“I get it.”
“You better,” he mumbles under his breath, “because I can’t afford to die today.”
Neither can I, pal.
Neither can I.
44
Sabrina
My stomach starts to rumble again. I gave Lex most of my boxed lunch to keep her from hunger, so I’m looking forward to dinnertime. Unfortunately, we’re not exactly at Mabel’s Diner, and I think we’re better off locked in this room away from the two monsters who kidnapped us.
I chew my fingernails, watching the door. I wonder if anyone knows we’re missing yet. I got a call off to 9-1-1 before they nabbed us, but I don’t know if Tommy even told anyone I called. And God only knows where we are, out in the middle of the wilderness. The chances of someone finding us anytime soon are slimmer than Leigh’s ankles.
“Mom, I’m bored,” Lex says, moving away from the window where she was tracing shapes into the grime on the pane. “How long are we going to have to stay here?”
“Honey, I wish I knew.” I pat the bed beside me, and she walks over and hops up to sit next to me. Running my fingers through her hair, I gently pull out the tangles, then start to braid it. It’s soothing, braiding my daughter’s hair, as if I could almost imagine we weren’t stuck in a shitty old cabin out in the middle of nowhere, waiting to find out what evil awaits us.
“Do you think Ax will come for us?”
I frown. My daughter’s question isn’t an easy one to answer. If Ax finds out that we’ve been taken, then I know he’ll come after us. He may be many things, not all of them good, but he protects what’s his. And that has to include his daughter.
But whether he’ll be able to find us is an entirely different matter. I feel like the man in the white and red stripes in the picture books Lex likes, the one you’re supposed to find in a panorama of similarly dressed people in exotic places. Finding us would be like finding that bespectacled man at a barber pole convention. A needle in a haystack would almost be easier.
“I don’t know, baby,” I say at last. “But I’m not worried. They have no reason to hurt us. We just need to wait this out.”
I want to believe my own words as much as I want her to believe them. Surely this shit between Brent and Ax has to have reached a head. They need to end their stupid pissing contest so the rest of us can get on with our lives.
And every minute I’m stuck here, worried about my baby and myself, is another minute I spend turning my love for Ax into anger. Fury. Maybe even hatred.
How could he let this happen to us? How could he get us mixed up in his stupid revenge plot? I knew from the moment he stepped into town that he was up to no good. I guess it’s my own dumb fault for hoping that maybe this time he could get out from under his family’s shadow. No such luck. More fool me.
When I was a schoolgirl, Alexander Craven was like some kind of fairytale prince come to life. I couldn’t help loving him. He was every broken girl’s fantasy of a different life.
That fucking prom night. It’s like when someone tells you to go to your happy place. It was my happy place in three dimensions. That night imprinted itself on my psyche. Every moment after would be compared to that night, and every one would come up lacking.
It doesn’t help that the prom theme that year was “Enchanted Kingdom.”
My dress wasn’t expensive, but I felt fancy in it, especially with the glamorous red lipstick and cat eyes. My skin felt like it was humming, the faint vibration of electricity. I was wired with excitement.
Ax never looked better than in that memory. His face was young and smooth, not yet host to the tiny lines the years etched into his skin. His eyes sparkled. They fucking sparkle in that memory.
The dance was just a dance. Cheesy music, lame decorations, but spending the night in Ax’s arms was otherworldly. It was him and me, dancing in our own enchanted kingdom, just the two of us. The way he looked at me, it was so intimate. He knew me, and he wanted everything that I was. He wanted me.
And, oh, I wanted him. More than I wanted anything in my young life.
When we arrived at the little cottage on the beach, filled with flowers and candles, I saw how much effort he’d put into the night, and I felt weak. This is the boy I’d been obsessed with for years. My only real crush, and now he wanted me as much as I wanted him. It didn’t seem possible, but it was real.
For one perfect night, it was real.
It’s hard not to be bitter when I see where I’ve ended up.
I force myself to think of something else. Like what happens after we get out of here. We’re being used as bargaining chips, which means we have value. When the Craven brothers come to an arrangement, they’ll let us go.
Lex and I play I Spy for a while until she gets too bored to keep up the spying. I wonder how long we’ve been locked in this room.
I’m considering knocking again to ask for a glass of water when I hear the lock click. The door swings open, and in walks the dark haired man carrying a tray containing two microwavable noodle cups and two more juice boxes. A kick to the door shuts it behind him.
He sets them down on an old dresser, then holds one out to my daughter. Lex moves forward to collect the cup, picking up the fork and sniffing at the noodles.
“Why don’t you go into the other room to eat your dinner,” our captor says to my daughter.
“In the bathroom? That’s gross.”
“Don’t give me any lip,” he snarls, pointing toward the bathroom. “Get in there and don’t come out until I say so, you got me?”
My daughter looks at me, her eyes wide with fright. “Mommy?”
The dark-haired man grabs her arm and drags her toward the bathroom. I spring forward, scrambling after them. “You let her go.”
With a casual shove, he knocks me to ground. He pushes Lex into the bathroom. “Stay fucking put.” Slamming the door behind him, he rounds on me.
“Get up.”
I scoot backward, but he grabs me by the collar of my shirt, ripping it. “I said, get up.” With as little effort as swatting a fly, he tosses me back onto the bed.
“Wait,” I say, putting my hands up. “Just wait. There’s no reason to hurt me.”
“It will only hurt if you make it hurt. So be a good girl and give me what I came for.”
My heart is in my throat. He’s too close, crowding me. I can smell tobacco on his breath. “Don’t do this.”
Placing his hand at the tear, he rips the rest of my shirt away from me. I wrap my arms around myself, sliding backward toward the head of the bed. “I’ll tell the Cravens how you hurt me. They’ll—they’ll punish you.”
His mouth tightens. “They don’t care. You think someone pays me to kidnap someone they give a shit about?”
I hold my hands out in front of me as he advances. “Don’t. Not like this. My daughter’s right behind that door.” My breath hitches as panic overwhelms me.
We’re all alone, defenseless in the wilderness. My fantasy of a polite hostage situation is disintegrating around me. This is happening.
“Please don’t,” I beg, when he grabs my arm to drag me forward.
“Calm down, cutie. It’s better if you relax.”
My skin breaks out in hives at his oily tone. “Leave me alone,” I respond, infusing my voice with steel. Yanking back hard, I manage to free my arm from his grip.
“Knock it off before I knock you around.” He goes to grab me again, but I slap his hand away. Then tries to slap me across the face, but misses.
I fall against the headboard, and he exploits the opportunity, pulling me down and straddling me.
I open my mouth to scream, but he covers it, shaking his head and pointing at the bathroom door. “You want her to hear all that? Want her to remember that?”
My eyes widen, surprise bypassed by rage, and I bite the hand he’s got at my mouth. He yanks it back, then slaps me again, hard enough to see stars.
“Normally I like a feisty girl, but I’m on the clock. Be
have yourself.”
“Get off me,” I grit through my teeth, bucking and flailing in an attempt to unseat him. “If you hurt me, Ax will hurt you.”
“You’re threatening me with your baby daddy? The one who just got out of prison and has a shitty cabin to his name?” His smile is feral. “Your baby daddy versus a family worth billions. Who do you think is going to come out on top?”
“He’ll hurt you,” I say, feeling a welling of righteous rage. “He’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”
“He’ll make you wish you’d never been born,” he mocks back in a whiny voice. Then he slaps me twice more, and I’m on the edge of consciousness.
“Fucking mouthy bitch,” he’s mumbling as he’s pulling down my pants. “Just lay still for a minute.”
I push back from the edge and kick him, knocking him back. Fury covers his face, and he balls up a fist, lunging toward me.
There’s a noise in the hallway, and the asshole freezes before he can make contact. With a scowl on his face, he starts to climb off the bed. “This isn’t over.”
45
Ax
I’m in the hallway, and I’m hanging on by a thread.
I’m a trained killer. Designed to destroy. And my target is behind that door.
Luke knew what he was talking about back in the car. The minute I saw that piece of shit touch Sabrina, I went berserk. Ready to smash through the window to clobber the fuck, Luke had to restrain me and talk sense.
He reminded me that Diego was clearly distracted, that now was the time to strike. It took every ounce of strength I had inside me to hold back and follow the plan. Crouching outside a window in the front of the house, we caught sight of his former partner, sitting in a chair facing the door, his weapon across his lap.
When it was time to act, I insisted on being point for Operation Front Door, so Luke trotted around the back to provide a distraction.
It isn’t loud enough for me to hear, but it gets the ginger’s attention. That’s all I need. I won’t wait for another invitation. My weapon is out and pointed when I take the front door.
I’m in with my weapon pointed at him when he spins and starts to draw. I tell him to toss it, but he draws it instead. I consider charging him but decide to put a little faith in my mercenary partner. He hasn’t fucked me over yet. I hope my luck holds.
Luke comes in the front door, his weapon high. He circles the mercenary and puts his gun to the base of his skull. “Drop it, man. He’ll kill you.”
“I will,” I promise. And I mean it.
The ginger lets out a curse but spins his gun up for Luke to grab. “I know that’s not the only weapon on your person,” my companion says, then holds the extra gun out to me. I grab it, and he motions for the handcuffs.
I give them to him and cover the mercenary while Luke slaps the cuffs on. “Go, man,” he says when he sees the strain on my face. I run toward the hallway that leads to the room where Sabrina and Lex are being held. One gun in my hand, one tucked in my waistband, I’m ready for what comes next.
Now the door is only feet away, and I’m about to burst in, guns at the ready, but before I can, there is a commotion behind me. I turn to see the much larger ginger slamming Luke into the hallway wall. Even though he’s handcuffed, he’s a beast of a man.
I move to help, but Luke waves me away. “I’ll handle it. You get the other one.”
I turn back, but the element of surprise is gone. The door swings open and that about-to-be-dead motherfucker is standing there. He goes for his weapon, but I don’t hesitate. Bracing my arms against the narrow hallway, I swing my legs up to kick him in the gut.
Flying backward, he slides across the floor. The asshole still has a grip on his gun, and I lunge forward, punching him in the jaw as he tries to right himself. As he snaps backward, I grab at the gun in his hand.
I see Sabrina leap from the bed and run behind him, scurrying to the bathroom. She flees inside, shutting the door behind her.
My heart is beating so hard as we grapple for his gun. I put my weapon under his chin. “Fucking drop it, asshole.”
He freezes finally and releases his grip on his firearm. I add it to my growing collection, then I commence to beat the shit out of the mercenary fuckwit who thinks he could touch my woman and child without suffering the consequences.
He tries to fight back, and he’s not bad, but it’s like I don’t even feel his hits. I’m cloaked in rage, ready to tear this asshole apart. I get a few too many hits to his face, and he falls back. A few more hits and I know he’s out.
I consider hitting him a little more. I consider never stopping.
Then I hear another slam behind me, and I rejoin the fray. Luke and I take turns with blows until the ginger goes down. We return to his partner, and Luke handcuffs him. “He’s out cold.”
“He’s going to be permanently cold when I finish with him.”
“Not worth it, man. Murder in a death penalty state? And you’ve already got a record? Not worth it.”
Maybe it is worth it.
Before I can find out, I hear a noise in the bathroom. I’m at the door in a moment, turning the knob and rushing inside.
Sabrina is clutching our daughter, shielding her. “Ax! Oh my God, is it over?”
“It’s over.”
I put my arms around her, needing to feel her against me. Sabrina stiffens, then pulls away. “Get us the fuck out of here. Right now.”
I nod, pulling off my jacket and handing it to her. She takes it without saying a word and puts it on. “Come on, baby. We’re getting out of here.”
I escort them past the unconscious mercenaries and out to the beat up pickup. While I’m helping them inside, I ask them to wait while I discuss what happens next with Luke.
“Fuck these guys,” Luke says. “I’m taking the SUV and all the weapons. Let them try and walk out of here.”
“We should restrain them. Keep them in place until the authorities can get here.”
Luke stares at me. “You think your brother will let the authorities do anything about this?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. My brother’s not here right now, and maybe we’re far enough away from Cape Craven for his influence to wane. But how do you feel about turning on the guys you were working with?”
“Fuck them. I needed the money, so I slummed it. But even mercenaries have to draw the line somewhere, and we have a fundamental disagreement about where that line is.”
I grab the length of ropes and gags they used on Sabrina and Lex, and my hands are shaking with rage. Quickly, before they can fully regain consciousness, we get them hogtied and affixed to the bed frame.
“I’m not sure if it will hold,” Luke says, “but we’re out in the middle of nowhere. Even if they get free, it will take hours and hours to get out of here on foot.”
The bigger one is starting to come around, and I lodge a fist in his face to hasten him back to sleep. “Let’s get out of here.”
Luke digs the SUV keys out of the big man’s pocket. “I’ll follow you back into town, then we can part ways.”
I have something to discuss with Luke but now isn’t the time. I need to get back to my family, need to make sure they’re okay. “Thank you,” I say, my voice rough. “I mean it.”
He nods but doesn’t respond. Leaving the house, I jog to the truck and slide behind the wheel. “Everyone all buckled up?”
Lex is beside me in the middle of the bench seat. “I want to go home,” she says, her voice small and lost.
I put an arm around her, feeling her little body shaking with a mixture of adrenaline and fatigue. “Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”
The drive back to Cape Craven is a mostly silent one. Sabrina looks out the window the whole way, saying nothing. Lex leans against her mother, her face ashen, her eyes wide and staring but seeing nothing.
I have to fight my emotions the whole drive back, trying to remain calm. I have them. They’re safe.
The memor
ies of that fucking mercenary’s hands on Sabrina keeps my rage boiling just below the surface. My knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel so hard, imagining my hands are wrapped around that asshole’s neck. I wanted to destroy him, and regret even now not pounding him into mush. But beneath that rage is a sickening fear.
I’ve almost lost them, so many times. They were lost to me, in fact, for ten fucking years. A family I didn’t even know about, a thousand opportunities missed. When I finally did discover that I had a daughter, my actions almost pulled us apart. And now, now that I finally have them back again, I can’t help but wonder how long it will last.
Driving down the main road of town, I turn right and start up the hill that leads to my father’s estate. “Where are we going?” Sabrina asks, finally turning away from the window. “I thought we were going home.”
“We are. We’re going to my childhood home.”
Her eyes narrow, but Lex looks interested. “We’re going to meet your family? But aren’t you fighting with them?”
How to explain? “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it just?” Sabrina says with false sweetness. “You think your brother had us kidnapped so you’re going to take us right to where he is? That sounds perfectly reasonable.”
Bristling at her sarcastic tone, I shoot her a look. “Brent isn’t here. He’s left town. And Leigh’s already hired a security detail.” I neglect to tell her that I made short work of that detail before coming for her. “I need to know you’re safe.”
“I need to check on my mother.”
“Fine. Call her.” I hand her my phone and try to still my racing heart. Hopefully the authorities will get to the assholes I leave behind. Better them than anyone else.
She talks with her mom, ensuring the women is good before she hands me the phone back and lets out a soft sigh. “Take us home, Ax. I’m serious.”
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