Captive

by Donna K. Ford

  Raquel nodded. “If one makes a move, we all move.”

  “Exactly,” Greyson agreed.

  Raquel stood. “Let’s get started.” She patted Greyson on the back as she walked away.

  Hope had taken root in Greyson’s mind. This was the first time the others had been willing to take a chance. She got up and made her way to Olivia and a couple of others gathered around a table. It was time to rally the troops.

  Murmurs of excitement began to spread as more and more women agreed to the scrap of a plan. It was working.

  A hush fell over the room as the sound of the guards echoed down the hall. It was as if everyone inhaled at once, sucking all the air out of the room.

  “Mail,” the guard said, his tone harsh, as if barking an order.

  One by one he called the names of the women. One by one they went to the door to retrieve a single yellow envelope. Neither Olivia nor Greyson was called.

  Greyson watched, curious about this change in protocol. They never got mail.

  Raquel opened her envelope. With trembling fingers, she pulled a photograph from the envelope. She gasped, instantly clasping her hand over her mouth. One by one the others began to react with similar levels of shock.

  “What’s going on?” Olivia asked, stepping close to Greyson.

  Greyson shook her head. “I have no idea, but I’m going to find out. Come on.” She took Olivia’s hand and led her across the room.

  “Raquel?” Greyson said.

  Raquel looked up at them with tears in her eyes.

  “What is it?” Olivia asked.

  Raquel held out the photograph of two young women at a graduation ceremony. “My girls. They’re all grown up.”

  Greyson closed her eyes as realization dawned on her. The Recruiter had bested her again. Just when she thought she had everyone on board to revolt, he gave them a reminder of what they had been fighting for all along.

  Greyson fell to her knees in front of Raquel. “Listen to me. You can’t let him inside your head. He sent this to you so you’ll behave. He’s trying to control you through fear. Your girls need their mother back.”

  Raquel sniffed, wiping at the tears flowing freely down her face. She pulled the photograph to her chest as if holding her girls in her arms. She rocked slowly back and forth, singing a children’s song under her breath.

  Olivia looked at Greyson, clearly confused. “Would you please explain this to me?”

  “They all got pictures of their families. It’s a threat. He’s implying if they don’t do their jobs, their families will be harmed. He’s using their families against them, the same way he uses you against me.”

  “Oh.” Olivia looked around, her heart breaking for them. She missed her own family and couldn’t imagine anyone hurting them. She knew she would do anything to prevent that. Slowly she began to understand these women and how they had survived under such cruelty. The realization made her ashamed of her own selfishness. All this time, she had only been thinking of herself.

  “Why didn’t they call my name?” Olivia asked.

  Greyson frowned. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because you won’t be the one fighting.”

  “I hate this,” Olivia whispered.

  Greyson wrapped her arms around Olivia. “Come here.” Olivia cradled her head against Greyson’s shoulder, embracing her around her waist.

  They swayed together as if listening to a faraway tune. “I want my life back,” Olivia said into Greyson’s neck. “But if I can’t have that, can I just freeze this one moment forever? I don’t want to have to imagine tomorrow.”

  Greyson was quiet. Too quiet.

  “What are you thinking?” Olivia asked.

  Greyson chuckled, her laugh vibrating through her chest like distant thunder. “I was wondering if things were different, if you would let me take you out on a second date.”

  Olivia laughed. “You’ve lost your mind.”

  Greyson laughed again. “No. I just don’t want my time to be chewed up with fear and dread. I want to dream. When I dream, that’s what I dream about. I dream about taking you to dinner, holding hands, dancing, and finding out all your secrets.”

  “I had no idea you were such a romantic,” Olivia teased.

  Greyson stopped and looked down at Olivia. “Would you? Would you go out with me after all that’s happened?”

  Olivia smiled. “I would love nothing better.”

  Greyson smiled and pulled Olivia close again as if the answer satisfied something inside her. But Olivia wasn’t like Greyson. She couldn’t pretend things were going to be okay. She couldn’t stand to dream about a life she couldn’t have. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to Greyson’s chest, comforted by the solid beat of Greyson’s heart.

  Tomorrow her life would change again. She would lose Greyson, the one real thing left in her world. Olivia thought of Liz and her devotion to the Recruiter. She would never let that happen to her. A vision of Nikki flashed in her mind and she flinched.

  “You okay?” Greyson asked.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” She pulled Greyson closer, not wanting to talk about the fears ravaging her mind. She had no control over her future, but she wouldn’t allow the Recruiter and his prison to steal her last moments with Greyson.

  She closed her eyes against the irony of the situation. She had been fighting so hard to build the perfect life. She had dreamed of finding someone she could share her life with. How was it that she’d lost everything, only to find what she had been looking for all along? She wondered if the two lives could exist together. Would she and Greyson have this connection without their terror binding them?

  It didn’t matter. Olivia smiled, brushing a kiss against Greyson’s cheek. She knew the old life, those old dreams, had changed. Even if they did get a miracle, she couldn’t go back to the way things were before. She had been blind to the world. That innocence was gone now.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Greyson slipped the small spear of plastic from her shoe. She had found it in the greenhouse on one of the days she’d been left on her own. She had managed to sharpen the end into a point by rubbing it against the concrete floor, a trick she had learned on some prison documentary she had watched once. She twisted the small shaft in her hand, trying to find the perfect hold. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but she hoped it would be enough. She had passed the idea on to Raquel and Olivia, encouraging them to find similar weapons of their own. Greyson had been surprised to find that several of the other women had weapons hidden already.

  Olivia had managed a small spear fashioned from the end of a toothbrush, while Raquel had long been weaving a makeshift rope out of threads she had pulled from towels and garments, hiding the loose strands in her mouth until she could add them to the rope. She had even woven in strands of her own hair for added strength and a personal binding. The process had taken months, and she’d managed to conceal it by tying the work in progress inside the loose scrub pants they all wore. The women had been quite creative in the individual design of their weapons and procuring the materials without being discovered. But truthfully, she held little hope in their rudimentary tools. It would take a miracle for them to pull off an escape, but what choice did they have?

  They stirred as the sound of the guards’ footsteps echoed in the corridor. Greyson glanced from woman to woman as they silently nodded their agreement, their commitment to the plan. She slipped the weapon back into her shoe. They were ready.

  “Raquel and Samone, let’s go,” the guard with the spider tattoo barked.

  As expected, the usual guards. So far, so good.

  Raquel and Samone were handcuffed together and pulled into the hall to wait.

  “Vinny and Audrey.”

  The guard continued to call them in pairs until all those attending the fight were assembled in line in the corridor, each pair handcuffed together. The last pair called was Greyson and Olivia.

  Greyson took Olivia’s hand. “It’s okay. We can do this.”


  Olivia nodded and walked with Greyson to the guard.

  The guard smiled knowingly at Greyson. “I hope you’ve learned a thing or two in the past few weeks,” he sneered.

  Greyson glared. “Where’s your boss? Maybe you and I can put on a little show right now.”

  The guard smiled. “Boss isn’t here. He’s already gone ahead to get things ready. But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  “Let’s go then,” Greyson dared him.

  “Don’t,” Olivia warned.

  The guard laughed. “That’s right, hero. Listen to the little girl. Every step you make has her name on it.” He ran his finger across Olivia’s cheek. “I’d hate to mess up that pretty little face before the boss has a chance to show her off.”

  Greyson glanced at Olivia. Olivia shook her head in warning.

  The guard secured the cuffs around Greyson’s wrists and laughed as he walked to the front of the line.

  “I can’t wait to get that guy,” Greyson growled under her breath.

  “I know,” Olivia agreed. “But not yet.”

  Greyson nodded. “I have to mess with them a bit or they’ll think I’m up to something.”

  Olivia looped her pinkie finger around Greyson’s. “You are up to something.”

  Greyson grinned. She counted three guards. One at the front, one at the back, and the guy with the keys who opened the doors. Greyson studied the keys, memorizing his habit of looping the large ring around his wrist while he held the key in his hand, making it harder to grab the keys from him. She hoped Raquel had noticed the same thing. If she made a move, the girls at the front would have to take out two guards, leaving Greyson to handle the one at the back. They had agreed to wait until they were outside to move, but the farther they went, the more she could feel the tension building. If anyone jumped too early, they’d be in trouble. They would not only have to deal with the guards, but they would still have to find their way out before others arrived.

  Greyson’s heart sank as they were led into a large open room set up for deliveries. Two large service vans had been driven into the room. The bay doors were shut. “Dammit.”

  They had hoped to be able to make a move on the outside. Now they would have to wait until they were in the vans. It was more risky, but maybe getting outside the gate was better.

  Raquel looked to Greyson for the signal. Greyson shook her head. The time had to be just right.

  “What do we do now?” Olivia asked.

  Greyson heard the anxiety in Olivia’s voice, but she couldn’t risk talking now. “Just trust me.”

  Greyson ground her teeth, trying to find a weakness in the system. The men had covered their tracks well. The women were being loaded into cargo vans with no windows. The logo painted on the side was for a generic plumbing and electrical service. From the outside, it would look like just another service call. No one would suspect they were trafficking women in these vans. Greyson looked past the women in front of her, to peer inside the van. There was a metal wall dividing the back and the front, with only a small door with a window for access between the two compartments. There would be no way they could get to the driver. Again, this was nothing out of the ordinary for a service vehicle. They had similar vans at work for some of the maintenance staff. Two benches lined either side of the cargo area, where the women would sit, but the walls had been padded, likely to quiet any noise they might make from the inside.

  Greyson groaned when Raquel was loaded into the first van along with Samone and Amala and seven others. One more strike against them. They were supposed to work together as a team. It would be much harder in separate groups. Raquel peered at Greyson from the cargo van. Greyson could feel her eyes on her, trying to read her mind. Greyson began to sway back and forth from side to side in an exaggerated fashion. She looked pointedly at Raquel hoping she would somehow interpret her movement.

  Greyson flinched as one of the guards slammed the door shut, cutting her off from Raquel.

  “Looks like we’re next,” Olivia whispered.

  “Yeah.” Greyson leaned closer to Olivia. “What’s the road out of here like? Is it straight, narrow, curvy, flat, anything you remember?”

  Olivia took a deep breath. “I remember a narrow road, lots of curves, with some houses on either side for a while. Some of the road is just trees and mountain.”

  Greyson nodded. “Good.”

  The best she could tell, there were three guards for each van, a driver and a second guard in the front and a third in the back. Who knew if more would be following them. Greyson pulled at the plastic cuffs around her wrists as they were led into the second van. She peered through the glass in the small door blocking them from the cabin, then around at the blank padded walls encasing them. They would be trapped like fish in a barrel.

  Greyson sucked in her breath as the last two women were brought to the van. Ruby clutched the hand of a young woman who reminded Greyson of a feral version of Olivia. Her hair was matted and dirty, her eyes wild. Ruby’s touch seemed to be the only thing holding this woman in her skin. Ruby allowed them to be led into the van. She murmured reassuringly to the young girl.

  Ruby met Greyson’s gaze. A muscle twitched at the side of her jaw. Ruby nodded to Greyson almost imperceptibly.

  Greyson nodded in return, the agreement made. Ruby would stand with them. She looked to the other women. “Does anyone have anything sharp?” she whispered. “Anything we can use to cut through these damn plastic cuffs?”

  Vinny leaned forward, working at the lace of her shoe with her one free hand. She slid a long screw out of her shoe. “It isn’t sharp, but we can use the threads like a file to wear through the plastic.”

  “Good. Get started, but don’t let them see you.” Greyson smiled. “If anyone else has anything useful, now is the time to use it.”

  The guard, a short man with a receding hairline that made his head look like someone took a bite out of an eraser, stepped in and slammed the door, locking them inside. The van shifted as the front doors opened and the driver and another guard got into the cab.

  Greyson fidgeted on her seat. There was little room to move with ten women and a guard packed in the small space. She knocked a knuckle against the metal bench covering the wheel well. “Hold on to your butt cheeks, girls—this is going to be a bumpy ride.”

  * * *

  The group was quiet as they waited. It seemed everyone was holding their breath. Nikki whimpered when the engine started and the large cargo doors opened. Light streamed in through the small window, a blinding glow of hope.

  Olivia squeezed Greyson’s hand. “I’d pray right now if I thought it would help.”

  Greyson sighed. “God is not in this place.”

  The women grumbled as they struggled to stay seated when the van began to move, tipping forward as they descended a ramp. Every eye was on the window and this rare glimpse at the outside world.

  The moment the van turned onto the road, Greyson shifted her attention to the guard. “I haven’t seen you around before. How did you get so lucky today?”

  The guard glared at her.

  “Guess you must have done something special to earn a ticket to the show.”

  “Shut up. They said you would be a pain in the ass.” He pushed past Greyson to the small window, tapping the glass with his fist. “Step on it, will you.”

  Greyson pulled the small spear from her shoe. She nodded to Ruby. As the guard turned, Ruby lunged, throwing her free arm around his neck and pulling him down on top of her. Greyson and Olivia stood, blocking the view from the window. The guard raised his arm in defense, but Nikki grabbed his hand before he could use the Taser. Vinny pried the baton from his belt. He pushed and struggled against Ruby, but he had no balance and she was too strong. He yelled out for the other guards, but his cries were muffled by the crushing power of Ruby’s arm around his throat. The struggle was short, but when he stopped moving, Greyson thought her heart would stop too.

  Ruby let the lifel
ess body slide to the floor. Her eyes were wild with rage and satisfaction when she looked up at Greyson.

  Greyson nodded. She turned to the bonds tying her to Olivia and began prying at the clasp of the zip ties. It took some work, but she managed to maneuver the plastic enough to loosen the grip of the plastic teeth. As soon as she was free, she moved to Ruby and Nikki while Vinny worked on the others.

  “We don’t know how much time we have,” Greyson cautioned. “We have to make a move before we get to our destination. This is the only chance we’ll have.”

  Ruby nodded.

  “That’s it, we’ve done it,” Vinny said with pride showing her freed hands. “What’s next?”

  Greyson peered through the glass trying to see as much of the road as possible. She shifted so she could see ahead of them, trying not to draw the attention of the guard. She could tell by the movement of the van that the road was very curvy. They were moving pretty fast for such a narrow road. She could see the occasional house along the road as they passed.

  She looked back at the others. “You’re not going to like this, but it’s all we’ve got. Let’s hope Raquel can see us and figures it out too.”

  “What will you have us do?” Ruby asked.

  “If we all stand up and rock our weight from one side of the van to the other at the right time, we might be able to make the driver lose control.”

  Olivia gasped. “You’re going to make us crash? We could all die.”

  Greyson nodded. “It’s a risk. I told you, you wouldn’t like it.”

  “There has to be another way,” Vinny protested.

  “No. There isn’t. We have to do this. We have to make sure none of us ever have to go back into the pit. This is our last fight. If we wait till we get to the destination, there will be too many guards and we won’t have a way out.”

  The women erupted in argument, some for and some against the plan.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Greyson argued.

  “Enough,” Ruby said with finality.

  They fell silent.

  Ruby looked to Greyson. “Tell us what to do. We will do it.”