And now my hands are tied in front of me, which is a win.
Not all of my stumbling around and mumbling was an act when they cut me down. And I may have passed out for a little when they dumped me in the shed. A few hours alone in the dark has made me feel better. It’s given me time to plan as I got a good look at the campsite.
I’m not walking out of here. Not now.
But I’ll give her a damn good chance. Not because I’m some fucking hero, but because if she gets out, she can raise the alarm and maybe I will be rescued. If I survive her escape.
With her gone, they don’t need me.
I not fucking stupid.
Or maybe I am. I want to write something for Colton. Priest and Hargrave too, because they’ve become my family over here. Sure there are other guys in the security team, and Priest is the fucking boss, but we connected because we’ve all been in the same sandy shit hole together, even though we never met back then. That we’d all been trying to outdo each other when training to get Ashley to notice us had been another bond.
Voices drawing closer rouse me out of crafting imaginary farewell letters.
The door is unlocked, and Ashley walks in along with the man who is the boss on site. He’s not the big boss though. There is someone else. A Russian.
I heard his name being thrown around by some of the guards. Promises of bonuses for big emeralds. No one here needs to know that I understand more than I let on.
“Your friend had a hard day.” The boss waves his hand at me. “No emeralds and he loses something else. Fingers? Tongue? You understand?”
Ashley nods her head. “I’m coming up with the best two options. Unless you bore holes and study the core samples, it’s a bit of guesswork.”
He shakes his head. “No guessing.”
“Then bore holes. Get more data,” she says as though they care about data. All they want are the gems. So they can take whatever cut they’ve been promised.
He slaps her across the face, and she stumbles.
I want to squeeze his throat until his eyes explode, but that won’t help either of us.
“Find my emeralds,” he snarls.
They’re not yours, fucker. They’ll be sold on the black market, so no taxes are paid. Depriving his country of money for schools and hospitals and other important shit. Everywhere I end up, there’s always some asshole looking after his own bottom line and not giving a fuck about how many people he hurts along the way.
Another man brings in food and the door is shut and locked.
“You okay?” I ask. No point in whispering now. Not that my voice sounds much better. Screaming isn’t good for the vocal chords.
“Are you?”
“I had a shower, and it’s much cooler without clothes.” I lift my hands, not sure if her eyes have adjusted to the dimness yet. “And I can pee by myself.”
Exciting times.
She gives a sad laugh that seems to die on her lips. Then she picks up the water and brings it over, before going back for the food. She sits next to me, her thigh next to mine. If my hands weren’t bound, I’d put my arms around her and lie that it was all going to be fine. I’m not feeling that generous though.
“How much did they hurt you?”
“Enough to make their point.” Which is that I am the leverage to force Ashley to obey. They can’t kill me too fast, or they’ll lose that. We all know that. Still, I’d like to keep my tongue and my fingers if possible. “You?”
Every time she leaves, I’m worried about her being alone with them.
“They haven’t touched me.”
“Good.” You should take off some of your wet gear and hang it up to dry.
“You just want to see me naked.”
