“Yes, it fucking is! What were you doing here? Spying on me?” Santini yelled, letting go of him and nodding at his men, who pulled down the hook, secured Aaron’s wrists to it, and hauled him up so his feet barely touch the ground. Aaron pressed his lips together, glaring at Santini.
“Sir, should we call...?” one of the men asked, and Santini lifted his finger.
“No. We can handle this. We stick to the plan. Nothing changes just because we have uninvited guests,” Santini said, and I let out a small sigh of relief. They wouldn’t be contacting Roberto just yet, which was good, because it gave us time to get free and escape before he discovered our plan. Not that any of these men could know anything about that since they had simply caught us outside and had no clue who we were.
If they recognized Aaron or figured out who he was, it would be very hard to explain what he was doing here and how he even knew about this place. No wonder Aaron didn’t want to tell them and have them call his father, because they surely wouldn’t just trust his word without confirmation. I shifted in the chair under the watchful gaze of my guard and tried to spot Marco, but it didn’t look like he was here at all. Where had they taken him? I hoped they hadn’t killed him.
“You’re wasting your time,” Aaron said. “Let me go before I get really mad.”
Santini’s laughter echoed throughout the garage. None of his men seemed to even smile. “And what can you possibly do to me? You’re tied up here like a piece of meat, and you’re going to answer all of my questions or suffer the consequences.”
“You’ll see,” Aaron growled.
“I think this one’s insane, boss,” one of the men said. “We can try the other one.”
“Don’t worry, Roy. He’ll talk. He’s just putting on a brave face in front of his girl. When we’re done with him, he’s going to be crying like a baby.” There was something sickening about the twisted smile on Santini’s face a moment before he turned toward Aaron and punched him in the stomach with full force.
Aaron grunted, and I gritted my teeth together. I averted my gaze as Santini punched him again and again, and I focused my attention on finding something that could help me to get free. My arms were already aching, but it was probably nothing compared to what Aaron was feeling.
“I can do this all day long,” Aaron said, panting, but the corners of his lips were upturned.
Santini’s face was red from anger as he wiped sweat off his forehead.
“I’m going to kill you,” Aaron said coldly.
“Who are you?” Santini asked, and picked up a long chain that had been lying on the ground. Aaron didn’t say a word, and Santini swung the chain at him, catching him across the chest. I swallowed bile as I watched Santini hit Aaron once again, the chain ripping through Aaron’s shirt and leaving a bloody trail.
I bared my teeth, wishing I could just snatch that chain out of Santini’s hands and wrap it around his throat. Why Aaron didn’t just tell them who he was, even if it was just to confuse them? So what if they called his father? Surely he’d find a way to explain his presence here somehow. It was better to tell them than to let them kill him.
But Aaron refused to speak. I contemplated telling them, but Aaron was being quiet for a reason. I couldn’t even think clearly when those men were... I glanced over my shoulder at the guy whose eyes were still on me, his gun ready at his belt. If I got up and tried to fight, he’d defeat me too quickly, but maybe... I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let myself fall off the chair.
“What the fuck was that?” I heard Santini yell, and I kept my eyes shut as my watcher came closer and nudged me with his boot. Staying perfectly still, I didn’t make a sound when he kicked me in the stomach. Son of a bitch. That hurt.
“She fainted,” the guy said with annoyance in his voice.
“Women. So weak,” Santini muttered. “Fainting at the sight of a few drops of blood. Bring some water.”
Fucking asshole. But at least he was dumb enough to leave me there unguarded. When the sound of the footsteps of my watcher grew fainter, I risked a peek and was glad that no one else had come to take over the guard duty. After rolling over a few times, I hid behind one of the supporting columns and got to my feet. Using the technique my brothers had taught me, I bent forward and brought my arms down quickly, snapping the zip tie off my wrists.
Everyone else was busy beating up on Aaron, so they weren’t paying any attention to me. The only problem was that except for that chair I’d been sitting on, there wasn’t anything I could use as a weapon, and against that many guys... The door was at the other end of the room, so I couldn’t get out unless I tried to sneak behind their backs. My guard would be back soon too. Fuck.
“Boss!” someone yelled, and a ripple of fear shot through me. Had they noticed I wasn’t where they’d left me? But the voice seemed to have come from the other end of the room. Did they have cameras in here? I couldn’t spot any, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
“What?” Santini yelled.
There was some whispering and commotion, and I couldn’t hear much because Aaron burst out laughing.
“Find him! Go!” Santini snapped. “What are you laughing about?”
“You won’t find him,” Aaron said, his voice cracking a little. Was he talking about Marco? Had Marco been able to escape? I hoped that was the case. Multiple footsteps resounded against the floor and gradually disappeared, and I dared to take a quick peek around the column. Only Santini and another guy had stayed with Aaron. Everyone else must have rushed away to find and catch Marco. That was good, except I had a huge problem. A pair of eyes widened as they fell on me.
“She’s getting away!” the guy shouted, and I cursed under my breath. I dashed toward the chair, but I knew I couldn’t exactly fight off bullets with that, or just run around the columns hoping they wouldn’t shoot me.
“Get her, Hank!” Santini ordered, and Hank pointed his gun at me.
“There’s nowhere to run little girl,” he said as I grabbed the chair and raced with it behind a column. “Boss, do we need her alive? I could just kill her.”
Aaron made a guttural sound in his throat.
“Not yet,” Santini said. “Bring her here. Maybe her boyfriend will be more willing to talk. Shoot her if she makes it past that column over there, though. We don’t need that much trouble for nothing.”
Shit. Somehow I didn’t think I could make it without getting shot, even if there were four more columns left to shield me if I made a mad dash for the door. But even if I could escape, I couldn’t just leave Aaron with these assholes. I’d have to get closer to them, and the only way to do that... I came from around the corner, dropped the chair, and raised my hands up.
“Please don’t shoot me,” I said in my best teary voice.
“Come here!” Santini barked, and I slowly made my way toward them. Hank roughly grabbed me by the arm, pulling me close, my back pressed against his chest, his gun digging into my side.
“Who are you and what are you doing here, bitch? Speak!” Santini yelled, getting in my face.
“Please! Don’t hurt me.” I choked on a sob. “I don’t know anything!”
Santini raised his hand and slapped me hard across the cheek. “What’s your name?”
“Susan.” I said the first name that came to my mind. “Please! Let us go!”
“Alright, Susan.” Santini curled his lip. “Why were you spying on us? Did you come here to steal? Who sent you?”
“We weren’t spying, I swear! We were just traveling through the area...”
“You’re fucking lying!” The vein in Santini’s forehead pulsed with anger, and I knew he wasn’t planning on ever letting us go. But he wouldn’t kill us either until he knew for sure that more people wouldn’t be coming, especially if his men didn’t catch Marco. He’d want to find out who we were working for so he could make sure nothing went wrong with the delivery. Who knew how much money Roberto was paying him for this super-secret job? “Get her
on the table.”
“Yes, boss.” Hank lifted me off my feet, despite me kicking and screaming, and slammed me down on the table without losing the grip on his gun. My breath came out of me with a whoosh, pain shooting through my whole body.
“Tell me what I want to know,” Santini turned to Aaron, “or my man here will have some fun with your girl.”
“Leave her alone, you fucking psychopath,” Aaron said. “I’m going to kill you!”
A satisfied smile spread across Santini’s lips. “Nothing will happen to her if you tell me who you work for, why you are here, and how you found this place. Better start talking!”
I glanced at Aaron, who was staring at me with a worried expression on his face, his lips moving as if he was about to speak but wasn’t quite sure what to say or if that was the best decision. Giving him a little shake of the head, I tried to kick at Hank, who caught my legs.
“What? You think we’re bluffing?” Santini asked, and bobbed his head at Hank, who pointed the gun at my head as he unzipped my jeans with his other hand, his eyes steady on me.
“No!” Aaron strained against the chains, his face a mask of fury, as he tried to get to Santini, who was standing just out of reach and laughing. Hank was tugging down my jeans with his big, filthy hand, and I blinked back the tears.
“Are you going to talk? Last chance!” Santini said.
My eyes were on Hank, who was still struggling with my jeans, and I couldn’t afford to look back at Aaron, so I just lifted my hand and quickly made a cutting sign in the air. He had to be watching me. I knew he had to be.
Aaron didn’t say anything.
“Very well, then. Maybe you’ll change your mind,” Santini said.
Chapter 22
“No! No! Please!” I screamed, thrashing on the table. Hank glanced down as he tried to unzip his pants and that was all I needed. Using his distraction, I grabbed his hand with the gun and twisted, making him cry out. The gun flew out of his hand, but before he could reach for it, I lifted myself up on the table and head-butted him so hard that black spots danced in my vision, but at least I sent him sprawling to the ground.
Ignoring the pain that was threatening to split my skull, I hopped off the table into a crouch, then flipped it over so it would shield me in case Santini already had his gun out and was aiming at me. I tugged my jeans back up and quickly zipped them. Hank was trying to push himself up, holding a bloody hand over his nose. I was closer to the gun he’d dropped, so I grabbed it and rolled over, peeking out from behind the right side of the table, and quickly aimed and pulled the trigger.
Santini fired at the same time, and the bullet embedded itself into the table, barely missing me, but the next shot formed a hole in the table’s surface. I got to my feet and squeezed the trigger again, this time hitting Santini in the shoulder. He stumbled toward Aaron, who somehow had the strength to catch the chain, pull himself up, and wrap his legs around Santini’s throat, bringing him down.
Santini still had a grip on his gun and was trying to point it at Aaron’s leg. I aimed at him, but I couldn’t risk hitting Aaron, so I glanced at Hank, who was struggling to lift himself up. Hank wasn’t a threat at the moment, so I raced toward Santini. He’d managed to get free of Aaron’s grip, but just before he could shoot, I tackled him and brought us both to the ground. Our guns went flying, but I didn’t care.
Getting on top of Santini, I curled my fingers into a fist and brought it down repeatedly onto his face. My knuckles were stinging and hurting, but all I could see in my mind was Santini punching Aaron over and over again. Santini moaned, lifting his hands to shield his face, blood covering his mouth and nose. I knew I didn’t have much time before Hank got to one of those tables with weapons, so I jumped to my feet, picked up the nearest gun, and shot Santini in the face.
I looked up toward Aaron, except he was no longer there. My pulse racing, I stared at the empty hook. If Hank... I spotted Hank in the corner of the room. Aaron held him in a chokehold, his chain wrapped around Hank’s neck. Hank’s face was getting redder and redder as he was trying to grip the chain, but Aaron didn’t let go. A few moments later, Hank’s arms went limp and he fell to the ground. The coldness in Aaron’s eyes disappeared as he met my gaze.
“We have to get out of here!” I yelled, unsure how many men could be waiting for us outside or returning after what had hopefully been a futile search for Marco.
“Yeah, but we need some of that.” He dropped the chains to the ground and nodded toward the table with weapons.
“Good idea.”
We grabbed as many guns as we could carry and ran toward the exit.
“Are you okay?” I asked as we stopped at the door.
Aaron’s shirt was torn and bloody in many places and he was limping a little. “Yeah, you?”
I bobbed my head.
“Let’s just keep moving.”
I pulled up the gun and glanced outside but couldn’t see anyone, which was weird. “Where’s everyone?”
“I don’t know.”
We ran outside, hiding behind various boxes, but it seemed like everyone had left. “They wouldn’t send everyone after Marco, right? I mean, they thought he was a spy who could expose the location of the special shipment, but they wouldn’t send everyone after him while someone else could come and attack this place. That would be stupid,” I said.
Aaron lowered his gun and swore.
“What?” I followed his gaze across the empty yard. Wait, empty...? “The trucks are gone!”
“They thought we were too much of a threat, so they risked sending the shipment early.” Aaron let out a frustrated breath.
“But if all the trucks are gone... then Marco should be safe somewhere, right?”
“We have to get back to the car. He might be waiting for us there, and we have to get there before anyone else does.” Aaron’s eyes were filled with worry.
“He’s fine. We’ll find him.” I rubbed his back, and he nodded. Aaron and Marco had left their phones and anything that could identify them in the car, which hopefully wasn’t easy to find. We hadn’t exactly planned on getting caught, though. But I refused to think something had happened to Marco.
“The drug’s gone.” He ran his hand across his face, turning in circles. “We can’t catch or check seven trucks that could’ve all gone in different directions.”
I looked around the farm and focused on the small house. “Maybe we can find some information in there.”
“They wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave clues.”
“But they were in a hurry. They could’ve forgotten something or maybe Santini was supposed to take care of it. And if it’s coded in some way...” I shrugged. “We should go check.”
“Okay, but we have to be quick.”
When we were sure no one was there to jump out at us, Aaron kicked in the door and we found ourselves in a small office full of papers. The computer on the desk was still on.
“They didn’t even have time to shut it down.” I flipped through a few papers. “Didn’t you say your father wouldn’t risk the shipment getting busted? Don’t those guys have to follow the schedule then?”
“Yeah, but this is an extreme situation. It’s different.”
“But they didn’t contact him, and that guy... That was Santini, right? He didn’t tell them to take the shipment anywhere, just ordered them to go after Marco. Wasn’t he in charge?” A frown creased my brow. “Would someone act against his orders and not contact your father?”
Aaron looked up from the folder he’d been inspecting. “Yeah, the guy was Santini. Maybe they didn’t want to speak in front of us, or maybe they had a protocol in place for situations like this and nothing needed to be said.”
I bent down to check one of the drawers. “Maybe. But now that you mentioned a protocol... What if they had a backup plan? If someone came snooping around here, they could transfer the shipment to another place and then deliver it from there.”
“I don’t know. Th
is seemed like the safest place. It’s isolated... No one is supposed to just venture in here.” Aaron clicked through a few files on the computer. “Let’s see if they have any info about a property around here where they could keep the trucks until tomorrow.”
“I never thought I’d be chasing after a drug,” I muttered.
“Why not?” A hint of amusement tinted Aaron’s voice. “You’re the daughter of a drug lord.”
“I always wanted to stay as far as possible from anything drug-related because I was just sick of it all. I mean, the whole drug business is the reason why I couldn’t... why I still can’t be with my family or live my life how I want to. I always have to hide, lie to every single person outside my family about who I am... I just couldn’t make a real connection with anyone.” I threw a bunch of useless papers to the floor so I wouldn’t look at them again by mistake. “When I was a kid, I’d sometimes stare at the stars and wish for my family to be normal, but... I guess wishing stars aren’t as good as people say they are.”
“I think we’ll have to file a complaint against the stars. Didn’t work for me either,” he said.
“What did you wish for?” I asked.
“Doesn’t matter.” He shook his head.
“I think I’ve got something.” I picked up one of the papers, tracing my fingers across it.
“What is it?” Aaron came around the desk and took the paper from me. “A list of numbers from one to seven. Seven trucks. But it doesn’t say anything else. It’s blank.”
“No, it’s not. Feel the page.” I waited until he arched an eyebrow at me. “There are indentations in the paper. There are five of them, they’re exactly the same, and they’re right under number five. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.” Actually, I thought it might be international Morse code, but I wasn’t sure.
“The fifth truck,” Aaron said. “We need to find the fifth truck.”
Hers to Take Page 14