The towel was pulled tighter against her face, and she could hear Trevor shouting for the man to stop. Lexi was so terrified she was shaking. She had no idea what was about to happen, but it didn’t take long for her to figure it out.
Cold water splashed against her face. It quickly soaked through the towel and filled her nostrils and mouth. She held her breath and tried to move her head away from the steady downpour, but one of the man’s strong hands made it impossible for her to move.
She couldn’t breathe. Oh, God, he was trying to drown her. Lexi’s legs kicked with the need to move, and her arms felt as though they’d be torn from her body from their strain against the straps.
Her lungs became two burning infernos of hot, molten flames as they begged for air. When she could no longer hold her breath, her body’s instinctual need for oxygen took over. She opened her mouth and tried to breathe.
Instead of precious air, Lexi sucked in water. Her own pulse rushed through her ears, and the pressure in her head and chest became more intense than anything she’d ever felt. She was on the verge of losing consciousness when the water stopped and the towel was removed.
The second the man—Anthony Young—let go of her, Lexi turned her head on reflex and vomited. He jumped out of the way as all of the water that had gone down into her stomach and into her lungs came rushing back out.
Between her stomach heaving and the incessant coughing, Lexi couldn’t make out what Trevor was shouting at Young. She caught a few curse words and a not-so-veiled threat, but it was hard to hear with her own body wracked with pain and the desperate need to continue breathing again.
“You sonofabitch!” Trevor yelled. “I swear to God I am going to kill you.”
Now, that, Lexi heard. And she prayed right then that Trevor was able to follow through with that particular threat.
Young walked over to the computer, and with an eerie calm, he said, “You’d have to find me, first. Until then, I’ll let you sit there and think about the fact that I’m gonna keep having some fun with your girl.” Then, with the click of a button, Trevor’s face vanished and the screen went black.
****
“Ah, Jesus.” Trevorstood and began pacing his living room. With both hands locked behind his head, he tried hard not to throw up again. “Oh, God. He waterboarded her, Jason. He fucking waterboarded her!”
Consumed with an anger unlike any he’d ever known, Trevor picked up an end-table near one of the recliners. With an animalistic growl, he threw it toward his sliding door. Glass shattered as it smashed through the door before landing with a loud thud on the patio’s concrete slab.
“Goddammit!” Trevor’s nostrils flared, and his chest heaved as he tried to think of what else he could destroy. Thankfully, Ryker was there to stop him.
“We need to go.” His words didn’t sink in at first, so Ryker tried again. “Matthews!”
Hearing the other man’s booming voice, Trevor turned and faced him. “What?” he yelled back.
“They found her, man. Derek got a bead on her location, remember?”
Trevor glanced around his apartment, as if he expected to see the others there, but he and Jason were the only ones there.
“They left while you were still talking to Young. Before he started in on your girl. The guy’s less than fifteen minutes away from here...You want to be there when they take this fucker down, we need to go. Now!”
Like a slap to his face, Trevor finally snapped out of it. He ran back to his bedroom closet and, with shaking hands, managed to open the large gun safe there. Pulling out his MP-5 and SIG. Trevor quickly shoved a full mag for each into his jean pockets, and then to Ryker asked, “Need one?”
“Nope,” the agent answered quickly. “Got all I need down in the SUV.”
With one final look, Trevor gave Ryker a single nod and said, “Let’s do this.”
