Page 48 of Love Above Law

Leyna

The ride has been silent. I keep looking at Dana in the back seat and seeing the silent tears running down her face, guts me. I will never forgive myself for getting my friend into this. We left the city a while ago and have been driving through nothing but dense woods for the past fifteen minutes. Hugo has taken so many twists and turns I can no longer keep up with where we are going—not that I would know anyway. I also haven't seen another house in at least five miles.

Hugo's phone rings. Pulling it from the front pocket of his shirt, he answers it. "What?" I watch his face go red with anger at whatever is being said on the other end of the line. "I told you to wait for my call." Hugo listens some more then snaps. "I know what the hell I said. But I told you I had something I needed to take care of before we left. Your only job is to get my merchandise loaded onto those shipping containers, not question my orders. Santino is dead. You answer to me now, so quit calling me with your bullshit questions and do as your fucking told. Tell Ricky to meet me at the house in the morning and tell him to bring the van. I'm leaving the car behind. I have some extra cargo I'm bringing along." He gives his last orders while looking at me.

Hugo's plans involve taking Dana and me with him. And from the sounds of his conversation, he has taken over Santino's role, which gives me a pretty good idea what is in store for us.

Ending his call, Hugo tucks his phone away and turns his attention to me. With his left hand on the steering wheel, he reaches his right hand in my direction and runs his palm up my thigh. "I'm going to have my fun with you before I turn you over." His action causes me to recoil. I slap his hand away and scoot further into the door. "Keep your filthy hands off me, asshole."

"Do you remember what I told you when we first met, Leyna? I like it when they fight," Hugo says, palming his crotch. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I plan to break you in good. Then maybe when I'm through with you, I'll have a little fun with red back there," he gestures toward the back seat.

"You won't be touching anyone once I rip your dick off and shove it down your throat, asshole." I'll die before I let him touch Dana. If this bastard thinks I'm going to allow him to lay one finger on my friend without a fight, he is sorely mistaken. Hugo reaches into his jacket, pulls out his gun and points it directly at my head.

"I'd like to see you try, bitch."

Refusing to back down, I lean in his direction. "You may as well shoot me. I'd rather die than have your repulsive body anywhere near mine. You're nothing without that gun," I seethe. I know I'm being stupid right now for taunting him, but I plan to keep his attention entirely on me. Without warning, Hugo clocks me right in the cheek with the butt of his gun and a throbbing burn radiates through the whole right side of my cheek. Feeling blood trickle down my cheek, I reach up and cradle my face. Through blurry eyes, I reward Hugo with a smirk, and hold back the tears threatening to escape. I refuse to show him weakness.

Several intense minutes later, we pull up outside an old dilapidated house. It looks abandoned. It's a single-story beige house. It has a small attached porch with several broken steps. The two front windows are also boarded up. Great. We're in the middle of nowhere. How is anyone going to find us out here?

Opening his door, Hugo motions for me to climb out on his side. I barely get one foot out the door when he grabs my arm and roughly drags me out. I cry out in pain when the gravel below me digs into my knees, the same time I feel a booted foot on my back, kicking me. Hugo's attention is diverted away from me when Dana screams and bangs on the car window, begging for him to stop his assault. Stepping over me, Hugo opens the back door to the car, revealing a terrified Dana.

"Out," he grunts, and Dana shakes her head. With a frustrated swift move, he draws his gun once again and points it at her. "Don't make me repeat myself, red."

Climbing to my feet, I push passed Hugo, placing myself between him and Dana. "Come on," I whisper to her, my eyes pleading with her to cooperate. I watch as Dana closes her eyes, swallows, and then summons enough courage to take my hand. Dana and I continue to cling to each other as Hugo forces us to walk in front of him up the gravel driveway, up the broken steps of the porch and through the front door of the house.

"Keep going," Hugo nudges me in the back the same time he flicks the lights on. I'm surprised the place has electricity. I look around; the interior doesn't look any better than the outside. The only furniture I see is a tattered sofa and a small round table with two chairs. The wallpaper is peeling from the walls, and the place smells of mold along with the distinct smell of piss. Continuing down the hallway we come upon an open door. Peering inside I scrunch my nose at the smell. The room is dark, musky and in no better condition than the rest of the house.

Still clutching Dana's hand, we step into the room. "You two be good now," Hugo says with a sinister smile. "But don't worry, Ms. Martinez," he licks his lips. "I'll be back for you later." Hugo closing the door along with the sound of a lock engaging from the outside, takes me back to the similar position I was in months ago.

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Dana says her fearful voice breaking through the darkness. Facing my friend, I pull her into me.

"No, we are not going to die. Lex will find us. I'm sure by now he knows something is up. Neither one of us showed at Rumors for work, and that would have had someone on alert. Plus, Lex knows we're together. I promise you, Dana, he will come for us." She nods, but I can tell she's not too sure of my words.

"How does this guy even know you, Leyna?"

Stepping away from her, I sigh. "It's a long story; one I'll tell you later. Let's say this is not the first time I've been in a situation like this," I tell her as I begin looking around the room. It's so dark in here I can barely see three feet in front of my face. I faintly make out a window. But it's boarded up just like all the others I saw on the house when we arrived.

"It's freezing in here," Dana remarks.

It is—It's almost too cold, and I swear I can feel a breeze coming from somewhere. Striding to the other end of the room, I walk along the wall to try and see where the air is coming from. I stop when I feel the cold breeze hit my leg. Crouching down, I run my hands down the wall and stop when I come across a small hole. Laying down on the dirty floor, I put my face to the hole and look through a space about ten inches wide; I can feel the cool night air on my face and see a hint of moonlight from outside. Bingo.

Using my fingers, I begin to pick at the sheetrock around the opening and to my utter relief, it starts crumbling to the floor. With an idea forming in my head, I sit up and slip off one of my boots. I've never been so thankful for heels in all my life. Using the heel of my boot, I begin hammering into the wall. To my surprise, it works and large clumps of sheetrock crumple to the floor.

"What are you doing, Leyna?" Dana whispers.

"I'm getting us the hell out of here," I grunt. "Here," I say sliding off my other boot, handing it to her. "We're going to make this hole big enough to climb out of." Dropping to her knees across from me, Dana starts to help.

"You're a genius, Leyna."

My heart pounds in my chest with every minute that ticks by. We have no way of knowing when Hugo will return. I hear his murmured voice from somewhere in the house, and my best guess is he is on the phone. Hopefully, his business keeps him away a little longer.

"Shit!" Dana says grabbing my attention.

"What is it?"

"The damn heel broke off. Fuck, I'm sorry Leyna."

"It's okay. Look!" I point to the wall. Tossing my boot to the side, I look at Dana. "I think we can squeeze through." Looking through the hole in the wall I notice a board partially covering the outside. It seems as if the wood siding on the outside is rotting. Sitting on my butt, I put my foot through the hole and kick the siding off the house.