Beyond Ransom (The Ransom Series) (6 page)

Hopeless

The last few hours have been the
calmest and least painful of my stay here so far, though the awkwardness and
embarrassment I’ve experienced have hit their highest levels.  I was allowed to
eat peanut butter on crackers and drink one bottle of water, except that my
hands were still tied behind the chair the entire time.

I was introduced to another of Mark’s
men, a
middle-aged
man they call Quinn, who took great
pleasure in feeding me bites of cracker with peanut butter spread across them. 
He was clearly aroused by this opportunity to hand
-
feed
a bound eighteen-year-old girl, though it only make the thought of food even
more revolting to me.

I had to go through with it, though. 
My body was broken and weak.  I got some rest last night
,
but I needed nourishment to replenish my mental and physical energy.

So I let him do it.  I let the tall,
crazy-haired man get off on feeding me crackers and tipping a water bottle to
my lips, sometimes teasing me with it and pulling it away just as I pursed my
lips open to drink from it.  I was so relieved to finish the bottle and eat all
the crackers, mostly because there was no longer a reason for Quinn to be
within breathing distance of me.

I couldn’t help noticing something
strange during the whole ordeal.  In the moments I had when Quinn prepared the
next bite for me, I’d glance back at Leo still sitting by himself in the corner
of the room.  A range of emotions played out on his face the entire time Quinn
fed me: concern, indifference, anger, frustration.  In the end, I amounted it
to what I could only think was jealousy.

He was upset that someone else was
sharing such an intimate experience with me, even if the intimacy was only
one-sided.

Leo calmed down significantly after Quinn
left the room for “a break
.”
  I think the whole room
knew exactly where he was going.  The thought of it continues to make me ill.

Not long after that, Leo left the room
with Mark, and I haven’t seen either of them since.  I’ve tried to remain still
and silent, observing what I can from the other men as they talk and move about
the room and in and out of the hallway.

I gather that they are taking shifts
guarding the building, so in reality I have no idea how many men are truly here
because I don’t know how big the building is or how many people Mark has
guarding the place at one time.  More than a few new faces have walked through
the door in the time I’ve been sitting here, each one getting a good look at me
when they walk in as if they’ve never seen a woman before.

I hate being on display for them as they
practically salivate over my body, but it allows me valuable time to observe
their communications.  In the opportunities I’ve had to listen in on their
conversations, I’ve tried to focus on each of their words, hoping to pick up
anything that could give me a clue a
bout
where we are
or even what state we’re in.

The door opens, and I’m both relieved
and terrified to see Leo and Mark enter the room.  Mark’s face is serious, his
movements with purpose.  He’s back to being the man on a mission, not the emotional
and honest grieving father and husband who made a short appearance earlier.  I
worry what’s about to happen to me next.

“It’s time to give daddy a call for an
update,” Mark says cheerfully in a glance toward me as he picks up his cell phone. 
Once the call is connected, he places the phone down on the table on
speakerphone.  The room silences around us except for the rapid beating of my
heart within my chest.  I swear they must be able to hear it all the way across
the room.

“Mark,” my dad’s voice says over the
call.  In that one simple word I can tell he’s exhausted.  I also hear
something else, and it absolutely crushes me.

He sounds hopeless.  Completely and
utterly hopeless.

“So wonderful to speak to you again,
old friend,” Mark replies in a jovial tone.  “What news of the six million dollars
you owe me?”

There’s a long pause on the other end
of the line.  “I don’t have it yet.  I’m working on getting it together as fast
as I can.”

The desperation in Dad’s voice is
evident.  He’s not even trying to hide it, that’s how bad the situation really
is.  This tells me two important things: he doesn’t have the money to give
Mark, and he doesn’t have a clue where I am or how to find me.

It truly is hopeless.

Mark doesn’t seem fazed.  He’s
radiating a smile toward me, practically beaming.  “I’m so sorry to hear that,
Robert.  I had hoped to save your daughter from an extended stay, but it
appears she might as well make herself comfortable here.”

I can’t look at him anymore.  The
thought of spending another hour here, let alone days or weeks or months,
absolutely destroys me inside.  How long will it take for Mark to give up on my
parents ever pulling together enough money to pay the ransom?  How long will it
take for him to use and abuse me until I’m spent and then kill me?

“Please.”  My dad’s voice is
trembling.  “Please don’t hurt her.  Give me time.  I’ll do as you ask.  I’ll
get your money.  Just don’t hurt my girl any more than you already have.”

My heart breaks for him.  I want to
speak up and comfort him, to let him know that I’m hanging in
t
here and surviving and that I’ll wait as long as it takes for him
to save me.  I don’t want him to be hopeless.

Mark’s expression hardens.  “I’ll do
what I want with her, when I want to.  The longer you take to get my money, the
greater the chance that she’ll come back to you in more pieces than what I took
from you.”

“Will you let me talk to her?  Can I
see her?”  Dad’s voice is becoming desperate.

“You’ve asked for two things.  You’re
only getting one of them.”

The more I hear Mark speak to my dad,
the more I realize just how in command of the situation he is.  Mark holds all
the cards.  I barely recognize this version of my dad on the phone.  The
hard-ass detective with the tough exterior is nowhere to be found in this
battle.  I feel like Mark is winning without even trying.

“I want to see her,” Dad decides.

Mark looks at me and puts a finger to
his lips
,
motioning for me to remain quiet.  I comply
without question.  I have no intention of making a crazy outburst of useless information
on the call this time.

Mark fiddles with his phone for a few
moments then faces it toward me.  The screen is small from the distance Mark is
away from me, but I can make out the blurry outline of my dad’s face.  It warms
my heart a thousand degrees to see him and even more when my mom’s dark brown hair
and red face enter the picture.

“We’re going to get you home,
sweetheart,” Mom says between sobs.  Dad seems at a loss for words with his
hand over his mouth.

Hearing their voices hits me
particularly hard, but seeing their faces is too much.  Tears instantly pool
behind my eyes and race down my cheek
s
.  I wish they
could reach through the phone and pull me to them.  I’ve never wanted to be in
my parents’ arms more than at this moment.

“It’s your lucky day, Mr. and Mrs.
Whitford.”  Mark’s voice shatters the beautiful virtual moment my family was
just sharing together.

“What do you mean?” Dad asks, as
confused as I am.

Mark leaves the phone trained on me. 
“It turns out you’ll get the opportunity to talk to her, though she may be too
busy screaming to talk back.”

I’ve just started to process Mark’s
words when he nods to man
at the side of the room
.  I
noticed him standing there before, but now he’s wearing a ski mask that covers
the majority of his face.

He rushes me, grabbing my chin and
pulling my head back with one hand as he moves swiftly behind me.  I can feel
the cool metal of the blade of the knife he’s holding to my throat with his
other hand even before its sharp edge pierces my skin.  I yelp as the flesh
opens and proceed to screaming as he traces the blade slowly across my neck.

When he’s done, he removes the knife
and leans in close to the side of my face.  He takes in the scent of me briefly
before kissing
my bruised cheek
through the mouth
opening of the ski mask.  He moves his head a little
more
and kisses me directly on the lips.  I try to cringe away, but he
holds my face there, forcing me to taste his chapped lips and cigarette
breath.  Eventually the man pulls away from me while still holding my head back
in my neck’s most vulnerable position.

I hear my parents’ frantic cries
through the speakerphone the entire time.  Mom is in hysterics at one point,
and then I don’t hear her anymore.  Silence fills the room, and I wonder for a
moment if the phone call has been disconnected.  Warm blood seeps out from the superficial
wound on my neck as we all await whatever is going to happen next.

“Who is that?  Which fucker on your
crew just drew blood from my daughter?”  Dad’s voice is furious.  “Who’s next
in line after you to get a bullet in the head when I find you all?”

The tough and determined dad I’ve been waiting
to hear is finally back and fighting for me. 
Despite my bleeding neck,
I’m
thrilled
to hear him pissed.  I want
him to channel his anger into the search to find me.  He’s no longer hopeless.

“Goodbye, Robert.  Nice speaking with
you as always.”  Mark ends the phone call without another word, and my dad’s
face is no longer looking back at me on the device.  I immediately miss him.

“Sensitive skin there on the neck, isn’t
it?” Mark asks me.  “Just a little deeper and he could have cut your throat.”

I can already start to feel the blood
drying as it drips down my neck.  I’m so sick and tired of bleeding for this
man.

“You’ve only just encouraged him, you
know.  The last thing you should be doing is pissing my dad off.”

I don’t know where this sudden bout of
courage is coming from given my situation, but I’ve put it out there and it’s
too late to take it back.

“He can be pissed all he wants.  I
need
his fury.  I encourage it!”  Mark seems about as fired up about
this as my dad
was
.  “It’s not going to make the money
appear in his account any faster.  It’s not going to give him a magical path to
find you, dear.”

Mark can say whatever the hell he
wants.  Dad’s found a reason to fight for me again.  That’s all that matters.

“I’m sick of this sudden attitude,
girl.  As much as I love looking at your pretty face, I can’t stand having you
here a moment longer.”  He looks over his shoulder at the back of the room. 
“Leo, get this little shit cleaned up and put back in her cell.”

Leo.  Thank God
.

As much as Mark thinks he’s won this
evening, I feel like the true victor in this little exercise he’s put on.  My
dad’s probably doubling his efforts to find me at this very moment.  To top it
off, I’m leaving Mark’s presence for the night in the company of the one man in
this building who I can almost trust.

I have to remember my place, though,
and stick to my expected role with Leo.  I’m supposed to be his submissive
captive.  To Mark and the other men
,
I have to appear
wary of Leo.  I have to play my part in his show, too.

The truth is I don’t really get the
chance.  When Leo finishes undoing my restraints, he moves on immediately to
his charade, or what I have to hope is his charade.  He grabs me by the arm and
practically rips it from my socket as he pulls me toward the door.  I stumble to
keep up with him, almost face
-
planting before I find
my footing.  He’s doing a little too good of a job with this act.

Proximity

When we’re outside the door and on our
way down the hallway
,
I rip my hand from Leo’s grasp. 
He turns to me with a furious look and grabs my hand again, pulling me around
to a stop to face him.

“You shouldn’t talk back to him,” he
whispers through clenched teeth.  “You’re asking for trouble the moment you
open your mouth against him.  You haven’t figured that out yet?”

He’s scolding me, and it pisses me off,
only fueling the fire within me.  “Sorry, I have a hard time keeping my fucking
mouth shut if you haven’t figured that out yet.”

After a moment Leo’s face softens.  The
glare of annoyance and frustration leaves him, replaced by a look of concern. 
He tilts my head back with a slight push of my chin and inspects my neck.  “We
need to fix this up.  Come on.”

“Why you?” I say as he pulls me by the
arm again down the hallway.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re always the one
treating
my injuries
.  Are you some kind of doctor?”

We stop briefly outside a small office. 
Leo grabs a first aid kit from a shelf just inside the door.

“I’m no
t a
doctor, but I’ve been learning from one.  It’s important to have
useful
skills
in this business. 
Having a purpose is
a good way to ensure survival.”

“I’m glad.”  He looks back at me with
confusion, so I clarify my comment.  “I’m glad it’s you doing this
part
.”

With an uneasy smile, Leo leads us
through the building and back to the cell I’ve become so familiar with.

He opens the door and motions me
inside.  I pause for a moment, my body reluctant to
go
in at first before I remember who I’m with.  After spending most of the day in
the main room with Mark and the other men, it’s hard for me to remember that
Leo isn’t the same as all of them, or at least he doesn’t seem to be the same.

I take a seat on the cot, and despite
how hard and uncomfortable it is
,
I feel the desire to
lie down on it and fall immediately to sleep.  Being in this place in a
constant state of fear and pain and worry about the unknown is utterly
exhausting.

Leo sits down next to me.  “You okay?”

“Tired,” I reply.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

I anticipate the next words out of his
mouth.  “And there’s more to come, right?”

My insight into Leo’s thoughts causes a
small smile
to
work its way into
hi
s face.  I really wish he didn’t have such a nice smile. 
D
ark strands of hair are falling in his face again, another thing I
wish would stop happening.  Why does this man have to be so damn
good-looking
?

Leo
focuses on
the first aid kit next to him, digging around in it until he pulls out some
small packages of
gauze
and
a bottle of rubbing
alcohol
.  He returns his attention to me
with
a look of debate flickering over his face.  “Why don’t you lie down
so I can get a better look at your neck?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”  I’m
surprised by my bit of humor, and I love that he read my mind about my body’s
desire to return to a horizontal state.

I lie down on my back as Leo readjusts
to kneel on the floor.  He tears open one of the small packages and
wets
the gauze with rubbing alcohol. 
“This might sting.”

He wasn’t kidding.  It stings like a
motherfucker
as he touches the gauze to my neck
.  My
eyes squint shut and my lips press firmly together as he continues to
dab
the gauze
along the cut in my skin.

“Sorry,” he says from above me.

“It’s okay.  It’s not that bad.”

When the stinging subsides
,
I open my eyes.  Leo’s face is directly above me, his complete
focus on treating my neck, so I take a moment to study him.  His skin looks
soft and smooth despite the stubble on his chin, and my mind’s desire to test
that observation is almost enough to compel my body to comply.  His eyes are a
cloudy slate blue
tinted with more sadness than I ever realized eyes
could hold
.  They’re only accentuated by the dark hair that
surrounds his face.  Even when he’s not smiling
,
he’s
good to look at.  He could be scowling at me and I’d still find him extremely
attractive.

I feel the
gauze
he’s using to clean my skin get dangerously low on my chest.  Did
I really bleed that far down?  My shirt must have caught underneath me when I lowered
myself to this position, because my cleavage is showing more than normal.  Leo
is surely noticing this as he cleans my skin.

My nerves about this
situation
stick with me even after he’s done with the
gauze
.  As he smoothes some ointment out over the cut, I don’t even
notice the sting.  All I’m
focusing on
is how close
his face is to mine, our lips within inches of each other as he’s leaning in so
closely to apply
butterfly bandages
to the wound.

I don’t think Leo even notices our
proximity until a slight gasp escapes my lips.  They’re parted slightly
,
eagerly
awaiting another pair of lips to reciprocate their
fervent
desire for contact.

Leo stills above me for a moment,
observing me intently and clearly interpreting the signals my body is sending
to him.  He dips his face down toward me
until our mouth
s
are
within centimeters of each other.  I
can feel his breath pass between my lips.  I can feel the heat of his skin so
close to mine.

He moves the tiny amount of distance to
close the space between us and connects with my lips, touching them gently with
his own before engaging them more forcefully.

Our kiss becomes f
renzied
and desperate, as if this may be the last night we ever see each
other and we’re making the most of the time we have left before we’re
separated.  Leo’s hands are in my hair, his thumbs caressing my cheek, his
tongue exploring my mouth.  I feel like he’s all over me and in me and on me in
every way possible even though we’re only kissing.  My hands fist his shirt and
pull desperately at his shoulders and neck.

I’ve kissed guys before in high school
,
but
never like this
.  This is passion at
its purest.  This is undeniable lust.  These are the needs and longings and
desires of two bodies coming together in one moment amidst a swirl of
surrounding chaos.

I feel the change in Leo’s demeanor
even before he withdraws from me.  He stares at me for a moment, my eyes still
wide with
lust
and my chest rising and falling
erratically.

“This is a bad idea,” he says quietly
before standing up and looking at the door behind him.  “This will not end well
for either of us if we’re caught.  We can’t do this.”

I pause for a moment before looking
away from him.  Though my mind completely understands his concern, my body
really
doesn’t
give a shit.  Whatever just passed
between us made me feel alive.  I felt a strange taste of freedom despite my
captive state.  That one experience and this gorgeous and caring creature in
front of me gave me something to live for,
even
if only
for
a few short moments.  Now I just feel hollow.

“Okay.”  It’s my go-to answer in this
place.  It’s obedient and submissive, just how they want me to be.

I can’t look at him now.  I’m too
embarrassed and disappointed in what just happened to face him.

I hear the first aid kit being closed
up followed by footsteps moving away from me to the door.  My eyes close to
fend off the burn of tears behind my eyelids.

Leo doesn’t say another word as he
leaves me
,
vulnerable and alone, locking the door
behind him.