Caged

by Shanna Ehrlich

  Fifteen minutes passed and Trevor still hadn’t seen Annie leave the building. He hoped she was just reconsidering and not that he had already missed her. If he knew where the bank was he would have gone there first, but she never told him what bank, only that he added her to one of his accounts. So he was stuck waiting, praying he wasn’t too late.

  As he waited he noticed a familiar black SUV pull to the curb and watched Braxton step out. What the fuck? He was back. Why hadn’t he returned his calls? Throwing caution to the wind Trevor stormed over, confronting Braxton with a shove, a brave move on his part that earned his back up against the SUV and a forearm pressed against his trachea. “Why didn’t you call me back?” he choked out and Braxton released his hold. “I’ve been out here trying to fix your problems, and you can’t even bother to pick up the phone?”

  “Don’t ever fucking shove me again. I let you get away with a lot of things. That’s not one of them. Now get out of here. She’s upstairs and I’m this fucking close,” he held up his thumb and forefinger, “to getting her back, and I don’t want her seeing you and ruining it for me.”

  “You don’t think I know where she is? Did you not listen to my voicemails? She’s not there Braxton. I was hoping she was, but I was too late.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “She’s leaving you. She only came here for the money. She’s gone.”

  “No,” he began briskly walking inside. “I just talked to her. She called me when I landed. Why would she call if she was planning on leaving?”

  The elevator door began to close and Trevor followed him in, risking everything if she was still up stairs. “I don’t know. To find out where you were. How much time she had.”

  Braxton bent over and gripped the hand rail. He let his mind wander to the last time she left and his arms began to tremble, shaking with such force to make Trevor take a step back. When the doors opened he didn’t waste any time calling out for her. “Annie!” He ran forward, his eyes darting back and forth before he ran up stairs to his room. “B! Please please please please,” he chanted as he moved back downstairs, checking each room one by one. He stopped when he got to the office, her phone sitting on the edge of the desk, his chair facing away from him. Spinning it around he almost fell into it when it came up empty. She wasn’t there. She was gone, just like Trevor said.

  “I’m sorry man—”

  “Get out of my way,” he cut Trevor off and pushed him aside, running back toward the elevator. The door was still open and Trevor followed him inside just as it closed.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to find her.”

  Twenty-Six

  Traffic was unusually light for a Thursday morning and the cab pulled up to the bank in record time. She hadn’t meant to stay on the phone with Brax for as long as she did. Was hoping his phone would go right to voicemail so she’d know he was still on his flight, still far away, but then he answered. Just hearing his voice made her miss him, what they used to have. It was shocking how overnight he could go from being a grade A asshole to a sweet and sensitive man willing to do whatever it takes, but it wasn’t enough. That’s not how relationships worked.

  Annie had planned to leave Brax a note. She had it all worked out in her mind. What it would say, how he would react, but she never got the time to write one. When she managed to get off the phone with him she knew she had less than twenty minutes and was cutting it close.

  Leaving her phone on the desk she walked downstairs and asked Ronald where the nearest Starbucks was. He offered to get a coffee for her, but she waved him off, pretending like she needed to get out in the fresh air.

  She took off in the direction Ronald told her, needing him to believe that’s where she was going incase Brax asked, but the second she turned the corner, her hand went up in the air, hailing the nearest cab.

  The tall bank glistened in the morning sun as Annie peered up. This was it. No going back. She strode forward with confidence, her large, black glasses hiding the intimidation in her eyes.

  While still early the entrance swarmed with people, some dressed in suits heading into work and others like her, eager to access their accounts. One man in particular caught her eye, she recognized him from somewhere, but couldn’t put her finger on it. It made her steps falter. Why did this man look so familiar? And then in the blink of an eye she remembered. His bald head, rigid facial features. She’d only seen him once, didn’t pay him much attention at the time, too focused on the eye candy he was with, but there was no doubt in her mind it was him. Benny. Brax must have sent him. Figured out what she was up to and sent him to stop her.

  Spinning on her heels, she hurried back down to the curb, walking as fast as she could to get away without stirring up attention. Not wanting to wait for another cab she continued down the street, looking over her shoulder to see if he was following. To her surprise, he wasn’t.

  Turning the corner, she began to run with no clue as to where she was going. She just needed to get away. She’d made a mistake. Thought she had it all planned out, that nothing could go wrong, but she’d underestimated Brax. He dealt with conniving people on a daily basis, people who were better at it than she was.

  Her lungs burned as she continued to run, the walkway crowded with people as she pushed to get past. One lady she nearly ran over and when she curved around she almost fell. Almost. But a hand held firm at her waist, halting her forward motion.

  “Whoa. Slow down there.”

  She barely turned to get a look at the man behind her before dread washed over and the barrel of a gun pressed against her lower back.

  “That’s right. Now be a good girl and don’t do anything stupid. The boss just wants to talk.”

  He walked her forward with a calm yet hard hand, guiding her where he wanted to go. An old, white van idled at the curb ahead, and Annie knew that’s where they were headed.

  She wanted to make a break for it, wanted to turn and try to take his gun, wanted to reach into her purse for the pepper spray she carried, but those moves were all futile. If she tried any of them it’d only get her killed. While intimidating, getting in the van was her safest option. Would he be in there? Would he kill her himself? Maybe he’d forgive her like he’d done so many times before. She was after all the love of his life, or so he told her. She couldn’t believe he’d honestly ever kill her. If she did, she never would have gone through with her foolish plan in the first place. On some level she knew he’d always forgive her. She just hoped she was right.

  The back of the van was dark and lacking of windows. It was also lacking Brax, just she and Benny. The driver put the van into gear without direction and pulled into traffic. Annie sat unmoving, huddled to the side with a gun pointed in her direction.

  “I’m going to put my gun away and you’re going to be good,” he told her, not expecting a response. He knew she’d comply. She had no other option. “Hold your hands out.”

  Annie did as she was told, stretching her hands forward as he secured them with zip ties. He did the same to her ankles and she wondered if this was really necessary. What did he think she would do?

  After he was finished he kneeled in front of her, examining his handy work by pulling on the ties. Testing she was secure. Then he looked her in the eyes, pulled his arm back and punched her square on the cheek. She didn’t even register the pain. The world just went dark.

  Annie woke up when the van jerked to a halt. She was blindfolded, couldn’t see a thing, but could feel everything. Her face screamed in agony and she let out what started as a whimper and turned into a full fledged sob. She’d never felt anything like it before. Her face was pulsing, she couldn’t move her jaw, and each time her cries forced movement, it only made her cry that much harder.

  The doors of the van opened and closed. She could hear Benny talking, telling someone to carry her in. She was lifted over a shoulder and dangled without fight. They took her somewhere cold, dark; even with the
blindfold she could tell she was no longer outside.

  The person holding her carelessly tossed her body down on the cement floor, her head ricocheting against a brick wall. If it were possible for her to cry harder she did.

  A lock clicked close and she could hear the man’s footfalls as he walked away, somewhere across the room, and took the opportunity to pull down on the blindfold. Blinking several times, her eyes adjusted quickly to the faint lighting. She was in a cell of some sort, a small caged in area no bigger than a closet. She could see through the fencing where Benny and another man were talking, too far away to hear their words, but when the man’s hands went up and Benny pulled out his gun, she knew what they were discussing wouldn’t end well for one of them.

  Benny was quick to pull the trigger. The loud sound of the bullet sending Annie’s hands to her ears. Benny looked over to her as the man fell to the ground, his face devoid of emotion. Like killing a man was no big deal. And it probably wasn’t. She suddenly felt like an idiot, getting herself mixed up in this crazy world of hate and violence like it was something she could handle.

  He walked over to her, weapon still draw and she had never been more scared in her whole life. This was how she was going to die.

  Looking up to the ceiling she began to pray, had never really believed in God, but at that moment she hoped she was wrong. Maybe he did exist. Maybe he’d take pity and save her.

  “No one’s coming to save you,” said Benny, knowing exactly what she was thinking. “Not God, not Ax, he doesn’t even know you’re here, and when he figures it out, you’ll be long gone.” Benny slid open the gate and took a step inside, kneeling beside her. “Do you know what you’ve done to him? He was one of the most feared men in the state before you came along. Now he’s a joke, chasing ass to the other side of the country.”

  Annie found the words to speak, but her voice still trembled with fear. “He’ll kill you. You won’t get away with this.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure. I’m going to hand you off to his biggest enemy. He’ll never know it was me.”

  Benny unlaced the blindfold from around her neck and Annie cringed away. She didn’t want him touching her. He made her sick. Not to mention her cheek was still throbbing because of him.

  “Don’t be so distraught my dear, you’re going to become a martyr. Our members will tell stories about you for years to come. How Ax’s one true love was taken by the Baller Grims, raped and murdered. He’ll never stand for it. We’ll finally go to war like we should have months ago if he wasn’t too busy being pussy whipped over you and choosing to involve the Feds instead of taking care of business himself. And when we do, we’re going to crush them. Take them out and take over everything they have.”

  “And why would the Baller Grims go along with your fucked up plan?”

  “Because they don’t know any better. They’ll think I’m switching sides. Ax’s new weak resolve is not a secret. Even the Feds don’t respect him. He gave them a deadline and they never followed through, and still he has yet to retaliate. Why would I want to keep fighting for him when I could join them? Help them take down the Emmo. This won’t be the first time they’ve tried to hurt us. They’ve been killing and branding in our name all over this fucking state, or so we think. If I bring you to them, they’ll know I’m serious. They know who you are, everyone does, brand or no brand, but without it, you are helpless. There are no rules. And if they do to you like they’ve done to the others, we’ll finally have proof it’s been them all along.”

  If it wasn’t her being thrown to the gauntlet, Annie would have thought it was a brilliant idea. One Brax would never have gone along with, but brilliant none the less.

  Benny walked away and made the call. He explained it to the person on the phone just as he had to her, that he was switching sides. From her one sided perspective they didn’t seem to be as accepting of the idea as Benny imagined, but then he told them about her.

  The call escalated quick after that, making plans for the drop, assuring them it wasn’t a trap and that he’d come alone. Within a span of five minutes her fate was sealed. She was officially going to be handed over to the Baller Grims.

  Benny walked back into the cage and told her he was leaving and would be back to make the trade the following day. He explained how he didn’t trust her alone, was too worried she’d escape and he apologized for what he had to do. Then, reaching for her hair, he pulled and used it as leverage to throw her body to the floor and began to kick, over and over while she begged him for mercy. When he was finished she could barely move, was hardly conscious. He would have no problem trusting her now. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  Trevor watched as Braxton paced the apartment, unsure what to do next. They’d raced over to the bank in the hopes of finding her, but she wasn’t there. The banker said she never showed up at all.

  Thinking she changed her mind, they went back to Braxton’s apartment. She wasn’t there either. Ronald at the front desk told them she inquired about going to Starbucks and they checked there next. Still nothing and the employees didn’t recognize her when they showed them a picture. Braxton was beside himself in anguish and Trevor thought he might cry, but always having to be the strong one, he held himself together.

  “If anything happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself. I knew I should have made her get that brand.”

  “Nothing happened to her,” said Trevor, trying to calm him down and praying it was the truth. “Maybe she just needed space to think.”

  “Yeah, I hope you’re right,” he said, sitting on the couch as his phone began to ring.

  “Benny. Tell me you have news. Did you find her?” Braxton’s demeanor went from worried to furious in the blink of an eye. Standing up he kicked the edge of the coffee table, causing it to tumble to it’s side, the glass top cracking into pieces. “Send it to me.”

  “What happened?”

  Braxton didn’t tell him. Couldn’t look at him. Just shook his head.

  “You’re freaking me out. What happened? Did he find her? Is she okay?”

  “She’s not okay,” he chocked out and Trevor’s heart began to race. “They have her. Those fucking assholes have her.” His phone sounded as a text came through and he swiped his finger across the screen, looking at the message and then allowed himself to break. The phone fell from his hand and he dropped to his knees like he no longer had the strength to hold himself up.

  Trevor timidly picked the phone up off the ground, needing to see what he saw. It was a picture. A horrible picture of his best friend, bound and beaten. He barely recognized her.

  Trevor wasn’t as strong as Braxton and the tears began to flow. He should have gotten to her sooner. Should have talked her out of it on the phone. Told her everything and offered to leave with her. They could have run away together. “Who did this? How does Benny have this picture?”

  “They sent it to him. The Baller Grims. It’s retaliation for me giving their names to the Feds.”

  Something came over Trevor, he didn’t know what it was, but at that moment he didn’t feel like himself anymore. He wanted them to pay. Wanted to kill everyone who touched her, and not just kill them, but rip their damn eyes out and cut off their balls until they bled to death in agony. The evil thoughts were vivid and strong-holding. If she died, and even if she didn’t, he would spend the rest of his life making sure each and every Baller Grim met the same misery as she.

  The gun Trevor usually wanted no part in sat holstered at his hip, under the hem of his shirt. He’d practiced with it a few times, wanting to be sure he knew how to use it when the time came, and it was officially that time. He was ready. “We’re going to find her Braxton. No matter what. We’re going to find her and we’re going to kill every last one of them.”

  “We’re not doing anything. I’m going to find her.”

  “You’ve lost your fucking mind,” he yelled, looking him in the eyes. Braxton no longer intimidated him. In that moment nothing did. “You put thi
s tattoo on me. I’m one of yours, remember, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to stand by and wait when I could be helping. Now tell me what to do.”

  Braxton regarded him for a moment and with the nod of his head, relented. “Get out on the street, gather a group of men and do what you do best. Get people to talk. They picked her up somewhere between here and the bank. Someone must have seen something. Try to find out which way they went; what vehicle they took her in.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to do something I never thought I’d do. I’m going to the cops. I can’t risk them killing her and we need all the help we can get.”

  Involving the police turned out to be a good decision, their knowledge of New York’s underground crime syndicates vast and thorough. Not that it was any shock to Braxton, but they knew who he was, what he represented. He neither confirmed nor denied his association to the Emmo, he simply told them the facts. That he’d been seeing Annabel Nichols for approximately three months. She is the daughter of Steve Andrews, Arizona’s Chief Justice and candidate for Governor. She moved to New York to be with him after leaving her husband. He stayed behind to take care of things and when he got back home she had been taken, a photo sent to his phone from an unknown number with an added Grim Reaper signature icon. The anonymous text to Braxton being something they had to stage to keep Benny out of the investigation.

  The detectives took his testimony, the same two detectives who picked up Annie that day in the airport. They were skeptical at first, but the more he explained, the more they came to his side, knowing this was a case that could make their careers; saving the soon to be Governor’s daughter from a group of notorious felons. When news broke to the press they’d run with it. It would make every headline across the country.