Mistake Me Not

by Scarlett Finn

  They’d driven for hours, the light outside had disappeared, and they’d been bumping, and rocking for twenty minutes which suggested to her that they were off-road. Lacie had been groped everywhere, repeatedly, but so far, they’d stayed on top of her clothes. When the car stopped and the engine was switched off everyone sat in silence for a second. The rag had ended up further down her throat and breathing around it had become difficult so she had to make a conscious, careful effort to keep her breathing steady. Now that they had stopped she feared what would come next.

  ‘Got to get you inside for the boss,’ someone said and her head was forced back at a painful angle when they wrenched her hair.

  Duct tape appeared in front of her and was taped over the rag that was still in her mouth.

  ‘Do we need to do her mouth?’ the man she’d been face down on asked. ‘I had a few uses for that tonight.’

  ‘Boss gets to see her first.’

  Her hair was pulled again, and this time it was her eyes that were covered with cloth of some kind. The knot was pulled painfully tight, and as it was tied and secured her breasts were being fondled again.

  Sticky breath fogged over her cleavage, and a slobbering tongue delved between her breasts; once again, she tried not to gag.

  ‘Take your time man. We got her for as long as we need her, ain’t that right girl?’ Her nipples were pinched from behind while the tongue continued to lap.

  A door opened and a rush of pine air assaulted her in a cleansing sweep. ‘You two cool it, will you?’

  She was spanked again, and then she was being hauled out of the car by her hair. Freedom from the vehicle was bittersweet, and when she cleared it she was dropped to the ground. Mud seeped over her, she tried to clamber up but a boot settled over her derriere and she was forced back down. The boot stayed there while the men spoke.

  ‘Does the boss want her now?’

  ‘He’s coming back in the morning. He says he’s got business.’

  ‘What we doing with him?’

  ‘Booth? We keep him out the way.’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘Downstairs.’

  ‘Can we have fun with her?’

  The man who’d been answering the questions chuckled. ‘He didn’t say no.’

  They all enjoyed this and jeered at her with promises of what her night would hold. Turning her face into the mud she began to wish she hadn’t been so careful with her breathing. Ryder would punish himself for this, but none of it was his fault. Maybe if she was just dead word would get back to Ryder and there would be no chance of him endangering himself for her. Whatever they could do to her would be worth it if it saved Ryder from a final fate. She’d put up with it. She’d do what she was told, and she would do it all to keep those she cared about safe.

  ‘He didn’t say yes either,’ a booming voice came from further away and all the men stopped laughing immediately.

  ‘Don’t be a spoil sport,’ someone begged.

  ‘Lock her up downstairs – you can have your fun tomorrow, boss gives the instructions. You get the nod from him first.’

  Whoever had spoken had authority over these other men, and while it might not be a full reprieve, she hoped she could at least have the night without fear, though somehow she doubted it.

  ‘I’ve got something.’

  Ryder looked up from the desk he’d been staring at blindly for an undefined period. Toby rushed in with Gabe at his side. They had tried to follow but none of them had found the car, and driving around without direction got them nowhere. So, they’d come back to HQ.

  Sorcha was somewhere around still in a puddle crying and wailing but he didn’t have time for apologies now. She was happy in her misery and had no inclination to help them so he left her to it. Evening was drawing in and as the light faded so did his hope that Lacie had been left untouched.

  ‘What is it?’ Ryder asked.

  Toby slid the laptop onto the desk in front of him. ‘You know we got the pings from the cell towers while the call was still connected?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ryder said. ‘But they only went ten miles out.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Toby said. ‘We’ve been trying all afternoon but the phone seems to have been out of range.’

  ‘Past tense?’ Ryder asked sitting straighter.

  Toby nodded. ‘It’s not much, and I can’t be sure but I think we got a hit. The computer’s been searching on an ever increasing radius, and we got something.’

  ‘Show me,’ Ryder said turning the screen toward himself.

  ‘It’s a big area,’ Gabe said. ‘We’ve got the cell tower triangulation.’

  ‘It gives us an area of around thirty square miles, cell coverage in that area is sparse. But I’ve got a programme looking for the GPS location. We’ll get it eventually we just have to hope that they don’t destroy the phone... or move it too far.’

  ‘We only have the location of the phone, and they might have ditched it.’

  ‘It’s the best we’ve got,’ Ryder said. ‘Get together anything we need we’re moving the base of operations.’

  ‘Will’s already on it with Rocco. We’ll be ready to move in a few minutes.’

  ‘How far out?’ Ryder asked pushing away from the desk.

  ‘A couple of hundred miles from here.’

  ‘Which means they’ve not been there long.’ Ryder left the desk.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To talk to Sorcha,’ Ryder said.

  ‘She’s pretty cut up,’ Gabe said.

  ‘I know how she feels,’ Ryder said.

  Leaving his men Ryder went to the front room of HQ where Sorcha was still lying on the leather couch looking out the west window. When he entered, she didn’t register him at all; she didn’t move. But there would have been a lot of activity here, she’d probably blocked it out.

  ‘We’re moving out,’ he said sitting in the matching armchair.

  ‘Have you found her?’ Sorcha asked sitting up in an instant.

  ‘We’ve got a hit on your cell phone,’ he said. ‘We don’t have an exact location, but it’s better than nothing.’

  ‘I should come with you,’ Sorcha said nodding. ‘I should come, and...’

  ‘You don’t have to come,’ he said somehow sensing that as much as Sorcha missed her friend she knew she could be of little help. ‘I’ve phoned Shep. He’ll come and look after you.’

  ‘I don’t need that,’ she said. ‘I’ll go home to my parents.’

  ‘You can do that,’ Ryder said. ‘Their security system is top notch. I know that because we installed it.’ He managed a smile, which seemed to relax her.

  ‘I am sorry about all of this. I had no idea that—‘

  ‘I should be the one apologising,’ he said. ‘I was rude earlier, and there was no excuse for it.’

  ‘You’re worried about her,’ Sorcha said. ‘She wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me. She trusted you... I wasn’t as confident.’

  ‘Turns out you were right,’ he said. ‘I haven’t done much to help her at all.’

  ‘You’ll get her back,’ Sorcha said. ‘Lacie’s never had much luck with men... I can’t really claim to have had much more luck myself... I’m such an idiot and I don’t know what to do.’

  When her tears started, again he switched location and pulled her into his arms. ‘You care about Lacie, and she knows that.’

  ‘Without her I don’t know what to do. I make bad decisions and she’s been there to bail me out of all of them. Now she needs me and... I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘She needs you to be here and she needs you to be safe. She got in that car to save me, and to save you.’ Sorcha nodded when he took a snapshot look at her abdomen.

  ‘She told you?’ He nodded. ‘I told you I’m an idiot.’

  ‘You’re not an idiot and none of this is your fault. I was wrong to take out my anger on you.’

  ‘I did cause this,’ Sorcha said. ‘All of what has happened can be trac
ed back to my decisions.’

  ‘They can be traced back to Booth’s decisions. This is not your fault.’

  ‘I can’t expect Bruce to marry me now, not after this. But if I go home to my parents without a father...’

  ‘I’m sure their judgement won’t be harsh.’

  ‘It will be,’ she said. ‘But it’s what I deserve.’

  ‘Everyone makes mistakes.’

  ‘My friend is out there,’ she said welling up again. ‘She’d going through a nightmare and I’m sitting here with you talking about my problems. How can someone be so selfish?’

  ‘I’m going to get her back,’ Ryder said.

  ‘I know,’ Sorcha said. ‘Lacie has faith in you... and I do too.’

  Rocco entered and gave him the nod toward the front door. ‘Shep’s outside.’

  Ryder took Sorcha to her feet. ‘Rocco will take you out and Shep will take you where you want to go.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Sorcha said when Rocco came to them. ‘All of you for... thank you.’

  Ryder watched Rocco take Sorcha out of the building. Now he had to get his game head on because every minute would be crucial. First, they had to get there, then they had to find her, and then they had to get her out. It sounded simple but he knew it would be anything but. He’d never shied from a challenge in the past and he wasn’t about to start now.

  Chapter Nine

  Wherever she was, it was smelly. Lacie would assume it was dark too but the blindfold remained on while they took her into a building of some sort then took her down the stairs. She’d listened to footfalls above, and the bass of men talking overhead, sometimes there would be a shout, or a laugh, but the voices faded and returned but didn’t broach that door she’d heard creak when they opened it to take her down, and creak again when they closed it once they’d left her. Now she lay in the corner on what felt like a mattress with her hands tied to something over her head. The sound of rodents scurrying and chewing shared her air, and she could only hope that someone would come back for her before she became their habitat.

  Focusing on the sounds and smells around her only briefly took her mind from the people she’d left behind. No matter how hard she tried she struggled to envision how this would end. Either these men would be rid of her, and her fate would never be known; or someone would come after her, would find her. That someone of course would be Ryder, he’d said as much before she got into the car but she couldn’t say she was eager for him to fulfil his promise. She had no doubt that he would go to any lengths to do so, and she would love nothing more than to be in his arms again with all of this behind them. But she didn’t like the price discovery may cost them. If he found her here, Ryder would be outnumbered; even if he brought all the men she’d met at StoneWall with him. The men she’d met there had integrity, and the men here did not. They would shoot first and ask questions later especially away out here where she could only imagine civilisation was a distant memory.

  Sounds from outside gave no indication that they were in an urban or even suburban area. Their off-roading in the car gave her the idea that they were somewhere rural, far off the beaten track, and no doubt so secluded that no one would hear any screams. The smell of trees, the mud, and the rodents told her it was a wooded area, probably somewhere with plenty of places to dispose of someone that was no longer needed, or someone who got in the way.

  Her reprieve had come on the orders of one man. The other men wanted to play with her. She wondered at the boss they referred to and she wondered if he would give the order that they could have their way. She couldn’t envision a reason that he wouldn’t. If he had any respect for women, he wouldn’t have hired the men he did, or he wouldn’t have had them capture her at all.

  There hadn’t been a choice when she’d been on that sidewalk but she replayed events over the last few days and the things she would change piled up. So many of her decisions she wished she could make differently. The only thing she wouldn’t change was her time with Ryder, except she felt cheated out of the time they wouldn’t have together.

  Tonight all she had to do was breathe and hope that this “boss” wouldn’t be back early, or at all. It might be a lot to hope for but it was better than sitting and stewing over what might, or might not, have happened between her and the first man to provoke her in ways she’d always denied possible. Her experience with Ryder had made this easier though she couldn’t explain the rationale. Ryder was out there somewhere and she knew he’d be angry; he’d be punishing himself, blaming himself for her choice. If she could make this easier for him she would, but from here she could do nothing, all she could wish was that he would give himself a break – but somehow she doubted he would.

  This was taking too long. StoneWall had hired a cabin in the epicentre of their search area. They’d all set up their equipment and worked until after midnight with most of them out combing the streets. The area was quiet with just a few homes in the commercial centre, which consisted of a general store, a fishing tackle store, a diner, and a hardware place that rented bicycles to tourists who stayed in the only resort for twenty miles around – which was where they were now. Trying to be conspicuous in a group of six men wasn’t easy when they rolled into town without a hint of recreational interests in mind. But, the resort hired lodges and when they paid twice the rate the teen on the desk didn’t ask any questions. Ryder didn’t care much about stirring up interest because maybe if he did the sloppy henchmen would get careless, or may come looking for him.

  ‘You should get some sleep.’

  Ryder turned to see Gabe outside one of the three bedroom doors. ‘I was talking to Jamie.’

  ‘Bet he told you to get some sleep,’ Gabe said seating himself at the large kitchen table that dominated the back half of the room in front of the glazed doors that led to the back deck. Right now, it was covered with computers, local maps, and other paperwork.

  ‘We’ve been the best at what we do for so long,’ Ryder said slipping his hands into his pockets. ‘Why am I no good when it counts?’

  ‘It always counts,’ Gabe said. ‘It’s just this time...’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re the client,’ Gabe said. ‘We’re hired by husbands and fathers, concerned about people that mean something to them. You’re the husband... so to speak.’

  ‘I’ve told clients to trust us... I told Lacie to trust me.’

  ‘She does.’

  ‘She shouldn’t,’ Ryder said.

  ‘I don’t know Lacie but a woman who has grabbed your interest has to be something. Do you think she’d be impressed with your pity party?’

  ‘I don’t care about me,’ Ryder sniped. ‘I care about her. She’s out there; she could be right under our noses. She needs me! And goddamnit I’m standing here staring out the fucking window doing nothing!’

  Ryder kicked at a chair from the table and it shot across the room splintering one of the legs on its sudden stop. All three bedroom doors opened and all of his men appeared at once. Ryder held up his hands.

  ‘Feel better?’ Gabe asked.

  ‘Go back to bed,’ Ryder said to the men on ready alert with their fingers on the trigger.

  They observed the scene then followed his orders. Ryder began to pace when he and Gabe were alone again.

  ‘We’re going to find her,’ Gabe said.

  ‘And what happens in the mean time?’ Ryder asked.

  ‘She’s tough,’ Gabe said. ‘She stood up to Rocco and Toby when she found HQ.’

  Ryder stopped pacing. ‘She’s a fighter.’

  The message got through without any elaboration.

  ‘You don’t want her to fight?’

  ‘I don’t want her to be in that position at all. But fighting could make things worse. What if they get angry at her? You weren’t there the last time. All I can hear is her screaming. It’s deafening. It just plays round and round, driving me crazy.’

  ‘You’ve got the scars to prove it,’ Gabe said nodding at his wrists
.

  The scabs hadn’t healed but the pain they had caused him wasn’t enough. ‘Lacie’s different,’ Ryder said still looking at his wrists. ‘She’s not a quick fumble.’

  ‘We know that,’ Gabe said.

  ‘We?’

  ‘I spoke to Jamie this afternoon. The guys know she’s important to you. She’s a part of the team, and we never leave a man behind.’

  ‘We are going to find her,’ Ryder said. ‘But I’m worried about how this will have affected her in the meantime.’

  ‘She’ll probably have physical wounds. She’ll be scared, and worried; traumatised by what they’ve put her through. Are you telling me you’re not going to take the time to get her through this? To be patient if she’s not ready to jump straight back into bed with you?’

  ‘No!’ Ryder insisted.

  ‘Right, so we concentrate on getting her back.’

  ‘How long will it take?’ Ryder asked. ‘They’ll get rid of her eventually. Could be a day, or a week... how much time do we have?’

  ‘We know Bruce Booth is working for them. We have to find out why. We have to find out what this is about, and what they want with Lacie. What is this guy afraid of?’

  ‘We’ll only be able to find that out if we get to the guy, and for that we need to find Lacie.’

  ‘Get some sleep,’ Gabe said leaving the table. ‘You’ve got to be at your peak for her. She’s going to need you.’

  Ryder watched Gabe disappear back into the bedroom and then turned back to the window. She was out there somewhere; all he had to do was find her.

  The morning came too quickly. Lacie hadn’t slept but she listened to the men upstairs, drinking and shouting at the TV, and each other. The activity slowed until she assumed they were asleep. Silence was interrupted only by creaks of the building, and the sound of nature, scurrying, squeaks, insects, predators, rain on the plant life outside, and other sounds she whittled away the time trying to identify. Still she lay on the mouldy mattress, blindfolded, gagged, but restless and unable to move. The activity had started again so she assumed morning had come. Grumbling took the place of laughter and shouting. The footfalls were fewer but she doubted most of her captors were morning people. Time meandered on and she became aware of pressure in her bladder. She hadn’t been offered food or water but her inability to see, or move, made it difficult for her to relieve herself. As she worried about her options, the activity upstairs became more hurried. A car engine rumbled closer and the squelching of mud grew louder. In a final moment, both stopped and she knew her reckoning had drawn closer.