“Don’t give her too much unless you want her to overdose. I just gave her a taste, she’ll be asking for more soon.” Katsu tells the man with no face.
“She’s gonna make me a ton of cash. Look at that pretty little cunt of hers. I think you ripped yourself off, friend. I would’ve offered you much more if I had seen her before I bought her. But thank you. She sure is sweet.”
“Oh,” I groan out the sound.
“Just remember the deal. If he comes, you need to capture him and call me.”
He who? Ben?
“I know, mate. It’s all good.” He speaks with an accent.
Wrong answer, fucker.
But the accent, what is it? English?
My straps are being unfastened and my body feels weightless. I think someone’s carrying me, but I’m not sure.
“Get her in the van.” The same strange accent says.
“Yes, sir.” I don’t know that voice either.
My body’s thrown in the back of a van, and my eyes close.
Goodnight.
Ben
“Run!” Agent yells at Anna.
What the fuck?
My heart’s leaping into my throat and I start running back toward the building.
“Run, 15. Get out of there it’s a trap!” I hear Agent yelling at her.
What the hell’s going on?
“Baby, get out of there!” I start running hard trying to get to her.
A fucking trap.
“I’m coming, baby girl.” My legs can’t move fast enough. “Keep running, Anna, don’t stop. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Ben, get back to the cabin!” What? No! She can’t ask me to…
BOOM.
My legs don’t move any more. They buckle under me and I crash to the ground.
“Anna!” I scream. “Claire!” My voice is hoarse. I’m on my knees and can’t lift myself up.
“What’s happening?” I hear the voice asking?
“Agent?”
“Yes. You’re Ben Pearson.” He has confidence in his reply.
“Yes. In case we get disconnected my address is 2022 Lionsgate Road, St. Cloud. Find me. We need to get her back.”
My own mask slips on. I need to work here. I have to get her back. She’s my happily ever after. There will be no one else.
Ever.
Only Anna.
I hear a helicopter approaching.
I know Anna’s alive, I can feel it. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach, that explosion has hurt her, but not killed her. I just know with every ounce of my being she’s still breathing.
I’m no good to Anna if I’m dead; I run to cover and watch as the helicopter flies overhead and lands near the now fully-engulfed building my sister was in. I can’t see Anna from where I am. I can’t see anything.
I run to the truck to get the rifle out. Fuck me, why can’t I shoot this damn thing. I sell the fuckers, I need to learn to shoot them. They’re too far away, I wouldn’t hit them and they’d know I’m here. Only Anna could take them out from this distance. I watch through the scope and see that piece of shit Katsu get out of the helicopter and waltz over to her. There’s another member of his security team there with him.
“Look who we have here.” Her Bluetooth’s still active. It’s Katsu who says that. The bodyguard peels back her ski mask. “Now where’s Ben Pace hiding?”
Holy shit.
They’re after me.
“Why the hell are you here, Anna?” Katsu kneels down beside her and I can see him stroking her cheek. Anger surges through me and it takes all my strength to stop myself from running down there and tearing him apart. “I know exactly where to send you. Such a pity, really. You could have ruled with me.” Bile rises in my throat and I can’t help the reaction. I throw up. He’s touching the most precious thing in the world to me and now he’s saying he’s going to ‘send’ her somewhere.
“Get her to the helicopter,” Katsu instructs the guard. The guard bends down and picks Anna up like a ragdoll. She’s lifeless. Did I get it wrong? Is she dead? I lean over and empty the contents of my stomach again. I hear a rustling sound through my Bluetooth.
“What the fuck’s that?” the security guard says and I quickly get him on the scope of Anna’s gun. He’s looking down at what I think is the Bluetooth; it must’ve fallen when they took her ski mask off.
“Oh,” I hear her murmur. Relief washes over me and I know she’s alive. I know Claire has not survived the blast, though. I feel my connection with her has been lost and is gone.
There’s a crackle from the Bluetooth and it brings my focus back to where Anna is; I see the bodyguard rubbing his foot back and forth over what I suspect was our communication.
“Agent, are you still there?” I say.
“Yes I am. What do you need?”
“Give me a minute.”
I take my Bluetooth from my ear and I stand as I watch the rotors of the helicopter start to soar. The helicopter’s up in the air within seconds and I watch as they take my reason for breathing away from me. Tears are falling freely from my eyes and all I can do is stand by uselessly as they leave.
I need to keep it together and I need to get her back.
I stare at the ground and I try to will my body to do what Anna does. Filter out the emotion and get on with the job. I have to have her back. I need her.
Calm finds me. My mind empties and all I can see is the job on hand. The task now, is to get Anna home safely.
I place my Bluetooth in my ear.
“Agent, are you there?”
“I’m here. I’ve managed to get a lock on Katsu Vang’s phone. The helicopter’s heading toward the castle Anna’s was taken to after the explosion in Katsu’s penthouse. I’ll see if I can get into their camera system to watch what’s going on.”
“Okay, I don’t know the number that’s attached to this phone and I need a way to get in contact with you.” I pick up the rifle and get into the truck.
“I’ll text you my number and you your number,” Agent responds.
“Stay close by the phone.” I instruct Agent before I disconnect the call. I’ve stepped up into the role Anna would ordinarily be fulfilling.
I’m in Anna’s truck hurtling toward her cabin. As I approach, I see it’s totally isolated. It’s not crawling with Katsu’s men, which means Katsu doesn’t know about this place.
I open the garage with the remote in the center console and park the Ford in the spot where Anna had it. I take the guns we brought with us and go through to her family room.
My own safe room doesn’t have as many guns as Anna’s does. The specially designed compartment I had hidden in my safe room doesn’t hold as many as I’d like. I think I’ll be rectifying that once I get her back. I easily open her safe room with the code I’ve seen her enter a few times since we got here yesterday.
My head’s not working right; it’s crowded with too many thoughts. I need to get a plan together if I want to successfully save her.
I strip and get in the shower, I’ve noticed in the past Anna does this when she needs to clear her mind, so I’ll try it in hopes I’ll be able to identify a course of action and turn it into a plan.
The water temperature is just teetering on too hot, but that’s how I like it–almost painful, but not quite. I stand under the falling water and my mind takes me to my love, Anna.
It’s also full of the sadness I feel for the loss of my sister. I’ll need to phone Emily and tell her what’s happened. She’s waiting for my call, as is Claire’s husband, Jeremy. I just can’t believe after all these years, someone was able to work us out.
Emily will have to stay in hiding until I get Anna back and we both kill that motherfucker Katsu. I know she won’t want him left alive, regardless of how Agent’s managed to set him up with the Yakuza. I was listening to her call yesterday, but I’ll have to clarify with Agent what their original plans were.
I can’t think of anything else but to just go in and g
et her, wherever she is.
Once I’m out and dried off I pick my phone up. There are no calls from Agent. Just one text message with two numbers, mine and his.
I dial Emily’s disposable phone Anna insisted on.
“Ben, what’s happening?” I hear the desperation in her voice.
“Emily, I think you’d better sit.” I follow my own words and sit on Anna’s side of the bed. I place my free elbow on my knee and let my head fall forward to my hand, my fingers running through my hair, tugging at the ends as I repeat the process. Emily’s voice whimpers.
“I….. no, it’s not possible,” her voice is nothing more than a whisper. I can hear her rapid breathing.
“Emily, Katsu Vang killed Claire. He um…” I clear my throat, but really, I’m trying to find the words to tell Emily. “He um…he ah…he…” I can’t finish the sentence without breaking down and crying. I’m not ashamed to cry for the loss of my beautiful, fearless sister.
“He blew the building up while Claire was still inside.” Just saying the words makes my heart ache. My throat’s constricted and my body is trembling. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep her safe, Em.” Emily’s crying loudly on the other side of the phone. “I’m so sorry. I tried, but I just couldn’t.” My jeans are becoming soaked from my tears. My eyes are blurry; I can’t see through them any longer.
Emily’s tears have now become sobs and I can’t make out what she’s saying. We both let go and cry uncontrollably for a few minutes more. Emily’s sobs start to settle and I wipe my eyes and nose with a tissue from the box sitting on Anna’s night stand. The constriction in my throat’s lifting and the lump’s disappearing. After a few minutes, Emily starts to breathe deeply.
“You and Anna find him and kill him.” Emily’s tone is now deadly.
“Emily, he has Anna.” My voice is so small, so broken, I don’t think Emily heard me.
“Find him and kill him,” it sounds like Emily’s saying that through a clenched jaw. “Find him and fucking kill him,” she repeats the same sentence with more hate in her voice. “Tell me what I have to do, Ben, and I’ll come with you. We’ll find him and fucking rip him apart. Limb from fucking limb,” Emily’s now shouting at me and she means every word she’s saying. But I can’t risk her too.
“Stay where you are. I have help. I need you safe, Emily.”
“Fucking kill him.” Her anger’s radiating through the phone.
“Okay. Keep this phone on you at all times. Stay where you are and live only on cash. If you suspect someone is close by, leave, get rid of the phone and buy a new one with cash. I’ve blocked the number of this phone, so I’ll send it to you via text. Memorize it and delete it off your phone. I’ll be in touch when I know more.”
“Keep me informed, Ben. I want to come and help you get her back and take that fucker down.”
“I know you do, but for now sit tight.”
“Bye.”
The next hour seems to drag on and I find myself pacing up and down in her cabin.
My phone rings and I stop pacing. It has to be Agent, I hope it’s him.
“Hello?” My voice is full of doubt, but who else could it be?
“Ben.” Yep it’s Agent.
“Yeah,” I say in a short clipped tone.
“They have her at the castle, but the problem is they have a rather large army surrounding the place. There’s no way to get in.” I let out a deep sigh. It seems like everything’s hopeless.
“But, I’ve managed to patch into the surveillance feed from the castle. They have her holed up in a dungeon. She’s under very tight security. Ben, I need to warn you, she’s not looking good. They have her stripped down to her underwear and she’s bound quite tightly to the bed. She seems to be unconscious, too.”
Another breath leaves my body, I feel so…defeated. It takes me a millisecond to regain my composure and go full steam ahead.
“Is there any way I can get in there?”
“None, without getting yourself killed. All we can do is watch through the video link. I’m trying to get sound up, but that’s harder than I expected. I’m hoping to have it soon though.”
“There has to be a way in, Agent.” I’m begging him to give me information, a secret entrance he may be holding out on me.
“Ben, I’ve gone over the blueprints several times, and I’m watching it like a hawk. There’s no way in. Katsu has so many guards everywhere, and they’re all fully equipped. It looks like they’re waiting for someone to appear.”
“Yes, and I know who. He’s waiting for me. If I go in there, they’ll kill both of us; if I hold back and wait for an opportunity, they may keep her alive in hopes I’ll show myself to them.”
“So now we wait,” Agent says the words that are scrambling around in my head. Words I can’t quite accept because I desperately want to charge in there and rescue my baby girl.
“Yes, now we wait.” Painfully, I need to agree with Agent. I don’t want to, but I need to. “What plans were you and 15 talking about the yesterday before the explosion?”
Agent fills me in about the men at the meeting and says he’s just about to send the doctored papers off to the CIA and FBI. I stop him before he does because if they get to Katsu before we can get to Anna, she may end up dead. I explain my fears to Agent and tell him I’ll give the go ahead on when to do it. Agent’s skeptical, but he agrees that since Anna’s out of commission, we need to work together to get her back.
Day one after the explosion is torturous. I’ve spoken with Agent a few times throughout the day and he still can’t get audio from the castle. Security around the premises seems to have tightened even more. Agent’s patched me in so I can see Anna in the dungeon. My heart’s breaking, seeing her lying on that bed all beaten and subdued. At least those fuckers are giving her water. Katsu comes in and runs his hands all over her body. His actions make me tremble with fury. To break away from the anger, I call Emily and keep her up to date with what’s happening.
Day two after the explosion and Agent’s managed to get audio. It’s not completely clear but he has something. The guard looking after Anna is a sick fucker. He keeps running his hands up and down her legs and has quite a few times put his hands on her stomach and run them down to the apex of her thighs. He keeps looking over his shoulder when he does this, so maybe he’s been warned not to touch her.
I speak with Emily and she wants to come to St. Cloud and help me get Anna back. She’s so angry over what Katsu did to our sister that I think she actually wants to take Katsu on by herself. But I don’t give her the location of the castle because I know how hot-headed she is and I’m afraid she will charge down there and get herself killed.
Day three after the explosion, and I still haven’t slept. All I do is watch the screen. The only good thing that’s happened today is that sick fucker was touching Anna when Katsu walked in and fucking hit him. He dragged him out and I thought I heard a gunshot. Well, I hope I did because that means there’s one less fucker I need to kill.
Anna hasn’t improved much, she’s mumbled a little and it looks like she’s trying to regain consciousness; I can tell she’s fighting it, but she’s not ready yet to open her eyes.
Toward the end of day three, Agent calls to tell me he has full sound and as I sit and watch her, I hear everything that’s happening. The door opens and the new security guard jumps up off the chair beside the door. Katsu walks in talking on the phone. The conversation’s one-sided, but what he says makes my empty stomach roll in revulsion.
“$150,000? That’s not enough for what I’m offering.” He waits and listens and he puts his hand on her calf as his thumb rubs slow circles. “She’s worth much more than that. She’ll work very nicely for you. She’ll be one of your best earners.” Oh my God. He’s selling Anna. “I want $300,000 for her.” He listens to the phone call. I quickly call Agent.
He answers it after the first ring.
“Track the call Katsu’s on now, I need to know who he’s talking to
.”
“On it,” Agent responds and disconnects the call.
“Yes, I’m happy with $275K.” Bile threatens to make a return and I fight hard not to pick the laptop up and throw it against the fucking wall. I manage to compose myself.
The conversation ends between Katsu and whoever he was on the phone with. He doesn’t leave the room though. His hands start to caress her body, like he’s going to start making love to her. But he abruptly stops and looks at his phone; it must be on silent because I didn’t hear it. He leaves the room and Anna’s left alone, again.
That night is the most difficult yet. I’ve yet to sleep and all I can do is look at the screen. At some point in the night I think I hear Anna in the cabin.
“For fuck sake, Ben, get it together.” It sounds like something Anna would say. I search the cabin anyway, and of course, she’s not there. My mind must be playing tricks on me. I go back to the laptop and as I’m looking at her, my thumb rubs over the screen where her face is. I put my head on the table next to the laptop, watching her and I close my eyes. Sleep takes me, but my slumber is fitful.
Day four is when everything happens. I wake to the sun streaming in the kitchen window with my body slumped over the table.
“Sir, she’s waking up.” Who said that? I lift my head and see the guard watching over Anna talking into his phone. He’s standing by the door and looks menacing.
“Where am I?” Her soft, sweet voice is barely above a whisper. Her throat sounds all hoarse and raspy. “Ben,” she murmurs.
I gasp, but can’t do more than watch, she’s calling for me–she needs me.
I get Agent on the phone, but before I say anything to him, he’s already anticipated my need. “I’m listening and recording, Ben.” My Bluetooth stays in my ear as we watch this exchange.
The guard at the door points his weapon toward Anna, as if she’s a threat, even though she’s strapped down on the bed.
Her body looks rigid and sore, but she eyes the guard up and down. “I’m strapped down. You don’t need to point your weapon at me.” Typical Anna style, she’s still trying to gain the upper hand.
The HiT Series Page 42