by Christi Snow
“He says he wants to prove to Cassie who is more militarily capable. This is all a big game to him and Cassie is the prize. I’m guessing he has me in his sights as his opponent. But I’ll tell you, Colt, I don’t plan to lose this one.”
“Jake, you need to be careful. This guy sounds completely insane. The problem is he’s a psychopath with connections and money at his disposal. Don’t underestimate him. The Ramirez cartel hasn’t gotten as powerful as they have by making bad moves.”
“The only thing that matters at this point is getting Cassie back safe, but I’ll be as careful as I can. Thanks Colton.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.” Jake heard the click as Colton ended the call.
It was time to get to work.
Chapter 43
Cassie gasped as she looked into the pain-filled eyes which matched her own.
“Cassie?” his voice rasped out, sounding rough and scratchy. “Please tell me I’m not hallucinating again.”
Cassie rushed up to the head of the bed and reached out to touch his face, which was covered with a full growth of beard and the remnants of bruising. “If you are, then I am too and I don’t want to know any different.” She could feel the overheated warmth of his skin which told her he was running a fever. He’d lost weight. His features were gaunt and his skin had a grey tone to it. He had dark circles under his eyes which looked glassy and haunted. His blond hair was beyond shaggy, but this was definitely Chris. She reached up and cupped both of his cheeks as her eyes filled with tears. “How is this possible? We were told you were dead. There was a body the military identified as yours. We buried you and had a funeral. Where have you been for the last six months?” She looked past him worriedly to the beeping machines which were hooked up to him. She turned to ask him more, but he’d slipped into unconsciousness.
She hadn’t noticed the door opening. She was so distracted by the sudden appearance of Chris she jumped when she heard another voice. Cassie whirled around to see Ricky leaning up against the door with a large hulk of a man standing next to him.
He gave her a lazy smile. “Aw, I missed the family reunion and I was so looking forward to seeing it.” He beamed at her. “Professor, you do surprise me in the most interesting of ways. I cannot wait to show you all of my many little gifts.” He gestured over to Chris’ bed while continuing to smile at her. “He’s my gift to you as we begin our beautiful life as a family.” He scowled at the machines. “Unfortunately, he’s not quite the same man you knew as he sustained some unfortunate damage. He’s a very stubborn man, but c’est la vie. I think he’s learned his lesson.” He waved his hand in the air.
“Ricky?” She looked at him, shock reverberating through her system. “I…I don’t understand. You’re the one who’s been doing all this to me?” She looked back over to Chris lying so pale in the hospital bed. “I don’t understand any of this. How did Chris get here? With you? What’s wrong with him? What did you do to him?”
“Aw, your dear brother literally fell out of the sky and into the hands of my troops with the slight help of one of our RPG’s. I knew when I found out exactly who he was that this was fate. I’ve been a fan of yours ever since your beautiful appearance on the video game. You’re not only beautiful, but you understand the ways of war and strategy. We’re meant to be together. We’ll stand together and run my army. Why else would God send me your twin brother? You’re my perfect mate.”
“Wha…What about Molly?” Cassie’s brain was scrambling to catch up with everything that was happening.
He gave a soft chuckle and then gave her a slightly condescending look. “There is no Molly. Only you. I just didn’t want to give you any indication of my intentions before it was time.”
Cassie felt icy-cold panic spread down her spine as she listened to Ricky go on. Chris was unconscious, but she grabbed his hand. She needed the moral support that came from knowing her brother was alive.
“You mentioned troops and an army. Who are you really?”
“Oh my,” he gave her a smirking look, “my manners are remiss, aren’t they? Let me officially introduce myself.” He gave a courtly bow and a roll of his hand. “Ricardo Ramirez at your service.”
She stared at him in shock. Ricardo Ramirez? Was that supposed to mean something to her? Who the hell was he and why had he targeted her and her family?
“My family business is based out of Columbia. The nature of the business is very risky. As such, I command a vast army within our jungles.”
Cassie gave a harsh laugh. “Oh my God, you’re a drug-runner, aren’t you?”
Ricky’s gaze became flinty as he looked at her. “I’m a businessman. One your military,” he sneered at Chris, “would like to control, but that’s not going to happen. I’ll prove it to you and to them I have the superior military skills once and for all. Then you’ll be mine and we’ll become one big happy family.”
Cassie could see the unmistakable maniacal gleam which came into Ricky’s eyes. Why hadn’t she seen it before? And just how the hell was she going to get both her and her injured brother out of here when he couldn’t even maintain consciousness? She looked back over worriedly at the machines. She needed to figure out exactly what was wrong with him, but she also needed to figure out how to work Ricky so he would think she wasn’t a threat. She couldn’t do anything as long as she was handcuffed to a bed.
“What exactly is wrong with him?”
Ricky gave a pitying look over at the unconscious Chris. “Well, he was in a plane crash, so he didn’t come to us in the healthiest of conditions.”
Cassie looked over at the equipment hooked up to Chris. “That was six months ago. Whatever happened then, he should be recovered.”
“So true, my dear. Nothing slips by you, does it? But as you can see, he’s not recovered. Unfortunately, infection can set in when one is in the jungle. And when one is not grateful for one’s accommodations,” he looked angrily at Chris, “well, let’s just say, things can become ugly.”
“You hurt him.” It was a statement of fact, not a question as Cassie had no doubt about what Chris’ treatment had been for the last few months. As the realization all the nightmares she’d been having about Chris were real, sunk in, Cassie shuddered. There was no doubt in her mind Ricky was a monster.
“Your brother is not the most cooperative of men. We’ve only done what we needed to do to keep him under control. Now that you’re here, I have a feeling there will be less of a need for such treatment. Your dearest brother wouldn’t want any hurt to befall you.”
She looked at the machines Chris was hooked up to. There was a heart rate monitor, a pulse oxygen level monitor on his finger, and an IV feeding what looked to be two things into his system. There was another machine there, but it wasn’t one she recognized. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, but dashed them away in anger.
Ricky looked indulgently at Cassie. “Aw, my darling Cassie…such earnest caring. It does my heart good to see you care so deeply about family, but no worries. Now you’re here, he’ll recover quickly and will be taken care of to the fullest of our ability. All you have to do is cooperate and accept the gifts I so generously give. I realize with a woman such as yourself, I have to prove my worth so you can accept me. Like the knights of old, that is what the past few months have been about. I’ve been proving my worth to you, but alas, our game must come to a close. It’s earlier than I’d planned, but the arrival of your friend,” he sneered at the thought of Jake, “means we need to finish this. I will not stand for you to be with another and his arrival has affected your ability to concentrate on me. I need to get back to my business and home so we can start our life together. Tomorrow night, we’ll eliminate my final competitor and then we’ll be on our way to Columbia.”
Oh my God. He planned to go after Jake tomorrow night. Cassie felt her pulse accelerate even faster at the thought of Jake being in danger.
Ricky glanced back down the hall with an angry look on his face. “Unfortunately, you
r actions with the dear Melissa have cost you your dinner.” He shook his head like a father correcting a child. “I shouldn’t reward your actions in any way, but I know you’ve missed your brother so I’ll indulge you a tiny bit. You may spend the remainder of the night here with your brother. I’ll have my men bring in a cot and bedding for you.” He gave her a fierce look as he added his final warning. “Don’t make me regret my generosity, or you may suddenly find the care for your precious brother lacking.”
Cassie tried to summon her acting skills to smile at him and gritted her teeth as she uttered, “Thank you, Ricky. I do appreciate it.”
It was up to her to get Chris out of here and she would do whatever it took to do just that. After Ricky left and she heard the lock click from the exterior, she rushed back over to Chris’ bedside. She brushed the hair off his forehead, gave him a kiss on his cheek, and whispered in his ear, “I’m going to take care of everything. Don’t worry. I love you Chris and I’m going to get us both out of here.”
Chapter 44
Chris lapsed in and out of consciousness all night long, without ever being very cognizant of his surroundings. Cassie sat in a chair at his bedside and dozed with her head laying on his mattress with one hand on his arm at all times. She still couldn’t quite believe he was really still alive so she needed that physical contact as reassurance.
As she felt him stir again, she stood up and looked at him with bleary eyes. She could see the relief in his eyes that reflected her own every time she realized he was lying there, alive. His eyes looked less feverish today than they had last night and, as she pressed her hand to his forehead, she was relieved to find his fever seemed to have cooled some.
He grabbed hold of her hand and held it still with incredible strength considering his physical condition. “Cassie,” the urgency in his gravelly voice sent ice down her spine, “you’ve got to get out of here. If you see an opportunity to run, you need to take it.”
Cassie shook her head. “I’ve thought you were dead for six months. If you think I’m going to leave you now, you don’t know me at all. If I leave, we leave together. I’m not going to leave you here. Your fever feels like it’s gone down some. How’re you feeling?”
“Better, but there’s no way I can run. Physically, it’s just not possible, Cassie. Even if I wasn’t sick and weak, my left knee has been broken too many times. It simply doesn’t work anymore. I’ll just slow you down.”
Cassie looked down at his leg buried under the covers. She’d tried to assess his physical condition during the middle of the night, but didn’t want to hurt him so she hadn’t done much more than check his head, chest and arms while he’d been unconscious. He had fading bruises everywhere including all the shades of the rainbow across his ribs which meant some of them were probably broken or cracked. He also had the remnants of a nasty looking knife wound across the lower half of his stomach. She knew he was in absolutely horrible physical condition after his beatings, but there was nothing he could say which could convince her to leave this place without him, so it was time for something harsh. She couldn’t have him giving up at this point.
“I’ve known you my entire life, Chris, and I’ve never known you to be a quitter.” She took a breath and took a hard look at him, trying to convey disappointment, when the truth was, her heart was breaking for all he’d been through. “So that’s it. You’re just going to roll over and let them win?”
Chris’ eyes hardened and she saw more life there than she’d seen in the last few hours. “Dammit Cassie, there’s no way you’ll be able to escape if you’re dragging me along with you.”
“Let me worry about that, but for now, I need some answers so I can figure out how to get us out of here. You said your knee’s a mess. What else is wrong with you physically that we have to work around?”
Chris shut his eyes in frustration as he leaned his head back against the pillow, but she could see she was convincing him to see things her way. When he looked back up at her, she could see the anger and frustration boiling in his eyes, but he replied, “I’ve had a fever off and on for a few weeks so I have the lingering weakness from that. I think I have a cracked rib on my left side, but I’m pretty sure it’s not fully broken. The real issue is my knee. It’s completely useless at this point. It won’t hold me at all. It just collapses if I try.”
“Okay,” Cassie struggled to swallow the bile threatening to rise at the thought of what Chris had been through, but she couldn’t get them out of this if she dwelled on that right now. “What about the knife wound on your stomach? It doesn’t look infected, but can you tell if you have any internal damage from that?”
Chris shook his head, “No, it’s healing fine.”
“How long have you been here?”
Chris looked confused. “I’m not really sure. I think for about a week. Where are we? The last time I knew my definite location was before my jet crashed and that was Columbia.”
Cassie’s eyes filled with tears as she saw him swallow hard. “Believe it or not, unless they moved me further than I know last night while I was drugged, we’re in Lubbock. The guy who kidnapped me is Ricardo Ramirez, although I’ve known him for the last few months as Ricky. I just thought he was a nice guy who worked at The Mocha Mermaid. God, I’m so stupid. I can’t believe I never guessed he was the one who was stalking me. I should have listened to Jake, but I just thought he was jealous. From what Ricky told me last night, he’s head of a drug cartel that shot you down in Columbia. He has a fixation on me from that damn videogame. I’m so sorry, Chris. Everything you’ve gone through is my fault.”
Chris immediately started shaking his head. “No, his obsession with you has kept me alive. Otherwise, I would have simply been an American soldier for them to torture and kill as an example. I’ve been kept alive purely because I’m your brother. This isn’t your fault.” He reached over and grasped her hand.
Cassie reached up and dashed the tears off her face. “Okay, enough of that. We may not have much more time together so we need to plan as much as possible.” She looked around the sparsely finished room. “We’re locked in here, but a nurse seems to check on you and your IV’s about every two hours. Is there anyone else who checks on you regularly?”
Chris nodded, “Yes. A doctor comes in every morning to assess and adjusts my medications and fluids.” He gestured towards the I.V.
“Why hasn’t he casted your knee?”
“It’s too badly damaged. Casting won’t help it at this point. There’s a modified brace under the bed they put on me when they need to move me. It locks my knee for limited mobility.”
Cassie looked under the bed and then did another quick perusal around the room. “What about crutches?”
Chris shook his head. “They don’t leave them here because they don’t want me to have a weapon.”
Cassie gave a quick nod. “Okay, we can make do without them if we have to. Do you have any idea about the layout of the place outside of this room? I was unconscious when I was brought in. All I saw when I found you is we appear to be in a basement and there are stairs that way.” She pointed down the hall the direction where she had seen the stairs.
“My fever was pretty high when they brought me in and it was night, but from what I can remember, we’re in the basement of a house. The house is big and built around a center atrium. I think most of the business is done on this level though. I’ve seen one other room down here. It’s an office, right next to the stairs. It has an exterior entrance. I saw the door, but don’t know where it leads. I would guess it and all the other rooms on this level stay locked.”
“Okay,” Cassie started going over plans in her mind. “I know Ricky’s probably going to be coming to get me soon. He acted like I was only going to get to stay with you overnight. Somehow I’ll make sure that I’m back in here with you tonight and we’ll get out of here before whatever he has planned for tonight goes down. Jake’s in town and I’m sure he’s frantically looking for me. We’re not in th
is alone. We just have to somehow get in touch with him.”
Chris was starting to wear out and Cassie knew she needed to let him sleep while he could. She would need him rested up if they were going to make it out of here. He was so pale and gaunt. Her nightmares gave her an idea of what he’d been through, but the reality had to be so much worse. She only hoped they could reverse the effects after they got him out of here. In the meantime, she had to do everything she could to ensure he had the best care available.
She heard a key jingle in the lock and turned towards the door in time to see Ricky stride in with the doctor and nurse close behind.
Ricky was dressed in a custom made suit which fit his hard body impeccably. He’d let his raven black hair get longer over the last few weeks and it curled up over the edge of his collar. His dark eyes were victorious when he spotted Cassie across the room. This man was the player who looked at her life as a game for his entertainment and had terrorized both Chris and her for the last half of this year. She gritted her teeth and tried to hide her anger.
He reached a hand out to her. “It’s time for breakfast. Come with me and let them work on your brother.”
She gave a quick nod before she turned to the doctor. “Is he going to recover okay?”
The doctor looked to Ricky for permission to speak which he gave with a slight nod. “He’s been fighting an infection, but we have him on some powerful antibiotics so it should come under control soon.”
“What about his knee?”
The doctor pursed his lips and looked towards Ricky again before proceeding. “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for him there.”
Cassie started to ask more, but Ricky interrupted her. “That’s enough. Our breakfast will become cold. Come with me. You may talk to the doctor more later.”
Cassie leaned down to whisper in Chris’ ear. “Stay safe and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Cassie squeezed his hand before turning to join Ricky in the doorway.