Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2)

by LR Potter

“Then we’ll head on over to Juarez, Mexico and have lunch… maybe a margarita or two,” Sundra said while snapping her fingers up next to her head as if she sported castanets.

  “I could really use the margarita right now,” Trinity said with a laugh.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll take this step by step,” Sundra promised.

  Trinity’s heart began to beat faster as she glanced at the GPS and realized she was merely blocks away from the Rio Grande Vista Lodge… and her mother. She drove the blocks and finally turned into the parking lot. The long-term stay hotel was an old, rambling complex. The building was dirty and the large pool was empty of water with the exception of the accumulated rain in the bottom and varies types of debris. She drove around until she spotted the door with 12B on it. Slowly, she backed into a parking spot. She parked far enough away so she could get a complete look at the room. She glanced back into the backseat to find her precious baby boy fast asleep, unaware of the drama surrounding his mother.

  As she turned around and looked up at apartment 12B, she saw a woman sitting in front of the window. As there was a sheer curtain in the window, it was hard to tell what she was doing. Maybe she was up drinking a cup of coffee and reading the daily paper. She swallowed hard. Was that her mother?

  Taking a deep breath and exhaling silently, Trinity said, “Okay, well here goes nothing…”

  Sundra interrupted her. “You are not going up there alone. We’re all going. It’s all or nothing,” she stated firmly.

  “Thanks, Sundra. I was hoping you’d say that,” Trinity said softly. “Okay. Let’s do this thing.”

  Opening the door to the backseat, she extracted Blake from his carseat and pressed his sleeping body against her own. She breathed in his familiar smell and kissed his head. She grabbed his blanket and threw it over him; not because it was cold, but because somehow without it he was too exposed here. As she glanced about her, she reached in and grabbed his diaper bag absently and slung it over her other shoulder. This place was really creeping her out. She couldn’t understand why her mother would stay in a place like this voluntarily. She wished Rush were here with her as fear filled her. She felt so uncertain about all of this now that she was here. Her mother was bound to freak out!

  She took a deep breath and Sundra gave her a reassuring smile. “Okay, let’s go,” Trinity said. Side by side, they walked up to the building and climbed the stairs to the second landing. When they were on the landing, Sundra’s cellphone rang. She drifted off behind Trinity but they kept walking. Behind her, Trinity heard Sundra answer her phone.

  “Hey,” it was obvious from her voice that Sundra was unsure about speaking to whoever was on the phone.

  “…Umm, I don’t think now is a good time. Can she call you back…”Sundra said into the phone.

  Rush. It had to be Rush. Trinity glanced back at Sundra and shook her head. Not now, she mouthed and then turned back. She couldn’t stop now. She had to keep going while she still had the nerve. When she reached the door with 12B painted in flaked, gold paint, she took another deep breath and knocked on the door. From where she stood, she could still see the woman sitting at a table next to the window. Through the curtain, all she could make out was the short, dark hair. The woman remained motionless and didn’t seem to acknowledge the knock. Trinity glanced behind her to where Sundra was in deep conversation with Rush. Her eyebrows were bunched together as she listened intently to whatever was being said.

  Trinity turned back to the door and knocked softly once more. Trepidation filled her when the door was opened by a Hispanic man wearing a dirty, off-white T-shirt.

  “Yes?” the man asked with his eyebrow lifted questioningly.

  “Uhh. I would like to speak to Ameila, please,” Trinity said hesitantly, referring to her mother’s alias.

  “Ameila, yes, come on in,” the man said.

  Trinity glanced back at Sundra as she began to step into the apartment. Sundra was shaking her head frantically but Trinity didn’t understand what she was trying to communicate. Trinity gave her a not now look and stepped into the apartment fully. She glanced around the room and immediately felt panic rise up within her. There were several Hispanic men in the room. When she turned her head to the woman seated by a table in the window, it took her a second to realize the woman wasn’t real, she was a mannequin. The man who’d opened the door lurched towards her, his intentions obvious. Trinity clutched Blake tighter to her body and stepped back and turned toward Sundra, who she almost toppled over.

  “Run!” she yelled as she began to doing just that. Sundra turned at her voice and was running ahead of her. Behind them, Trinity could hear the pounding of feet and directions being shouted out in Spanish. Fear clawed her stomach. She ran down the stairs behind Sundra. When they reached the parking lot, Sundra turned to her, looking for direction.

  “We’ll never get to the car,” Trinity said with as much calm as she could manage. “Go that way,” she said, indicating a sidewalk going down the side of the building.

  From behind her, in English, she heard one of the men shout, They want the girl and the baby unharmed. Fear lanced her. It was a setup for her and Blake. Rush had told her they were vulnerable, but once again she hadn’t listened. Anger welled up inside. She’d brought this on herself. She’d put not only herself, but Sundra and Blake at risk. No! She refused to let them get Sundra and Blake. Not her baby. They’d never get him. She would go with them willingly, but they would not get him. Up ahead was an alley between the buildings.

  “Sundra,” Trinity said loudly, “Turn here,” she indicated with a jerk of her head.

  When they turned into the alley, she grabbed Sundra’s arm. “Listen, take Blake and get out of here. My keys are in my purse. Run back to the car. Call Rush and he’ll come and get Blake. I’ll lead them away from you both.”

  “No! I won’t leave you,” Sundra said adamantly.

  “There’s no time. Please do what I say. Here’s my purse.” Trinity pressed her lips against Blake’s tiny head. “I love you so much. Please be happy.” With an extreme effort to stop the tears which threatened, she shoved the baby to Sundra and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for everything, now please run quickly. Tell Rush… tell Rush, I’m sorry.”

  Without another word, Trinity took the blanket she’d had wrapped around the baby and wrapped it around the diaper bag and put it in her arms like a baby. Taking a deep breath, she darted back out onto the sidewalk and began to run. She heard the shouts of the men as they spotted her again. Without looking back she ran and ran as long as she could until finally one of the men grabbed her from behind, causing them both to stumble to the ground. The gravel of the road bit into her soft flesh and she cried out. She fell hard on the diaper bag and began to struggle against the man above her. He rose quickly and jerked her up. He glanced down at the diaper bag and let loose a string of curse words, some in English and some in Spanish.

  She began to struggle against him when she saw the other men running towards them. She began to scream and shout. When the first of the other group arrived, he walked up to her calmly and punched her hard in the face. She slumped to the ground in a dead heap. Fortunately, she was out before she hit the ground.

  When consciousness returned, she wasn’t sure she was yet awake. Instead, it seemed like she was back in the dream she’d been having since she was a young girl. The dream – a nightmare really – about the night she’d been abducted and being thrown in the back of a van – just as she was in now. She struggled to sit up, but her hands and feet were bound tightly. Her head throbbed where she’d been punched and her body ached from the tumble onto the road. Swallowing hard against the fear, she heaved a sigh of relief. At least they hadn’t gotten Blake. She bet right now, he was safely on his way back to Rush. Her heart constricted in her chest. She hoped when Blake asked his father about her, he would tell him only nice things… not how utterly stupid she actually was.

  She knew her chances of survival weren’t good. She figure
d she’d used up her nine lives already. She took comfort in the fact she was able to keep her precious baby away from these monsters. While she knew Blake would hate growing up with bodyguards and constant monitoring, she knew Rush would always keep him safe. Rush loved him. Rush had loved her too. She was just too stupid to realize it. She deserved this. She’d brought it on herself. Even her father had tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen. She’d accept this end.

  As she lay in the back of the moving van, her eyes blindfolded, a sad thought crossed her mind. If Blake hadn’t gotten sick, tomorrow would have been her wedding day. If he hadn’t gotten sick, she and Blake would have gone with Rush to the Cayman Islands and they would have become a true family. Now, Blake would grow up with the tragedy of having lost his mother to abduction… just as she had. Tears flooded her eyes behind the blindfold. Her mother was really, really dead. It had been nice believing she was still out there somewhere, maybe looking out for her, in her own way. But now that dream was dead.

  Her stomach clenched in panic when she felt the van slow to a rolling stop. When the van’s engine was shut off, the silence was eerily louder to her ears. She strained to hear anything over the roar in her ears and the whooshing of the blood gushing in her head. She heard nothing until the van doors were opened. She slunk back when hands grabbed her and lifted her out of the van. She struggled against their hold, but they just laughed at her pathetic attempts. They had only gone a few yards when she heard a metal door being opened. The place they entered was sweltering and she could instantly feel her clothes sticking to her skin.

  She heard a discussion between the men, but didn’t understand the words in Spanish. From the inflections of their voices, she assumed the comments were something crude. She turned her mind away from what these men could do to her. She kept telling herself over and over… at least they didn’t get Blake. She’d made sure of that.

  Her pep talk didn’t help, however, when rough hands grabbed at her, untied her, then began tearing her clothes away. She struggled against the hands, as well as the gag over her mouth. Oh, God! She couldn’t endure this. Once all her clothes were removed. She felt something being clamped to her ankle. When she struggled, she heard the distinctive clanking of a chain. They had her leashed like a dog. Once she was secured how they wanted, they snatched off her blindfold.

  She blinked rapidly trying to clear her eyes. She looked down past her naked body to the chain attached to her ankle. The other end of the chain was attached to a huge ring cemented into the floor. She looked up to see the men all staring at her nudity. Shame had her falling to the floor and hiding herself as best she could. The men just laughed at her efforts.

  One of the men came and squatted down in front of her. She watched with terrified eyes as he brushed her arm with one of his dirty, calloused hands. She cringed away from him and the others laughed at the man. The shamed man stepped up his efforts and began to slide his hand down to cup one breast painfully within his grasp. She whimpered and struggled to evade him.

  Again, the others laughed and threw out barbed comments in Spanish. The man, irritated at the game, reared back and slapped her painfully across her face. The tears streaking down her face now mingled with blood from her busted nose.

  “Enough!” a voice snapped out from the entrance of the shed they were in. The men immediately straightened to attention.

  “Do not hurt the merchandise. There will be plenty of time for that later… after we get the money. But Drayton will want proof of life and we don’t want her too banged up,” the same man from the door said.

  Trinity watched the man approach her slowly, surveying her like a piece of meat. The Hispanic man was taller and more muscular than any of the others. He was dressed sharply in dress pants and a white shirt unbuttoned at the throat, revealing a heavy gold chain. The man’s hair was cropped short and bleached a startling white… she knew him… had seen him before… in her nightmares. This was the man who’d killed her mother, then stolen her from their car.

  “It seems we have come full circle, wouldn’t you say, Ms. Grace?” The man said as he watched comprehension cross her face.

  She lunged at him, but he only moved back and she fell when the chain reached its length.

  “Now, Ms. Grace, is that any way to act? I’ve just stopped this pack of wild dogs from ravishing your delectable body… and you attack me? Tsk, tsk, Ms. Grace. Please excuse my manners, it seems we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Tiko Mars.”

  Her mind reeled. This was Tiko Mars? The man Rush had hunted down to get the information about his father. She’d never make it out of here. She knew that now for sure. She struggled to hear his words over the thundering in her head.

  “You are much more than I expected. You look a lot like your mother, you know that? What a waste that was. What a shame. I caught a lot of grief over that mishap, I don’t mind telling you. I was impressed with your attempts to hand off your son, but rest assured, we have him also. It wouldn’t do to not have the complete package. We were paid to get the whole package. Sorry about your friend, though,” he said in a tone which reflected he had no such remorse.

  Trinity slumped to the floor and tears ran in rivers down her cheeks. Sobs racked her body and struggled past the gag in her mouth. They’d gotten her baby and killed Sundra. She’d failed. They would probably kill Blake as well. He meant nothing to them. She couldn’t breathe; she couldn’t bear the pain in her chest. She would die from the immense pain. Her consolation was that they would kill her and she wouldn’t have to endure this for long. Poor Rush! He’d have to live his entire life with the pain of losing their precious boy. No. No! NO! It was just too much.

  Her lowered head was snatched up by her hair by Tiko Mars. “Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I need to ensure you are here when I need you. If you behave yourself, I will ensure your son is kept alive. Do I make myself clear? If you try to escape, I will kill him. Do you understand?” he said harshly.

  Her body shaking, she nodded her head.

  “In the corner of the room is a bucket and one roll of toilet paper… make it last, it’s all you’ll get. I hope you enjoy your stay with us, Ms. Grace,” he smirked. With harsh barks, Tiko Mars commanded the other men in Spanish and they left her, locking the door behind them. She lowered her face to the dirty cement floor and cried.

  Chapter Twelve

  Trinity sat huddled in the center of the shed. She’d been alone for hours now. The sun beat down on the metal building, causing the temperature in it to be scorching hot. Sweat drenched her body. But her mind didn’t even acknowledge the physical discomfort. All she could think of was her poor, innocent baby. Her poor, defenseless baby, and poor Rush. He would be devastated. And it was all her fault. She’d done this all of them.

  When the sun set and it grew dark, the wind howled outside the thin walls of the building. She shivered against the cold night air. She felt surprisingly numb now. She wondered how long she could live in these conditions without food or water? She prayed it wouldn’t be long. She prayed this would be the very worst it would get. Not that she didn’t deserve a much worse fate. As she lay shivering, she tried to think of the most heinous fates she could think of for herself that would be justice to the fact that she’d brought Sundra and Blake to their deaths. But nothing she thought of was horrible enough.

  The next morning, her morbid preoccupation was disturbed when one of the men from the day before entered the shed. She sat up but stayed seated, still striving for some sort of modesty, which was asinine in the scheme of things. The man stepped towards her and sat down a bottle of water and a baggie with a sandwich in it.

  “How is my son?” she begged him.

  “No habla English,” was his only reply before exiting the shed.

  The day dragged so agonizingly slowly and the heat bore down on her. She felt baked from the inside out. Her hair hung limply around her shoulders. She thought about getting up and walking around to keep up her
physical stamina, but what was the point, really? She didn’t know how long she sat huddled in the corner as far away from the ‘bucket’ as possible, when the door opened once more. This time it was Tiko and another. He glanced around the shed until he spotted her in the corner.

  “Man, it’s hot in here. Someone should call the manager and complain.” Tiko and the man walked to where she was. He kneeled down in front of her and she flinched when he raised a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I hope the princess is finding her accommodations acceptable; but now it’s time to earn your keep. If you wouldn’t mind standing, please.”

  “First tell me if my son is okay?” she said defiantly.

  “I don’t think you are in a position to make any demands. But because I’m feeling somewhat generous today, I’ll tell you. Your son is doing fine. You don’t need to worry about him. He is far too valuable to hurt… yet. Now, be a good girl and stand up for me.”

  She stared at him for a long moment before rising. Color rose in her cheeks when both men stared unabashedly at her nakedness. She closed her eyes in her humiliation. She opened them when Tiko pressed something into her hands; a newspaper. She lifted confused eyes to his.

  “Hold it up so they can see today’s date, if you don’t mind. Then smile pretty for the camera,” Tiko said with another smirk as he lifted his cellphone to take the picture.

  Her lips quivered at the thought of a picture like this being sent to Rush to extort money from him for her and Blake. She’d done this and didn’t deserve any consideration. She only prayed Rush would pay for their son… save their son.

  She’d been inside the shed for three days and was well into her third night. The days were so hot it was nearly unbearable, but once the sun set, the night became so cold and was just as unbearable. Her chest felt tight and she had a killer headache. She had a persistent cough, and while she was constantly covered in sweat, she shivered uncontrollably, both during the day and night. Her breasts were painfully swollen with the need to nurse. They were so engorged, the slightest pressure hurt.