April spoke to the person giving her a drink. "I-if you help me, m-my husband will reward you."
The man in front of her only chuckled low. “You cannot bargain with me,” he said. Then he and his partner left.
Of course she was trying to bargain for herself. I noted I hadn’t been included in that bargain. Because no way in hell Marcus Van Linsted would save me too. He was more likely to leave me here to rot. Yeah, right. Of course.
“Can you move your hands at all?”
“No? Why are you asking?” When short and stocky had slapped me, the force of it had made me jerk hard enough that my right arm became slightly loose. I wiggled and wiggled, wincing as the rope chafed. Finally, I got my hands into position, and using the thumb of my left hand, I pressed on the top knuckle of my right thumb, pulled and dislocated it.
I haven't felt pain like that since Micah Hadid had accidentally kicked me in the front lip once when I was ten. The pain was enough to make my eyes well and my brain feel like it was going to explode, but I kept it up. I knew what I had to do, thanks to some preparation from Roone.
Another couple of quick tugs and my hand was free. More quick tugs, and I shoved my other arm to the left, loosening the ropes enough to get that side free. Knowing I’d need as much dexterity as possible, I held my breath and quickly popped my thumb back into the socket while forcing myself to swallow the cries of pain that wanted to escape. Then I quickly undid my feet and went for April's restraints next as I crouched in front of her. "Are you okay?"
They'd blindfolded her. Shit. They hadn't blindfolded me, which meant they were planning to trade her back, like she’d suggested.
They had no such plan for you.
It was a hell of a time to realize something like that, but there wasn't a damn thing to do about it, so I needed to just carry the hell on. "Come on, we're getting out of here."
Her mouth opened then closed. "You're free?"
"Yeah, I'm free." I tugged on the ropes binding her feet. I freed one then the other. Then I untied her hands. Once loose, she rubbed them gingerly before yanking off her blindfold. "You're insane. They will find us, and they will kill us. If I die because of you, my husband will have your head."
I shook my head. "No one is killing you. They need you alive. I, on the other hand, can't stay because they have no intention of keeping me alive. So you can choose to sit here and wait, or you can come with me. But I will guarantee you this… They don't have to return you intact.”
Her eyes went wide. "What do you mean, intact?"
"One of those men has already followed and mugged me. They’re violent. You might go home, but you won't ever be the same. It's up to you. We can work together, or we end up dead. Or worse."
“What's worse than death?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Her tongue peeked out to lick her bottom lip, and she swallowed. "Fine. Since you clearly have experience with some unsavory people and dangerous situations, how the hell do we get out of here?"
Ben
Out in the van, I watched and waited for signs of Livy.
East leaned over. "Mate, we can't wait any longer."
He was out of his mind. No way was I leaving without her, period. "What the fuck are you saying? We wait."
"Fine, we’ll give it another minute. Maybe she'll come out, or maybe she already made it out of another exit."
From my periphery, I saw Bridge shake his head, and I glanced back at East. Roone was coming over from the other car. "We're going to miss our window. The police will be here soon. It's better to move, or would you rather explain what the fuck we're all doing here? Time to go."
I shook my head. "No. Liv's inside. We can't leave her."
His voice was low and hushed like he was speaking to a spooked animal. "Listen, we can do more by getting back to the house and planning. Figure out where she is, where she went, and what happened. Right now, we can't do anything if we all get pinched. Do you hear me?"
I growled at him. "I'm not fucking—" His straight jab to my face came quick, and the edges of my vision wavered a little.
"What the fuck? Did you just hit me?"
"Yeah, because you're being irrational. You're putting us all in danger."
I was done. Done playing along. Done getting along.
I had to go back for her.
East must have guessed my intention because he reached for my arm, which I quickly dodged. Then I stepped around Roone and bolted to his car. Her tracker was active, and I was going to get her back.
2
Livy
With every beat of my heart, my fear became more palpable. We might not make it out of this, and April Van Linsted certainly wasn't making it easy for me.
"If you're so smart, how do we get out?"
If she wasn't careful, I might kill her myself. I would be okay with being a murderer.
No you wouldn't.
Oh, I could give it a whirl.
"Well, for starters, can you walk?"
Her feet were bare, as were mine, so that wasn't ideal. "What do you think?"
"I think if you're well enough to be sarcastic the answer is yes."
She made a pinched face. "You can't really expect me to traipse to wherever the hell we are going without shoes on. The floor in here is probably a cesspool of germs. And what if I step on a rusty nail or something?"
"That's exactly what you're going to do. It's either that or you can stay here. Period. It’s up to you. But I promise that if I have to leave you here, I will gag you. No way am I allowing you to let them know that I've escaped. As for the floor, I don't doubt that it's a cesspool. Sorry I couldn't find cleaner accommodations for your kidnapping. And watch where you walk if you don't want to step on a rusty nail. I hope that you will have the good sense to cooperate."
Even in the dark, I could see her narrow her gaze at me. "Who do you think you are?"
"Me? I'm nobody. I promise you. I'm just somebody who wants to get out of this mess and go home. I'm pretty sure you want the same thing too, so let's go."
"What, so you're just dictating what happens now?"
I sighed inside. "I want to get out of this, and so do you. To do that, we need to get out of that door." I pointed in the direction of the large slider I'd seen our captors come through earlier. "I don't think we're going to be able to manage that without making some noise, so if you could help me find a weapon, that would be much appreciated."
Without bothering to look around, she said, "I can't see anything."
I forced myself to take a deep breath, then another, willing the rage to subside. "Fine, then just bloody stand here and don't make any noise."
I left her where she was and started feeling around, willing my eyesight to improve as I patted the things within reach. I finally found what felt like a metal bar, but it was far too long. There was no way I could wield it, and one of them could get ahold of the other end and pull me down. So that wasn't going to work.