by Melody Anne
The two men stepped inside the mansion and Chad rolled his eyes as he looked around the room. Her entire family was there, wearing varying expression, ranging from worry to anger to guilt. He knew how they felt. He was beating himself up inside – she never should’ve been captured.
“Sit down, Chad. We need to look at that arm,” Joseph said as he led him to a chair with a medical table set up next to it. An older gentleman immediately cut his shirt off and started poking at his arm, sending white hot fire down to the tips of his toes. The wound hadn’t bothered him until the damn man poured his so called medicine over it. Chad tuned the doctor out, ignored the pain and instead focused on George, who looked about ten year’s older right then.
Questions started flying and Chad waited a moment before he told them the story. Every set of eyes was focused on him as he pushed the words past his tight lips. He needed a computer, but it was simpler to explain the situation, than demand access to the internet. It would save time.
“Take these,” the doctor commanded, handing him a couple pills and a glass of water.
“I don’t need them,” he said while looking the man in the eye. After grumbling about ridiculous men, the doctor put the pills away and left them.
“I need a computer. I gave Bree a gift about a month ago, a necklace. I know she’s been wearing it daily. Inside the locket is a tracking device. I’ll have her location locked down in less than two minutes, then I’m going after her,” Chad announced. Everyone froze, looking at him with varying degrees of shock and respect.
A laptop computer was placed before him and just like he said, he had her location within a couple of minutes. She wasn’t moving, so it looked like the men were already at their destination. Chad frowned as he pulled up a satellite image of the abandoned looking building. It wasn’t going to be easy to sneak up on them, and he feared if they knew he was coming, they would harm her. That wasn’t acceptable.
“I’m going with you,” Trenton insisted.
“You’re not trained, you’ll only slow me down. We can’t waste time, not with Bree in the hands of these men,” Chad replied, knowing there was going to be an argument. The two men stared at each other to see who would back down first.
Finally, Trenton held his hands up and turned to his father. It was either that or the two men were going to end up in a fist fight.
“You talk some sense into him because there’s no way I’m not helping with this. We’re wasting time here. I can’t even begin to think about what these deranged bastards are doing to her.”
“Chad, you know her brothers aren’t going to stand idly by, so why don’t you just tell them what they need to do, give them a crash course in rescue, whatever it is you need from them, because I agree with Trenton. The more of you there are, the greater chance you have of a safe rescue,” George said. He was speaking in a reasonable tone but there was an undercurrent of authority in his voice as well.
“She’s our sister, we’re going,” Austin insisted.
“Okay, but you don’t make a move unless I specifically okay it,” Chad announced.
“To hell with that,” Trenton shouted.
“It’s either that or you can wait here for us to return,” Chad said as he moved so he was standing toe to toe with Trenton. He wasn’t budging an inch and he certainly wasn’t jeopardizing Bree’s safety. What Chad really wanted to do was knock Trenton’s lights out, but he knew it wasn’t the right time to get into a boxing match – no matter how much better it would make him feel.
“Fine,” Trenton conceded.
“We should call the cops,” Amy said as she entered the room. The men turned in her direction. She was pale and her eyes were swollen from the tears she’d shed. “I’ve been trying to convince all of you of that for an hour.”
“We told you, baby, we can’t do that. If the cops rush in, Bree could get hurt. Plus, as Chad explained, we don’t know how far this thing stretches. If these people have cops in their pockets and we notify the authorities, we could be warning them of our arrival. They may figure out Bree has a tracking device on her, remove it, and make it impossible for us to locate her again,” Lucas said as he wrapped his arms around his wife. She shook in his arms as her tears started flowing again. She and Bree had become very close over the years and she was terrified for her friend.
“The cars are ready, sir,” a man said quietly as he stepped into the room. He took a step back as seven huge men turned to stare at him. “The keys are in them,” he finished, then made a hasty retreat.
“Thank you, Armon,” Joseph replied, stress evident in his eyes.
Joseph laid his hand on Chad’s unhurt shoulder and the gesture instantly calmed him. The man seemed to have magic inside, because he’d been able to do the same thing for Chad as he grew up. He could be spitting mad, or feel completely defeated, and the smallest touch from Joseph would somehow ground him.
“Go get your girl back,” Joseph said in a knowing tone. Everyone in the room heard his words and turned to glare at Chad. He ignored them and walked to the front doors. Joseph was right. He didn’t know how or when it had happened, but he did think of Bree as his. He prayed he found her safe and sound so he could figure out where it was all leading.
***
Bree woke up and the darkness surrounding her nearly sent her over the edge, into panic. She attempted to move, then panicked even more when she realized her arms were tied to something. She struggled for several long minutes, the ropes securing her arms, tearing into her flesh. Finally, the pain was overwhelming and she lay back silently.
Calm down, you have to keep calm, she told herself. She slowly turned her head and looked around the small, dim room. She was tied to an old army cot and no matter how hard she tugged, she knew there was no chance of breaking either the rope or the metal bed. She had to figure out another way to get free.
Taking several deep breaths, Bree strained her ears to see if she could hear anything. Were her attackers nearby? She couldn’t hear a sound. She listened a while longer before giving up. That had to be a good sign. No one was coming after her for at least a few minutes. That gave her time to break free.
She strained her memory to figure out the last thing she remembered. She could recall being in the van with several huge men, then the world going black. They must have chloroformed her. That would explain her raging headache.
She focused on her surroundings. She was in a small room with the windows boarded up. It looked like a house, maybe an abandoned one. She didn’t know her location. Even if she managed to break free, she could be in the middle of a huge farm, for all she knew. She tried not to let hopelessness wash through her. She was an Anderson, and they didn’t give up. Her father would lecture her for years if she were to throw in the towel.
Her wrist throbbed horribly, but the ropes weren’t overly tight. She had nothing but time so she started working on the knots, grateful she could move her hands between the ropes. After what seemed like hours, she was ready to start crying. They weren’t budging. She heard footsteps and froze.
There was a sound like someone inserting a key into a lock, then her door started opening. She made her body lay motionless and shut her eyes.
“How much crap was on that cloth?” someone snapped.
“I don’t know. I just doused it,” another man spoke.
“If she doesn’t wake up, we’re dead. Make sure she’s breathing,” the first voice said. She heard footsteps, then a large hand wrapped around her neck, lying against her chest. She forced herself not to panic and to take deep, even breaths, but it was difficult as the man’s hands lingered too long. When he finally pulled away, his hand slipped across her breasts, making her skin crawl.
“She’s still alive,” the guy snarled, as if he could care less one way or the other.
“Why don’t we try to wake her? I can think of a few ways that could be fun for all of us.” Bree shuddered inwardly and hoped the fear of their boss was great enough for them to leave her be.
There was no way she could fight them off in the position she was in.
She fought against shuddering as another hand stroked her body. It took all her strength not to tense as his hands moved over her still form.
“Tempting, but I don’t feel like getting shot,” the man creepily whispered.
“How would he know?” the other guy whined.
“She’d tell him, dumb ass,” the man snapped.
“Who’s to say she won’t make something up anyway? We may as well get some pleasure if he’s going to think we did it.”
The other guy hesitated and she could tell he was starting to cave to his friend’s wishes. She swallowed back the tears pressing against her throat. She had a feeling her life was about to take a horrible turn for the worse. She pictured her family, Chad, and a hot summer day. She could survive this – she was strong, she tried to convince herself, but when the man’s hand landed on her thigh, she knew she couldn’t. How could anyone?
“Pete, Dave, get down here,” another voice yelled from what sounded like the bottom of a staircase. She must be on a top floor. That was at least somewhat helpful if she managed to get the ropes untied.
“What makes him the boss?” one of the men growled and the hand tightened on her thigh and moved upward for a second. She thought they were going to ignore the order. She was getting ready to kick her legs out. She knew they’d win, but she would fight for all she was worth.
“Now!” the voice yelled even louder. The hand finally left her leg and she heard the welcome sound of the two men retreating from her room. The door shut and she lay silently as she listened to them move down the stairs. She realized they hadn’t re-locked her door. It was a sliver of hope in her seemingly hopeless world. If she could somehow get the ropes off, then maybe she could get out of the house.
She worked on the ropes, her mind drifting. She hoped Chad had been rescued. She’d never forget the sight of his blood staining his shirt crimson. She prayed she’d get to see him with her own eyes again. She didn’t care about anything else; she just wanted the chance to lie in the safety of his arms one more time. She wouldn’t even put her ever-present guard up.
She pictured his hands moving through her hair, his gentle lips caressing her own. It was the only thing that got her though the endless hours as she worked and worked at the ropes binding her. She knew blood was dripping down her arms but she didn’t care. At least the pain let her know she was still alive – it gave her hope.
Finally, she started to feel a little give in the rope on her right hand. She’d done something to it and the pressure on that wrist started to lighten. She laughed aloud at the pure joy she felt at her small victory. She started moving her fingers around the loose piece of rope and after more struggling, she felt the rope release and she pulled her hand free. She turned her body, to better see the other rope and began working away at the knot.
She made much faster time being able to see what she was doing. She released her second wrist and then sat up in the bed. It was just the beginning of her flight to freedom, but it was a huge victory. She looked at her swollen wrists in the pale light seeping in through the bottom of the door, and cringed. They were cut up pretty bad but she couldn’t feel pain at that moment with the amount of adrenaline pumping steadily through her body.
She got to her feet and quickly fell back down to the bed when her head started spinning. She’d gotten up too fast. She winced as the bed made a loud squeak, straining her ears to see if the men had noticed. She sat motionless for about five minutes before she allowed herself to breathe normally again.
It didn’t seem as if they’d heard her. Okay, I’m out of here, she thought to herself with determination as she moved away from the bed. She stopped just before she opened the door because she heard shouting and the sound of a gun firing.
***
“There’s significant activity in the house and the windows are boarded up. I can’t pinpoint her exact location but I know she’s in there,” Chad said to the group of men who were hiding in the brush in front of the seemingly abandoned house. There were no other homes around for miles and they couldn’t spot any security measure in place. The men were either arrogant or just stupid. Chad was counting on the latter.
“I contacted my friend who’s a cop I know I can trust. Now that we’re in place, we may need his team for back-up. They should be here in about fifteen minutes so we need to move fast. You three take the back, Lucas and I will go in the front,” Trenton said.
“I’ll wait for one minute. While you have them at a standoff, I’ll find Bree,” Chad said, agreeing with Trenton’s plan.
“It’s now or never, boys,” Trenton called, then the men went into stealth mode and quickly ran toward the house. Chad counted to twenty while he watched them approach the steps. Trenton stood back, brought his leg up and smashed in the rickety front door.
Immediately, gunfire erupted as shots rang out.
Screw waiting a full minute, Chad thought as he rushed in. He had to get to Bree, and fast. There was no way he wanted her anywhere near the line of fire.
“Get the damn girl,” he heard someone shout, then saw a man dart for the stairs. Over his dead body! Chad charged the guy and caught him by surprise. He slammed the butt of his gun into the man’s temple, making him crumble to the floor. Then he charged up the stairs three at a time.
“Bree,” he called. Being discreet was no longer an option, as the house was an eruption of chaos. He had to evacuate her from the premises as quickly as possible and then notify the guys to stand down. She was their only goal. Let the cops deal with the mess of the kidnappers.
“Chad,” he heard Bree’s voice filled with hope. A door creaked open, and there she was. She was pale, shaking and he didn’t even want to think about what was going on with her wrists, but she was alive.
Chad swung her into his arms, slammed his lips against hers for a fleeting moment, then pushed her behind him and started descending the stairs, far more cautiously than how he’d come up. She didn’t say a word, just followed him, her body brushing against his with each step.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and Chad smelled smoke. The house was so old it wouldn’t take much for it to become an inferno if a fire had already started. He needed to get her out. He looked around the corner and didn’t see anyone so he pulled her tightly against his side and rushed through the room, and straight out the front door, flames starting to creep up the walls behind him.
He looked quickly from side to side and didn’t see anyone so he pulled her to the safety of the bushes. Once they were hidden from view he spoke into the microphone on his shirt.
“She’s safe and out of the house – pull out,” Chad spoke. There were several acknowledgments, more firing, then he saw the guys racing from the burning house, covering each other’s backs.
Chad kept Bree behind him as he lifted his gun and fired into the house, covering the men as they ran from the flames. No one was going to die on his watch. Once the men were safely away he finally focused on Bree.
He ran his hands along her body, checking for injuries. When he reached her wrists, she let out a small gasp. He looked at her damaged skin in the light of day and had to fight the rage wanting to boil over. He wanted nothing more than to go back in that house and destroy the men who’d been foolish enough to harm her.
Instead, he gently lifted her hand to his mouth and softly brushed his lips against her swollen and bloody flesh. He wanted to take her pain away – he should’ve been able to prevent it.
“I’m okay, Chad. Thank you,” Bree told him in a tear choked voice. He pulled her back into his arms and held her tightly, while waiting for her family to join them. He heard the sound of sirens in the distance. Their back-up had arrived.
“I’m sorry, Bree. I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen. They never should’ve been able to get close to you, let alone take you away.”
“I was the one acting foolish. You’re the one who rescued me. I
was so terrified when I saw you fall to the ground. I’m sorry I got you shot,” she whispered. She was barely able to talk, she felt so guilty over him being put in such danger.
“Did they…. they didn’t… we should get you to the hospital,” he choked. He couldn’t bring himself to ask her how bad her torture had been. She seemed to realize what he was trying to say.
“My wrists are the worst of my injuries. They knocked me out in the van and when I woke up I was tied to the bed. It took me a long time to get out of the ropes. I struggled a lot – cutting up my skin in the process. They didn’t touch me other than that,” she reassured him.
He didn’t need to know how close the men had come to doing exactly what he feared. She couldn’t even think about it without panic setting in.
“We need to have you checked, anyway,” he said, but she heard the relief in his voice.
“I wouldn’t know what to do if a man in my life wasn’t trying to take control,” she said with a small attempt at humor. He gave her a half grin before standing up. He saw the ambulance coming around the corner and he wanted to get her inside it.
“Chad, watch out,” he heard Trenton yell. Everything slowed down as he turned toward Trenton, who was throwing his arms in the air. First he pointed to his gun, indicating he was out of bullets, then pointed to his left. Chad turned and realized one of the gunmen had gotten away from them. He had a gun pointed directly at Bree and him.
Chad reached forward to push Bree back to the ground, but she saw the gunman at the same time as he did. She dodged his hand, putting her in danger.
Chad whipped his gun back out and put a bullet through the man’s head, but it was too late. He watched in horror as Bree moaned just before her eyes rolled back in her head and blood ran down the side of her face.
She started falling to the ground, but Chad grabbed her before she hit the solid surface. Trenton ran toward them, tears running down his cheeks as he saw the lifeless look on his sister’s face. She’d been shot in the head.