Rebecca’s heart raced as the car took them to a remote wooded area. Noticing the log cabin up ahead, she surveyed the area around it, memorizing the denser trees. The driver stopped and turned off the engine.
“My friend will pat you down as you get out of the car. I’ll keep my weapon trained on the pretty blonde woman. If you think to run away, be prepared,” he warned ominously as a red dot appeared on Director Jackson’s coat. The man stiffened as he braced for the shot.
The driver got out and opened the door. Director Jackson went first, the red dot still showing on his coat. The man jerked his head to the side, indicating for her to slide out. The man patted her down, giving her breasts a tight squeeze. She didn’t say a word as she sent up a silent prayer he didn’t find Julio’s phone. A minute later, Harrison joined them and the man took a knife from her partner’s coat pocket.
The driver grabbed her arm roughly, dragging her up the stairs. Rebecca wanted to fight back but she didn’t want to get her coworkers killed. The man led them up the steps as the driver shoved her inside and into a bedroom. She scanned it, searching for anything to use as a weapon and noticed the bars on the window.
She listened as the men shoved one of her team into the room beside hers. Director Jackson beat on the door, angrily shouting for them to leave Harrison alone.
Rebecca’s heart leapt into her throat as she heard them roughing her partner up. “Tell us where to find Avie Rahimi,” the assailant ordered.
“I don’t know,” Harrison replied.
A minute later, she heard him scream bloody murder. “I don’t know,” he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Rebecca slid down the wall as his screams grew louder, then weaker. How long until their kidnappers discovered she was the only one with the information? Recalling her training, she prepared herself to face whatever torture they planned for her. From the sounds of things, they planned to beat it out of Harrison. If he broke down, would they go to more extremetorture, such as waterboarding or even worse, rape? Pulling out the phone, she pulled up the messaging app to see Julio’s last text to her.
Hey Beautiful. I’m heading to Serenity Mountain. Say the word, and I’ll hop on the next plane, and we can sip eggnog by the fire. Most of all, I can wake up with you in my arms on Christmas morning.
She swallowed and tapped down her feelings as she concentrated on her task at hand. Rebecca didn’t know how much time she had before they came after her. She needed to prepare herself and find a way to save her coworkers while keeping Avie’s whereabouts secret. She hurriedly typed out a message only to see she didn’t have any cell service. Turning the device off, she stuck it between the mattress and sheets as she heard them drag Harrison into the room with Director Jackson. A scuffle ensued, and she pressed her ear to the wall, trying to hear anything to help them out of the situation.
They noisily made their way back to the sparse front room, taking Director Jackson. From the sounds, he must’ve put up a hellava fight after seeing what they did to Harrison.
She bit her lip, biding her time until they came for her. Julio’s face rose before her and she recalled his sleepy smile as she kissed him goodbye, not knowing it might be the last time she saw him. ‘I love you, Becca,’ he whispered as she leaned down to kiss him. She replied, ‘I love you more.’
If she didn’t survive the torture, she hoped he remembered those words She trembled at the prospect. These men captured them with little resistance and kept others hidden in the woods if they tried to escape. Rebecca wondered if she’d get killed by a gunshot wound and lie in the freezing snow before deathwelcomed her. She shook herself out of it, knowing Julio wouldn’t give up until he found her. Resolving to fight until he did, she prepared herself to find an escape route when they came for her. Somehow, she’d save herself and the two men in the room beside her.
CHAPTER THREE
Rebecca’s head jerked back as the driver hit her. Pain exploded in her cheek. It felt like they kept her in the chair for days, yet it lasted only a few hours. Harrison and Jackson demanded they stop torturing her. Their words fell on deaf ears as the men kept up their ruthless attack. She refused to give them Avie’s location and focused on Julio, imagining him bursting through the door at any moment.
The assailant kicked the chair, making her fall to the floor. She grunted as her head hit the concrete and her eyes rolled back into her head. Nausea threatened as her head pounded along with the rest of her aching body. The man cursed in another language before hauling her up, untying her, and dragging her down the hallway. He left Rebecca in the bedroom and she curled up, trying to stave off the pain in her ribs.
The room beside hers remained quiet, making her worry. What did they do with Harrison and Jackson? Her eyes refused to stay open and she closed them, praying for relief.
When she opened them again, the room was dark, indicating that some time had passed between when they brought her back and her current state. Listening, she heard the two assailantsspeak to one another, then a door opened, and something skidded across the floor. A minute later, one of the men opened hers, and a tray sailed across the floor with a paper plate. She guessed the men got their meals too, even though she didn’t hear any noise coming from them.
Raising her head, she held her ribs and touched the food, guessing it must be a sandwich as she felt two slices of bread. Her stomach growled since she last ate at the airport in Texas before returning to New York. No, she reminded herself, they might’ve drugged the sandwich to get her to reveal Avie’s location and she refused to take the chance. Pushing it farther away from her, she moved to the bed and checked for the phone. She didn’t have a charger, and knowing they didn’t have any service, Rebecca didn’t bother turning it on. Holding it gave her a connection to Julio and made her feel slightly relieved knowing when she didn’t respond, he’d investigate.
The doorknob rattled, and she thrust it back under the mattress and lay down, pretending to be unconscious.
“What shall we do with her?” the driver asked with his heavy accent.
“We wait for Hasan,” his partner advised. “The men ate. Soon they’ll be unconscious. When she eats, we can sleep. The men will arrive in the morning. If they refuse to tell us the woman’s whereabouts, then we’ll torture her again,” he said before closing the door.
What the hell? They already tried that. Why did women always become the victims in these scenarios? She sighed and leaned against the bed. Her head ached, her eye throbbed, and her cheek stung. They didn’t offer any water and her mouth tasted coppery from the blood when she bit her cheek.
Deciding to pretend she ate the food, she stuffed it between the mattress and the boxspring on the opposite side, hoping she got everything.
Rebecca lay on the floor, waiting until they came back to check on her. Hopefully, they’d slip up at some point, allowing her time to escape, and she rested until the opportunity presented itself.
A while later, they shone the flashlight on the floor, and she barely breathed as they determined her asleep.
“Bring her back into the living room. Hasan wants to speak with her. Maybe she can warm our bed,” the driver suggested.
“You’ll have plenty of time once Hasan finishes with her. Until he arrives, we only get the information,” the other man replied angrily as he grabbed her hands and pulled her out of the room and farther away from her phone. Despair filled her as they set her upright in a chair, her limbs stayed loose and flailed around them. She almost got some personal satisfaction as her hand slapped the driver in the face. He muttered under his breath as they tied her.
“She’s not going anywhere,” he grumbled. “Leave her here, and we’ll check on her every hour. I’m starved and tired. Once we get the location, we’ll not have any rest until Rahimi’s satisfied.”
