moan for uncle 5

by Towers , Terry

  Becky laughed as she walked up behind Nikki to stand beside her friend. Becky's green eyes met Nikki's blue ones in the mirror. "I may have only met him a couple of times, but I can tell you this. You could walk down the aisle in a potato sack and that man would look at you as though you were dressed like a queen." She wrapped her arm around Nikki's waist and pulled her into a quick hug. "You're a lucky woman, Nikki." She gave Nikki a wink in the mirror, "and don't even get me started on how hot that man is. Mmm. So-so nice. Don't know where you found him, but I sure wish you'd tell me."

  Nikki sniffed and fought back the tears that were threatening to spill onto her cheeks. Yes, she was lucky. She hadn't told Becky how she knew Grant, she didn't want that awkward conversation with her new best friend so she’d simply told her they were both from Bar Harbor and left it at that.

  She stood smiling at her friend in the mirror for a few moments until something disturbing caught her eyes. "Oh-my-god!" she gasped her hand shooting up to her mouth and her eyes widening in dismay.

  Alarmed, Becky spun Nikki around to face her. "What?"

  Nikki's eyes dropped to the satin bow at her waist and peered down at the brown smudge, roughly the size of a dime on it.

  "Ohhh..." Becky muttered as they both stared down at the offending smudge. "Not a biggie, let me get the clerk and I'm sure they can get that out in a jiffy." Becky scurried off, leaving the dressing room and shutting the door behind her.

  Nodding, Nikki turned back towards the mirror, her eyes transfixed on the offending brown mark. Sure, it was just a smudge, but at that moment it felt like a disaster.

  Nikki began to examine the rest of the gown, eyeing each and every inch of it for even the slightest imperfection. She was so intent on her task she didn't hear the dressing room door open and close behind her.

  "Beautiful dress."

  The sound of a deeply-accented voice interrupted her inspection. She wasn't good with accents, but she was certain it was African. Well, almost certain. With her brow furrowed, she lifted her head and her eyes met those of a tall, thin black man. He gave her a smile, but the smile didn't follow through to his eyes which were cold, devoid of any emotion.

  She gulped down the rising anxiety within her. Maybe he worked for the bridal shop... She doubted it. Her eyes lowered to his hands, covered in black gloves and one was holding a rag. Maybe the rag had some sort of cleaner to remove the smudge. Maybe... Her mouth went dry and she found herself rooted to the spot, unable to speak. Was that what people meant by the expression scared stiff?

  "I won't hurt you, but you need to come with me," he assured her upon seeing the alarm in her eyes.

  His words jolted her from the frozen state of terror she was in and she made an attempt, despite her six inch heels, to run past him to the dressing room door. She hadn't made it three steps when he slipped his arm around her waist and covered her mouth and nose with the rag.

  She fought with every ounce of strength she had, but he easily overpowered her and within seconds she found that darkness was overtaking her. She was helpless against the blackness which was overwhelming her and she felt her body go limp as she slumped back into his waiting arms.

  ****

  Standing outside their apartment building, Grant glanced down at his watch and shook his head. Nikki was late. Only ten minutes so far, but she was never late. He'd tried calling her on her mobile, but it was going straight to her machine. This wasn't good and in the pit in his stomach a gnawing sensation told him something was seriously wrong, and with each minute that went by the feeling got worse.

  Fifteen minutes after their agreed meeting time, Grant noticed a black BMW pulling up to the curb in front of him. The tinted window in the back seat lowered to reveal Diana. She gave him a smile, but it was strained.

  The feeling in his stomach grew, causing a nauseous feeling within him.

  "Grant, honey." She opened the door and slid to the other side of the seat, patting the vacant spot. "Get in. We need to talk."

  Grant walked over to the car, braced a hand on the roof and leaned in, his eyes locking onto hers. "I don’t know what this is about, and I don't care, Diana. I think I was perfectly clear the last time we spoke that I was through playing games with you. We're done and have nothing further to talk about."

  She laughed lightly and gave the seat another pat. "I think you will be interested in what I have to say." She gave a slight shrug. "If you want to see Nikki again, that is."

  Fuck! He suspected his worst fear was beginning to come to life. It was a fear every agent held in the back of his mind. He'd been sold out, apparently by Diana and if he didn't find a way to fix this, Nikki and everyone else he cared about would be paying the price.

  "Get in. Let's talk." She gave the vacant seat another pat.

  Keeping his expression as blank as possible, Grant slid into the seat and shut the door behind him. As soon as his door closed, the driver put the car in gear and the vehicle lunged forward.

  "What's this about, Diana?"

  "It's good to see you again, Grant."

  Grant glared over at her and huffed. "How about we cut the bullshit and you tell me what this is about?"

  She frowned as if hurt by his abruptness. "Fine." She dug into her black leather purse and retrieved her mobile phone. After pressing a few keys she came to what she was looking for on the small display and brought the screen up to eye level for him to see and what he witnessed broke his heart.

  Nikki, dressed in her wedding gown, was bound to a large wooden chair in some sort of basement or cellar. She was slumped in the chair so she was either dead or passed out. He was betting on the latter, Diana needed her alive to get what she wanted from him.

  Attempting to remain calm, and keep his head clear of the emotions racing through him, he lifted his eyes from the picture of Nikki back to meet Diana's. "What do you want, Diana?"

  "Oh, it's not what I want," she corrected, "It's what my employer wants."

  Grant huffed once more not able to keep the contempt for her from flashing in his steel grey eyes. "I guess that means you're a freelancer now?"

  She leaned over to him and wagged her finger at him. "Don't you dare judge me, Grant. The CIA pays shit for the type of work that we do for them. They use us and don't even have the decency to pay us properly. I'm just getting what I deserve."

  Leaning back in the leather seat he draped his arm along the back of the seat and chuckled. "And these other people are decent people. They respect you?"

  "With the amount of money they pay for skilled services, I can overlook the lack of respect."

  She straightened up in her seat and tucked the mobile phone back into her purse. "Back to business. How about we skip the silly banter where I tell you I have her, you threaten to kill me and everyone responsible and let’s just get down to it?" She rummaged through her purse once more and produced a syringe filled with a clear liquid. She removed the cover from the needle and passed it to him. "Inject yourself with it and we'll take you to her."

  His first instinct was to grab hold of her, take her to a deserted spot and force her to talk, but he knew Diana. She'd die before telling him a damned thing. He'd seen the amount of torture and pain she could endure firsthand. He'd never be able to break her in time to save Nikki. Knowing he had no choice he grabbed the syringe from her and jabbed himself in the arm with it. Seconds later, the world went dark.

  ****

  Nikki awoke with a throbbing headache. Her first instinct was to bring her hand to her forehead, but she quickly realized that both her hands and feet were secured to the chair she was sitting in. Slowly she began to open her eyes, the dim lighting of the room made it hard for her to get a clear view of her surroundings. The room seemed to spin and be in a haze... Everything seemed hazy.

  She closed her eyes once more and took a couple of deep breaths in and out. Slowly, she opened her eyes once more and the room started to come into focus. Her eyes immediately went to the figure, naked from the waist up an
d slumped over in a chair across from her, roughly fifteen feet away.

  Grant! Despite her bindings keeping her wrists secure to the arms of the solid, heavy oak chair and her ankles to the legs of the chair, she fought to free herself. She fought to go to him. He wasn't moving and she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

  Oh God, he can't be dead! Please, he can't be dead!

  As if reading her mind a familiar, accented voice sounded to her left. "He's not dead... yet.''

  Nikki whipped her head over to peer at the face attached to the voice and was overcome with another bout of dizziness and a slight need to vomit.

  "What did you do to him?" she managed to squeak out.

  "Nothin'... yet," he chuckled, low and sinister. The type of noise she'd have expected to hear coming from a television show villain.

  It then occurred to her that it couldn't be real, this cellar, her and Grant bound to chairs after being abducted. No, it was a dream, a horrid, frightening nightmare that she'd awaken from at any moment and cuddle up into Grant's arms and he'd tell her to go back to sleep, that she was safe. He'd assure her that he was there and he'd protect her.

  She took another deep breath in, closed her eyes and waited. Sleep never came, but footsteps did. The owner of the voice was approaching her. Gathering up every ounce of courage she had in her, she opened her eyes and looked up as he leaned over her chair. His dark eyes captured hers, as he reached out and cupped her chin in his hand.

  "You're a beautiful woman. Be a good girl and maybe I'll keep you."

  He leaned over to touch his lips to hers, but she managed to pull her chin from his grip and dodge his kiss which landed on her cheek instead.

  With a laugh, he straightened back up. "Think about it."

  She whipped her head back around and glared at him, suddenly feeling brazen. "You'll have to kill me first."

  He laughed a second time and plunked himself down in a chair next to - from what she could tell - the only way in or out of the windowless cellar they were in.

  "Where are we?" she demanded.

  "Doesn't matter, you're not going anywhere."

  She opened her mouth to protest and demand he tell her, but decided against it. He was right, she wasn't going anywhere at that moment. Besides, it wasn't as though she was going to get free of the binds holding her to the chair. The chair was solid and, she soon discovered, extremely heavy; she couldn't get it to move even a fraction of an inch, despite her best efforts.

  "What do you want?" She eyed him as she asked the question. Under different circumstances she may have considered him to be a handsome man. He was well dressed in dark pants, white t-shirt and black blazer, with dark mocha skin and piercing dark brown eyes. Yes, under different circumstances she would have found him attractive. Mainly because of his eyes those dark piercing eyes, both intrigued and scared her. Because in those eyes she didn't see an ounce of empathy, only contempt.

  "We want vengeance, my love. Grant has something of ours. Something we want. You're here to ensure we get what we came for before we kill him."

  Nikki's heart stopped for a portion of a second as her mind processed his words.

  Anxiety and panic overtook her once more and she struggled against the binds holding her; she struggled until her wrists were rubbed raw and the pain forced her to stop. Please Grant wake up and stop this. Please!

  Chapter 3

  "Grant"

  Pause

  "Oh God, Grant please wake up. I need you to wake up."

  Her voice slowly brought him from the cloud that had taken him into deep slumber. "Nikki." His voice cracked and his throat felt dry. Fuck, what he wouldn't give for a drink of water at that moment. Other than the insane thirst and aside from the restraints that he felt around his wrists and legs, he felt fine. He doubted he'd be fine for long, however.

  "Oh thank God! Grant!" the pitch of her voice went up a few octaves in her excitement.

  He heard the slight rustle of clothing as he raised his head and slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, Nikki was sitting across from him, bound to a large wooden chair, as he was, and wearing her wedding dress. "Beautiful dress. You're going to look stunning at the wedding wearing it." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but didn't have quite enough energy.

  She stopped moving and stared at him, not sure how to reply to that.

  "Well, maybe not that dress. It's a little dirty now; gonna need a new one." he teased hoping to lighten the mood and calm her distress state.

  She smiled weakly and blinked back the tears he could see forming. "Yeah, there's a brown smudge," she looked down towards the bow. "The bow..."

  "Did they hurt you?"

  Nikki peered back up at him and shook her head. "No, but I've been so scared, Grant. They said they were going to kill you once they got what they wanted." Her voice shook and her bottom lip began to quiver. "What do they want?"

  Ah, shit.

  "Nothing is going to happen to you or to me, alright? I'll get us out of here, I promise."

  She nodded once more, but he could see the apprehension in her eyes.

  "Alright. I need you to tell me everything you know. Everything they said, describe everyone you've met. Everything. Can you do that?"

  She shrugged "Okay, but there's not much to tell."

  He waited as she collected her thoughts, taking the opportunity to examine the room they were locked in. It was barren of any furniture, with the exception of a chair by the door and the ones they were seated in. The room itself was lit by a single light bulb on the ceiling, no windows and the ceiling had yet to be finished. No opportunity to escape except for the door to the left of them on Nikki's side of the room.

  He pulled at the ropes holding his wrists and legs to the chair, but as expected they wouldn't budge. The only way he was escaping was if they decided to untie him. Depending on how they planned on getting the information they wanted from him, that may or may not happen. He snapped his full attention back to Nikki when she started speaking.

  "I woke up maybe a few hours ago and there was a man here. The man that took me from the bridal shop."

  "What does he look like, Nik?"

  "He's a tall man. Thin. He has an accent. African I think."

  Grant nodded. "Alright. Good. What else?"

  "He just left. He was here from the time I woke until a short while ago."

  "What did he say to you?"

  "Nothing really. Just said that you had something he wanted and I was here to make sure you gave it to him, before he killed you. That he wanted vengeance. Why? For What?" Her bottom lip trembled again and she once more fought to keep herself under control. "Who are they? Why are they going to kill you Grant?"

  It felt as though his heart was being torn from his chest, seeing her so distraught and all he wanted at that moment was to take her into his arms, and stroke her silky dark hair and tell her it was going to be alright, it angered and frustrated him that he couldn't at least do that.

  "No honey. No. We'll be fine. I'll get us out of this, I promise, and we'll get you a new dress and we'll have that dream wedding. Okay?" he struggled in vain against the rope.

  She nodded and sniffed.

  "So, did he say anything else? Do you know if there is anyone else here now?"

  "I don't know. I'm so sorry."

  "No, no honey that's alright. You did good."

  "I love you Grant. I can't lose you." The dam broke and tears slid down her cheeks. "I can't live without you." She fought the ropes which drew his attention to her wrists which were red and chafed from her struggling to free her hands.

  "It's okay. It's going to be fine, but I need you to do something for me, alright?"

  Her tear-filled blue eyes lifted to meet his grey ones and she nodded.

  "No matter what happens to me. No matter what they do and I won't lie to you, it could get bad, just remember to stay calm and do what they say. It's going to be okay, and you know how much I love you."

  "Alright." She
nodded her understanding.

  "Promise?"

  "I promise."

  ***

  Nikki was about to tell Grant she loved him too, when the door flung open and to her surprise Diana strode into the room. The look of shock must have been evident on her face because Diana gave her a wide grin and a wink.

  "Surprised to see me again, Nikki? Love the dress by the way. You would have made a beautiful bride." She shrugged and her grin widened. "Maybe you'll have better luck with the next groom to be."

  "I - Diana? But... What's going on? Why have you done this?" She turned her attention back to Grant, her eyes pleading with him to fill in the details. What did she mean by would have? It dawned on her that this was actually happening, that they - whoever they were - were going to kill Grant while she watched and his ex-wife was involved. The nausea in her stomach intensified and she once again swallowed down the need to vomit.

  Keeping her eyes on Nikki, Diana strutted over to Grant and perched herself on his lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He glared at her as she ran an index finger along his jaw. The feeling of hatred for the woman intensified within Nikki as she watched Diana touch Grant intimately. She wanted to kill the blonde-haired Barbie doll look alike, wanted to do it with all her heart.

  "So Grant, have you told your precious little Nikki about what you really do for a living?" She turned her eyes from Grant and back to Nikki, flipping her shoulder-length blonde hair back over her shoulder. So honey, has he told you everything about his job. What he really does for his country?"

  Nikki refused to give Diana the benefit of an answer.

  "You don't need to do this, Diana. Leave her out of this." Grant growled, while his eyes shot daggers at the other woman, hatred etched in his features.

  Diana laughed and trailed her index finger across his bare shoulders, tracing the lines of muscle which were once more straining against this binds.