Grace Between Mercy

by S. Ferguson

  I try the door back into the bar, but it’s locked. I quickly abandon that plan and run toward the street. I hear footsteps behind me but don’t bother looking. I fly around the corner of the building and run right into what feels like another wall.

  “She giving you trouble, Gino?” A deep male voice asks, his chest vibrating against me. His arms wrap around me like a steel trap, and I struggle to get free.

  I lean forward and bite his chest as hard as I can, feeling the flesh give way. He tosses me away from him, growling in pain. I land on the pavement, quickly jumping to my feet and turning to run again. Someone grabs my arm stopping me before I can gain any momentum.

  “Who’s laughing now, asshole.” The first man, Gino, says, squeezing my bicep to the point of pain.

  “I already kicked your ass once, wanna bet I can do it again?” I smirk, my eyes desperately seeking out the door of Keegan’s. Someone must come out. No way this has gone unnoticed. Where the fuck is Jake when you need him?

  “You got lucky,” Gino says, giving a look to his friend who has blood staining the front of his shirt from my bite. It makes me smile despite the situation.

  “Easy job they said. Just grab a little girl they said,” his friend whines, rubbing his hand over the wound on his chest.

  I change my footing and swing my free arm around, aiming for Gino’s face but my fist never reaches him. I feel a sting in my back following by a clicking noise. All the muscles in my body lock up, making me completely immobile. I feel myself falling to the ground, my head bouncing off the concrete before everything goes black.

  19

  Kella

  I wake up, my head in a fog. It takes me a few minutes to remember what happened. It all comes rushing back and I quickly sit up or at least try to, but it’s damn near impossible with my hands tied behind my back. My legs are bound too, it looks like duct tape is wrapped around my ankles.

  “So you are awake.” A nasally voice reaches my ears as I turn to face the direction it came from. Sitting before me is an older woman dangling a roll of duct tape on one of her manicured fingers. “Wasn’t expecting you to be out for so long, but,” she shrugs, “such things don’t matter.”

  “Who the hell are you?” I hiss, upset with myself for getting caught, angry that I got my ass kicked.

  “I will be your worst nightmare,” the woman replies.

  “Didn’t ask who you wished you were, bitch,” I spit at her. “I asked who you were.”

  “My name is not of importance,” she seethes. “All that matters is that I have you, and that means I have a shot at Ron.” My eyes widen in shock at her words. What does Ron have to do with all of this?

  “Ah, curious are you?” the woman replies. “Let’s just say he took something precious from me. But he underestimated me.” She makes a tsking sound. “His plans should change as long as I have you.”

  “What do I have to do with all this?” I ask. “I’m nothing to him!”

  “Au contraire,” she waggles a finger at me “You mean quite a lot. You are my insurance policy.”

  “Then you fucked up big time.” I cast her a wry smile. “Ron won’t come.” I didn’t let her see the pang of sadness stabbing my heart. As much I was hoping I was bluffing, a large piece of me knew it to be true. He has no interest in me, he only cares about Lexi. And to think I gave him my virginity. On the plus side, I guess I won’t die a virgin after all.

  “He might not,” she huffs. “But I doubt it, you aren’t my only plan.” She gestures to her left. Hesitantly, my eyes follow her and my face screws up in shock and grim pleasure. Against the wall sits Lexi. Tears stream down her face. Her mascara has run down her cheeks that look bruised. Her hands look like they’re bound behind her back and her ankles are tucked up under her. I can see they’re wrapped in silver tape. I try to hide a smirk at the sight of a piece of tape over her mouth.

  “See?” the woman responds, commanding my attention again. Turning, I jump in shock as her face is suddenly mere inches from mine. “I have the upper hand in all things.”

  “What does that bitch have to do with anything?” I reply, trying desperately to mask my fear.

  “For starters, she told me all about her and Ron.” The woman brushes a strand of hair from my face, the gentle gesture contradicting her sneer. “Rough her up enough and she sings like a canary. Besides, I knew she was working for him, she was less than subtle.” She gives me a smug smile. “She also told me all about you, I know you are his … play thing.” I look at her quizzically, Lexi never knew I was Ron’s anything really, this woman has another informant, a second source of information; and that fact frightens me. This woman is prepared to try take down Ron, and she’s actually planned ahead it seems.

  “So?” I bluff, trying not to show the panic ever-growing inside of me. I needed a plan, and getting this unknown person to talk has to be the start. “That still doesn’t prove that he is coming for me. I am nothing in his eyes.” My heart aches again at him not feeling the same about me as I do about him, this time the pain in my eyes is genuine when I look at her.

  “Oh, he’ll come.” She smiles evilly at me. “He can’t resist helping a girl in need, and you my dear,” she looks me up and down appraisingly, “are definitely in need of help.”

  “Sure.” I close my eyes to keep from rolling them. Unbeknownst to her, I’m moving my hands back and forth against the tape at my wrist. It’s un-mercilessly hot in this room, and thankfully my sweat has been loosening the stickiness. “He’s not gonna come and you’ve just wasted a lot of time and resources on nothing.”

  “Shut your mouth!” My head jerks sharply to the side, causing my neck to crack. My cheek stings from her backhand, but I don’t mind the pain. Pain keeps you grounded when you want to panic. “You don’t know what I am capable of! I will end you before he ever reaches you. And once I end you, I will end him,” she spits, her voice full of fury.

  “He may not come for me, but you can be damn sure he’ll find you,” I reply, turning to look at her. I can feel my face starting to swell from her hit.

  “How can he?” She laughs. “He doesn’t even know where I am.”

  “How do you know?” I say smugly. “This is his town, he knows every inch of it.”

  “Oh, my dear,” she gives me an evil grin, “who said we were in his town?”

  20

  Ron

  Anger fills me, days have passed with no word of Kella. I have my men roaming the streets looking for any source of information they can find, checking all the hideouts and shaking up my informants on the streets. Every search, every interrogation comes up with nothing. My hand slaps my desk hard as I feel my rage taking over. Where is she? I think to myself, my hand stinging from the hit. I barely consider the fact that Lexi is also missing. Good riddance. She might have helped, but she was nothing more than a pain in my ass. A knock on the door interrupts my pity party.

  “Enter,” I bark, my voice a bit meaner than I would like. The door slowly opens to Jake, sticking his head in nervously. I’ve been a fucking bastard to be around since Kella disappeared.

  “What’s the news?” I perk up hoping for something, anything, on Kella.

  “We still have nothing.” Jake shakes his head. “It’s as if she’s just … gone. I mean maybe she left, Boss …” he lets his voice trail off.

  “That shit isn’t possible,” I hiss, running my hands down my face. “She isn’t just gone, she’s out there somewhere, and we will find her.” I stress my words, I won’t lose Kella, what started as my wildcard, is now more than that to me. I can’t fight the need to find her, hold her. She belongs in my arms. Maybe then I can pull my head out of my ass and tell her that she’s never going anywhere without me ever again. Damn it, I should have never let her run out of my office. If I had done that, she wouldn’t have been taken in the first place. She’s a good fighter, but she’s rough around the edges. I can’t fight the thoughts of taking her to my bed, molding the innocence and inexperienc
e, turning her into the woman she is meant to be. More importantly, making her mine.

  “Boss?” Jake interjects my revelry. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I growl, shifting in my seat to cover my reaction of the thought of taking Kella in every way I possibly can. “We need to find her.”

  “I know, and we will,” Jake says placating. “But we also need to have our heads on right. Besides, she can take care of herself. She was doing a pretty good job putting up a fight here. Shit, she kicked my ass.”

  “And yet she’s still gone,” I seethe, this was the second time I allowed a woman I should be taking care of to suffer under my watch. First with Bree at the hands of her mother and that fucker Nate, now Kella being taken by my crazy ex-wife. Yes, I am sending her to Ze when I get her back. She’s going to learn how to properly defend herself from any situation. If I get her back, the traitorous thought crosses my mind before I push it to the recess of darkness in my mind. I will find her.

  “She can’t possibly be so important.” Jake sits in one of the chairs. “She’s just another girl trying to make it in our world.” I see he’s trying to change his tactics now, maybe he thinks pissing me off even more than I already am will somehow help anyone; somehow help anything.

  “She was under my protection. And everyone fuckin’ failed to keep their eyes on her.” I give him a sharp glance, daring him to say more. Instead, he simply raises his hands in a sign of surrender. Clearly, he understands his tactic has failed. Miserably.

  “I’m not trying to offend, just saying that you seem to be taking this personally. Perhaps a little more than you should.”

  “That is none of your concern, Jake,” I reply in an even tone, a dangerous one coming from me. Jake takes that as his cue to leave, making toward the door with an unusual speed.

  “We will find her, boss. Ya know, for the record,” he adds closing the door behind him.

  21

  Kella

  I sit up, my body groaning in protest. The wicked bitch of the west has Lexi drugged heavily. I think she must have slipped me something too, my mind is sluggish, my senses dulled. We’ve fallen into a fucked-up routine. When Lexi and I aren’t asleep, we are brutally pushed for information on Ron, the club and oddly enough, Bree. Lexi was the first to start talking, thankfully she knows even less than I do. Lexi couldn’t last under the pressure and the pain. I am trying harder to keep my mouth shut, not that I really know anything, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I have lost all sense of time. There are no windows in the room where we are kept, I can’t tell if it’s day or night, I exist in a void. On cold concrete floors with a dim lightbulb as our only source of light, the exhaustion, the hunger, it’s all-consuming. She had done a good job keeping us hungry, giving only small amounts of food to keep our stomachs from eating themselves, and even those are served what might as well be an eternity apart. They eventually changed their tactics and duct taped our hands in front of us so we could get some limited mobility, but they watch us so intently, a little too intently. I watch them back, observing their habits. I keep my ears as open as fucking possible to see if they slip and reveal anything. I didn’t have much luck with the exception of learning Elizabeth’s name and that she is definitely not working alone. It seems the hired help is kept in the dark almost as much as we are.

  I know I need to plan my escape or find a way to contact Ron. Thankfully I learned to move pretty well despite the duct tape. Some of that courtesy of the other bully kids that I would share a foster home with. I only need the right moment to try.

  Decision made, I wait until the guard leaves before making my move. I have little time. I squeeze my elbows together, raising them above my head before bringing them down sharply, the impact against my stomach is painful but effective. The duct tape snaps from the stress. Moving quickly, I put my hands together before jabbing them as hard as I can between my calves to break the silver tape around my ankles. I manage to unravel the strands that didn’t break before standing. I hear the muffled cries of Lexi. I look over at her, smirking, as I watch her weak attempts at trying to free herself. She regards me with pleading eyes. I take my eyes away from her before flipping her off and making my way to the door. It is well-known that I have no love lost for Lexi, and if I can save myself, I will send someone back for her. But that is a big if. I did just show her how anyway if she really wants out she’ll try it for herself.

  Pressing my ear to the cold metal of the door, I listen for any sounds. I can’t hear any voices or footfalls. Not hearing anything other than Lexi, who really needs to shut the fuck up, I carefully try the handle of the door. I shake my head in disbelief as the knob turns and I slowly creak the door open. The fact that they didn’t lock the door gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, relief that they were stupid enough to leave the door unlocked, and on the other hand maybe that was a little too easy. I wanted to knock Lexi out for as loud as she is, even while gagged, but I resist. Sneaking out, closing the door behind me as quietly as I could with as badly as those hinges needed oil is a fucking miracle. Sticking to the shadows as closely as I can, I creep along the hallway. The walls are lined with locked doors and close to the end, I see a hallway that I follow. Eventually, it opens up into a larger area. It’s safe to assume that we were in the back of a warehouse from what I’m seeing.

  “I don’t care!” Elizabeth’s words came from my left. Turning toward it, I see a door cracked open, causing a sliver of light to spill into the room. Moving carefully, I creep closer to the door to listen in on the conversation.

  “I didn’t agree to work with you so you could back out now!” she screeches. “I promised you Ron so you better deliver your end of this.” She pauses, listening to something, she must be on the phone. “You will hold up your end of this deal, as agreed. If I get Ron here and you don’t kill him, so help me God!” I put my hand over my mouth trying to suppress a shocked sound. She really thought she could get to Ron that easily? I should have expected as much, but knowing that she for sure is working with someone else, means Ron could really be in danger. A tap on my shoulder causes me to jump, spinning around to see one of her goons, arms crossed over his broad chest, as he stares down at me. I take just a second to weigh out my options before I go for it. I lash out with everything I have. My first instinct to hit him where it hurts the most, causing him to double over with a groan. Taking advantage of the opening, I bring my knee to his face.

  “What is going on here?” Elizabeth’s voice rings out in the midst of the scuffle causing me to look at the door. This proves to be a critical mistake as he takes this chance to crush me in a bear hug, trapping me against his chest. I kick, squirm, hiss and spit like a feral cat attempting to get away but his arms wrapped around me might as well be steel.

  “Well, well.” Elizabeth looks me up and down. “Seems we have a runaway.” Her hired hand chuckles, I can feel the vibration of his chest. This is the kind of guy that has no issue hurting me, I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I study him as best I can while shooting Elizabeth with the most intimidating glare I can muster. I wince as Elizabeth jerks forward, grabbing a fistful of my hair, gripping it tightly, turning my head to an uncomfortable angle.

  “You’re going to wish you’d never tried to escape by the time I’m finished with you, you stupid little bitch,” she snarls at me. I waste no time lashing out to kick her in the stomach. It’s not a very strong kick but it works. She yelps, falling back into the doorframe before giving out an angry scream,

  “Deal with her. And for goodness’ sake, put her into a more secure room. I don’t want this again!” I refuse to show fear as I look into the eyes of the thug before he releases me and starts marching me toward my cell again. I know he wants a piece of me.

  “Tony better deliver or I’m going to kill this little bitch myself.” Elizabeth’s words ring in my ear as I am dragged off down the hall. And there it is. The one thing I needed to hear.

  I double ov
er in pain as a fist connects with my stomach snapping me out of my thoughts. Blood trickles down my chin and it takes me a moment to realize the force of the blow caused my teeth to bite into my bottom lip. For just a few seconds, I truly wonder if I am going to die.

  “Not so cocky now are you, you little cunt?” he whispers in my ear as he grabs me up into a full Nelson. I pretend to brace myself for another blow, waiting for his next move. He doesn’t have a lot of options if he wants to keep this hold. What I don’t anticipate is one of his cronies taking the opportunity to join us. He gets a kick to the knee as soon as he’s in range.

  “Bitch!” he swears, as I attempt to bring my heel down on the toes of my captor.

  “I don’t think so,” he chides stepping back, lifting me up until my feet dangle off the cracked concrete.

  I take a risk and whip my head back, hoping to connect with his. I smile when I hear a sickening crunch and I am promptly dropped onto the ground. My hate for Elizabeth only grows as I fight for my life. I don’t know if I’m going to get out of this, but I will die trying.

  “That’s enough, for now, boys,” Elizabeth says holding her hand up to get them to stop. I’m momentarily grateful when I see the giant fist aimed at my head pause in mid-air.

  “It’s time, Kella. We have a phone call to make.” She pulls out a phone with a chilling smile and slight flourish. She makes a show out of dialing a number and pauses, waiting for it to connect. I take the moment to strike, lunging at Elizabeth. Goon one frantically jerks my arm, but not before I grab her hair. I yank her head closer and punch her right in her bitch face. I am pulled off by someone, I’ve lost track at this point, who promptly brings his knee to my ribs, dropping me to the ground. That’s definitely a broken rib or two. Totally worth it.