by LM Terry
Someone sits down beside me. I don’t look away from the happy little family. If I keep my eyes on them, maybe the nightmare that just arrived in the seat next to me will disappear.
An arm slides behind me and rests on the back of my chair. A familiar voice assaults my ears, forcing my gaze elsewhere, not wanting to taint their fairy tale life. “Anna, it’s so nice that you could meet up with me today,” the devil’s right-hand man says in my ear.
I look down at my hands in my lap. It is happening. I want to scream, to alert the coffee shop that I am about to be abducted again. There is not one doubt in my mind that if I succumb to my thoughts, everyone in this building will be dead in a matter of minutes.
Instead, I focus on the fact that this time someone will miss me, they will come for me. Dylan will come for me, I need to be strong. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” I seethe.
Brian chuckles, then he taps his fingers on the table for a second. “Why don’t we take a walk, it’s such a lovely day.” He stands and reaches his hand out to help me.
I don’t accept the offer and stand on my own. I wait for him to lead the way to hell. He doesn’t protest and strolls to the exit, I notice he winks at the girl behind the counter as he walks by. She gives him a flirty smile. Oh, honey if you only knew. I toss my cup in the trash as he holds the door open for me. Last chance, I could stand my ground, why even think about it, foolish Anna, it can’t happen.
As soon as we are outside, he puts his arm around me and leads me behind the building to a dark car. He scans the area before we enter the alley, satisfied that I came alone he proceeds. He opens the door, before getting in I peek at the man driving but he doesn’t even turn his head to acknowledge us. Brian’s hand pushes at the small of my back gently ushering me in.
I slide in all the way to the far side and press myself up against the door. That damn uncontrollable shaking devours my body. Brian gets in beside me, taking up double the space that my tiny frame does. I stare out the window, silently hoping that Anthony might be nearby. Please find me I repeat over and over in my head.
Brian reaches over and places a strong hand on my shoulder, I detect a pinch on my neck and a quick heaviness follows then swallows me into the darkness. It’s happening, please find me…please find…please…please and then nothing, wonderful nothing.
∞∞∞
Dylan
I felt bad leaving Anna, I could tell that she sensed danger. I could almost smell her fear. She knows Liam flying in has nothing to do with being bored and everything to do with her safety. Hopefully, Anthony got there soon after I left. Liam’s plane was right on time. I am eager to get back to her. Spending five minutes away from her is torture, anything longer than that is excruciating.
“Thanks for the ride, man.” Liam says relaxing into the seat as we pull onto the freeway.
“No problem, it gives us a chance to talk without Anna overhearing. She is nervous enough with your arrival, she isn’t stupid she knows something is up.” My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out with one hand on the wheel. “It’s Anthony.” I say as I hit the button to answer.
“Anthony, hey wait a minute I will put you on speaker, I’m on the freeway.” I drop the cell on the console. “What’s up? Did you make it to the house? How is Anna?” There is a long pause, shit I sit up straighter, Liam and I exchange nervous glances.
“She’s not here, but before you freak out, she left me a note saying she was going for a walk.”
My heart sinks. She wouldn’t leave, especially knowing Anthony was on his way. Something is wrong, very wrong. “Go check her things, now!” I yell a little too gruffly, my foot gets heavy on the accelerator.
“Okay Dylan, calm down, man.”
He sighs on the other end. “Her bag is packed and setting here on the bed. I see nothing lying around, all her stuff is gathered.”
“Is her phone in there?” I say through gritted teeth.
“Yes, it’s here,” Anthony says.
“Go through her messages, if that fuck messaged her I will rip his throat out.”
Another long sigh. “You should pull over before I read this shit to you.”
“FUCK!” My foot slams down. Liam reaches out to brace himself as I weave in and out of traffic. I need to get there, I need to find her!
“Dylan, slow down, man. If we get in an accident, we will be in no shape to help her. Slow. The. Fuck. Down!” he screams at me.
I let off the accelerator a touch, I can’t breathe my vision is closing in on me. I can’t lose Anna. The blue-eyed, dark-haired girl has my heart, she has it, and I can’t live without it. My throat tightens at the thought of never seeing her again.
“Pull over Dylan, I will drive,” Liam insists.
I reluctantly park and numbly switch places with him. I hear Anthony still on the line, it sounds like he is outside, the wind is whistling through the receiver. “Is he out from behind the wheel Liam?” Anthony asks.
“Yah, go ahead. How bad is it?” Liam replies.
“He sent her pictures of an older couple both gagged and tied up, from what I can gather they are friends of hers. She told him she was being watched but she said she might be able to get away and would be at Bailey’s coffee at two. I’m headed there now.”
Both Liam and I glance at our watches, fuck. Why didn’t she tell me? Her friends? She never talked about having any friends. I guess there is a lot I don’t know about her yet. Yet, will I get the chance to know her better? I close my eyes, fighting a wave of nausea.
The one thing I do know is the amount of guilt she feels for everyone that had been hurt at Oliver’s hands. She blames herself, this is more than likely no different, remorse made her keep this to herself. She wouldn’t let anyone else suffer, she acted alone. I didn’t want her to have to do that anymore. I was there and so was my team, she should have told me. We could have figured it out together. Does she still not trust me?
“Anthony, call us back as soon as you get there, we are on the way.” Liam says. He looks at me intently and reaches in his pocket, pulling out his cell and handing it to me.
“You are going to kill me,” he takes a deep breath but continues, “I put a tracking device in her. Pull up the app on my phone, we can see where she is.”
“You what?” I roar not believing what I am hearing. “How did you put a tracking device IN her?”
“We were going to tell you, but then you left on this trip…”
“Shut up, where is the fucking app?” I scroll through all the icons on his cell trying to find it. I already know what he is going to say, I recognized those two were up to something, this explains it. I should be mad but right now I am just thankful that we can track her. Liam reaches over clicking one. There are two dots on the map, one is near the beach, but the other is moving, it is almost to the border. Shit, shit, shit. “Why are there two fucking dots?” I ask confused.
“I injected one under her skin on the backside of her arm. The other is a pill tracker, I instructed her to swallow it if she had time.”
I should throttle him, he was going to use her. I guess I was going to use her too, hence the whole trunk incident. “Would you have gone through with it?” I ask him, I need to know.
“No. I would have told you, I didn’t want to spoil your trip. She was a fucking mess when you left her alone with me. She freaked, there was no way I was going to offer her up on a silver platter to that asshole after seeing how scared she was.” We both look at each other, each envisioning how afraid she must be at this moment. “We both agreed to tell you, both of us realized we couldn’t lie to you.”
“But she did! She knew he was coming when I left to pick you up. I saw it on her face, but I thought it was just her concern over you showing up. I guess she didn’t lie, but she kept it from me.” I put my head in my hands, wishing she would have trusted me.
“Dylan, you heard Anthony, Oliver has her friends. You know how guilty she feels about Sophia, about everyone
.” He shakes his head as if trying to shake the memories away to focus on the here and now. “Enough, let’s just concentrate on saving her. Where the fuck are the trackers showing?”
“One near the beach not moving the other is heading for the border. They are close Liam, too fucking close to crossing. We will never get there in time.” I pull at my hair, I had been so wrapped up in Anna and how good we were together that I completely let my guard down. I shouldn’t have left her, if he hurts her…
“Okay, we head to the border. We make a few calls to the guys and have them meet us there with supplies, they are close, they have been waiting to hear from one of us. Anthony will check out Bailey’s confirming that she isn’t there and then he can fly out and catch up somewhere along the way. Text him anything you need from the house.” Liam sits up straight letting his training take over his emotions.
I’m glad he is here. I watch the little dot head further away from me. I shouldn’t have been so harsh on him during our search for Sophia. Now I realize exactly how he felt, my world is spinning apart without her. Please hold on Anna. Oh, how many times I whispered those same sentiments to Sophia and where did she end up, six feet in the ground.
Liam grabs the front of my shirt hard pulling me from my anxieties. “Dylan, stop. You need to focus, time is everything. It is our only advantage. She needs you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
∞∞∞
Anna
If I thought waking up the first time Oliver Wright abducted me was frightening, it was nothing compared to the second. Some of it familiar, the headache, the cold, the initial confusion, the thirst, the hunger, the nakedness. This time I’m in complete darkness, at first I thought I had lost my vision, maybe I have. I still cannot see anything. I’m too scared to move, I woke up lying on the hard ground. I crawled my way over to a cement wall and here I sit, alone, my only companion my fear.
I don’t know how long I have been here. The only memories I have are of getting into the dark-colored car in the alley and a foggy recollection of being in a desert. I remember waking up to someone pulling my hair screaming at me about not throwing up in his car. My knees feel like they are scraped, they hurt so the memory must be real. I was drug out of the vehicle and dropped to the rocky, dusty ground. The only thing I saw was dirt and some treeless mountains in the distance as I heaved.
I run my hand over my knees welcoming the burn that accompanies the touch, at least I know I am alive. I reach behind my arm. They took the tracker out. I don’t recall that thankfully, but I can feel the cut they made to get it out. The other one I assume is lying out in the desert somewhere. Fuck, I remember trying to swallow down the nausea but the drugs, movement of the car and my fear had their own plans of evicting my lunch. Unfortunately, the tracker came up with it.
How are they going to find me now? Maybe they were following, maybe Liam knew where they were taking me. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I got away once, I’ll do it again, I will. I close my eyes, the darkness behind my eyes easier to accept than the darkness surrounding me. I force myself somewhere else, the beach, yes the beach with Dylan. The warm sand, the sun, yes that is it Anna. You are better already.
Hours, maybe days go by as I sit here in the dark trying to focus my mind on good memories, all with Dylan. Occasionally, it wanders to Frank and Irene. I wonder if Oliver let Frank go so he could get back to her. I hope they are okay, I’m sure the guys sent someone to check on them.
I drift to sleep which is wonderful, the only escape to my cruel reality. After a few times though I fight it because each time I wake it is in a panic. Is there enough air in here? Is anyone ever coming? Just as I am certain they have left me in here to die the lock clicks.
The light, oh my god, my head splits in two by the brilliance that bleeds in from the doorway. I must be dead, this is the bright light people talk about. Then a shadow appears. A man is blocking out the brightness, standing within the frame of the door. I hear a loud groan and realize it is coming from me.
“Sounds like you’re not happy to see me. What is up with that? I thought you would wait prettily on your knees for me.” He crouches down in front of me and brushes the hair out of my eyes, running his hands over me, he accesses my current state of well-being.
“Fuck. You.” I growl as my head screams to shut up.
“How bout you say, it’s so nice to see you again Brian. Then I’ll take you down to use the bathroom, shower and eat.” He is hunched down waiting for my answer.
My skull screams, I roll my forehead up against the cool cement wall to seek relief for the insistent pounding.
“Come on.” He gently tugs at my arm pulling me, steading me by my elbows, patiently watching for me to gain some semblance of balance.
He leads me down a hallway with high windows all streaming in too much sun-light. I try to pull back to the safety of my dark hole. He grabs my arm tighter and hauls me along. We walk into a locker room style open area with several shower stalls. We make our way over to a toilet, then he turns and walks away, moving out of my line of vision. I quickly relieve myself and as soon as I flush he is by my side once again. At least he gave me a little privacy.
He pushes me towards a shower stall and turns it on, shoving me under the spray of water. He points to a bottle in the stall’s corner containing soap. He leans his arm on the cement block wall and stands there. Okay, he is not going to give me any privacy for this part. I wash off quickly, my head throbs as I lean over to rinse my lower half.
When I stand back up, I glance at him, his features appear almost sad. The sadness etched on his face surprises me. Soon enough the hardened bully returns. “Come on let’s see if we can keep food in you, Sam wasn’t too happy you tossed your cookies in his car.” He laughs as he shuts off the water and hands me a towel.
Once I’m finished, he hands me a sun dress. I slip it over my head shimming it down, thank god Oliver is letting me wear clothes. We head down the hallway, then he opens a door at the end of it leading outside. The warm sultry air blankets me as we leave behind the cool building. I shield my eyes from the sunlight trying to discover where we are.
There are several buildings, with guards all dressed in black carrying large rifles. We make our way towards a house with a spacious courtyard surrounded on three sides by the walls of the home. There are bright red flowers and different tropical looking plants surrounding the patio. An elaborate fountain at the end.
There is a small table set up with several silver platters of breakfast foods and a large pitcher of orange juice. He pulls out a chair for me that faces the fountain, the main entrance to the house behind me. There are three place settings. I silently groan, hopefully Oliver doesn’t have any surprise guests joining us like last time.
I stare at the condensation built up on the pitcher. Little droplets of water slowly build up then slide down the pitcher. My mouth is so dry, I am tempted to lean over and lick the side of the glass. I jump when Oliver’s voice is behind me and sit up taller in my chair.
“Kitten, I am so glad to see you arrived safely,” he says as he places a kiss to the top of my head.
Brian starts to leave but Oliver motions for him to take the seat next to me. He sets a file folder down on the table and takes the chair across from me, blocking my view of the fountain. I keep my eyes focused on the empty plate in front of me.
Even though the air is warm and humid outside, I’m chilled. Are we in Belize? Liam said they thought he was in Belize, please let that be where we are. It could make the search for me easier if there is one.
“Go ahead you two, we are all old friends here. Brian why don’t you help Anna with her plate?” I peek at Brian as he reaches for my plate. I search his face for answers, something seems wrong. I can tell that he senses it too.
He fills my plate and sets it down in front of me. He then pours me a glass of juice, I take it from him bringing it to my lips drinking it all down in one shot. Thankful for the sugary liquid, I enjoy the surge of energy it
provides. He takes it back and fills it again.
He loads his own plate all the while Oliver sits with his elbows on the arms of his chair. His fingers are steepled in front of him and resting on his mouth. I peer up at him. He gives me that angelic smile of his. I hate him.
“Eat, eat, you must be famished from your journey. It was so convenient of you to be in San Diego. Almost as if you were waiting for me to pluck you out of the states.”
Oliver doesn’t eat, he sits and watches Brian and me. I slow my chewing wondering if he has poisoned the meal. I glance at Brian, he is eating away not looking up from his food. I peek at Oliver again. He smiles, reading my mind.
“It’s not poisoned Anna, I have too much planned to kill you,” he says.
Brian stops and stares at the both of us and tosses his napkin onto the table, leaning back in his chair. I sense a power struggle brewing. Oliver looks unaffected, he turns his attention to me. “So, we have plenty to discuss. Where should we start? First off good news for you Anna, you no longer have to marry me.”
He slides the folder over and opens it, placing a pen on top of the stack of papers. “Since your father is dead, I don’t see any reason for us to get married, plus I am not into sloppy seconds.”
What the fuck did he say? Sloppy seconds! I set my fork down and clear my throat. “Great, I’m sure you know, I was not that enthused with the prospect of becoming a sex traffickers’ wife.” I glare at him across the table. He looks at me like I slapped him. Good, I hate him, I am tired of his fucking game. Brian bristles beside me, he silently tells me to shut my mouth.
“Sign the papers Anna, my attorneys have everything ready all you need to do is sign your father’s inheritance over. Then you will not have to worry about any of it any longer.”