by Jan Springer
Cripes! Jumpy bunch, aren’t they?
“We trusted you, Reena!” Cade shouted. He made a move to start snowshoeing after her, but Blade grabbed his elbow, stopping him cold. Despite Blade’s anger at Red for being so damned stubborn, he had to admit he was impressed with the weaponry of her entourage. Maybe she’d get lucky and get out of that meeting alive, but he didn’t think so.
* * * * *
It was hard to keep from sobbing as Cade’s angry shouts split into her like bullets. The betrayal flaring in both men’s eyes over how Reena had called in her entourage just about killed her. But, Maggie reminded her, these two men were virtual strangers, and until they could prove themselves trustworthy within the group they needed to be carefully observed—just like everyone else—before entry to the Resistance.
Still it didn’t sit well, not having them by her side as she and her people were ushered into the south entrance of the White House for her impending meeting with the new dictatorship.
She was so tired of this shit. Hiding. Fighting. Wanting life to get back to normal. She’d done a total one-eighty over the past couple of weeks having Cade and Blade in her life. Their time together had been so normal. Well, if a ménage à trois was normal. Which it was for her now.
The normalcy had dulled her instincts and clouded her judgment. She’d been swept up in the other Resistance members’ hopefulness—that maybe things would change for the better if Reena showed up at the White House.
To her surprise, she found her father standing farther down the hallway. He was alone.
Despite their rocky relationship over the years, happiness at seeing him bubbled up inside of her. When he held out his hands to her, shock shifted through her. He never did that. Never showed emotion. Even when he’d been told by her doctors she had the X-virus, O mutation, he hadn’t so much as flinched. He’d just held a cool, expressionless face.
Now, as he held out his hands to her, he was smiling. Was he actually happy to see her?
Something burst inside of her and she flew into his arms. She swore this was the first time he’d ever hugged her in her life. It was a wonderful hug. She eventually pulled away. Not that she wanted to, but she had so many questions.
“What are you doing here, Dad? No one could tell me if you’d been killed during the coup or what had happened to you.” She brushed away a sudden swell of tears that irritatingly appeared, blurring her vision. She’d assumed he was dead. But here he was, alive.
“He’s one of you now,” a sharp, unfamiliar male voice called from behind her.
Her entourage was already on top of him, their rifles aimed at the lone figure who’d walked out of a nearby room. The man was dressed entirely in black. She knew from her briefing he was the new president’s top security man. They called him “the man in black” because of the way he dressed as well as the way he ran White House security. Anyone who questioned their leadership was sent to the dungeons below the White House.
His eyes were dark-brown, almost black. He wore a thick black mustache, had bushy black eyebrows and was bald.
“You are Reena Wilde. The woman the Resistance calls ‘Red’.”
He smiled, but the smile did not reach his cold eyes. Inwardly, Reena shivered. A man’s eyes were the mirror to his soul. And this man’s soul was dark and untrustworthy.
She stiffened her shoulders. “I am the leader of the Resistance.”
He extended his hand.
She ignored it. “I’m here for the meeting.”
“Ah yes, the meeting. Unfortunately the meeting has been canceled. For all of you.”
A hissing erupted from several areas around the hallway. She didn’t see anything, didn’t smell anything, but instantaneously lightheadedness crashed into her.
Damn!
She went for her gas mask as the others struggled to retrieve theirs as well.
“Your masks won’t work.” The man in black chuckled. “You need the same pill I just took for protection. The gas is a fast-acting paralyzing agent. But don’t worry. You’ll still be able to breathe.”
Shit.
She struggled to remain standing as dizziness assailed her. Her father grabbed her arm, but too soon they both dropped to their knees.
“You are now my prisoners.” The man laughed.
“Bastard.” She’d been so stupid to come here. She should have listened to Cade and Blade. Should have listened…
A gun blast echoed dully in her ears and warm liquid splashed against her face. Shock numbed her as splatters of blood rained down all over her coat.
“Reena…” Her father gasped softly from right in front of her. In slow motion, he collapsed to the ground and lay still as a corpse. He was dead.
Oh God. Why?
She wanted to scream. But no words escaped her mouth. She couldn’t even move her lips.
“Your father’s death is your first lesson in obedience. If you don’t behave, the same will happen to your entourage. One at a time.” The man’s words were slow and distorted.
Blackness swooped in and claimed her.
* * * * *
A horrible sound reverberated through Reena’s unconsciousness, prodding her back to reality. She came awake with a pounding awareness and bitter panic that had her gasping in anguish. The last thing she had seen before she’d blacked out had been her father’s sightless eyes.
No. No. No. This can’t be happening. It can’t be. He can’t be dead.
He’d hugged her for the very first time…and for the last time. She inhaled on a strangled sob. She had to keep quiet. Had to figure out where she was and what was happening.
A ghastly wail permeated the air, capturing her full attention.
Someone was screaming. Nearby. The agonizing screams dropped abruptly, followed by several sharp slaps that were definitely flesh on flesh. A woman sobbed and guilt ripped into Reena. One of her own people being tortured? Who?
She inwardly moaned and then tensed when the woman screamed again. Torture? It had to be. Had to be.
Okay. Okay. Calm down. Calm down!
She jerked at the sharp slap of flesh hitting flesh again, which was quickly followed by the woman’s wretched sobbing.
Reena lay on the floor and stared through the darkness for what seemed an eternity, listening, trying to figure out who it could be. And where she was.
Putrid dampness made her shiver and the ice-cold cement floor beneath her wasn’t helping. She cursed softly as she tried to move, but couldn’t. Her shoes and socks had been removed and her ankles were bound tightly. Her arms were behind her back and her wrists were tied. She wiggled her fingers and pain ripped through them. At least she could move them. She froze. She wasn’t wearing any pants.
Oh God. No.
Calm, Reena. Calm.
She lay still and took a mental inventory of her body. Her feet were icy cold. Her thighs, too. She wore panties. The cloth hugged her stiff hips. Her coat and sweater had been removed. She only wore her bra and thermal underwear top…and her panties.
She didn’t think she’d been raped. She wasn’t sore. But that didn’t mean anything.
Panic began to well. Goose bumps scrambled up her arms when the woman cried out again. A throbbing silence followed.
The woman began pleading.
Reena shivered uncontrollably. She wanted to puke. Quick-paced footsteps echoed from down a hall and she struggled to calm her breathing. The footsteps stopped just a few feet behind her.
“Is she awake yet?” came the man in black’s voice.
Anger ripped through her and she wanted to scream at the son of a bitch. To kill him with her bare hands.
“No sir. She hasn’t moved,” came the answer.
An abrupt, agonized shriek filled Reena’s head and her heart thudded insanely fast against her chest.
“And our other guest? How is she doing? Cooperating?”
“No sir,” another man answered.
A heavy sigh, and then a long moment of silence fo
llowed.
“Tell them to kill her.”
No. No. No. Reena wanted to shout and bring their attention away from the woman. She didn’t want any more people to die. Her father was dead.
Dead. Oh God.
The tight rein on her anger spiraled out of control.
“Stop!” Reena called, surprised at how loudly her voice echoed in the room.
“Wait,” the man in black said calmly.
Reena moaned as she rolled onto her back and arms. Pain shrieked through her shoulders. How long had she been lying here? Hours? Days? Her legs were so cold they hurt.
A bare light bulb flickered on immediately above her, blinding her. She closed her eyes, begging for the dark again, but then quickly remembered the woman in danger and forced herself to reopen her eyes.
She blinked rapidly against the bright intensity, turned her head to the left and found the man in black standing not more than five feet away. Heavy metal bars separated her from him but, oh man, she wanted him so dead.
“Don’t…kill…the woman. Please,” she begged.
Number one rule in the Resistance: if you’re caught, never show sympathy for your fellow prisoners. Your captors will use it against you. And here she’d broken the number-one rule.
Stupid, Reena. Very stupid.
“Our Reena is awake. Bring her up to the quarters. And give the other woman a reprieve. I’ll issue further orders after I speak with Ms. Wilde.”
Reena tensed as the footsteps started up again, moving away from her. She jerked as a key grated noisily and a door creaked open. The guards entered her cell in a flurry of footsteps.
“Perhaps a quick fuck before we take her to the man.” The guard chuckled.
Panic slammed into her and she took a speedy inventory of the two men who leered at her. They both wore green camouflage fatigues, rifles slung over their shoulders and holstered pistols at their waists.
“The man wouldn’t approve,” she said quickly as a rush of panic took hold again. “He wants me. Untouched. I belong to him. Understand?”
The guards’ eyes widened. They said nothing as one of them undid the ropes around her ankles and the other continued to leer longingly at her panties.
Oh yeah, she was going to puke. She swallowed bitter bile and tried to figure out a way to escape. If she’d been in better shape, if she could have moved her legs and they weren’t so useless and heavy and cold—or maybe if she still didn’t suffer the aftereffects of the gas she’d inhaled—she could have easily twined her legs around the guy’s neck, broken it and killed him.
Unfortunately, she was too weak to do anything but curse as he tugged her left shoulder and pushed her roughly onto her belly. Together they grabbed her bound wrists and lifted her to her knees by the rope.
Pain sliced through her shoulders as they yanked, but she refused to scream. She wouldn’t give these sons of bitches the satisfaction. In moments, they had her standing on her wobbly legs and stuffed their hands under her armpits, forcing her to keep her balance. She bit her bottom lip as the circulation began to move in her arms and legs. Fire burned painfully and she still refused to cry out. Refused to give them the pleasure of seeing her in pain.
They dragged her out of the cell. Ahead, an endless row of metal-barred cell doors lined both sides of the hallway. They stopped her right in front of the cell immediately beside hers.
“The man says to stop for now. He’ll give further orders later,” one guard said into the dark cell.
The woman sobbed and cried out as someone slapped her.
“I said no more!” the guard called.
Shadows moved inside the room and a moment later the barred door creaked open and two burly guards came out. Reena gasped as she spied the woman standing against the back wall. She was naked. Blood dribbled along her inner thighs. Tangled long black hair hung over her face.
Reena didn’t recognize her.
“You two want a go at her? We can take over and deliver this bitch for you.” One of the new guards leered at her and she knew exactly what he wanted to do to her.
Creep.
Oh, this was great. These men were just as bad, if not worse, than the ones they’d replaced in this new so-called government. The women of this country would get nowhere trying to negotiate with this new regime.
“We’ll take her,” the guard who held her by the left armpit said. “You stay and watch that one. The man said she has a reprieve.”
The two burly guards frowned. One closed the cell door with a brutal clang as if he was quite pissed off, and each man took a spot on the opposite sides of the door.
Inside the cell, the woman began to wail. The intense sobs made Reena shake again as the two guards practically dragged her down the hallway and up the stairs. Down several more hallways, up more stairs and they finally entered an elevator.
As she stood between the two men, she kept her gaze moving, searching for any clue to her whereabouts or for any way out of this mess.
Cade and Will kept entering her mind. They had rescued her and she wished like hell she hadn’t ordered them to be locked up until her return. She shouldn’t have treated them so badly. Would she ever see them again so she could apologize?
Tears stung her eyes. She closed them and saw her father’s sightless gaze as he slumped to the ground. Her fault. His death was her fault. If she hadn’t come here, he’d still be alive. His death was her fault.
Another sob built in her chest and she choked it down.
She had to get a fucking grip! This wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t the one who’d pulled the trigger. The man in black had. She had to forget the dead and figure a way out of here and rescue her people. Then she needed to get back to the Resistance. Back to Cade and Will.
The Resistance would continue their plans to take out the government. She would not stop until all women were free and horrors like what had happened to that woman in the cell were squashed.
Reena pressed away her fear for her own safety and fought to steady her breathing. One thing was certain. If she died today, she would take the man with her. She smiled inwardly. Yeah, killing him would certainly make her day.
* * * * *
“Someone’s coming,” Blade muttered from his perch on the top bunk of the cell they’d been languishing in for hours.
Cade tumbled out of his bed, the familiar anger roaring through him like a damn cannonball. To his surprise, the door swung inward and Maggie stepped inside. Her face was pale, she visibly shook and she’d left the door wide open behind her. No one else followed.
Escape time.
Blade must’ve realized her mistake because he flew out of bed. They tackled Maggie at the same time, rushing her to the ground, pinning her beneath them. She squirmed helplessly for a few precious seconds before she finally gave up the fight.
“You fucking idiots,” she breathed as Cade snatched her pistol from her shoulder holster. Blade moved off of her and patted her down for any other weapons she might have. He removed the knife strapped to her inner right ankle.
Maggie groaned in frustration. “Come on! If I wanted you guys to stay here, do you think I’d be stupid enough to leave the bloody door open?”
Cade and Blade looked at each other.
“She has a point,” Cade acknowledged.
“Or she’s the fucking idiot and forgot she shouldn’t come into a cell with a couple of really pissed-off men,” Blade replied coolly as he pressed the point of her knife against her jugular. “I bet she’ll look nice in a red necktie. Want to find out?”
Maggie’s eyes widened and Cade detected an instant of fear before she quickly concealed it behind a cold, defiant mask.
“Something has happened to Reena. We need your help.”
Cade’s finger tightened on the trigger of the gun and Blade’s hand twitched ever so slightly. A thin trickle of blood appeared at the point of the knife where he’d pressed it against her neck.
“You better not be lying,” Blade whispered i
n a voice so icy cold shivers even traveled down Cade’s spine.
“Hell, you better be lying. If something happened to her, I’ll fucking kill you right now,” he growled as a nasty kind of fear took hold of him.
Maggie frowned. “She was double-crossed at the meeting. None of the entourage returned.”
Blade cursed and removed the knife from against Maggie’s neck.
“Details. Everything you know,” Cade snapped. He kept the gun trained on her head. “If you leave anything out, you’re dead.”
* * * * *
A man’s laughter erupted down the hallway the moment Reena and the two guards stepped off the elevator. Actually, they stepped off the elevator and she was hauled off. Her damn legs still weren’t working right and she spent almost all her concentration stumbling along the plush white carpet.
It was different here than in that stinking cell. Fresh air and mild scents of disinfectant hung in hallways which were lined with framed erotic pictures—women in bondage, some being flogged and others being caned, while still others were in restraints and ropes.
She swore the floor was heated beneath her bare feet. By the time they stopped her at the end of the hallway, wonderful warm air had embraced her and her legs moved with much more fluidity.
Her hopes soared. Maybe she could get out of here after all. Her hope died when one guard knocked on the door and the man in black instructed them to enter.
One guard slid an electronic key into the door lock and pressed an awfully long password into a nearby keypad, keeping his body in front of it to make sure she couldn’t see. Despite not wanting to, she began to tremble as the door opened and the guards pushed her into the room.
It didn’t take long to figure out the room was one of a suite. Several open doors led to other rooms and she counted at least five bedrooms, all lavishly appointed. The main room where she stood was intricately decorated with crystal chandeliers, flushed pink carpeting and white furniture.
There was nothing she could use as a weapon. The man stood beside a couch, leering at her. He wasn’t wearing a gun.
Her gaze flew back to the bedrooms, past the open doorways. Beautiful women dressed in gorgeous, sexy gowns sat on the beds and stared out at her with glazed, curious stares.