Page 75 of Secret Redemption

Zack knew what that meant and fought the restraints to get free, allowing the fact that he was less injured than Hamilton thought to show now that nobody was in the room.

The next move was to use Ava or her parents to get to him, but he also knew that as soon as Hamilton had answers, they were all dead. He needed to buy some time for the team to get here but at this point, he didn’t know how to do so. He had managed to activate the tracker, and by some miracle, Hamilton had let Ava keep her ring. He just needed one more miracle!

He let his body go slack, saving his energy for the next round, knowing he would need it. One thing he did know, and that was that Frank could take it, but he couldn’t allow Helen or Ava to be touched. It wasn’t in him to let a woman suffer. His thoughts turned to the team, and he thought of Daniel’s leadership.

Daniel was a good man. One of the best and his ability in the field was above reproach. He led like he lived, with his whole heart and he was loyal to those he gave his friendship too. He wouldn’t let Zack down if Zack gave him the time needed he would show up and soon.

~~~

“Mom are you okay?” Ava asked edging as close to her mother as possible.

“Oh, I’m fine dear, I wouldn’t mind teaching that man some manners. Honestly, where was his mother? Did she not teach him anything?”

Ava shook her head at her mother’s comment. Only her mother would bemoan a man’s upbringing when he kidnapped her. “I’m sorry we got you into this mom,” she whispered, regretfully.

“Oh hush, you did not do this. That man and his idiot Watchers did. All you did was follow your heart, and I couldn’t be happier for you. Zack is everything I knew my daughter would need and want. I have every faith he will get us out of this so don’t worry your head about it.”

Her mother never failed to amaze her. A few days ago, she couldn’t get out of bed because she was so sick and now she was, sitting on a cold concrete floor as if they were taking tea at Harrods.

“Are you feeling okay after being sick?” she asked, watching her mom assessingly.

“I feel great, my energy levels are fantastic. I feel like a new woman. Do you know I can speak Spanish now?” she said conversationally.

Ava looked at her dumbfounded. “Uh since when? Did you learn while I was away?”

“Oh no, sweetie. Mimi, Nate’s mother taught me the last time we visited the Estate,” she answered.

“So, you can’t speak it,” Ava replied, her shoulders relaxing with the knowledge that her mom had not lost her marbles. “You know a few words.”

“Don’t be silly, sweetheart. I can speak it fluently. I told you, Mimi taught me the other day!” she said in perfect Spanish. Not Spanglish but perfect fluent Spanish with the correct accent and everything. “Hey, you can teach me Greek? I’ve always fancied Greek or Italian, such sexy languages.”

Ava was stopped from answering as the door swung open and three men carrying automatic weapons came, in grabbing them roughly and hauling them up. They dragged them along, and Ava caught sight of her father being dragged in front of them. He was barely keeping his legs under him. It made her see red, and she shouted to him. “Daddy!”

The man holding her shook her hard. “Silence bitch,” he spat at her, saliva landing on her cheek and making her gag. She glared at the man but did as she was bid, not wanting it to come back on her parents. How long had been since they were taken? There were no windows, so she had no clue what time it was.

She caught sight of someone as she passed a passageway but when she turned there was nobody there. It looked like unless some miracle happened they were on their own. But then again, her mother was now some sort linguistic savant overnight. So maybe a miracle wasn’t too much of an ask.

~~~

The door slammed open and Frank was thrown to his knees in front of Zack. The man had been beaten almost as bad as he had and his left eye was closing. That didn’t stop the defiant look on Frank Drakes face though, or the look of cold fury that crossed his face when the door opened again and Ava and Helen were thrown through the door, their knees hitting the hard, coarse concrete.

His eyes went to Ava, doing a head to toe visual, to check for injuries before coming back to her eyes to look for pain of any kind. She offered him a slight smile to reassure him that she was fine and Zack felt his insides relax, she was fine, thank god! Now he needed to keep it that way.

This entire process had lasted mere seconds, but it had not been missed by Hamilton. The man used his boot to push Frank viciously to his side, the cuffs not allowing him to save himself from head planting into the hard stone.

The crack of bone hitting the hard floor ricocheted around the room, but the man didn’t make a sound even though it must have hurt like a mother fucker! Zack heard Helen’s gasp of anguish and his eyes shot to Ava. Her face was a mask of fury as she watched her father try to regain some balance.

The men who had come in with Ava and Helen, walked towards Frank, hauling him up by his armpits, while a third man and the one who had been shadowing Hamilton all day came in behind Frank.

“Now that we have more guests, perhaps you will be a little more reasonable?” Hamilton asked inclining his head at Zack, who stayed silent. “This is how it will work. I’ll ask a question, and your answer will determine how much pain your future father in law suffers. Do you understand?”

Zack considered it for a minute, using the time to assess Frank. The man gave him a hard look, and in that moment the Military Frank Drake was there, and he would never show weakness of any kind and certainly would not tolerate it from him.

“Fuck off, you lame paper pushing prick!” Zack said and smiled. He knew it would cost Frank, but he also knew that if he caved, Hamilton wouldn’t believe a word he said. Zack watched as Frank took a hard punch to the stomach from the man on his left, followed by an uppercut to the face. Frank weaved on his feet for a second before steadying himself.

“Okay Zack, I can see you’re not going to be a grownup about this.” Hamilton motioned for the third man to grab Ava. The man grabbed her by her hair and dragged her next to her father. She didn’t cry out or shy away but looked at Zack the whole time.

“You know my men had a lot of fun with that woman you planted in my office. They’re good boys, so I rewarded them. Maybe I should let them have fun with your sexy fiancée? What do you think? Shall I let my men rape her while you and her parents watch?” Helen began to cry softly, but Frank remained stoic. The slight tic in his right eye belying his feelings.

The man holding her ran a hand over Ava’s cheek, before licking her from her neck to her temple.

Zack felt a bloodlust like nothing he had ever felt before, his vision ran red, and he could picture himself choking the life out of the man that had dared to touch her.

“I’m going to snap your neck!” he stated to the man holding Ava.

“Tut tut, Zack, you never did share well. We did try to warn you to stay away at the shop, but apparently you can’t take simple instruction. But fear not, I’ll give you one more chance before I allow my men their fun.”

He nodded to the door, and one of his men opened it. Never in his life had Zack felt anything like the emotions he experienced at that moment.