Midnight Call (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (18 page)

Nadia had to force herself not to draw attention by running back. She was scared to death that he’d seen her pick up the chair leg and was right behind her. She held her breath the whole way and forced herself to walk slowly, still keeping up the act she was walking to calm the baby. Once again she laid the baby in her seat, keeping her back to Robert so he couldn’t see the large piece of metal she had picked up.

You can do this. You can do this. All you have to do is hit him hard enough to knock him out. Then take the baby and run.

The mental pep talk seemed to boost her confidence, and Nadia grabbed the broken end of the chair leg. Her palms were sweaty, so she gripped the metal until her knuckles turned white. There was no way she was letting it go until her kidnapper was down. She could still hear him pacing and mumbling behind her and closed her eyes so she could focus. When she heard the sound of his footsteps get closer, she turned with a loud scream and began swinging.

The scream may not have been the best thing to do because it seemed to alert the man that something was wrong. Robert was able to get his arm up in time to stop her from connecting with his head. Instead the leg hit his arm, and Nadia heard a sickening crack before she heard him yell out. She then winced when her kidnapper lunged at her and tackled her to the ground. Nadia’s head hit the concrete floor with a thud, and she saw stars as the pain traveled from her head down into her back. She lost her grip on the chair leg, and it skittered a couple of feet away from her. He was immediately on top of her with one hand around her throat.

“You stupid bitch. I’m going to kill you for that.” He began squeezing. “I planned to have fun with you later, but you aren’t worth it. I don’t need you, just the baby.”

Nadia clawed at the hand around her throat, but his grip just tightened. She tried to bring her legs up to kick him, but with the way he was sitting on her chest, there was no way. Her head felt like it was about to explode from the lack of oxygen, and her vision began to darken around the edges. She knew that she was about to die, but all she could think about was that she’d never gotten the chance to tell the guys that she had fallen in love with the three of them. As her vision darkened even further, Nadia heard the baby cry out. Addison. If she died, Addison would be all alone with this crazy man who planned on selling her. Who knew where she would end up? There was no way Nadia could let that happen. She had to live for the baby’s sake.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nadia could see the metal chair leg. She tried to reach for it, but she was too far away.
There has to be a way
. She had probably about twenty seconds left before she passed out. She needed to do something now. Nadia noticed that one of Robert’s arms was hanging limply by his side, and she grabbed it and squeezed as hard as she could. The man screamed and let go of her neck to snatch his arm away from her grip.

The first breath of air she was able to gulp down felt ragged against her raw throat and sent Nadia into a coughing fit. The blow to her jaw was a shock because she hadn’t seen it coming. Her kidnapper had her attention now, and she was able to see the next one coming and turn away. The hit landed on her temple, and pain radiated all the way down the side of her face. As he raised his arm to hit her again, Nadia lunged for the chair leg and brought it up as hard as she could against the man’s head. There was a look of shock across the man’s face, but she didn’t give him time to react before she swung again. This time when she hit him his eyes glazed over and he slumped down on top of her.

Nadia lay there for a minute panting. Every breath of air felt like razor blades to her raw throat, and her head throbbed in time with her heartbeat. She could feel her jaw and her temple swelling, and her head began to swim. She knew she had to get moving and get herself and Addy to safety. The longer she lay there, the less likely it was that she was going to get up. It took her a few attempts to push him off her, and she groaned as she rolled over to her knees. There was no way she was going to be able to stand on her own, so she crawled over on her hands and knees to the desk the baby was on and used it to help her stand.

It took a minute for the room to stop spinning once Nadia was upright. She stood still a moment, fighting the urge to throw up everything in her stomach. Once she was steady on her feet, she lifted Addison out of her seat and grabbed the baby’s blanket. She tied the blanket around her with trembling hands and made a sling. It was a tight fit once she placed the baby inside against her chest, but Nadia didn’t care as long as the baby still had room to breathe. As tight as the sling was, there was no chance of the baby slipping out. That was good because the room began spinning again, and Nadia had a feeling she was going to need both hands free if she was going to get them out of there.

Robert hadn’t moved from where she’d left him on the floor. As Nadia stepped around him, she saw a small pool of blood on the floor under his head. She didn’t know if he was dead or not, and she had no plans of checking. If he wasn’t, she just hoped he wasn’t getting up anytime soon. Once she was out of the room they were being held in, Nadia had no idea which way to go. She could tell they were in some sort of old abandoned warehouse and that they were upstairs. She saw the steps at the end of the hallway and decided that way was as good as any. Keeping her hand on the wall for support, she quickly made her way downstairs and let out a sigh of relief when she saw a door marked with an exit sign above it.

Nadia’s vision was getting spotty again as she made her way outside. She needed to find a way to get into contact with the guys and fast. There was no way she was going to last much longer without passing out. Once she was outside, Nadia immediately recognized where she was. If that hadn’t helped, the old, faded sign on the side of the building certainly would have. Nadia snorted. Robert was truly an idiot. Her humor faded when she realized she had never been meant to see the outside of the building. The man never had any intention of letting her go.

Pushing past her morbid thoughts, Nadia let out a small squeal when she saw her car parked at the end of the alley. She made her way to the car and let out a sigh of relief when she found her spare key still in the magnetic box behind her front tire. Once she unlocked the door, she was surprised to see her cell phone still lying on the floor. Nadia knew she couldn’t drive in her condition, so she climbed into the back seat, locked all the doors, and lay down. She didn’t remove the sling with Addison in it in case she needed to make a run for it. Besides, Addy was sleeping comfortably and quiet. The last thing Nadia needed was for her to be making noise if Robert wasn’t dead and decided to come looking for them.

Nadia had to hold back tears when she opened the phone and saw all the missed calls and voice mails from the guys. She knew they were probably going crazy right now looking for her and the baby. Her fingers were too shaky to dial, so she just hit the redial button, remembering she’d been on the phone with Greg when all of this started.

“Nadia, is that you!”

Greg’s shout sent shards of pain through her head, causing her to groan. She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat. The sound of his voice was the best thing she’d ever heard.

“Nadia, please, baby. Talk to me. Tell me where you are!” Greg shouted frantically.

“G—” Nadia had to stop and clear her voice. Her raw throat made it hard to talk. “Greg. Can you come get me?”

“Oh God, Nadia baby, you had us so worried. Are you hurt? Tell me where you are, and we will be there as fast as we can.”

Nadia could feel herself fading fast. The pain in her head was growing unbearable, and her throat felt like it was being sliced open with every breath she took. “I’m locked in my car in an alley outside of the old Worthington Shoe warehouse.”

“Okay, baby, just sit tight. We are on our way,” Greg said.

Nadia could hear him breathing like he was running then the sound of a car starting. She let out a sigh of relief. The guys were on the way. They would make sure everything was okay.

“Be careful. I don’t know if I killed him or not,” was the last thing Nadia said before she passed out.

“Nadia? Baby, are you still there?” Greg screamed into the phone. All he got was silence on the other end. He pulled the phone back to see if he had dropped the call, but it was still connected. “Nadia, please answer me.”

Greg was about to hang up and dial Nadia’s number again when he heard a faint whimper. He felt like his stomach was in his throat when he heard Addison’s cry again. It was a relief to hear the baby was okay, but Greg trembled with fear as he listened and didn’t hear Nadia trying to calm the baby.

“Hurry, Jackson. I think something is wrong with Nadia. She isn’t answering me anymore.”

“Can you hear anything at all?” Steve asked from the back seat.

Greg listened again. “I can hear Addison whimpering, and, if I’m not mistaken, I can hear ragged breathing in the background. I think it’s Nadia. I’m hoping she has only passed out and isn’t having trouble breathing. Either way, you need to hurry, Jackson.”

“I’m going as fast as possible,” Jackson said from behind the wheel. “You keep trying to get Nadia to respond. Steve, call the police and let them know we found Nadia and where we are headed. Also let them know we may possibly need an ambulance.”

Greg was glad that Jackson was with them because he was the only calm one in the car at the moment. The thought of calling the police or an ambulance had never even crossed Greg’s mind. The only thing he was thinking was getting to Nadia as fast as possible. In his mind everything else could wait until he held her in his arms again. He wouldn’t be satisfied until that happened. He heard Steve talking in the backseat, but his focus was on the breathing he could hear on the other end of the line. Addison seemed to have calmed down because all he could hear was the occasional whimper now.

Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay.
That chant seemed to have been stuck in Greg’s head ever since Nadia had called him from the mall, scared she was being followed. He never wanted to receive another call like that as long as he lived. He’d felt helpless when he heard the sound of her struggling and fighting her kidnapper. Knowing he was too far away to help her had nearly broken his heart. In that moment, he’d felt stupid for thinking it was too soon to tell her he loved her. He realized that no time was too soon and vowed that, if he got the chance, he would tell Nadia as soon as he saw her again.

“Come on, baby, wake up and answer me. Let me know you are okay.”

When Jackson slowed the car close to the alley Nadia had told them she was in, Greg was out the door and running before it even stopped. His only thought was getting to Nadia. When he got to her car, he tried to open the doors, but they were locked. He saw her lying on the backseat. She was curled up, facing the back of the seat with her arms wrapped around Addison’s blanket.

“Nadia, honey, it’s Greg. You need to unlock the doors so I can get to you!” he yelled through the window, but Nadia didn’t even stir.

He heard sirens in the background getting closer, but they were too far away in his opinion. Not taking his eyes off Nadia, Greg held out his hand. “Get me a rock or something to break this window.”

“Not necessary,” Steve said as he ran up. “I have a spare key.”

Greg was climbing into the backseat as soon as he heard the locks click. He gently rolled Nadia over and gasped when he saw her swollen face.

“Oh, baby. What did they do to you?” he said as his trembling fingers hovered over her.

He was scared to touch her because he didn’t know where to touch without causing her more pain. He noticed Addison’s blanket was tied around Nadia and gently undid the knot. When he removed the blanket, he saw Addison was sound asleep against Nadia’s chest. The baby looked like she was perfectly okay, and Greg breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like Nadia had protected the baby and kept her from harm. He gently lifted Addy and handed her to Jackson, who was waiting with open arms. Greg knew if anything had happened to the baby Jackson would have been devastated. The look on the man’s face and the tears in his eyes when he crushed Addison to his chest were sights Greg would never forget.

The police arriving, shining their flashlights and followed by the paramedics, was a welcomed sight. Greg got out of the backseat and let the EMT workers take over. They strapped Nadia to a backboard and put a collar around her neck. Once they’d lifted her from the car and placed her on the waiting stretcher, they started an I.V. The whole time they worked, Nadia never moved or woke up, and Greg began to get worried.

“What’s wrong with her? Why hasn’t she woken up yet?” he asked the paramedic.

“It looks like she may have a concussion. We won’t know how serious until we get her to the hospital and run tests. I’m sorry, sir, but that is all I know at the moment. The doctors in the emergency room can let you know more when they treat her.”

Greg watched the paramedics load Nadia into the back of the ambulance, and Jackson climbed into the back, still holding Addison.

“Come on, man,” Steve said. “I talked to the police, and they are willing to meet us at the hospital for questions. Jackson is going to ride with Addison and Nadia. Addison seemed okay, but the paramedics want to make sure.”

Greg nodded and followed Steve to the car. He felt lost and helpless, and they were feelings he definitely didn’t like. He vowed he would try his best to never feel them again. He was going to start by letting Nadia know he was deeply in love with her the moment she woke up, and then he was never letting her out of his sight again.