Until Time Stands Still (5 page)

            “NO!” She said out loud. Don’t think like that!

            She pulled on the restraints again. Her arms and her legs were tied to the old wrought iron bed, so every movement made the bed creak. She didn’t care. She pulled harder, clanking the two metals together. The metal dug into her wrists, but she ignored the pain and pulled harder. Her ankles ached, and she thought her wrists would break. The skin was chaffed raw already.

            “HEY! SOMEONE! LET ME GO, DAMNIT!” She shrieked. She kept screaming, hollering insults and obscenities until she was hoarse. Then she just screamed and screamed, until finally, someone unlocked the door and barged in.

            “SHUT UP!” A very large man came in. He was dressed all in black, and looked like he could bench press a VW bug. She shrieked and clamped her mouth shut as he hovered over her. “Screaming will do you no good, lady. No one can hear you.”

            “Let me go!” Her throat ached.

            “You aren’t in a position to make any demands.” The man sneered.

            “I have to pee.” She said simply, staring at him, memorizing his face.

            “Hold it.”

            “It’s been hours since I last peed. In about two minutes, holding it won’t be possible.” She said.

            “That really sucks for you.” He said, turning to go.

            “Wait! Please! I won’t cause any trouble; just let me go to the bathroom. I’ll even let you watch. PLEASE.” She was desperate.  The man paused and turned to the bed. He eyed her body up and down.

            “Ok…I’ll watch. If you try anything, anything at all. I’ll cut up that pretty face of yours.”

            She glared at him, but didn’t say anything. He took a key out of his pocket and unshackled her arms and legs. She stumbled a bit, standing up. Both her feet had gone to sleep. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room and down the hall to a small bathroom. He left the door open and stood there, watching her.

            “Do your business and let’s go.” He said, leering at her.

            “Can you at least turn around?” She asked hopefully.

            “Why would I do that?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

            “It’s not like I can escape. There isn’t even a window.” She pointed out. Logic. Yes, be logical. She made a circling motion with her index finger. He eyed her, and turned around, reluctantly. She really did have to pee. When she was done, she moved quickly, and punched the back of the man’s head, as hard as she could. He went down like a ton of bricks. She wasn’t sure if she hit him hard enough, but with any luck, he would be unconscious long enough for her to get away. Maybe. He didn’t move. She didn’t know where the other two guys were at, but no one else came running.

            She crept quietly, and as quickly as she could down the hall. The old farmhouse they were in was small, and the two men were in the living room, watching an old TV. Holding her breath, she sprinted across the entryway to the kitchen, and went right for the back door.

            “Hey!” The short haired man came into the kitchen. He must have heard her.

            She screamed and scrambled to open the doorknob, but it was locked. The man jerked her arm, and half picked her up and half dragged her back to the bedroom. The other man came running in and grabbed her feet. They carried her the rest of the way back into the bedroom and held her down as they shackled her back to the bed. She screamed and struggled, until one of them, the skinny one, put a knife to her throat. “Don’t you EVER do that again!” He hissed. “Where’s Raul?

            “Who?” The knife dug into her throat and she was sure that he would cut her anyway.

            “The big guy.”

            “Hallway.” She said. “I hit him.”

            “Stupid Bitch. He’s gonna hurt you good for that.” The man lifted the knife and motioned for the other man to go check on him.

            ‘Why are you doing this?” She demanded. She didn’t bother to struggle against the cuffs. It wouldn’t do any good, and her wrists were already bruised and bleeding.

            “You’re just a payday for us. Shut up.”

            “Someone paid you?” She lifted her head. “How much?”

            “Three million.”

            “I’ll double it, if you let me go.”

            “You don’t have that kind of money.”

            There was a loud crashing noise coming from the living room.

            “What the fuck was that?”

            The team approached the farmhouse from the North, and scouted it out. There was no movement indoors. With their heat seeking sonar, they counted four bodies.

            “Okay, Johnny, Jacob, Bryant, you go in the back, Mykel, you and I will take the front. Mykel, secure your package, the rest of you, take them out. This is a cakewalk boys. And no reason anything should go sideways. I want us in and out within ten.”

            “You got it Boss.”

            Graham and Mykel approached the front door and placed charges. When the door blew, they walked through the smoke into the room, immediately tracking the room for targets. Graham serviced the first target who came around the corner. The back of his head splattered against the back wall of the hallway.

            “Kitchen’s clear, Top, coming around to you.” Johnny called out.

            “Living room is clear.”

            Mykel stepped over the body in the hallway, and did his best not to upchuck at the sight of the now headless man. A man poked his head out of a room and Mykel took a shot. “Fuck!” He missed.

            Inside the room, the man had a knife to the girl’s throat. “Don’t come any closer!” The man shouted. “Or she’s dead!”

            “Have you ever played the military version of Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Mykel asked calmly, his weapon trained on the man’s forehead, right between the eyes. He didn’t even look at the woman.

            “What?” The man asked, dumbfounded.

            “Guns beat Knifes.” Mykel said, and pulled the trigger. The woman screamed as blood splattered all over her. She was naked, saved for her lacy pink under garments, now splattered with blood and other fluids.

            The rest of the team filed in behind him, guns drawn.

            “She’s nekkid, Boss.” Jacob said.

            “I see that.” Graham said. “Go find her a blanket or something, dumbass.”

            “Miss, we are here to help you.” Mykel said, going to her side.

            “Get me out of this!” She cried.

            “How many guys are there?” Mykel asked, doing his very best not to look below her neck. Seeing her naked and helpless like that was highly erotic to him. He was hot and hard almost instantly. He swallowed hard and tried to focus on something other than the party in his pants. “We shot two of them.”

            “The big guy has the keys in his left jean pocket.” She said. “I only ever saw the two men, and I think the big guy was the driver.”

            Johnny nodded. “I’ll go get it.”

            “Well get you out of this, real quick, Ma’am.” Graham said. Jacob came back with a black blanket from one of the other rooms, and laid it gently over her.

            “Thank you.” She said, trying not to blush. She felt really awkward being so exposed in a room full of fully clothed men.

            “What’s your name?”

            “Isabelle.”

            “I’m Mykel Riley.” He said, kneeling down beside her head. “The boss man here is Graham. The other one is Jacob. The dude standing next to him is Bryant.”

            Jacob saluted her with a grin. Bryant nodded at her. She got the feeling he didn’t smile often. 

            “Are you hurt?” Mykel asked. “John Boy here is a medic.” The tall man sauntered back into the room, holding the key up triumphantly.

            “I’m okay.” She said. “A couple of bruises is all. Just get me out of these cuffs.”

            “Did they…you know…force you? If they did, you do need medical attention.” Johnny asked.

            She shook her head. “No. Though I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t come for me.”

“How did the behemoth in the hall die?” Johnny asked, unlocking the cuffs around her feet first. “I didn’t see any entrance or exit wounds.”

            They all shrugged.

            Once her wrists were loose she sat up, pulling the blanket with her. “I hit him.”

            All eyes in the room went to her, all conveying shocked surprise.

            “Where did you hit him?” Johnny asked, frowning.

            “He took me to the bathroom, and I tricked him into turning his back on me. I hit him as hard as I could in the back of the head. I tried to run, and got caught by the greasy haired drunk.”

            “You killed him. He was dead before he hit the ground.” Johnny said. “There is a  soft spot at the base of the skull, that if hit hard enough, will kill anyone instantly. You must have hit just the right spot, pretty hard, for that to happen. Nice work.”

“Damn.” Mykel said. “Remind me to never piss you off.” Everyone chuckled.

            “Can someone find my clothes please?” She said, stiffly. She wasn’t sure how she

felt about knowing she had killed a man. On one hand, she was fighting for her life. On the other…she had taken another human life. For the rest of her life, she was a murderer.

            The others left Mykel alone with her, presumably to obey her request, but also to give them a few minutes together. Mykel sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hands gently. His fingers gently traced over her face, checking for broken bones. She flinched when he touched the tender spot on her lip. He was checking the bruises on her wrists to make sure she hadn’t broken anything. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked gently.

            She nodded, and tried to pull her hands back. His hands were hot, sending tingling sensations up her arms. He held on to her hand. Slowly he lowered his head and kissed the back of her hands. Then he winked at her, and released her hands. He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss every bruise and make sure no one ever hurt her like that again. He tried to suppress that, confused by it.