by Drake, J. L.
Holy shit, this picture is from today? My hand flies to my stomach as Derek leans into me.
“Savannah, he’s setting us up.”
“Pictures don’t lie, Derek,” my father hisses like a cat about to attack.
I shake my head, feeling faint as my blood doesn't seem to be reaching my brain. “Derek, please explain. How can this be? Tell me you didn't know he was there.” I feel my eyes water as I hold up Cole’s picture. “Explain this, please. This isn't making sense. How could he?”
Derek’s eyes are full of panic. “No, Savannah. You know Cole, he would never hurt you, he loves—”
Pop! Pop!
Crimson liquid sprays across my body. My ears are the ringing, and everything seems to move in slow motion. I turn my eyes to my father, who is holding a gun, then to Lynn and Luka, who are staring at the table. My gaze travels over to Derek, who is slumped in his chair, head flopped backward with a huge, gaping hole in the center of his forehead. Blood drains over his open eyes, down his nose, along his neck, and into his shirt.
The entire room is silent except for the ringing in my head. I try to focus on what is happening. My brain fights to process this moment.
“Savannah!” my father orders. “Look at me.”
I unglue my eyes from Derek and somehow do as I'm told.
“Are you being tracked?”
I can feel panic start in my feet and travel through me like the bullet that is now nuzzled into Derek’s skull.
“Are. You. Being. Tracked?” I can hear him, but I'm not registering his words.
Derek’s blood is in my steak.
Derek’s brain is everywhere.
Derek was just speaking to me, and now he’s not.
Derek is dead.
My father shot Derek.
My father just shot Derek Rent.
My father pointed a gun and shot my friend.
Derek is dead.
My brain keeps looping. I’m on a merry-go-round that I can’t get off.
Someone’s hands feel all along my sides, sliding over my arms and down my legs. My shoes are being removed and checked and placed back on. It’s Lynn. What is she doing?
“I don’t feel any wires, Doug,” Lynn says from her knees. “She’s clean.”
“I doubt that,” Luka mutters, coming to my side. “They wouldn’t let her come here unprotected.”
“Savannah,” my father snaps at me, making me look over, “Derek and Cole were in negotiations with the men who took you. They were going to hand you over for a price. The American wants you. His men are the ones who kidnapped you. He came after me…us,” he points to Lynn and Luka, “saying we needed to pay for what was taken from him. They were blackmailing me for the money. I tried to pay, but it was never enough. They nearly sucked me dry. All I wanted was to get you back, but I couldn’t find you. No one could.” He leans toward my frozen body. “I will not let them take you away from me again. Derek wouldn’t have let you stay without a fight.”
This doesn’t make sense. I can't get my brain to work. I need to snap out of the fog.
My hands fly to my chain but it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t give me the comfort I need.
“The necklace,” Lynn says reaching over and tearing it from my neck. She drops it on the floor and smashes it with her heel of her shoe.
What the hell?
Lynn bends over and picks it up. “Yup, wires.” She chucks it in the corner of the room and moves in front of me, looking into my eyes. “Savi, we need to leave. They know you're here, don’t they?”
I don’t move a muscle, then lean to the side and vomit next to her. She jumps back, gasping in disgust.
“Shock,” I hear Luka say through a full mouthful of bloody meat.
I nearly vomit again.
Lynn’s shiny shoes step toward me. “No shit, Luka. You’re as helpful as ever.”
She hands me a napkin, and that’s when I see it.
Oh my god!
The silver bracelet with the heart dangling from the center. I quickly snatch the napkin and wipe my mouth in fear I’ll lunge at her. I can’t believe she’s the mystery woman with the heart bracelet! What does this mean? Is Lynn somehow behind this? Why would she take a picture of me the same night I was taken? Why was she even there?
“We've got to move,” my father orders as he pulls me to my feet, my head spinning. He eyes my pin then roughly removes it, ripping my shirt in the process. He drops it in his water glass and yanks on my limp arm to follow.
“We’ve got company,” Luka says as we follow him into my father’s personal office. “They’re in the elevator.”
“Let’s go.” Lynn wraps her arm around my waist then stops. Shit. She looks over at me as she unclasps the bracelet, my last tracking device, breaking it in two. Grabbing my wrist again, she leads us through a door that I’ve never seen before. It reminds me of the one in the safe house leading to Cole’s bedroom. I force Cole out of my head. I've got to pull myself together, but I’m still reeling from the memory of Derek’s lifeless body in the dining room.
After a several flights of stairs, we are in the parking lot where my father’s limo is waiting.
“Savannah!” Everyone turns to see Paul holding a pistol pointed at us. “Let her go.”
“You’ve done enough damage, Agent Paul,” my father yells back.
Paul looks directly at me. “Savannah, walk toward me.”
I’m so confused, and physically nothing is working. I just stand there, not sure if I am up or down, left or right. I wish I could snap out of this fog.
“More are coming,” Luka whispers with his phone to his ear.
“Savannah, walk toward me,” Paul repeats.
I feel my father shift as if shielding me with his body, and I hear that godforsaken pop noise and see Paul plummet to the ground.
“No!” I scream and try to rush over to Paul, but my father hooks his arm around my waist and pulls me to the car. “No! Paul!” He shoves me in and jumps in after me.
“Ahhhh!” I scream, trying to get out the helpless feeling that has a tight grip on me. “Why?” No one answers me.
Lynn and Luka follow, and before I know it, we’re speeding out of the parking structure and down into an alleyway where we quickly switch cars.
I'm tumbling back into darkness, once again held in its teeth. Lost, alone, and once more nothing makes sense. I've served my time in hell. Why am I back here? What did I do to deserve a second round? One thing I know for sure, I fought my way out before, and I'll sure as hell do it again!
Squealing tires snap me out of my thoughts as Luka checks to see who it is.
“She must have another tracker on her,” he yells.
Lynn’s hands once again run along my body. I bat her hand away. I hate that she is touching me. I hate that she makes me seethe with anger because her fucking bracelet makes a noise every time she moves her arm. It makes me want to rip it off and jam it down her throat. I need to get out of here! None of this makes sense!
“Savi,” she whispers, “I’m only trying to protect you.”
“Don’t touch me, Lynn,” I hiss under my breath.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I said don’t touch me.” I shift to the corner of the limo, curling up in a ball.
“Savannah,” Luka shouts, “I won’t ask you again. Do you have a tracker on you?”
I shake my head as Luka’s anger toward me brings me to see things more clearly. “It’s the U.S. Army, Luka. This is what they’re trained to do. You should know; you hired them.”
“Hired them?” Lynn looks confused. Her eyes snap to Luka’s. “Why would we hire—”
“Lynn!” Luka snaps at her.
My chest starts to rise and fall as more shit is tossed at me. “Wait…you didn’t hire them? Why did they come for me then? How did they…?” My head goes light. “Oh my god…everything…everything is a friggin’ lie.” I start to cry and hyperventilate at the same time. Cole lied to me!
“Pull over, I’m going to be sick…pull over!”
“No! We can’t,” my father shouts, grabbing a bag and shoving it on my lap.
I snatch it up, holding it tightly. “Please, will someone tell me the truth for once in my life? I demand to know the truth.”
Suddenly the car stops in an alleyway and I am being pulled out and shoved into a trunk.
“Be a good girl, Savannah,” my father warns.
The last thing I see is Luka’s face as he slams the trunk lid down.
“Oh my god. Oh my god.” My panic escalates as the car begins to move. I can hear Dr. Roberts’s voice in my head. “Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Panicking won’t solve the problem. Stop and look at your surroundings. See what you can do to help your situation. There’s always something you can do.” Holy shit…my phone!
I cover the ear part when I pushed the number two and send.
“Savannah!” His voice makes me happy but it’s quickly masked with confusion and hurt. “Are you there, baby?”
“Yes,” I whisper, feeling so many things.
“Oh my god! Are you all right?”
“No.” I start to sob. “I’m not.”
“Where are you, baby? Something is blocking our transmission.”
“I’m in a trunk.”
“A trunk?” he nearly shouts. “Okay, did you see anything when they were putting you in there? Your surroundings? Make and model of the vehicle?”
“No.” I sniff trying to hold it together.
“It's okay, baby, hang in there. John is tracking your phone now. It won’t be long until we have you.”
“Cole,” my voice quivers, “Paul?”
“He’s all right. Bullet hit his vest, just stunned him a little.”
“Derek is—”
“Yeah, we saw.” There’s a pause. “I can explain that picture, baby, it—”
“Don’t,” I interrupt. “I can’t handle any more lies. I’m barely holding it together.”
“Savannah, no—”
I pull my guard up. “Promise me that if Blackstone finds me alive, you’ll let me go. I deserve a few years of happiness.” My words are rushed in case they are my last. “I love you, Cole, and that’s what hurts the most.”
“He’s feeding you lies, Savannah. I’m coming for you, and when I get there I’ll prove I’m still your knight.” My chest clenches as his words tug on my heart.
“We stopped! Cole, the car stopped!” My breathing picks up again. “Oh god, I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to die, Savannah. I see where you are. I’m roughly twenty minutes behind you.”
Oh shit.
“I hear footsteps.”
“Hide your phone, but don’t hang up.”
I quickly shove it into my bra just as the trunk opens. A man I’ve never seen before stares in at me.
“Savanna Miller?” he asks in a thick Hispanic accent. I’m frozen, paralyzed in fear. He grabs me and slaps me across the face. “I asked you a question. Is your name Savannah Miller?”
“Y-yes,” I cry out.
He glances at a picture then pulls out a needle.
“No! No, no, no, no, please! Don’t!” I scream. “pleaseeeee!” It doesn’t make a lick of difference. He shoves the needle into my arm anyway.
A moment later I’m staring at a dim light peeking through a crack as I quickly drift off, knowing it’s a one way ticket to hell.
Chapter Eight
Cole
Cole listens as her sobs slow and finally go quiet. Thankfully, Keith is driving, because Cole is finding it impossible to focus on anything but Savannah.
“I will take down her father and everyone with him,” Cole curses as he flexes his hands on his lap.
John is clicking away on a computer in the back seat while Mark is making phone calls to Border Patrol, trying to find out if The American is in the United States or Mexico.
Seconds. Minutes. Hours. There is still no sound from Savannah. Cole nearly loses it a few times, wondering if she is alive or not. Mark has to talk him down several times. They can’t call in local PD or the FBI in case someone is listening or watching. The risks are too high.
Cole finally leans back and closes his eyes, trying to remember every single part of Savannah. The one thing that comes to his mind above all else is how those deep, dark eyes of hers seem to find him even in a sea of people. God, he loves her eyes. They are hypnotic and they are his. He slips off, remembering her…
“Good morning, Colonel,” Savannah’s low voice makes his eyes filter open. He grins when he sees she is dressed in his army hat and button up uniform shirt, which is conveniently left undone, showing off the sides of her perfect breasts. “Time to do your morning workout.”
He shakes his head as he goes to grab her. She leans back, holding up a finger.
“No, no, Colonel,” her lips spread into a sexy smile, “drop and give me twenty.”
His hands rush to her hips, lifting her in the air sitting her down on his growing erection. “You look damn fine in this.” He fingers the shirt. “With what I have planned for you, I’m never going to wash it.”
She leans down, her hair falling all around them. “Now, that, Colonel, sounds like a damn fine plan.” She lifts her hips, slipping him inside her. His eyes roll back as she feeds him all the way in. She’s more than ready, making everything heighten. Her body starts to move in a sexy weave and he peeks at the mirror facing them. Fuck him, it’s one incredible sight. The way she arches her back makes him grow even harder. Her hands go to his hair, clutching a handful while biting her lip with a moan. One hand moves to her hip, helping her rock, the other to her breast, giving it a little squeeze. She’s a fucking perfect wet dream. “Cole…”
“Logan,” John whispers from the back seat, pulling him from his dream and filling him with emptiness that comes with his reality.
Cole’s eyes pop open. He glances at the clock and sees he’s been out for nearly three hours. “Yeah, John.”
“They stopped at a hotel.”
Cole sits up straighter. “Which one?”
“The Hilton, fourth floor.” John reads off the address and Keith immediately heads in that direction.
When they arrive, they pull up into the driveway and do a sweep of the cars. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. The four of them head into the lobby. Cole and Keith approach the front desk.
“Hi, and welcome to The Hilton West Virginia. How can I help you this evening?”
Cole sees the young woman look him up and down as he approaches her. “Perfect,” he mutters to himself. “A friend of ours checked in about thirty minutes ago. I forget his room number, but I was wondering if you could help me out?” After flirting for an endless ten minutes, he finally gets the room number.
They pile into the elevator and make their way down the hallway on the fourth floor. A man dressed in a room service uniform comes out of a room. Cole grabs his arm and whispers in his ear that they need his help and flashes his military badge.
“Yeah o-okay,” the guy stutters.
“Knock,” Cole orders when they stop in front of room 402.
The guy knocks and announces room service. Nothing. He knocks again, and still nothing.
“Excuse me? Can I help you?” a man dressed in a suit asks them as he approaches. “I’m the night manager. Are you gentlemen guests here?”
“No,” Cole answers quickly, “but we have reason to believe a woman is being held against her will in this room.”
“Are you the police?”
“No, sir. We're with U.S. Army Special Forces,” Mark chimes in, knowing that normally gets people’s attention. “We need to see inside that room.”
“Well, I need to see some proof—”
“Agent John,” Cole snaps out, “perhaps Channel Five News would like to hear about how The Hilton is allowing a man to rape a young woman with the manager’s knowledge. What’s your name, sir?”
�
�No, no, that won’t be necessary.” He pulls out a master key and opens the door. Cole barges through first, weapon drawn. His stomach sinks when he sees the bed.
“Oh, shit, shit, shit!” Cole hisses, turning to Mark and feeling helpless.
Mark picks up the note resting on Savannah’s cell phone.
I expected more from the U.S. Army.
The girl has been bought and paid for.
She’s long gone.
“They just gained an hour and twenty on us,” John says quietly behind them. “After talking with the manager, I got a description. It was a Hispanic man who rented the room alone. He did say he was in and out in a matter of minutes. He’s sending me the surveillance footage as we speak.”
“All right.” Keith nods at him, then looks at Cole. “Let’s focus on the fact that they need Savannah alive.”
They make their way back to their truck and head south on the interstate. Cole’s stomach is a ball of fire in his gut. This is a far cry from when he rescued Savannah the first time, as his heart wasn’t as invested. Yes, the moment he saw her picture in that file he was drawn to her…but now, she is his life, the air he breathes, the reason to come home from a mission. Life isn’t worth living if she isn’t in it.
John speaks up. “I have a location on their vehicle. Fuck, they're at a private airport.”
“I’m on it,” Mark says, pulling out his cell phone.
***
Savannah
I feel something warm caress my face, drawing me up and away from the darkness that is consuming me. My head hurts and my mouth is dry. I start to moan. Everything feels terrible, like I was out drinking the night before, but I know that isn’t true. My eyes flutter open and I focus on a green wall in front of me.
“Huh?” I mutter. “Wh-where am I?”
“Shhhh, Savannah, you’re right where you should be.” Her voice rings through my ears.
Lynn.
The last god-knows-how-many hours come flooding back to me. I try to move away, but her hands keep me on the bed.
“It’s okay, sweetie, take a few moments to let the drug wear off.”