by April Zyon
Finally, however, they stopped before a huge Cherrywood door that hadn’t been there before. She knew that this was her father’s office but he never had such a large door before. It was always a sliding pocket door.
When she walked into the office, she was met by a massive glass door. She saw her father then and frowned. “Daddy?” It looked like the rest of the floor had been converted into this bunker. “What in the world is this?”
“Cara mia, my daughter. You are far too pale.” He did stand from behind his massive desk and approached the scanner that was beside the door. “Gentlemen, your places once more please? Ensure that Gabbie’s things are put away and she’s safe in her rooms?”
“Of course, senor.” This came from the walking, talking mountain that Gabbie didn’t know. Finally, they were all gone and she was there alone with her father. He then opened the door and allowed her in.
“Daddy? What is this?” Gabbie asked him and hugged him tightly.
“Oh, my Gabbie.” He whispered into her hair. “There is trouble, darling girl. Come, sit and we will have some tea. I will give you all the information needed. I need you to know because I need you to be safe. After the loss of your mother, God rest her soul, I need you safe. You are the only family I have left, baby and I can’t lose you.”
“I love you too, daddy. Is that why you sent me away?”
“In part, yes. I also wanted you to explore the world before you were married.”
“Wait, no. I have no intentions of becoming married, daddy. I don’t even date exclusively.”
“None-the-less, I will still have you married. You are my daughter and through you I will leave my business dealings with your husband. I refuse to allow you to be held to the highest bidder.”
“Are you sick, daddy?” She asked him because the way he was talking, he was seriously ill.
“No, my Gabbie, I’m not sick but I have had far too many attempts on my life. The last was when I saw you off two years ago. I was shot in the shoulder, thankfully I had Kevlar on but it still ricocheted and tore through the muscle. I’ve been behind these impenetrable walls since then. Nothing can get through these walls. There could be a nuclear war out there and as long as we are inside of these walls we would be protected.”
Someone tried to kill her father? She had been touring England, Germany, Finland, and so on and someone had tried to kill her father and she didn’t know?
“I don’t want to marry anyone that I don’t love, daddy. I can’t.”
“I know, darling. I married your mother as an arrangement but I loved her. I met her and I fell in love with her in an instant. I knew the second I saw her and she touched me that I loved her. She told me that she knew as well. It’s better to know than not know.”
“I hope that happens to me. So far, I’ve hated every man that you’ve shoved at me. I’m sorry, but I have. Every single man that you have pushed in front of me has been an asshole and I refuse to deal with them or have them in my life.”
“I know, darling. Now, I’m sure that you are tired after your long flight so go and rest. Dinner will be at seven as usual.”
Shit, dinner. She forgot that! “Not tonight, daddy. I really am exhausted. How about breakfast at six am? I just need sleep right now.”
Her father stroked his thumb over her cheek and he nodded. “You do look tired, darling. Go.”
She leaned in and gave him a kiss on his cheek, hugging him tightly as she did so. “I love you, daddy. Always.”
“As I love you, darling.”
Gabbie should have felt badly about lying to her father but in all honesty, she didn’t. She wanted to go to town and see her friends, it had been far too long and she was going to go, one way or another.
She walked out of the glass room and heard it closing behind her. At least he wasn’t asking her to live in a glass home with him. She headed to her room and noticed that her guards followed. She closed the door behind her so that she could have some privacy. She looked around and found what she needed, then packed a small pack so that she could change clothes once out of the house and into town. She shoved her money, ID, credit card, and phone into the pack as well.
She looked at her window and grinned, “Oh, daddy.” He had installed window security on her windows but she could still do it. It wasn’t her first rodeo, after all. She took her gum out of the pack and popping the gum into her mouth she re-routed the circuits so that she could slide the window open.
She closed it, but knew that it would still be there when she got back. She opened her phone and made the call. “Carla, it’s Gabbie. Girl, I’m back in town and I really, really need to cut loose. I’ve had guards up my rump for the last two years. Meet me by the rocks at the edge of the horse fencing?”
“Gabbie girl! You know it! I will be there in an hour.”
Gabbie closed the phone, shoved it back into her pack and took off at a light jog. She had on hiking boots and black spandex pants as well as a black shirt and jacket. She blended perfectly into the night and knew it.
Chapter Three
“What?” he demanded into the phone. Tobias blinked, completely stunned at the words he was hearing from the man on the other end. “Uh, I think you’d better repeat that.”
Aaron muttered something about old age before repeating. “The girl just bypassed the security on the room she was given and hopped the fence. Dude, if I hadn’t seen it for myself I would never have believed it. She’s obviously done this before. Scout’s on her tail while I schlepped everything back to our ride.” The slam of a vehicle door came clearly through the line along with the low tone indicating Aaron was now in the vehicle.
“Scout said the girl made a call, to a friend, he’s guessing. Another female picked her up. Yeah, see them. We’re on their tail now. Fucking can’t believe we’re tailing someone out of this damn forest,” he grumbled.
“Where are they going?” Tobias demanded. He snapped his fingers to gain the others’ attention and scribbled a note on the white board near his shoulder.
“No clue yet. We’re having to hang way back to ensure they don’t spot us. This is a fucking nightmare, Rogue. The road they are on splits coming up in three clicks. I don’t think I can get close enough to ensure we’re on the right trail behind them.”
“Do your best. Have Scout send me the information and we’ll figure out where the road comes out. I’ll take one with Whip,mCherry and Ripper will take the other.”
“Roger that, boss. Info on the vehicle and other occupant coming through momentarily.”
Hanging up, he shook his head. He couldn’t believe they were already getting a shot at her. He would have figured it would be days before she either convinced her father to let her out or did what she’d just done, and snuck out. That she’d done it so soon had him worried, too. There was something going on in that compound, more than any of them knew. “Gear up. We may be heading into civilian territory, so, low key but armed. We don’t know what we’re walking into. Eyes up, ears open, and stay in constant communication.” His phone beeped and he sent the info over to Rainer. “That’s what we have on the vehicle and other occupant with Gabriella Moreno.”
“Looks like the road comes out here, and here boss.” Cherilyn pointed at a map after looking over the information Landon had sent through.
He looked over the two spots, nearly thirty miles apart. His gut said to be at the one that came out closer to the town. The other one went to an open stretch of highway before winding to a larger city, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t go that far. “You and Winston take this one, Rainer and I will take the other. Once we know where she’s heading the other one needs to catch up and meet with us wherever they end up. Coms open at all times,” he repeated.
This was it. The possibly one and only chance they’d get at bringing Juan Moreno out from hiding to put a bullet in his brain.
* * * *
Gabbie and Carla were laughing and they were singing along with the radio in horrible off-key n
otes. Both women were paying more attention to having fun than anything else. “Oh, turn here. I want to change before we get to town. Nightstalker black isn’t exactly the in thing at the moment, is it?” Gabbie asked as she tugged her hair down from the hair tie and let her curls loose. “God that feels so much better.” She loved having her hair just loose and riotous around her head. When Carla pulled over she jumped out of the vehicle and raced into the jungle.
Opening her pack, she pulled out clothes and began to change into something more town ready. Nothing too daring because she was, after all, still her father’s daughter, but wiggling into the tight t-shirt and short jean skirt felt amazing. She switched out the boots for leggings and Mary Janes.
She came out of the trees and tossed her pack into the back seat and laughed. “Carla?” She called into the jungle. “Did you drink too much again and are peeing in the bushes? Remember, we do have poison ivy out here.” She said with a laugh and leaned back against Carla’s car and looked up at the stars. “It’s such a beautiful night, isn’t it?” She was yelling at her friend. “Such a great night to go out. I love it. I hated to sneak out on daddy, but yeah. I needed this. Time away from the guards. Ya know?” She turned then and frowned. “Carla?” She shouted. “Carla, where are you?”
Suddenly, material was pulled over her head and her arms were yanked behind her to be shackled together by what felt like plastic bands. She went to scream, but a hand landed over her mouth outside the bag. A low voice, clearly disguised, said in her ear. “No one can hear you out here, Ms. Moreno. Not your daddy, and definitely not your friend.” The hand moved and she found herself being thrown over a broad shoulder. Jostling around while the individual ran, she tried to shake off the hood but they must have tied it tight enough to keep her from doing just that. Nausea kicked in when she was upright again before being dumped into what she guessed, from the slam over her head, was a trunk.
Gabbie had to pull her shit together. She had to calm herself because if she was going to get out of this, it was going to be with a cool head. She twisted her wrists, it was cutting into her but she didn’t give a shit. She had to get free. She rubbed her head against the trunk and shortly got the bag off her head. Once that was done, she shifted as best she could so that she could pull her hands down and under her legs. Thank you, gymnastics, for making her so flexible. Once her hands were in front of her she focused. She then grinned, “Oh, yeah.” she whispered and reached for the neon glow in the dark handle that all trunks had to have in the last twenty plus years. Hell, yeah. She tugged it and then cussed. “Fuck me.” She growled when the little glow in the dark tag came off in her hand. “Shit. Okay, next plan.” She felt around and looked for the taillight. That was another thing she could do, knock it out and hopefully signal for help.
She began to push and push, her hands still tied together with the plastic ties but she needed to get out, fast. Finally, the taillight came free and she nearly whooped for joy. She didn’t have anything to wave outside and instead began to root around in the trunk for something, anything, to stick out of the light.
The car suddenly came to a hard stop, sending her crashing into the back of the rear seats. Weight changes told her someone was getting out, the crunch from gravel outside told her they were heading her way. The trunk lid went up and she was instantly blinded by a high-powered flashlight. The unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked had her stilling instantly. “One warning before I shoot out your kneecaps, princess. Try that shit again and you’ll experience pain you have never known in your life. No one is coming to save you, not tonight. Maybe tomorrow we can talk your daddy into doing so, but I somehow doubt even for you that he’ll leave his compound. For your sake, you’d better hope I’m wrong.” The light was cut off when the trunk lid slammed down again. Seconds later, she was slammed into the front of the trunk when they took off at high speeds with squealing tires.
What the ever-loving name of hell was going on? What was he talking about? Yes, she knew that her father wasn’t a good man, that he dealt drugs, but who would ever dare take her? No one. Her father had made certain that she was untouchable and there wasn’t a single being alive that would ever dare to counter her father on anything. Besides that, what did they want with her dad? If they wanted him out, he would meet with his suppliers and his other comrades, but this she didn’t get.
Chapter Four
The next time the car stopped it was gentler than they’d done previously. Gabbie could hear footsteps and extremely muffled voices. She couldn’t discern more than two for sure but knew there could be more. Someone finally came closer to bang on the trunk before it popped open. Pointed right between her eyes was a massive handgun.
Hands took hold of her upper arms and lifted her from the trunk to her feet. A quick glance around showed four individuals, guy with the gun pointed at her head included, all wearing ski masks and gloves. She couldn’t even see their eyes since they all had on sunglasses. Absolutely no discernable traits to identify them with, and they were all of a similar height and build, give or take a few pounds.
The one with the gun shifted around until he was behind her and she could feel it pressed to the depression at the base of her skull. Right where her brain stem resided if she remembered her biology classes at all. Another one waved her forward and pointed to the stairs, and then up. Right, apparently, that’s where she was to go.
“You really don’t want to do this. Seriously, this is bad juju for you to kidnap me. Don’t you know that?” She shook her head at the people before her. “Carla, please tell me that you didn’t hurt her?” Holy Christ, Carla. If they hadn’t killed her she was going to have to run far because of her part in Gabbie getting taken. “I have no idea who the hell you all are but daddy will kill you all for this.”
The guy with the gun prodded her before growling, “Move.” When she apparently didn’t move quickly enough for him he hooked an arm around her waist and hoisted her up in the air to an awkward angle that likely flashed everyone in there her panties. He took long strides to the stairs quickly heading up them two at a time. At the top, he dropped her to her feet and gave her a shove with a hand between her shoulder blades into a room. It had no windows, no other doors, and a single chair in the center she was propelled into. The other three men came in to cut the zip ties on her wrists and secure her to the chair, she noted it was both welded and bolted down to a heavy looking steel plate that was also bolted to the floor. It was a chair made to never move.
“Oh, you are all serious assholes.” She muttered when she was practically chained down to the chair. “You all know that you are going to pay for this. You are all going to die for this if you don’t let me go right now. If it is money you want, you won’t get it, all you will get is a shallow grave.”
Everyone but the guy with the gun filed out. He slipped it into a holster and shook his head. Like before, when he spoke, it was clear he was disguising his voice. “The only thing that will be happening is your father will finally die for his many crimes against the people here, and in other nations. Your fate has not yet been sealed. Take this time to think about what you want to be the final outcome. Know that should you somehow manage to get free from your shackles and break out of this room there are six, armed people in this building and several more outside keeping watch. You will not make it down the stairs but I’m sure you will want to give it a try.” Turning he left the room closing and locking the door behind him. It was then she noticed the one and only decoration in the room. A photo of her father with a target painted on his forehead.
She looked at the photo of her father for a very long time. No, just no. There was no way in hell she was going to let them hurt him. No wonder he was in such a protective bubble now. If someone was willing to take her it had to have been bad, a lot worse than he let on. She then began to take stock of what she had and didn’t have. Okay, so they didn’t take off her shoes so that was good. She clicked together the heels of her Mary Janes and then began to pra
y. Okay, so she did a lot more than pray that the signal that was hidden in her heels would get out and to her father’s men. She just hoped they came for her and not her father. “Fuckers.” She muttered.
* * * *
Tugging the hood off, Tobias wiped a hand over his buzzed short hair. He tossed the hood with the others and moved to where Cherilyn was watching the feed from the room. “Anything?”
The woman snickered. “Pretty much called you all fuckers. She also activated a GPS chip in her shoes. The system is blocking the signal but I wouldn’t share that fact with her right away. Got a message from Scout. He’s dropped her friend off at the airport with enough money to get gone in a big way, and papers that will keep her hidden.”
“Good.” Tobias knew men like Moreno. He would have had the other girl hunted down and tortured to ensure she’d given them every piece of information before she was killed and dumped somewhere as a warning to others. While he might have some loose morals, he couldn’t sit back while an innocent was murdered if he could do anything to prevent it.
“Rainer, you got the little video montage ready for our guest?”
“Almost boss. Adding in some final touches and adjusting the timing on a few stills to allow her plenty of time to enjoy it. I’m thinking about adding some background music too, you know for effect and all.”
“Keep it simple and stark, no music.” There were days he really had to work not to strangle Rainer when he went all creative. The video was basically every clip they could find documenting Gabriella Moreno’s father’s shady dealings. Most were in Columbia and found through shady sources who’d gotten them from even shadier officials in Moreno’s pockets. The guy apparently loved to be filmed doing his disgusting and various deeds, but it was fully understood that if anything got out the individual who released it would live long enough to see every member of his or her family tortured and torn apart by Quan. And the man could keep someone alive for days.