Fear

by Adrianne Lemke

  Unable to resist, Riever set down his book and quietly opened the door to watch Ryan as he slept fitfully on his side. He frowned at the amount of blood soaking Ryan’s shirt and at the deep cuts on his wrists from the handcuffs. I’ll have to clean him up a bit. Can’t have him dying of infection, after all. I’ll take him out of the cage for a short time after his nap. Riever had a fully functioning bathroom in his underground home, and he would allow Ryan some time to clean himself up a bit before continuing the training.

  As if feeling eyes on him, Ryan stirred, a frown forming on his face. Riever tensed, wondering if Ryan was going to wake up, but he continued in his slumber. A shiver wracked the man’s body, and Riever realized how cold Ryan would be. He was most likely experiencing some shock at what his body had been subjected too, and the coolness of the room would become freezing very quickly. If he’s good, I’ll give him a blanket, he decided as he left the room as silently as he had come in.

  Ryan woke as Riever left the room. He looked around, unsure as to what had woken him. His shirt was sticking to his chest where the blood had congealed, and he chose to leave it alone to prevent the cuts from starting to bleed again. He subconsciously rubbed at his wrists as the skin under the dried blood began to itch. As he rubbed, he pulled at the cuts and jumped in surprise at the pain that shot through his arms. He couldn’t help the short cry of pain that escaped as he finished his examination of his wounds. His left shoulder was out of the socket and swollen so the arm would be hard to reset.

  He cradled his arm to his chest carefully, avoiding the cuts and trying to avoid moving. I need to get out of here. These cuts are going to get infected, and I don’t think I can handle the drugs for very long.

  His eyes darted around the small room, searching for anything that could help him to free his legs from the chains. He laughed silently to himself as he realized that even if he managed to free his legs, he was still locked in a cage in an underground building with a madman. Take all that away, and I still wouldn’t have the strength to run away, he mocked himself.

  Closing his eyes in defeat, Ryan leaned against the bars of the cage, tears falling silently as he fought the pain that was coming in waves from his various injuries. His legs had fallen asleep from the weight of the chains and the lack of movement, and would be painful if Riever ever let him loose. I can’t believe I thanked him, Ryan thought angrily. The bastard is the one who did this to me, why should I thank him for anything? Ryan kept his eyes closed as he heard the door opening and Riever entered the room.

  “Ryan, I’m going to give you a chance to get cleaned up. What do you say to that?”

  Ryan opened his eyes, not believing Riever would actually set him free—even for a short while. Riever waited for a response, and Ryan answered quietly, “That would be nice.”

  Riever nodded once and opened the cage. “I have to warn you not to try anything, Ryan,” he said. “I will have a gun trained on you while I escort you too and from the bathroom, so if you try anything, I may have to shoot.”

  Ryan laughed a bit. “I won’t try anything,” he promised.

  Riever evaluated Ryan’s condition before he proceeded to unlock the chains around Ryan’s legs. The man didn’t seem to have enough strength to move, let alone attack him.

  After letting Ryan struggle for a moment, Riever grabbed his uninjured arm and pulled him to his feet. Pain flooded his legs, and Ryan would have collapsed had Riever not caught him.

  “Thanks,” he said without thinking. Riever allowed him to walk around the cage for a moment to get the circulation flowing in his legs again, and then aimed him toward the door.

  It’s on the left,” he said, pointing with the gun to a door after they reached the main room. Ryan glanced at the room for a moment before heading into the bathroom. He was surprised to see that there was a fully functioning bathroom in this underground building, and almost happy to see the change of clothes that Riever had put out for him.

  “I’ll give you forty-five minutes, since you’re moving so slowly,” Riever said. “Get cleaned up.” With that, he closed the door.

  Ryan heard a click as Riever locked it from the outside so Ryan would be unable to leave the room until Riever let him out.

  Ryan took off his uniform pants and socks, deciding to let the water of the shower help him to remove his shirt. He hoped that it would be less painful than pulling it off the cuts. Maybe they won’t get infected, he thought hopefully as he turned on the shower. He set it to hot, as he liked his showers, and winced as the spray pounded his beaten flesh.

  Without moving his left arm, Ryan began peeling off the dark blue undershirt and he had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out as he pulled newly formed scabs off the wounds, causing them to start bleeding again. After the initial pain passed, Ryan looked down at his wounds and realized his initial assessment had been correct. Several of the cuts were shallow, and not ones to worry about, but there were two that appeared to be deep.

  Gritting his teeth, he began using soap to clean the lacerations. Pink-tinged water flowed down the drain as he cleaned them. He also cleaned the areas around his wrists where the cuffs had dug in, careful to avoid tearing off the scabs. After cleaning all the wounds, and washing his hair, Ryan turned the water as cold as he could stand it and allowed it to numb his injured shoulder. He hoped it would bring the swelling down so it would be easier to reset the joint. When he was shivering from the cold, he turned the hot water back on, avoiding his shoulder, but warming the rest of his body. He finally turned off the shower and did his best to dry himself with one hand. He pulled on the sweatpants that Riever had left for him, along with some socks, but had trouble with the long-sleeved T-shirt. He couldn’t move his left arm enough to pull the shirt on. I’m going to have to ask him for help, Ryan realized with a pang of discomfort that had nothing to do with his injuries.

  Riever had also left a small amount of bandaging material out along with a note to use it on his wrists. Taking the advice, Ryan put some ointment onto the gauze and carefully wrapped his wrists. His right arm was hard to bandage without jostling his left arm, but he was able to finish. When he was done, he sat on the toilet seat cover and waited for Riever to enter. If I’m going to try anything, it has to be now, he thought. Getting cleaned up had given him more energy than he had felt since Riever had taken him.

  Riever walking into the room with his gun aimed at Ryan’s head put a stop to his thoughts of running. I don’t want to live like this, but I’m not ready to die.

  “I couldn’t get the shirt on,” he said, looking down at the floor and doing his best to appear non-threatening as he felt Riever’s eyes on him.

  “Very well. I’ll help you if you wish,” Riever said with a sigh.

  Riever was surprisingly gentle as he maneuvered the shirt onto Ryan. Even with his gentleness, Ryan cried out as Riever moved his left arm to get the sleeve over it. Once the shirt was on, Ryan quickly brought his arm in close to his chest and breathed heavily for a moment to bring the pain under control again.

  Riever allowed him the moment to compose himself before instructing him to stand and go back to his room. Ryan automatically headed for the cage, but Riever steered him to the cot that was outside of it. There were restraints on the cot, but they weren’t as harsh as the chains and cuffs had been. Riever pointed at a plate with a cheese sandwich on it and said, “Eat that. I’ll stand here until you’re done.”

  Ryan eagerly grabbed the sandwich and took a bite. He forced himself to eat it slowly, knowing that his stomach could rebel at any moment if he ate it too quickly. There was a twelve-ounce bottle of water next to the plate, which Ryan drank as slowly as he had eaten the sandwich. He was thankful when his stomach seemed to accept the much-needed nourishment.

  “Lie down on the cot now, Ryan,” Riever commanded when Ryan had finished the food. He had no choice but to obey, and Riever immediately placed the restraints on Ryan’s legs and right arm, leaving the injured arm for last. Ryan would have
struggled, but he knew it would only hurt his arm further if he didn’t allow Riever to restrain it. He was thankful that they were padded leather restraints, and not the chains. The thin cot mattress also felt wonderful to him after sleeping on the hard floor, and he found himself relaxing into the warmth of it.

  “I’ll be right back,” Riever promised as he left Ryan tied to the cot. “It’s about time for your next treatment.”

  Ryan tensed at that. No, not again! He pleaded silently as he waited for Riever to reappear. He had known the break wouldn’t last, but he had hoped Riever would decide there was no more need of the drugs.

  “Please don’t,” he whispered as Riever came towards him with the syringe.

  “I’m sorry, Ryan, but this is for your own good,” Riever said as he pushed Ryan’s right sleeve up and injected him.

  Ryan pulled on his restraints, biting back a cry of pain as he pulled on his left shoulder. “All set. I’m sure your friends will be happy to see you again,” he assured Ryan as he set up the video camera and aimed it at the cot.

  “Again?” Ryan said weakly as he ceased his struggles.

  “Yes. I sent them a video of your first experience. I would have liked to see their reaction when they watched it… Oh well. I’ll have to survive with imagining it.”

  Ryan closed his eyes and thought about his friends. I don’t want them to see me like this. Kerry… shouldn’t have to deal with this. She’s too good. She shouldn’t be subjected to this. Traci will feel guilty for leaving me by myself at the station that night. Janie…Ryan nearly started crying as he realized that with him gone, Janie was alone. She had no family besides him. She shouldn’t see me like this either.

  When Ryan opened his eyes again, Riever had left the room. Ryan again found himself waiting alone to go through the hell that the drugs provided.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Traci drove as quickly as she was able to toward Riever’s property. There were several acres, and she hoped they would be able to find the entrance to the underground building that the plans showed was on the property. Levi sat tensely next to her leaning slightly forward in his seat as if trying to will the car to go faster. There were three or four other cruisers following them, Traci wasn’t sure exactly how many. She had been too excited at the prospect of finding Ryan to listen to Tonika’s instructions as to who would follow.

  Along with the police cruisers, Tonika had sent an ambulance and had warned the paramedics that Ryan could be under the effect of hallucinogenic drugs when they found him.

  “We’re coming, Ryan,” Traci said as they reached the turnoff to Riever’s property. Levi glanced at her, but said nothing as he prepared himself for the search of the property.

  Finding the secret entrance described could take hours. There were no exact coordinates for the entrance. The plans described a trapdoor that had a handle that looked like a stick, and the rest of the door was made to blend in with its surroundings.

  “We’re here,” Traci said as she pulled to a stop at the edge of the property. As she exited the car, she glanced at the land and noticed how empty it looked. “There’s nothing here except grass and a few trees. There will be branches all over the place; we can’t possibly check them all.”

  Levi patted her on the shoulder gently as he joined her overlooking the area. “That’s what we have the metal detectors for,” he reminded her as he motioned toward the other squad cars that had officers coming out to join them. Two of the officers were preparing the gear as he spoke.

  “We have a canine unit too. We will find them, Traci. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “There’s no car here,” she realized. “Riever would have needed some way to transport Ryan and himself to the area, so where is it?”

  “Best guess?”—Traci nodded—“Riever drove the car in close when he originally brought Ryan, but found a place off his property to keep the car while he was here. He probably doesn’t mind walking to wherever it is, and I’m sure there are places nearby that an extra car wouldn’t be noticed very quickly,” Levi answered her. He sighed as he continued. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us right now. Let’s just get started.”

  They went out in teams of two. Levi went with one of the officers with a metal detector and Traci went with the canine unit. The two officers that had ridden with Traci and Levi’s search partners went off together, and the officer with the second metal detector went with another officer that had come with the canine unit.

  Traci introduced herself to the dog handler, shaking his hand when he gave his name as Mike Nolen.

  “And this is Trina,” he said, introducing the dog as he patted her on the head. “Do you have anything of Officer Parker’s that we can use as a guide for her?”

  Traci nodded. “In the car. I have a shirt that he wore recently.” She quickly grabbed the shirt from the bag on the floor of the passenger seat and handed it to Mike. He held it to Trina’s nose and gave her a command to follow the trail. The dog was attached to a long lead that allowed her to go a fair distance in front of them without impeding her attempt to find the trail.

  Levi had been introduced to Sara Timmons as his search partner. She held the metal detector as they walked the edge of the property. “Do you know Officer Parker?” she asked him as they walked.

  “I only met him when he joined the force almost two months ago, but he’s a good guy.”

  “I hope he’s okay. I can’t believe that Captain Riever would be involved in this,” she continued, not noticing Levi’s hesitance to give her more information. “Are we sure that he’s actually involved?”

  “Ryan disappeared during a confrontation with Riever at his house, and his dog that had been stolen from Ryan’s apartment was found in a shed behind Riever’s house. So, yes; we’re positive that he’s involved in this.”

  Sara’s dark eyes opened wide in astonishment at what Riever had done. “I can’t believe Riever would be so obsessed over someone that he would throw his whole life away just to get to him.”

  “Believe it, Officer Timmons. The guy is sick and believes that Ryan belongs to him, which means he also believes that he has the right to do whatever he wants to do to the kid.”

  Sara just shook her head and started walking again.

  “I’m getting nothing so far. Have you seen anything that looks like it doesn’t fit in?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Levi said. Besides the time he had looked up at Sara, he had been scouring the ground for any signs of the trapdoor.

  The two looked up suddenly as they heard howling followed by an excited bark as the dog had apparently found a trail. With barely a glance between them, they were in silent agreement to follow the barking. The dog will probably find the door before the metal detectors find any metal, Levi figured as he and Sara ran quickly to where Traci and Mike were searching.

  Traci barely registered that the other search teams had joined her and Mike. She was too busy looking at every branch in the area that Trina had sniffed out as places where Ryan had been.

  “There are tire tracks here,” Levi said, pointing off to the right of where Traci was kneeling.

  “Trina started sounding off around here,” Mike told them as he walked about one hundred yards behind Traci.

  “That’s pretty far away from where the car was parked,” Traci mused.

  “Maybe Ryan tried running but got caught,” Sara suggested as she joined Traci in checking the branches.

  “I think I found something,” one of the other officers said as he knelt by a branch that was on a slightly lighter green patch of grass. All the officers drew their weapons and aimed at the area when the officer pulled on the branch. There was no movement. “I think it’s locked,” he said softly. “The branch isn’t moving, which means that we’re in the right place.”

  “Good work, Bronswick. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get in. We have to be careful. Riever probably knows we’re here by now. Who knows what he’ll do while we’re trying to get i
n.” Traci didn’t want to think that Riever would do something drastic to Ryan, but that was her fear

  “Can you see the edges of the trapdoor?” Levi asked Bronswick. The other man nodded. “We should get a crowbar to pop it open. If we get the right kind of leverage, we should be able to open it.”

  “I’ll get one from my car,” Sara offered. She ran off without waiting for a response, and the rest of the searchers were left to wait.

  ***

  Riever heard the dog barking and cursed out loud. “How did they find me?” he asked quietly when he finished. He quickly locked the trapdoor, and was glad he did for only moments later someone tried to open it. The lock held, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they managed to force the door open. Riever checked on Ryan and realized that he wouldn’t be able to use him as a shield; he was in the midst of a hallucination and was screaming and pulling at his restraints. “I’ll just stay in here with you and use you as a shield a bit more indirectly,” Riever said to Ryan as the tortured man threw himself against the restraints. The cot shifted a few inches, causing Riever to frown.

  The former police captain grabbed the handcuffs that were in the cage and used them to fasten the cot to a pipe that ran through the room. He put one set of cuffs at the head and one at the foot end of the cot.

  “There. We can’t have you tipping this thing over, now can we?” Ryan just yelled and tried to force his arms out of the restraints. “That is ENOUGH!” Riever roared striking Ryan in the face.

  The anger got through to Ryan only enough to change from an extreme anger to a struggle to get away from his tormenter.

  Riever looked at the still open door as he heard the trapdoor pop open, and he rushed to close and lock it before the officers stormed in. He paced the room in frustration, trying to figure out how they had found him. “I got rid of Matthews and his maps. They shouldn’t have found me. Should have been clear.”