by Tina Saxon
Max is on the phone with Stone, relaying all the information that I gave him, when Damon asks, “How are we going to play this?”
“I’m going to tell the cops who took her, but I’m going to leave out that Travis is her father.” Damon leans forward, his arms on his knees.
“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t tell me.”
I shrug. “Wasn’t my story to tell.”
He slowly nods. “Okay, we’ll go talk to Travis. You know that it’ll be on record that we’re there. People might start asking questions.”
“I’ll deal with that if it becomes a problem. Everyone knowing that she’s Travis’s daughter won’t help her be found. They’ll know who took her and that’s what is important. If you guys can—”
“Oh, my God, Aiden, you’re awake.” Sydney comes flying in the room, landing on my bed. I have to scoot over to make a little room for her. This bed is small enough as is. “Please tell me you have information that will help us find Addison,” she pleads. Her eyes are bloodshot red. She wrings a Kleenex around her fingers, waiting for an answer. I grab her hands. They’re so tiny my one hand engulfs both of hers.
“I will find Addison, Syd. I promise,” I say, squeezing her hands.
I hear Max get off the phone. “We’re all set to see Trav—” Max stops when he sees Sydney on my bed. I can’t believe he didn’t see or hear her when she came in. He looks her up and down, studying her. “You must be Tink?” he says as he sticks his phone into his front pocket.
Her eyebrows crease, and she looks from Max to me and back to him. “I don’t know who you are, but my name is not Tink.” She crosses her arms as she stands up, trying to make herself look taller. I chuckle to myself because she’s not much taller than when she was sitting.
“Well …” Damon starts to say something.
“You be quiet.” She points her finger at him, and he laughs.
Max walks over, holds his hand out, and says, “Max Shaw.”
She shakes his hand. “Sydney Owen.” Max seems to hold Sydney’s hand a moment too long for Damon’s liking. He stands up and walks around to Syd, rubbing her shoulders. Max pulls back his hand but looks from Syd to Damon, smirking.
Syd shakes off Damon’s hands. “Would you stop? This is not the time to try and mark your territory. My best friend has been kidnapped and you all need to find her. Now!”
Sydney looks back to me with tears in her eyes. “Syd knows everything I just told you both, so you can finish what you were saying, Max,” I say, not looking away from her. Her eyebrows shoot up. “I had to tell them. I’m sure Addison told you about Joe from last summer.” She looks down, trying to recall.
I can tell the moment she realizes who he is because her head whips up and tears run down her face. Damon wraps his arms around her as she buries her head in his chest.
Max clears his throat. “So, Jaxon is getting us in to see Travis. Stone is already digging to find anything on Joe.” He glances at Sydney still embraced in Damon’s arms. “We won’t stop looking until we find her.” Sydney pulls her head away, peeking at Max, and nods.
All of us look toward the door when it swings open. The petite nurse from earlier walks in. “Alright, visiting hours are over. My patient needs his rest.”
That’s the last thing I want to do, but I can feel my body agreeing with her. Max nods once and then leaves. Damon squeezes my shoulder. “Focus on getting better and let us focus on finding Addison. I’m glad you’re okay. You fucking scared the shit out of us.” He smiles before turning around and leading Sydney out of the room.
Like clockwork, my meal arrives. At least I think it’s around the same time every day. The eyes of a creepy guy scan my body making me shiver from disgust. He puckers his lips, sending a kiss through the air. My body convulses as if it can feel his lips. I watch him with caution, my handcuffed hands clenching as I try to breathe through his heinous stare without saying something that will only egg him on.
He bends down slowly, placing my food and drink on the ground, his gaze never leaving me. Chills run down my spine. I can sense something is different. The way he carefully lays my food down, it’s almost too cautious. He licks his lips when he stands, stretching his hands out and cracking them. I flinch at the sound, which makes him smile.
I’m already on my bed, sitting up, but I scoot back trying to separate myself from the monster. A deep growl erupts from his lips as he sticks his hands down his pants.
Panic rushes through me, and I nervously glance around the room. This can’t happen. He laughs at my obvious state of terror then pulls his dick out and starts stroking himself. He moans as his hand increases its speed, his dark eyes never leaving my body. I want to close my eyes and not watch the pervert get off, but I’m afraid if I do, I won’t be ready if he decides to attack me. So my eyes lock with his. I will not give him the satisfaction of looking down.
“You want this dick, bitch?” he growls. “You want me to come down that beautiful mouth of yours?”
I clench my teeth, willing myself to shut the hell up. Don’t say anything. Just let him get off and he’ll leave. His groans intensify as his orgasm rips through him. His eyes finally release their hold on mine as his body convulses. Mine does the same but in revulsion.
His evil smile widens as he puts his dick back in his pants. “I’ll see you tomorrow, bitch,” he snickers. When he leaves and I can hear the second door slam, I blow out a ragged breath. My heart is racing. I drop my head and the tears run down my face.
Hurry, Aiden. I don’t think I have much more time. I’ve been here a week already. They have to be close to finding me. Please, God, lead them here.
I must have fallen asleep from the adrenaline crash. I don’t know how much time has passed. It’s still light outside, so it must not have been that long. I stare at my food waiting for me. Cheese sandwich and water. My stomach grumbles at the sight of food. I uncross my legs and stretch. My legs ache from falling asleep with them underneath me. I push off the bed and walk slowly to my food. I inspect it, making sure he didn’t come all over it. I gag just thinking about it.
I walk it back to my bed, looking over the whole thing. Everything seems okay, so I eat. Slowly. I’ve learned if I eat too fast, I can’t keep it down. Taking small bites, I watch the sky through the small, dark, dusty window. I can tell the sky is clear today. I wonder if it’s hot or cold outside. The air is humid down here, but I’m not sure if that’s because I’m in a damp basement or if I’ve been taken to a warm environment. New York is freezing right now, so I don’t think I’m there anymore.
I finish my food and water, placing the dishes as close to the door as I can get so whoever comes in and gets it won’t need to get close to me. I go to the bathroom before sitting back down on my bed. I should walk around, but for some reason I’m still tired.
I blink a few times as my eyesight starts to blur. I pick up my hands, looking at them. They feel heavy. I feel heavy. When the room starts to spin, I panic. No. No. NO! I lean over the bed and stick my finger down my throat. Nothing comes up, so I keep trying. My world starts to go dark and I know I’ve been drugged. Again.
I can feel my quick breaths as I open my eyes. A piece of errant hair lies on top of my face, so I lift my hand to move it but it stops when the handcuffs catch my wrists. My chain must be stuck on something. I wiggle my wrist around again and pull, but I can’t move any farther. My eyelids still feel heavy and my body weak. I drop my hand, tired of trying to unhook it, and close my eyes.
I take a deep breath in, getting a whiff of … soap? The new smell sends a surge of energy through me. I pry my eyes open and try to sit up. Again, my hands are stuck above my head. I shake them violently, trying to get loose. The bed squeaks and scrapes the floor the harder I try.
A deep, familiar laugh causes me to freeze. My heartbeat is about to jump out of my skin. The room is dark as I scan it. I know that laugh, but I can’t place it. Movement in the corner catches my attention; I can see the outline of
a large man sitting there. The smell of soap invades my senses again, and I look down my body. It’s clean. It’s then I notice my hair is clean and still wet.
Realization dawns on me that my hands aren’t caught, they are tied to the bed. The man stands and comes into the light shining in from my little window.
Panic shoots through me like I’ve been electrocuted. No, it can’t be. I pull on my restraints as hard as I can. I can feel my skin ripping, but it’s the least of my concerns right now.
“Still a feisty one,” he snarls, walking closer to me. “But this time, no one is going to save you.”
I let out whimper. I know what’s about to happen, and I can’t do anything to stop it. Joe is going to get what he wanted last year.
He grabs one of my legs. I scream, kicking and thrashing against his hold. It only spurs him on as his laugh booms louder. He’s much stronger than the last time I saw him.
He straddles me, sitting on my thighs so I can’t move anymore. His gaze moves up and down my body. “You’re still beautiful, Emily.” He chuckles. “Or should I call you Addison?” He digs his thumb into my broken rib. I writhe and scream out in pain. “I see you’ve met my dad, Rico. He wasn’t too happy when your dad ordered a hit on me. You remember Bill, right? Travis was an idiot who trusted the wrong people. He’s getting soft in his old age. He had no idea who I was. It’s too bad everyone has a price.” He laughs out loud. “Bill was a dumbass thinking we would help him disappear with a ton of money and a new identity if he didn’t kill me. We were definitely going to help him disappear alright; he just needed to stick around until the dust settled after I was gone. But, fuck, did it go a lot better than planned when he told Jett, a fucking undercover FBI agent, I was sitting at the bottom of the Hudson River. Who knew? Thank God he waited long enough for the poor motherfucker’s body we used to decompose.” His bitter laugh sends chills across my body.
I clench my jaw shut. I don’t hear most of what he’s saying as silent pleas run through my head. Please don’t do this. Please let someone find me right now. Please bring back the guy who jacked off watching me. Tears sting my face as they fall.
“This is how you thank me for washing you?” he says softly, catching a tear on my cheek and slowly running his finger down my body, all the way to my clit. My body burns where his finger touches, yet trembles like it’s freezing. I bite my lip so the panic can’t escape as I squeeze my eyes shut.
He tsks me, yanking on my pubic hair. “Open those eyes, bitch. See the real man who is about to show you how it’s done.”
Anger takes hold of me when my eyes open. My temper takes over. “You are nothing,” I seethe. “You have to kidnap and tie up a woman to get what you want. That is NOT a man, that’s a fucking troll. You’re not worthy of the title man. Aiden will kill you when he finds you.”
His jaw tightens and his eyes narrow as he pulls back and punches me in the face. I shriek as the blinding pain shoots through me. I hear the crunch of bones. My whole face is on fire.
“Aiden.” He laughs as he sits back on my thighs. “Princess, he’s dead.” It’s hard to focus on what he’s saying through the pain and my sobs. But I heard Aiden and dead. “I guess you don’t remember. I shot the asshole in the chest. I’m sorry to tell you, he didn’t make it,” he says mockingly as he shrugs.
No! He can’t be dead. The flicker of hope that I was holding onto starts to burn out. My whimpers increase to a full cry as I shake my head back and forth.
“But it doesn’t matter. You are mine now,” he says, grabbing my breasts. My mind is still mourning Aiden so much so that I don’t even acknowledge his invasive hands.
I hear him unsnapping his jeans as he leans over me. “The best thing about this,” he gloats, getting close to my face, “is the revenge I get on everyone. Travis is in jail for killing me, I killed Aiden, and now I’m going to own this cunt.” He grabs me, shoving a finger inside me. I scream again and wiggle at the intrusion.
“That’s it, princess … fight me,” he barks, pulling down his pants and fisting his dick. I squeeze my eyes shut again. One eye is swollen already. I try and squeeze my legs together, but he forces them open with his legs. When he shoves into me, I scream.
His painful assault continues as he forces himself inside me over and over. My mind borders on the present and dissociation. When he flips me, pulling my ass in the air and slamming back into me, I yank on the handcuffs. I can feel the warm blood dripping down my wrist. My face is against the mattress, I’m almost catatonic as I try and focus on the feel of the handcuffs. I don’t even flinch as Joe slaps my ass.
When he pulls out and comes on my back, I close my eyes in relief. His fingers start to rub through his cum. “Your ass is so beautiful,” he says, moving his cum-covered fingers to the pucker of my ass.
My mind slams back to the present. “No!” I scream, trying to wiggle my ass out of his grasp. But his hold on me only tightens.
“This ass is mine, Addison.”
One finger slams inside of me. The pain coils up my spine as the screams come out of my mouth involuntarily.
“Scream my name, Addison. Scream who fucking owns this body.”
“Fuck you!”
He slams another finger in, doubling the pain. “Scream my name, Addison, or next it’s my dick.”
It’s in that moment that my hope dies. Everything in me breaks. “JOE!” I scream.
“Where the fuck can she be?” I scrub my hands over my scruffy face. I haven’t shaved in days. It’s been nine days since Addison was kidnapped, and we haven’t a clue where she is. Max’s guy, Stone, was able to find some chatter in the black web that she’s being held somewhere in the south.
But that’s it.
Travis said he’d tell us anything he knew or found out. We haven’t heard a peep from him, either.
I’m exhausted. Lying back on the couch, I stare at the ceiling. Between physical therapy and trying to find Addison, I haven’t had much time to sleep. And when I do, her screams fill my head. So yeah, screw sleep.
We set up base camp at my apartment. I think Max and Damon did it just so they could watch over me and make sure I made it to all my doctor appointments. Since my lung decided to start working on its own, I’ve been working my ass off in physical therapy. Anger from not being able to find her has fueled my need to push myself.
“You need sleep, Aiden,” Ryan says, hovering over me.
“Fuck you,” I mumble. “I’ll sleep when I know Addison is safe.”
“Well then, sit the hell up and let other people have a place to sit.” He hits my legs off the couch. I curse him under my breath, but manage to sit up. He and Jax sit on either side of me.
I look around at the guys sitting around me. Ryker, Jaxon, Damon, Max, and Ryan. My five best friends who are all close enough to be brothers. I met all of them except Max and Damon during our first year of college. Max has been my best friend since I was little. Damon joined our group back in our days at Quantico. Our personalities couldn’t be more different, but we all share a common interest in law enforcement. Even though we took different paths after college, everyone here knows the odds of finding someone the longer they are gone—they’re not good.
I’m going out of my mind. Every second that she’s gone is a second that I hate myself more. I failed her. I try not to go down that rabbit hole of thinking what’s happening to her, but it’s like a magnet pulling me down there. Max tries to keep me busy, keep me focused so I don’t go there … but it still happens.
That’s why the guys are here. They’re on Aiden duty. I’m being fucking babysat. If I weren’t still weak and tired, I would kick Max’s ass for setting this up.
I don’t need a babysitter. I just need to find Addison!
My body won’t let go.
Just let me die.
My body hurts. Everywhere.
It hurts to exist. It hurts to fight.
The roughness from the bare mattress burns my cheek, but I’m too weak t
o change positions. I lie flat on my stomach, naked and bruised. I slowly blink and look toward the door where plates are piling up with rotten food. I can finally see out of both eyes. One was swollen shut from getting punched. I wouldn’t be surprised if my nose was broken; I’ve given up trying to breathe through it. My stomach turns just thinking about eating or drinking.
I’m afraid. Afraid that I’ll wake up again after being drugged. Afraid he’ll come back like he promised. I’d rather die than touch the food or drink they give me. The rattling of keys in the door when my food is dropped off sends a bolt of fear through me. Every. Time.
Hope of being rescued dwindles every second that I’m here. I have no idea how long I’ve been down here. Maybe two weeks, guessing from the amount of plates on the dirty floor. Since Joe, though, no one has said anything to me.
My mouth is open as I breathe in and out slowly. The air is humid tonight. Sweat runs down my back. The moon must be full because it’s casting a glow in my dark dungeon through the small window. Dust particles float in the light. I watch them dance around the room and wonder if they feel as trapped as I do?
I sigh and then suck in a quick breath, wincing. Trying to release it as slowly as possible, I groan from the pain radiating through my body. I’m pretty sure I have at least one broken rib.
A bitter laugh escapes my lips. I think I’m just broken.
My eyelids flutter closed. I welcome sleep. It’s the only time I get to see Aiden. We’re happy and in love. It’s only us. No barriers. I finally know why fate brought us together.
We’ll be together soon. Forever.
If my body would just let go.
“I miss you,” Aiden says, cupping my face.
“You say that to everyone.” I giggle. We’re in a grassy field. I spin in place and notice it’s the spot we made love after skydiving. The sun’s warmth wraps its arms around me.