Chapter 23 - Jamie

My head was pounding, everything was stiff. It felt like I had been run over and then dragged behind an eighteen-wheeler. I tried moving but couldn’t do that either. Trying to open my eyes, I had to flutter them a bit before they opened. The light was extremely bright, burning my eyes. But I had to know where I was.

As my vision settled, metal walls and brick flooring came into view, it reminded me of a warehouse. Surveying the area around me, I realized I was indeed in a warehouse.

It wasn’t the one I had seen before when Pedro rescued me, as there were no rooms. In the furthest corner, there appeared to be some crates and barrels, though. But other than that, the entire area I could see was bare. Fear set in as I searched for those who had captured me.

Straining my neck left and right, I tried to see as far back as I could. I was sure it must have been one of the Bratva groups I was hiding from that captured me. I was terrified that I would be tortured for information.

Yet, the place appeared quite deserted. There were no guards or men with weapons as expected when one thinks of Bratva. I couldn’t see torture equipment or anything else that was dangerous, the place was empty. I wondered how they intended to extract the information if they weren’t going to use torture.

At least I wasn’t gagged, I thought. The ropes around my wrists and ankles were a bit tight and were cutting into my skin. The ones around my wrists were average-looking. I couldn’t see any blood but felt my skin burning under the pressure. I couldn’t see the ones around my legs but was sure they were the same. They also had pressure on but felt slightly looser as My ankles didn’t burn.

Glancing around, I didn’t bother to scream, I felt sure it wouldn’t be of any use, and that was why I wasn’t gagged. I was sure the warehouse was isolated, and no one would be around if it was still night. With no windows, and not knowing how long I’d been out, I wasn’t sure if it was still night or if the day had sauntered in yet. I scanned the area with as much focus as I could muster, trying to figure out if there was any way I could escape while I was still alone.

Somewhere behind me, I heard a door creaking open and some voices. Listening carefully as I sat dead still, I could make out only two voices. One was a man, but the other was undoubtedly a woman. Both voices sounded somewhat familiar. I tried to think where I knew them from, yet I couldn’t place them. Thinking made my headache more intense. Shaking my head softly, I let go of my thoughts.

Sitting still, I waited for the voices to come closer. I realized I knew the man, hearing them whispering close behind me. “Pedro,” I asked warily. “Pedro, is that you?”

“Well, well, well, look who’s woken up.” The woman said as she came into view. “Look, little Miss Perfect is awake, Pedro.”

“Ana,” I breathed out, astonished as she came to stand before me. Then I saw Pedro joining her. My mind whirled as I tried to formulate the facts of the situation. I felt betrayed, how could these two people who knew me and knew Ashan very well, do such a thing to us?

Ana was dressed all in black, and I now understood my memory of the mirror room. It was her hiding in there. That meant that Pedro was the one who had hit me on the head.

“What’s going on here, let me go,” I added, looking from him to her and back at him. “Ashan’s going to find me, and you’re going to pay. But, if you let me go now, we can forget that it ever happened, okay?”

His face was still bruised from the beating Ashan had given him, and he had a scar just above one eye. “I’m so sorry for what happened,” I said sincerely. “But this. Keeping me captured is a bad idea.”

“I’m sure you are very sorry, but sorry doesn”t fix it, sweetie,” Pedro replied. I could hear resentment in his voice, accompanied by anger and hate. I couldn’t believe my ears; Pedro was blaming me. It was his own doing that got him a beating.

Giggling, I shook my head at the odd pair, feeling less threatened. “You know Ashan’s going to find me, and this time he’s going to kill you,” I said as they stared at me in disbelief.

Ana made a growling sound before speaking. “You don’t belong with him, and he will see that once you’re out of the picture. I’ll be ready when he needs comforting after your demise.”

“It was you, you told them where to find me,” I spat at Ana angrily. “You’re working with the enemy?”

Ana bared her teeth at me, hissing like the snake she was. “They thought they would get you and make you pay for what you’ve done. But we got to you first, and you will never see the light of day again.” Ana said, pulling out a gun and aiming it at me.

Pedro’s eyes widened, seeing the gun. “Whoa, stop, Ana, this wasn’t the plan or deal we had. Remember, we’d only keep her here until she’s been auctioned off to this highest bidder.” He said, pulling carefully at her arm.

“No, Pedro,” Ana screamed at him. Her face turned red as anger and hate surged through her.” She’s not worth the money or the trouble. She stole Ashan from me,” she glared at me, her loathing clearly showing as she spoke. “For that, she needs to pay, and she will, with her life.”

As they argued, I slowly worked at the ropes. One of the guards I befriended had shown me how to get out of bounds should I ever get captured. At the time, I still joked with him that it was something I would never need. But now I was extremely grateful that he insisted, and I know now. It was a lot harder, but I was confident I would get out of them if I had enough time.

Twisting and turning my hands slowly, I managed to move the knot. Little by little, it shifted from the bottom to the side of my hands. Having the knot closer, I managed to get a nail into it. Slowly I worked at it until I managed to put a finger into the loops. I loosened it with my finger while keeping an eye on my two abductors. If they saw I was trying to escape, who knew what would happen?

They were still deep in their argument, both pulling at the gun. It moved left and right as they fought about my fate. Pulling my one hand free, I untied my other one slowly, glad it was rope and not straps or something like that.

I took a deep breath. It was just my feet; I still had to free myself. I sat still for a second, breathing in deeply. Once I was sure they wouldn’t notice, I leaned over and untied my legs. I felt sure Ana had tied me up as the knots were easy to loosen.

Glancing back around the side of the chair, I noticed the door was quite a way. The two were still arguing. They had moved a couple of feet back from me during their struggle, and I knew I had to try. Sliding off the chair and watching them I turned to the door. Jumping to my feet I sprinted for the door. My head pounded, and I still felt a little dizzy, but my legs worked just fine.

“She’s getting away,” I heard Ana screaming. I didn’t dare look back and kept my focus on getting to the door. I hadn’t even considered that it could be locked. Running towards it, I could only hope that it wasn’t locked.

As I reached out to grab the handle, I heard a loud thump and felt a hand closing around my ankle. Falling forward with my throat closing and my heart ripping through my ribs, I tried to stop my fall with my hands. Pain shot up my arms as I collided with the floor.

Glancing around, I saw Pedro jump at me, and he lay on the floor behind me. Turning to my back, I kicked at his hands and tried to move out of his grip. Looking up, I saw Ana standing behind him with the gun pointed straight at my head. I stopped moving as Ana walked closer. She struck me on the side of my head with the gun. “That wasn’t nice,” she spat at me.

Pedro had risen to his feet. He came around and pulled me up from behind. I was so close; I would have taken just a couple more steps and been free. Lowering my head, I felt the tears welling up.

“No running,” Pedro uttered as he dragged me back to the chair. After tying up again, he turned to Ana as he spoke. “No damaging the merchandise, we need her alive and intact. That was the deal. Plus, the first bidders will be here in about an hour.”

“No, no, no,” Ana replied, pacing up and down. “We don’t need money.” She screamed, slamming her foot to the floor, and flinging her arms down. She stopped and turned to me, lifting the gun again. “She has to die,” she continued through clenched teeth. Her eyes were wild, and she looked as if she belonged in an asylum.

Terror flooded my body as I realized this day might not end too well. If Pedro couldn’t keep her in line, I might actually die here. I considered sharing the fact that I was pregnant but didn’t know if that would make a difference to either of them.

Once again Pedro interrupted. “Ana, think about what you’re saying. You want those groups to come after us?” I understood what he meant, and it made sense. If they killed me, they had no use and would surely be taken out for the betrayal.

Yet, Ana was so filled with hate that she couldn’t see it, and I knew if I informed them of the baby, she wouldn’t think twice about killing me. I watched in horror as Pedro tried to take the gun, but Ana just wouldn’t let go. As they struggled a shot rang through the air. I felt a sting in my left arm. Looking down I saw the bright red liquid slowly moving down my arm.

My sleeve was torn, but it didn’t look like the bullet had penetrated my arm. The pain was severe, but the heat was worse. It felt like someone had inserted a lump of burning coal into my arm. Biting down on my lower lip, I kept my scream inside, but I couldn’t keep my body from shaking.

“What the fuck, Ana. Look what you’ve done now,” Pedro shouted as he shoved Ana back. She went sprawling to the floor and lost her grip on the gun. I watched as the gun slid across the floor just out of her reach. Ana turned to her hands and knees, crawling towards the gun.

Pedro tried to move past her to pick it up when Ana grabbed his legs, sending him flying to the floor. They reached the gun at the same time and were rolling around fighting for control. I couldn’t watch anymore as fear of another shot going off and hitting me again settled in.

My arms and legs tingled as the blood in my veins seemed to turn to ice. Sweat broke out all over my body. It started running down my face stinging my eyes, and I couldn’t even wipe it away.

Then, their struggle was abruptly interrupted as I heard the door open with a loud banging. Glancing around frantically as I expected the room to fill with Bratva, I noticed I knew some of the men quickly filling the warehouse.

Seconds later, Ashan, his brother, all the cousins, and Ashan”s men surrounded me. Ana and Pedro scrambled to their feet and tried to flee but Ashan”s men caught them. I breathed out hard as relief washed over me. He had found me I thought, trying to calm my racing heart.

I instantly felt like the world had been removed from my shoulders as tears streamed down my face. But they were tears of joy and no longer due to fear. Ashan stood before me facing Ana and Pedro. He was my knight in shining armor. With the feelings of relaxation knowing it was over, came a sense of gratitude.

His presence flooded the room with a noticeable strength and calmness I couldn’t even begin to describe.