by Jessica Page
“Oh don't worry, he's still alive, at least for now,” Marty told me, wiping away a stray tear from my cheek.
Kane stirred angrily, trying to get at Marty, but we were bound and no match for the men holding us. They walked us over to two chairs placed directly in front of James. Relief spread through me as I spotted his chest moving — he was breathing. He was still alive, but I'd never seen a man look so broken. He was almost unrecognizable. They sat us down and removed the gags from both our mouths.
“Now I'll ask the million dollar question in hopes that you will stop screwing around and just let this whole mess end already. I'm tired, you're tired, and frankly this has gone on long enough. Not to mention the cost,” Marty declared, his menacing brown eyes fixated on me. “Listen, I know what you do for a living and that you care about protecting this country from harm. So as a matter of national security I'm going to need any information that you've come across over the past few days. Where are the documents Mr. Clarke?”
“I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what any of this is about,” Kane stated, squaring his shoulders defiantly. “However, if I had any idea of what you were talking about, given that you know what I do, I'm amused by your definition of national security.”
Marty sighed, his signature greasy blond hair falling in his eyes. “Oh look at the big, tough man. It's very noble, but we do have ways of making you tell us. For now I don't want to mess up Raina's beautiful face, but James here,” he said, motioning over to my friend, “he has been fucked up quite a bit already, so we can just keep going.” Marty walked over to James and slapped him hard across the face bringing him back to consciousness.
“Kane… Ken-” he rasped, his eyes filled with fear, “I'm sorry, I didn't know she would do that. I'm so sorr-” he lamented, confusing me as I didn't know who the 'she' he was referring to was.
“You look confused, Raina,” Marty said, walking over to me and running his index finger down my bruised cheek, causing me to flinch.
“It's simple really,” I heard a familiar voice state as his footsteps echoed towards us, “Before I forget, it's nice to see you again so soon, Kane,” Damien said, his face lit up in a wide grin. “And Raina it's always a pleasure to see you. I guess you didn't know the full system of James' operation, but it would appear that he and Dominique had been gathering information on various individuals, using her whores to do it. It's actually quite an impressive little operation. From what I understand, the information gathered is incredibly damaging for certain individuals.”
“You mean people like yourself and the Vice President? You might as well speak freely considering the stakes, Damien,” Kane spat at him.
“Yes, him you're right, along with many others. This information is damaging to us all and it is damaging to our party collectively. It would take years to rebuild from such a scandal. This is simply not an option. Luckily we've covered all our angles and the last of our problems are in this very room. Everyone else has been eliminated, so once you give in and just give us what we want, we can all call this a night.”
“Go fuck yourself!” I sneered, surprising myself at my sudden wave of bravery. I wasn't sure if it was threat of death or the simple fact that I loathed this man, but I'll be damned if I am going to die being afraid of this asshole.
“Oh no, Raina, that's never fun. It's always better to that with a partner, as you well know. In fact, it's funny,” he laughed, sending a chill down my spine. “I only started paying attention to you because of James. For months I imagined teaching him a lesson by hurting you, but now I find myself genuinely attracted to you. Perhaps before this all ends I'll finally get that little wish of mine. Call it a parting gift if you will.”
“I swear, Damien if you touch one hair on her head I will fucking kill you!” Kane threatened as two men struggled to hold him down on his chair.
“Oh please! Who the fuck are you kidding, Kane? I mean, you're good, but not that good. You're not getting out of here, none of you are. You'll be dead soon and I won't regret anything. If we're being honest, I do have to say that you being here does complicate matters a little. It will be a bit harder to cover-up your death, given your profession. I'm not worried though, it is a minor kink in the plan.” Marty approached Damien and interrupted him by handing him the folders he'd retrieved out of my bag.
Damien broke into a wide grin as he flipped through the pages. “My, my, my James, you've been rather naughty and busy, I must say. I didn't realize just how much you'd collected on everyone. Those whores really know their way around a bedroom, I see.”
“They certainly knew their way around yours,” James croaked, erupting in laughter. “There is a ton on you in there. You think you're actually getting out of this? You're a seriously messed up individual, Damien.”
“Wow, that's harsh judgment coming from a man who used to be a whore himself,” Damien sneered.
“You're right, I have done my fair share of wrongdoings in my lifetime, but at least when it came to me, people always knew when they were getting fucked.”
“Oh did they, James? Dominique clearly didn't. Mind you, had she not gotten greedy and tried to sell this information to the highest bidder no one would have even known about this yet. Sure we suspected you were a traitor, but those poor innocent whores died because of you. They didn't know you were screwing them, at least not a way that was familiar to them.”
“Their blood is on your hands not mine, asshole,” James answered, spitting blood at him. Damien approached punching him the ribs. James cried out in pain.
Marty crouched down in front of me. “Where are the copies of this document?”
“I don't know,” I said, feeling my eyes sting from the tears building within them. The last thing I wanted was for him to get the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“Come now, there's always a copy somewhere. Are they on your computer? Just be honest with me and I won't hurt you,” he offered sweetly, trying to wipe my tears again, but I recoiled and turned my face away.
“I don't have any copies. We looked for copies but there weren't any.”
“You can't possibly expect me to believe that,” he said, grabbing my chin between his thumb and index finger. I tried to move but he tightened his grip.
“Believe what you want,” I hissed. He moved quickly and I didn't see his hand raised hand until it was too late. He hit me hard again, causing my eye to erupt in pain.
“Cut the shit!”
“There were no copies, you moron!” Kane yelled. “At least none that we found. You have her computer! You know what hotel room I was in and you already checked James' computer system and his house! Where the hell do you think these documents are? We've been on the run for days now. There wasn't exactly time to stop and make copies you, fucking idiot.”
“You think you're so tough, huh? A real fucking military superstar, aren't you?” Marty sneered angrily.
“Please, who the hell do you think you're talking to, Martin?” Kane scoffed as though it was the most ridiculous and insulting question ever asked. “Matter of fact, if you were half the man you think you are, you'd come over here and let me show you who you're talking to.”
Marty jumped out from in front of me and punched Kane in the face as hard as he could.
“Oh stop the dramatics, Marty. Really, do calm down. Kane is one of the top operative, he'd kill you in a fair fight,” Damien stated disapprovingly as walked back over to me.
“Raina, or do you prefer Kendall? I'm going to call you Raina, I hope you don't mind, but I'm more attached to it. How did these documents come into your possession?” He asked, stroking my hair, but I pulled away. What the hell was with all the hair stroking? Was it the go-to move for sadistic assholes or something?
“She didn't get them, James sent them to me,” Kane lied, spitting blood from his mouth. “Had you assholes not attacked us leaving that party the other night, she wouldn't have had anything to do with this. She has nothing to do with this.”
“Oh, you poor innocent thing,” Damien cooed, pushing my bangs out of my face, “Sadly, I can't spare you. You're too much of a liability now. I want you to know that it does pain me to have to do this, truly it does,” he said.
His phone rang and he quickly answered it. “Hello… Calm down, Anthony, I have the documents and it's being taken care of. It's almost done…Tell the Vice President it's being handled and I'll see you in a few hours. We'll find some new girls and we can celebrate,” he said looking at me with a smile before he hung up. “Politicians are so needy. They're never able to do their dirty work themselves, but crying every step of the way. I guess I don't have to tell you how needy they can be.”
“Well I was paid to fuck them, not paid to be a little bitch at their beck and call. But then again I guess it's a long road to becoming POTUS' top bitch,” I answered, somewhat insulting us both but loving the way his face twisted with anger. I was getting a rise out of him and it was worth whatever he would do to me.
“Now that we have the papers, perhaps we should get this moving, Sir. We can look at any other places they could have saved it from her computer before we wipe it. Plus we have her address from her ID,” Marty offered.
“I do have dinner plans…” Damien replied thoughtfully. “I'm almost ready, but I still have one thing I want to do. Bring a barrel and some matches,” Damien demanded, never taking his eyes off me. I sat helplessly, watching a man drag the barrel in front of me. I had no clue what he was going to do with it. “Grab their bags and burn them. Hold on to her laptop and her ID, I'd like to keep them as a souvenir.”
Marty collected both our backpacks and tossed them in the barrel along with what I assumed were James' things. One of the other men handed him a gasoline can and he poured some in the barrel. He retrieved a match pack and lit a few of the matches. “Soon everyone will forget you even existed my dear Raina.”
Damien handed the papers over to Marty, who tossed them in the fire. “Now, Raina, as promised, your parting gift,” Damien stated, pulling me up from my chair and dragging me over to a nearby table. I tried to fight him off, but my wrists were bound behind me and I had limited motion. He bent me over the table, forcing his weight on top of me pinning me down. I tried to get him off of me, but I couldn't move. I was completely defenseless, “Before I kill you gentlemen, I want you to witness this. It will make for a glorious last memory.”
“Get off of me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, feeling like my vocal cords would break. I could hear him laughing and the sound of his belt buckle being unlatched. Shit.
Chapter 16
Kane
Every time Kendall cried out it felt like a thousand knives were piercing every part of my body. I'd witnessed other human beings doing horrible things to one another, but watching Damien do this to her was too much for me. I'd never experienced the feelings I was currently having. It felt as though my heart was shattering into a million pieces. The mental and emotional helplessness were worse than any physical torture they could subject me to. “Damien I promise I will fucking kill you!” I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by her calls for help.
I noticed the men behind me had turned their backs on this little scene; clearly they didn't agree with what was going on, but they were all too fucking cowardly to stop it. Marty hadn't turned around; in fact, I bet this sick fuck was getting off on it. “You're such a sick bastard for letting this happen! How can you sit by and watch this?” I spat at him.
He stepped in front of me with his gun pressed against my temple. “Shh… you're missing the show.”
If only I could disarm him, I could kill them, I'm sure of it. I watched James struggle in his chains, trying with all his might to get free, bloodsoaked tears streaming down his face. If a man who had just endured as much as he had was still trying to get to her, I could figure out a way.
A loud crack followed by a groan pulled my attention back to Kendall. She'd managed to head butt Damien, and judging by the outpouring of blood, she'd surely broken his nose. She shot up off the table and kicked him wildly in the groin and then in the face as he crumbled to the ground in pain.
“Get her!” Marty screamed, and the three men behind me took off running towards her. Marty was distracted, so I took the opportunity to swing my legs through my bound hands. By the time Marty noticed what I was doing it was too late; I jumped up and tackled him to the ground, sending the gun flying. I regained my footing and quickly kicked him in the face before running towards the gun and knocking it further from his reach. Two men ran at me and one of them successfully tackled me to the ground. Little did they know, I've had extensive training to prepare for all kinds of combat and it just so happened that I was good on the ground. I quickly swung my legs around and kicked the standing man in the knees, causing him to fall backwards. He quickly got up and attacked, but I swung my bound arms up and pulled them through my legs so that they were in front of me. I elbowed him as hard as I could in the jaw, knocking him out cold. I stood up, but the other the man jumped on top of me, pushing me relentlessly in the face until I stumbled back and lost my footing again. I was caught in an awkward position; he had me, I couldn't move.
“Get the fuck off of him now!” Kendall screamed, pointing Marty's dropped gun at him. I quickly scrambled running over to the unconscious man and taking his weapon.
“Give me the fucking keys to James' locks now!” she demanded, her bound hands shaking with adrenaline.
“We don't have them,” Marty stated with a smug smile.
“No? Then what good are you?” she asked, her eyes wild with hatred.
He paused a moment, clearly contemplating the seriousness of her threat. Slowly he reached into his pocket and tossed it to the ground in front of her. “How many other men are out there?” she asked, but no one answered. “Oh now everyone wants to be fucking silent?” she hissed, approaching Marty, who held his ground in front of her. “How many men?” she demanded, but silence ensued. I heard a shot, followed by Marty screaming in agony. She'd shot him in the thigh. The doors opened and three men rushed in; my hands were bound so it made it awkward to grip the gun I knew I couldn't wait. I couldn't let any others interfere; I squeezed the trigger and managed to shot all three of them as they entered. I heard Kendall scream as one of the men disarmed her. I rushed over, my gun drawn at the man as Kendall scrambled over to me on the ground.
“Well there are three less now! How many more?” I asked, continuing her line of questioning. We needed to know what we were up against. Again silence ensued so I shot Marty in the other leg.
“Three!” Marty cried out in pain, clearly not wanting to get shot again.
“Now that wasn't so hard,” I sneered as Kendall quickly ran over to James and unlocked the chains binding him. I watched as he fell to the ground. I caught a movement from the corner of my eye. The man I'd been watching turned, aiming a gun at Kendall.
Damien ran at me, tackling me to the ground and managing to disarm me. He grabbed the gun. “None of you assholes better move!” he screamed, the gun aimed at us. The remaining three men hurried through the warehouse doors with their weapons drawn on us.
“Where the fuck have you all been?” he shrieked angrily at them.
“What? Do you have a hard time doing your own dirty work? You need them to do the job for you?” I asked, hoping to buy us some time. If there was one thing I knew about Damien it was that he loved to have last word.
“You and I both know that's not true, Kane,” he scoffed, glancing at his watch, “I'm done with this. I'm done with you all. Time of death 7:07pm,” he laughed pointing the gun at James.
“Did you say 7:07?” Kendall demanded, which I thought was an odd question given our current circumstances.
“Yes,” Damien answered with a sigh.
Kendall laughed hysterically, causing everyone to stare at her in confusion. “You're all fucked. In fact, there's no use killing us now, you'll only be making it worse for yourselves.” I had no clue
was she was talking about, but she was buying us some time so I played along. James sputtered loudly, drawing my attention to him. He flashed me a gun he had managed to conceal under his thigh.
“Just fucking kill them already!” Marty screamed as he bled all over the concrete.
“I sent all the documents to every major news station in the country. Secret's out, it's all over for you all,” Kendall stated happily, a broad smile on her lips.
“You're lying!” Damien replied.
“No, afraid not. I took pictures of each document and up loaded them to an email that I programmed to be sent at exactly 7:00pm, with instructions about everything. All the murders, all the felonies you assholes committed, and I even gave them your name and said if any of us ended up dead, that you had something to do with it. I don't know about you, but you might want to stop while you're ahead, given the stuff they already have on you. Another murder charge would likely only make it worse.”
“She's lying!” Marty screamed. “Kill them!”
“Am I?” she asked. “I did it before we left the hotel, while Kane was meeting with you, Damien, I knew we needed a back-up plan. A type of insurance policy or parting gift, if you will. I figured I could turn it off and reprogram if I needed to, but when Kane sent me a text, I knew it was only a matter of time before you assholes found us.” She paused, tilting her head to one side. “I think that's your phone I hear buzzing. You might want to answer that.”
Damien quickly reached in his pocket, retrieving his phone and I watched as his face fell into a terrified mess. “You bitch!” he screamed, running at her with the gun pointed to her head. I quickly pulled the gun from under James and shot him in shoulder.