could easily feed myself.”

  “If you hadn’t tried to run away, I wouldn’t have to tie you up, to begin with. Now open.” He held the fork in front of my face.

  “Well if you ha—” He shoved the food past my lips and I had no choice but to take the bite. I chewed with annoyance but relished the flavor of the spaghetti. Once I swallowed, I finished my thought. “If you hadn’t kidnapped me, I wouldn’t have had to run away.” My voice rose.

  “Well, if you hadn’t overreacted when you saw my tattoo, we could have discussed the situation like rational adults and I wouldn’t have had to kidnap you.”

  “Do you hear how crazy you sound? Normal, rational adults don’t kidnap someone because they won’t listen to them.” I yelled.

  Hunter opened his mouth for a rebuttal but closed it again, looking rather stumped.

  “Well?” I stared at him, waiting, challenging him to come up with an excuse I knew he didn’t have.

  “Okay, so maybe normal rational people don’t kidnap someone to get them to listen but this was extenuating circumstances.”

  “You can’t really be rationalizing kidnapping me?”

  Hunter stabbed the fork into my spaghetti and scooped up a big bite. “Open.”

  “Will you just untie me so I can feed myself?”

  “No.”

  I turned my face away from him and stared at a distant spot on the floor.

  “Fine, then figure out a way to feed yourself.” He dropped the fork onto the plate but I didn’t look his way.

  The chair legs screeched across the floor as he stood up and stormed from the room. I struggled to get another bite of my dinner. It was no easy task. One meatball rolled somewhere under the table but I managed to get one into my mouth
.

  I tensed in my seat as Hunter returned with 2 sets of handcuffs and a long rope. My eyes widened to the size of saucers as I looked up at him and fear.

  “What are you doing? What are those for?”

  “These?” He held up both sets in his hand. “These are a possible solution to our dining predicament.”

  I swallowed hard and tried to remain calm since there wasn’t much, I could do bound the way I was. He knelt beside me on the floor and untied one leg from the chair.

  Hunter quickly latched my ankle with one steel ring attaching the other one to the chair leg. It didn’t take him long to do the same with the other leg. He took a longer piece of rope from his pocket and tied it around my wrist before securing it to the back of the chair. The Rope was long enough that I could reach my fork and plate without a problem but couldn’t bend enough to reach my ankles.

  “There,” he said as he looked at his work with satisfaction and took his seat. “Now you can eat on your own without me having to worry about you escaping.”

  I liked the idea of finally being able to eat like I wanted without depending on him. I had to admit to myself that it was a kind gesture for him to find some sort of compromise. He was, in fact, trying to make my captivity bearable.

  “Thank you,” I whispered before shoveling a big bite of spaghetti into my mouth.

  My words of gratitude seem to shock him as he looked up at me with widened eyes. “You’re welcome.”

  “Did you cook this yourself?” I asked around another bite of my garlic bread.

  “I did.” He sat back and smirked with amusement as I stuffed my face.

  “It’s really good. Where’d you learn to cook?”

  “My mother taught me.” A slight smile played on his lips and I could imagine he was remembering some fun moment of learning to cook with his mom.

  “Does she still cook for you for holidays and stuff?”

  “No. She died.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. Was it recent?”

  “I was six.”

  “But I thought you said...”

  “She kept meticulous notes in her cookbooks of each of her recipes. Cooking from her recipes was a way for me to stay connected to her.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” My heart ached at the sadness in his eyes.

  I tried to reach my hand out to his arm but the rope stopped me midway. I lowered my hand to the table and Hunter smiled down at it but didn’t move any closer. His smile didn’t reach his eyes but softened them ever so slightly.

  “It was a long time ago.”

  We finished our meal in comfortable silence. Afterward, Hunter took me back upstairs for a bath. This time I was allowed my privacy since the windows had been barred. I stayed in the bath for nearly an hour until my hands and feet had wrinkled. Hunter had arranged my clothes in the empty dresser drawers while I was in the bath. When I came out, he sat on the edge of the bed with my favorite set of pajamas laid out beside him.

  “I thought you might be more comfortable in these tonight instead of just a t-shirt. I know it gets chilly up here at night. The heat just can’t seem to keep up with the cold this time of year.”

  I picked up the pajamas and rubbed my hand over the soft fabric. It was nice to have something familiar. I went to change in the bathroom and when I came out Hunter was looking out the window deep in thought with a solemn look on his face.

  “I’m hoping your time here won’t be too long. I hope you know that I’m not doing this by choice.”

  I didn’t speak but instead quietly walked over to the bed and sat down.

  Hunter turned toward me with dark shadows under his weary eyes and studied me for a moment. "I don’t want your time here to be terrible. I’m trying to make you as comfortable as I can until you can go home."

  I hadn’t expected that. What kidnapper tries to make their captive more comfortable? Something told me this man was more than what I’ve given him credit for. Maybe there was something more going on then what I initially assumed.

  “Are there any specific foods you like? Anything I can have Chris pick up on his next grocery run?”

  I thought for a moment. If I could have anything, what would I want? “I’d love to have some ice cream.”

  “Ice cream? We can do that. What flavor is your favorite?”

  “Chocolate.” I smiled for the first time since arriving.

  “Chocolate it is then.” He pulled out his phone and started typing away on it. “There. I texted Chris to let him know. He’s supposed to be doing another grocery run in a few days.”

  I smiled at him, trying to figure out this enigma of a man in front of me.

  “If I’d known ice cream was the key to getting to see you smile again, I would have stopped for some on our way here that very first day.” Hunter chuckled.

  He reached up to my face and I flinched at his touch. I regretted flinching as soon as his smile fell and he tucked a stray hair behind my ear. His voice was a solemn whisper. “You have such a beautiful smile. I’ve missed it.”

  I swallowed hard and turned my eyes toward the floor. What’s a girl to say to something like that? Especially from her kidnapper. I didn’t have to say a word before he saved me from the silence.

  “It’s been a rough couple days.” He cleared his throat and pulled back. “You should get some sleep.”

  I nodded and he pulled the covers down for me, covering me up to my shoulders with the blanket. It was nice not having to be cuffed this time.

  “Comfortable?” He gazed down at me with such tenderness, I had to remind myself this was the man who’d killed a man and kidnapped me.

  I nodded and pulled the blanket up over my shoulder as he walked toward the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked at me. “I’ll be sleeping just on the other side of the wall. If you need anything, just knock. I’m a light sleeper.”

  I smiled and nodded again before he turned off the light and closed the door with a click of the lock.

  CHAPTER 19

  Hunter

  Two weeks passed without incident and I found Addy and I starting to fall into a pretty regular routine. Things had relaxed around the cabin. I let Addy walk freely around the house during the day as long as I was with her. Both doors were deadbolted and I knew I could stop her before she could escape out a window, though I still locked her up in her room at night.

  We’d started spending some time in the living room and I’d even taken her on the back porch for some fresh air a couple of times. I hated having to keep her bound, but I still couldn’t risk her running away.

  After locking Addy in the master bedroom, I went into my office and unfolded the futon as I did every night. I laid on my side and closed my eyes but sleep wouldn’t come. My mind couldn’t seem to shut off. I turned onto my back and stared up at the ceiling before reaching blindly in the dark for my phone and punching in the speed dial to Chris’s cell.

  “Hey man, is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Were you asleep?”

  “Nah, what’s up?”

  “I need to come up with something to make things here more enjoyable for Addy.”

  “Under the circumstances, I’m not sure that’s gonna be possible.”

  “I’ve seen a change in her already. She looks at me with more... tenderness. She actually smiles again. After seeing her smile return, I’d do almost anything to get to see that again.”

  “I bet you’d get a big smile out of her if you let her go,” Chris teased.

  “You know as well as I do that, I can’t do that. Not yet.”

  “Yeah, I know but, if you sent her to the agency to be held, at least you wouldn’t be the bad guy.”

  “I’ll always be the bad guy. I need to think of something I can do that would make her happy, without putting the mission or us at risk.” I closed my eyes and thought back to the first time I saw her from my balcony as she unpacked. She seemed so happy and carefree back then. Now, because of me, she was miserable. I had to make
that right.

  “I wish I knew what to tell you.”

  “I think I might have an idea. You’re planning to do some shopping for us tomorrow, right?”

  “Yeah and I gotta say, I’m not loving being your errand boy.”

  “You think you could come sit with Addy tomorrow instead so I can run out? I have something I need to pick up.”

  Addy and I sat together on the couch. She watched some silly television show and I watched her. She laughed and smiled at the people on the screen. She was so beautiful when she smiled and I wanted to be the reason for that sparkle in her eyes. There was a knock on the door and Addy looked at me.

  “Chris is coming by to sit with you today.”

  “Sit with me? Why?”

  “I have some errands to run.”

  “Oh, okay. What time will you be back?”

  “A little after lunchtime.” I walked to the door and opened it for him but kept my attention on Addy. “You can make yourself a sandwich for lunch. Don’t trust Chris’s cooking.” He punched my arm and I laughed.

  “Hey, my cooking isn’t that bad.” Chris pushed past me into the room. “But I’ll let Addy fix us lunch.”

  The light mood was so much better than when Addy had first arrived.

  “Be good and don’t give Chris any trouble.” I gave her a warning look. Even though things had been better, I was still dealing with some resistance from her.

  “I’ll be good.” She smiled.

  “Good. Otherwise, you might not get your surprise.”

  “My surprise?” Her eyes widened with excitement.

  I nodded and grinned.

  “Oh, what is it?” Addy jumped up and hurried to me.

  “You’ll have to wait and find out.”

  “Aww.” She pushed her lower lip out in a playful pout that was sexy as hell.

  I lifted her chin with a crooked finger so that her eyes met mine. “It will be worth the wait. I promise.”

  That made her smile and I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward and softly pressed a small kiss on the corner of her lips. Her eyes widened but she didn’t step away. Maybe there was hope for us after all.