by TJ Dallas
I pulled myself up onto a stool, crossing my legs under the table. I sipped my cocktail for a few spins to get my bearings, studying the other players. Four men and a woman sat around the table. They weren’t betting big, but they appeared to know what they were doing. I glanced at the placard at the edge. Fifteen pounds minimum for inside bets and a thousand pounds maximum.
The inside bets were more specific, wagering on an individual number, rather than just a colour, odds, or evens. The maximum allowed for inside bets was smaller than for outside bets, as they generally had higher payouts. I turned to the croupier. “One thousand, straight up, on three.”
The croupier nodded, accepting my chip. I sipped at my cocktail as the rest of the players chose their stake.
The croupier released the ball, and I watched closely, adrenaline rising in my chest. I grit my teeth as it landed. Twenty-four.
Two of the men high-fived next to me, their eyes lighting up at their winnings. I rolled my eyes. Chill out, you bet ten quid on black. Treat yourself to a pizza when you leave. I passed the croupier another chip. “Again.”
An hour later, and I was starting to get frustrated. I growled, the ivory ball clicking methodically as it spiralled in the wheel. I clenched my fist as it landed in black, yet again. Fucking hell.
I was getting angry now, and I banged my fist on the table. The roulette wheel wasn’t co-operating, and I chastised myself for participating in the first place. I no longer had my favourite lucky red underwear. They’d been left behind under the table in the restaurant when Jessica had so smoothly removed them, and while I’d contemplated going back for them, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to do it. I had other pairs, but those had been my favourite. They were old and had small holes in the waistband where the stitching had come loose, but I craved them back. I doubted they’d still be there, having been disposed of when the cleaners came in the morning.
I finished the last of my cocktail in a rough gulp, slamming the glass down harder than I intended. The delicate stem snapped, a trickle of blood rolling over the joint of my thumb. I scowled, bringing my hand to my mouth.
“Are you OK?” the man next to me asked, looking uneasy.
I waved him away. “Fine.”
I glanced at the floor as one of the security guards looked in my direction. I only had a handful of chips left. I’d tumbled into the Catch-22; once I’d started to lose, I’d convinced myself I could win it back, but each throw-down kept getting swept away from me after the ball landed in a pocket. I began to wonder if the wheel was off-kilter. A tilted wheel would be ample reason to make a complaint to the management, and I narrowed my eyes as I placed my chip. I glared at the croupier, and he dropped his gaze, refusing to catch my eye. Either he’s incompetent, or he’s cheating. I felt a snarl rising in my throat.
“No more bets,” he called as the ball slipped from the track and into the wheel. I followed the ball like a cat watching a mouse. My pulse quickened, a coil starting deep inside me. It started to slow. For fuck’s sake. Thirteen!
I shoved myself from the table. Eyes widened around me as I stalked towards the exit. My chest tightened, the thought of leaving my money behind snaking its way around my throat like a python. I struggled to draw a breath.
I made it outside, the cool night air blowing into my face. I grit my teeth as I strode towards the Cardinal, resisting the compulsion to turn around with every step. I tried not to think of the twenty thousand pounds I’d left behind.
I reached the Cardinal and yanked the door open. The lift was slow today, and I drummed my fingers impatiently against the handrail. The doors finally opened, and I stormed towards my office, keeping my eyes low. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. I put a hand in my pocket, feeling for my keys.
Someone grabbed me from behind and slapped a hand over my mouth. I tried to scream as they lifted me from my feet and forced me into my office, my eyes wide. I kicked my legs out, trying to twist my head.
A male voice snarled in my ear, “Screaming will make it worse.”
11
Bella
I whimpered, holding my hands up in surrender. My throat closed up, and my heart hammered in my chest. I heard more footsteps behind me.
“Shut the door, Jacob,” the man hissed, and I heard the door click closed.
Another two men entered my field of vision, and I swallowed hard. Both were tough, covered in tattoos, with shaven heads. One man lifted the bottom of his T-shirt as he placed a finger to his lips.
I know you, I thought. You’re the man from the park.
The butt of a pistol sticking out of the waistband of his jeans was indisputable, and I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.
“Freddy, give me the duct tape,” the first man muttered.
Freddy was the man with the gun, and he sneered as he stepped forward, a fat roll of grey duct tape in his hand. He pulled out a long length, ripped it with his teeth, and then the man uncovered my mouth.
“Who are—”
The duct tape stopped me from continuing, and a powerful hand seized the back of my neck, forcing me to the floor. I threw my hands out to break my fall, the stone scraping my knees.
“Shut up. If you make another sound, I’ll slice that tongue right out, do you hear?”
I cried, nodding through my sobs. My heart raced, a pounding behind my ribcage that caused a rush in my ears.
Freddy grabbed my arms, and metal pinched my skin as he tightened a handcuff around my wrist. He grabbed my hair, hauling me upright, and threw me towards my desk. I scrabbled to get away, but he was on me again in a heartbeat, capturing my other arm. I screamed again. He dragged my shoulders back and shackled my other wrist around the leg of my desk. I squeezed my eyes shut, sobbing. Harry!
Bella? she replied, her voice instantly on edge. What’s happened?
I d-don’t know, there are men here. I—
I fell silent as one man kneeled in front of me. He gripped my cheeks and forced my gaze up, scrutinising my face with his brows furrowed. “Are you certain she’s the right one?”
“Yeah, that’s her. She’s got the tattoo on her neck, and there aren’t that many women with dreadlocks.”
My mind raced. Did they know me? What have I done?
I thought back over the people I’d hustled in the last few months, but none of these four men seemed familiar. I was always careful; no one had any inkling of what I’d accomplished. Could all four just be sore losers, come to claim back their losses?
The man released my cheeks. “Check out the rack on her,” he jeered, and I abruptly felt sick. “She could abuse me any day of the week.”
“Shut up, Leon, you pervert.” The man who must be Jacob rolled his eyes. “We just need to keep her quiet until the casino closes. We can’t take her while there’s four hundred people out there.”
He sat in my chair, and I heard him rifling through my drawers. I growled. Get your grubby paws off my stuff.
“What’s in this box?” Jacob stood in front of me, rattling my metal container. “Where’s the key?”
I kept my eyes down, but he lowered to my level as he said, “Remember what I said about your tongue?”
I nodded.
“Good.” He ripped the duct tape off, and I gasped, crying at the bitter sting. He clapped a hand over my mouth. “Last warning,” he growled. “Where’s the key?”
“I don’t know why you’re here, I haven’t—”
“Where’s the fucking key?”
“Who are you? You’ve got the wrong—”
“Bloody hell.” He picked up the roll of duct tape again, pressing another sticky length over my mouth.
Harry, please, I begged.
I’m on my way, pet. Fucking move, she snapped.
I can’t, I’m—
Not you, the arseholes clogging up the damn st
airs. I fucking hate Saturdays.
“What did the boss say about her?” Another man spoke now, looking over the various treasures on my shelf. Poker chips, foreign currencies, various IOUs; I never forget a debt owed.
He stopped pacing in front of another gold bar, that one worth twenty thousand pounds. He picked it up, spinning it in his fingertips, and I growled again, anger surging through me. Mine. Put that back.
Bella? Are you OK? Emilia’s voice was concerned in the back of my mind, and I knew she could sense my agitation. In my opinion, petty thieves were the worst kind of criminal.
There are men here; they think I’ve done something, I sputtered.
What?
I don’t know.
Damn it! I’m in Musselburgh just now. Is Harry there?
She’s on her way.
Good. I’m leaving now. I’ll be as quick as I can. Have they hurt you?
Not yet. My stomach knotted.
Shit.
“From what I heard, she shagged his wife,” Jacob muttered, bringing my attention back. “I didn’t ask for the details.”
I froze. What?
“Jules?” Leon asked.
“No, his other wife,” Jacob snapped. “Yes, Jules, you idiot.”
In any other circumstance, I’d have taken a moment to appreciate the name, but my stomach plummeted. The woman in the blue dress. She was married? And to someone important if he had henchmen doing his dirty work. A crime boss? My eyes widened. I still wore her necklace, but they hadn’t noticed yet.
I started to panic.
Harry suddenly barrelled in, the door flying open with an ear-splitting thud against the wall. I tried to warn her, but the duct tape prevented any intelligible words. She saw me immediately, and the colour drained from her face. I shook my head as she moved towards me.
Freddy released the safety of the gun at the same time that Harry whirled around, grabbing his arm and forcing it upward. The stomach-churning crack of his elbow dislocating echoed around the room, and I balked.
He roared, and I tried to warn her again, but the warnings fell on deaf ears. She didn’t need my alert; the other three men had already surrounded her.
Her eyes darted between them, trying to work out which would move first. Harry was strong, but she didn’t have the muscle to beat them all. She was fast, though, and she could use it to her advantage. Most often, larger muscles were for display rather than practicality; all steroids and veins with no substance to them. I wouldn’t want to test the theory, but I prayed it made them slower and clumsier.
Harry made the first move, kicking the side of one man’s knee. He dropped with an agonising groan. He got hold of her ankle, and she jerked her leg back with a snarl, but he held tight. Jacob saw his opportunity.
He tried to grab her, but she pulled out of his reach, landing a hefty upper cut which made his jaw clatter. I’m positive I saw a tooth fly across the room, or perhaps many parts of many teeth. She growled as the third man, Leon, snatched her from behind and forced her arms behind her.
Still struggling to loosen her foot from the first man’s grip, she hissed and finally twisted it out of his fingers. She ground her feet as she flung her head back, catching Leon square in the nose.
She spun around in a blur, landing a forceful punch to his jaw. He doubled over when she lifted a knee into his groin, and even I flinched at the sound that escaped his throat when he sank to his knees. She’d barely turned before the first two men were back up again, and they moved in together this time, grappling, scrambling, and frantically trying to restrain her.
She was quick, but their combined force brought her down. Jacob knocked her clean out with a well-placed elbow to her temple. There was blood at the corner of her mouth as she hit the floor.
I watched in horror as they yanked her up, my heart hammering in my chest. She’s still breathing, for now.
Her head lolled forward as they pulled her to her knees, securing her hands together behind her back with another pair of handcuffs. I studied her carefully as they tied her to another leg of my desk. Her chest moved, and a tear slipped from the corner of my eye. This is my fault; I’ve done this.
I’d panicked, screaming her name, and she’d come to my valiant rescue, only now she was as helpless as I was. If the men had incapacitated Harry, and Emilia wasn’t here, there was no one else powerful enough to beat them back.
I started hyperventilating, trying not to imagine the million and one ways they would punish me. I shook my head, struggling to erase the harrowing thoughts coursing through my brain. More tears streaked down my cheeks.
The men griped about the various injuries that Harry had inflicted, and they eyed her warily. They’d never expected one woman to fight as hard or throw a punch as powerful as she had. One man limped where she’d caught his knee, Jacob was inspecting his shattered teeth with blood caked to his chin, and Leon still had his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose.
I realised one man was missing. Freddy was nowhere to be seen. I snapped my head around.
“Looking for me?” he snarled, and my scream was muffled by the tape, his voice right in my ear. I tried to pull away, but he grabbed my cheeks, squeezing hard until I whimpered. “She can’t help you now. Should we expect any more scrappy little bitches?”
I shook my head, trying to look anywhere other than his venomous ice-blue eyes. His face was millimetres from my own, and I could feel the spittle from his mouth when he spoke.
I wasn’t asking anyone else for help. My stomach clenched at the mere thought of Althea, Georgia, or Riley getting involved. Even Madison. She was never anyone’s favourite, but I still felt sick at the thought of her getting hurt. This was my problem, and I needed to deal with it. I just wished I’d dealt with it before I’d brought Harry here. My eyes flickered to her again.
Freddy released my cheeks, and I tried to gasp. The tape was tight to my skin, and I struggled to breathe as he stepped over me and walked towards the others. He’d wrapped his arm in a sloppily constructed sling, and he grimaced as he walked, fumbling with the gun in his left hand. He’d drawn with his right, and that’s the arm Harry had dislocated. Resting the gun against his thigh, he fiddled with the safety catch.
The deafening bang resounded around the room after he pulled the trigger instead, firing a bullet that ricocheted off the stone wall and smashed through the window. I screamed again, trying to duck and closing my eyes against the shards of glass raining down on me.
“For fuck’s sake, give that to me,” Leon shouted, snatching the gun away. “Was that in case the whole damn building didn’t know we were here? Absolute jackass.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“All right, don’t get your panties in a twist. The building’s run by women.” Freddy motioned his head towards me and smiled. “I doubt any of the others will be a challenge.”
“They still know how to call the police, and there’s four hundred people on the other side of that door. How the fuck are we meant to get her out now? He wants her alive.” Leon grabbed a bag and started throwing various items into it.
Dirty, thieving bastard. Intense anger surged through me, the muscles tightening in my neck. I stretched out my fingers, balling them up into fists.
My eyes widened as the edge of something small brushed against my fingertips. I edged back, curling my fingers around the object. It only took a second to identify it: a paper clip that I hadn’t tidied up this morning was lodged between the gaps in the stones.
I let out a slow, steady breath. I’d picked more locks than I cared to remember; I just needed a good enough angle. I started unfolding the paper clip.
“Hurry up,” one man growled, and I tried not to look. I didn’t want to them to hurry up; I desperately needed a minute.
I started to dread what would happen when my time was up. There was no way they’d leave me here. Ha
rry maybe, but not me. People lost kneecaps, or worse, in situations less significant than this. The largest gang in Edinburgh were the Old Smokies, and I tried not to remember all the horrific stories I’d heard about them. I gulped, trying to hold off the panic attack.
I heard a painful groan. Harry grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut against the blinding throb in her skull. She opened one eye, squinting to look at the man that approached her.
“Ah, welcome back, Sleeping Beauty.” Leon laughed.
Harry just looked at him, trying to focus. I couldn’t tell whether she knew what was happening or whether she’d taken such a knock, she was still out of it. She frowned, her eyes scanning his face, and then she swallowed hard, trying to moisten her dry mouth.
“No wonder all of your girls sleep with other women,” she muttered. “Look at the fucking state of you.”
My face dropped. Yep. We were screwed.
I flinched and closed my eyes, just in time to avoid seeing the butt of the gun connecting with Harry’s jaw. I heard a gut-wrenching crack and forced myself to peek through one eye.
She spat a mouthful of blood on the floor and turned back to face Leon. I froze at her expression. The corners of her mouth were pulled up in a grin, blood pooling from a deep cut on her bottom lip. Her eyes were manic, fierce, and bright, and they dared him to touch her again. More blood trailed over her eyebrow from the first time they’d struck her, and it dripped to the floor as she stared him down.
I kept fiddling with the cuffs at my back. Picking locks was second nature to me, but somehow, I just couldn’t get the paper clip at the right angle. I pushed it into the keyhole again, feeling for the tiny key pins that I needed to press against, to release the lock, but I just couldn’t find it. I was getting frustrated, but I tried to focus, watching Harry out of the corner of my eye.
Things were getting more serious now, and my breath caught in my throat. My stomach felt like lead, and I started to fear for our safety. While we were technically immortal, and we couldn’t die from disease or old age, we could be killed by blunt force trauma. If Leon held that gun to her head and pulled the trigger, Harry wouldn’t come back from that. Her damn arrogance will get her killed.