by T N Lowe
“Quit your fucking bitching and get your ass in gear sweetheart. We need to get out of here.”
“Whatever,” I mumble, rolling my eyes, as I locate my cell lying on the floorboard next to the center console. Tossing my leg over the console, I move to straddle it. In an inconspicuous move, I bend enough to grab my phone and slide it in my sock, then grab my pant leg, making a show of using it to get my leg up and over, so I’m straddling the console. I continue to slide off the console and into the driver’s seat. The masked man grabs my arm and snatches me into the street.
“Come on sweetheart. I told you we need to get the fuck out of here,” he barks, dragging me to the cargo van.
Looking around, I see why no one came to our rescue. They’ve closed the street. A mile down the road in every direction, there is a police car stopping traffic from coming through. Next to the cop cars there are signs denoting ‘Filming In Progress’. The fuckers thought of everything; people are used to these streets being closed for filming of T.V. shows and movies.
The man finishes dragging me to the van, opens the back door, and tosses me in. “Keep your mouth shut and maybe you’ll make it out of this to see those kids of yours.”
“What did you say?” I demand to know. How the hell did he know I have kids?
The man shakes his head, a wicked smirk across his face and slams the door. I crawl on my hands and knees to CJ. Checking for a pulse, I find it strong and steady. Running my hand near the cut at his temple, I see it has stopped bleeding. Thank God. He has one hell of a knot on his head but I’m hopeful that he will be okay.
Moving to the back of the van so I won’t be heard, I curl into the corner and pull my cell from my sock, flipping it over to vibrate. I quickly send a text to Erin and Tomas.
Fi-Fi: SOS been kidnapped.
Fi-Fi: CJ is passed out. I’m fine. Don’t know who they are, but they are organized.
Fi-Fi: Family may not be safe. Leaving phone on. Come get us.
Quickly, I tuck my cell back in its hiding place. I feel the vibration of incoming text but refuse to look. If these assholes are as good as I think they might be, I won’t get much alone time.
CJ starts to move and moans. I crawl back to his side, “Careful. You hit your head pretty good.”
“I can feel that,” CJ whines as he sits up. “What the hell happened?”
“A truck ran a red light and hit us. Two goons came from nowhere and pulled us from the car and tossed us in here. I don’t know who they or where they’re taking us.” Lowering my voice, I continue, “I texted Tomas and Erin. They’ll find us and keep our families safe.”
“What do you mean?” CJ asks, rubbing the bump on his head.
“They knew I had kids. The man who dragged me from the car told me that if I behave, I might make it out of this to see my kids. This wasn’t random. They know who we are. I don’t know how, but they do.”
“Fuck,” CJ growls.
We ride the rest of the way in silence, listening for clues to tell us where they are taking us. Suddenly we slow down and CJ pulls me to his chest and we quickly lay down, stopping us from flying around the empty van as we come to an abrupt stop. .
One of the men pulls the door open, “How sweet. Now get your fucking asses up.”
CJ pulls me closer and whispers in my ear, “Do what they say.”
“FBI agent CJ, I know what to do,” I remind him.
He nods, then releases me and I step free of the van.
“Good girl,” the man mutters. “Come on Rambo, your turn.”
CJ duck walks to the rear doors then joins me standing to his full height of six foot three, towering over our kidnappers.
“Don’t get any ideas and don’t be a hero,” the second man says as he walks around the back of the van, joining us. “We would hate for either one of you to get dead.” Pointing his gun at us, “Move,” he demands.
As we follow the first man, I scan the area they brought us to and see nothing but trees and a large house. We drove for at least an hour so we cannot be too far outside the city. The problem is, I have no idea which direction we drove. We could be in Virginia, Maryland, or Delaware. The first man opens the door to the large house and leads us inside. He stops inside a large living room. “Strip,” he demands.
“Pardon?” I ask, hoping I had heard him wrong.
“Strip,” he says slower. “Either you can do it or I can do it for you. I’m not typically into bitches who’ve had kids, but from what I can see, you’re still in great shape,” he says looking me up and down.
My skin crawls with the idea of him putting his hands on me.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” CJ barks.
“No Rambo. Now take your fucking clothes off. Now!” the second man barks shoving his gun into CJ’s face.
“Fucking hell,” CJ mutters, moving his fingers to unbutton his shirt. “You want all of it or can I keep my boxers?”
“Keep your boxers on. I don’t want your dick in my face,” the first man answers.
I follow CJ’s example and unbutton my blouse, letting it fall to the floor. I take off my shoes and pop the button of my slacks, letting them join my shirt.
“Damn sweetheart. You look fucking hot for having three kids. Not a stretch mark in sight,” the first man says as he walks around me.
I squirm, trying to cover myself, not liking the way this man leers at me. More than a little scared, I look up at CJ. He is standing firm, letting his muscular physic speak for itself. “Don’t worry,” he whispers, “these assholes won’t touch you,”
I nod and look down at my pale blue bra and matching thong I put on this morning for Cain. In hindsight, I wish I would have put on some old granny panties. The second man walks around us, also looking us over. He bends and runs his hand down my calf. “What do we have here?” He asks, pulling my cell from my sock.
“You are a naughty girl,” the first man taunts, taking my cell. He tosses it on the floor and slams his boot, heel down, on it three times, breaking the phone into several pieces. “Guess they won’t be able to find you after all. Now get dressed.”
CJ and I dress quickly. “Glad you’re learning,” the second man teases, walking us to a closed-door near the dining room. Opening it, he orders, “Get your asses downstairs and I don’t want to hear a peep from either of you.”
When neither of us moves he pushes me through the door and on to an old set of stairs. Looking over my shoulder I see the man push CJ into me. CJ quickly wraps his arms around my waist keeping me from falling head first down the stairs. I wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness before stepping down to the next step. The old stairs sway and creak in protest as we slowly make our way down the dark stairs.
The room has a musty smell and I can feel dirt move under my feet. CJ presses off the last step and I ask, “Where the hell are we?”
CJ shakes his head, “You know as much as I do. But my guess is old root cellar.”
We step away from the staircase and hear a noise coming from one of the corners. ‘Awesome. Now what?’ I query myself. Following CJ’s lead, we slowly move closer to the far corner where we can barely make out a moaning lump. As we get closer, we find a man, dressed in an expensive suit, huddled in the dimly lit root cellar. CJ taps the man’s shoulder, “You okay?”
The man only moans in answer. CJ looks to me, “We’re going to need to roll him over. We need to figure out who he is and check him to see if he has any injuries.”
I nod and come over to help CJ roll him gently onto his back.
“Samuel!? Fuck! Samuel, what are you doing here?!” CJ asks, gently tapping Samuel on the cheek.
Samuel jolts awake and rears back, getting ready for a fight. “CJ, is that you?” He asks in shock.
“Yes Sir, it’s me. Fi-Fi is here too. How the hell did you get here?”
“I’m not sure,” Samuel answers, rubbing the back of his head and sitting up. “The last thing I remember was getting into the helicopter to return to Was
hington from Camp David. After that, everything is a blank.”
“Shit! Whoever this mole is, he or she has major connections if they can kidnap the President of the United States,” I point out the obvious.
“No shit! But right now, we need to find a way out of here before they come back,” CJ says, helping Samuel to his feet.
Chapter Twenty-Nine - Tomas
I park the Tahoe outside the Kinder Corporation building. Erin opens Lorie’s door. “We are sorry for this unpleasantness but thank you for your help,” Erin apologies.
From the look on Lorie’s face, she does not does accept Erin's apology. Lorie nods and scurries into the safety of the building. I snort, little does she know that she’s jumped from the frying pan and into the fire. Patrick was none too happy to learn his assistant had been talking to a reporter. Lorie will be looking for a new job soon.
“What are you laughing at?” Erin asks, retaking her seat.
“Lorie. I’m sure she has no clue who she really works for. The poor thing is so far in the dark.”
“I know. I feel bad for her,” Erin replies as her phone dings with an incoming text. Looking down at her phone, she goes pale.
“What?” I demand to know.
“Fi-Fi and CJ have been kidnap. She said the house isn’t safe.”
“Fuck,” I roar!
“I’m texting Shauna now to track Fi-Fi’s phone.”
The backdoors swoosh open and two huge hulking men wearing ski masks slid into the backseat. “…..the Fuck,” I bark as my head whips around to the backseat and I see the men pressing their guns into the back of our chairs.
Slamming the door shut, the man behind me speaks, “Do as you’re told and you might make it out in one piece. Get any ideas of being a hero and I can guarantee that you will not live to see the end of the day.”
“What do you want?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“You see the car in front of you?” The man asks
“Yeah.”
“Follow him. You see the car behind you?”
“Yeah.”
“Try anything stupid and he will make the necessary corrective action so that you’re rendered unable. You get me?”
“I got you,” I reply.
“Mrs. Jeffries, you get me?”
Erin nods, “I understand,” she says in a soft voice as she looks at me.
I can tell she is visibly shaken. Not an easy feat for a trained FBI agent who went toe to toe with a serial murderer.
“Good, drive,” the man grunts, pushing his gun harder into the back of my chair.
After putting the car in drive, I grab Erin’s hand and give it a little squeeze. She looks at me and whispers, “It’s going to be okay.”
She nods and turns to look out the window.
We drive north for a half an hour before Erin says, “I need to use the restroom. Can we please stop?”
“No,” the man answers.
“I have a small bladder so if you don’t want a mess to clean up later, please let us stop and let me pee. I won’t do anything stupid; I have a husband and son to get home to.”
The two men look at each other and the man behind Erin pulls his phone from his back pocket and texts someone. “There is a rest stop at the next exit. One of our associates will accompany you. You pee, then get back in the car. Anything funny and we will not hesitate to kill you. Got it?”
“I understand,” Erin answers.
The car in front of us turns on its blinker and exits the highway. I follow them into the parking lot of a small rest area.
“This is how it’s going to go. Tomas, you are going to stay in the car with us. Our associate Sarah will come and open your door Erin. She will escort you to the ladies' room then back so we can finish our road trip. Does everyone understand?”
“Got it,” I answer.
“Okay,” Erin shouts as Sarah opens her door.
Erin and Sarah walk into the old rest area and I count the seconds.
Chapter Thirty - Erin
I follow Sarah, Shauna’s assistant, to the rest area. “You have two minutes to do what you need and be done. You go over two minutes and I’ll pull you out of there, whether or not you’re done.”
“Okay,” I answer, going into a stall.
As I shut the door, Sarah calls, “Do NOT lock the door.”
“Okay,” I reply.
After taking care of my business, but before standing and pulling up my pants, I tug my cell from my jacket pocket, turn it to vibrate and send Landon a quick text.
Erin: Love you most mountain man.
Landon: Love you most city girl.
After his reply, I pull my pants up, flush, then wash my hands. “All done,” I holler, trying to sound cheery.
“Good, let’s go,” Sarah says, pushing me ahead of her. She walks me back to the Tahoe and opens my door.
“All better,” I say, taking my seat and buckling my seatbelt.
“Good,” the man behind Tomas hisses. “Keep following that car.
We continue trailing behind the car as instructed for an hour. Then, not long after crossing the Maryland state line, we finally stop at a large farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. My heart rate speeds up, ‘What the hell are they going to do with us?’
“Time to exit the car,” one of the men blurts. Two other large men wearing ski masks walk up and open our doors, unbuckles our seatbelts, then pulls us from the Tahoe. Taking hold of my upper arm and shoving his gun into my back, he demands, “Walk,” in a deep husky voice. We walk into the large farmhouse with Tomas and his escort behind me.
We enter the living room and find more masked men sitting on the couch. They stand as we enter, giving us the once over. “Any issues?” One of the men asks.
“This one,” the man holding me says, jerking me forward. “had to make a pit stop. Other than that, nothing.”
“Glad to hear it,” The man says. Turning to Tomas and me, the man orders, “Strip.”
“Say again?” Tomas asks.
“Take your clothes off,” he says slower. “What the fuck is wrong with these people?” he asks the man standing to his left.
“Oh fuck it,” I mutter, pushing my jacket off my shoulders and letting it hit the floor with a soft thump. I pull my blouse over my head, tossing it down with my jacket. I kick off my shoes and undo my pants, then push them down onto the floor. “Good enough?”
“Yes,” the man answers, staring at my breasts.
I look to see Tomas pulling his clothes off and tossing them to the floor with mine. The man circles us looking us over, then orders “Get dressed.”
Tomas and I dress quickly, but as I reach for my jacket, the man who was holding me snatches it away before I can grab it. He fumbles through the pockets until he finds me cell. “Sorry chickadee. Not going to happen,” he teases, tossing my cell on the floor and stomping on it. Only then does he hand me my jacket.
“Follow me,” someone to my left says.
Tomas and I turn and follow the man. He opens a door and points, “Go downstairs and stay quiet. The boss will be down in a while to talk to you.”
I take a deep breath, summoning all the courage I have, and begin to walk downstairs, Tomas following closely. The door slams closed and I rush down the rest of the steps. As Tomas leaves the last step, I look around the dark, damp root cellar. “At least I’m not outside, tied to the ground,” I comment.
“What?” Tomas asks.
“Never mind,” I reply. I hear something in the far corner of the room. “I don’t think we’re alone,” I drop my voice.
Tomas pushes me behind him and whispers, “Stay close and stay behind me.”
We pass the stairs and slowly move to the opposite corner of the root cellar. Without warning, a large man jumps from under the stairs wielding a pipe. I scream, unable to hold it in. Tomas raises his hand in an effort to stop the man from bringing the pipe down on us. “Tomas?” The man whispers.
“CJ?” Tomas asks.
“How did you two end up down here?” Fi-Fi asks, leaving her hiding spot with another man standing behind her. I squint and see Samuel.
Oh shit!
“Samuel?! How did you end up down here?”
“I’m not sure. But I do know that it’s not good,” Samuel explains. “How did you get here?”
“We were returning Lorie to work when two men jumped in the back of the Tahoe. They brought us here at gunpoint.”
“Does anyone know why we’re here?”
Everyone shakes their heads. “The man who tossed us down here said their boss would be down in a while to talk to us,” I relay.
“That’s not good,” Samuel mumbles.
“What’s not good?” CJ asks.
“It sounds like a power play,” Samuel mutters, starting to pace the room. “Erin, CJ, and I are members of the three founding families. And according to our laws, The Family needs a member from each faction to mandate changes.”
“What about Patrick? He is the head of all The Family.”
“Yes, but his family got to power through marriage and positions in government. He still needs our approval to do anything.”
“How is it we didn’t know this?” CJ asks, looking at me and I shake my head.
“Because it’s a closely guarded secret; only the council members of The Family know. If a council member of The Family steps down, only then can they tell the next generation member, with the new member being sworn to secrecy.”
“Who are the council members?” I ask.
“Riona speaks for your family, Erin; Connor speaks for your family, CJ; and Lena speaks for mine. Riona is out of state and an Army of Russians guard Lena and Connor; we are the easiest to obtain.” Samuel explains.
“That’s great…..” CJ mutters.
“So, why are we here?” Tomas asks, pointing to Fi-Fi and himself.
“Collateral damage I’m afraid,” Samuel says, taking a seat on a box under the stairs.
“The real question is, what the hell do they want that would require the council members of The Family? And how the hell did they learn about us without our knowledge,” CJ asks.