To say this has been the longest ten minutes of my life is the biggest fucking understatement. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that they have Cassie and she’s still alive. It’s hard for me to try and comprehend anything right now, as I listen to that bastard Prescott talk about Emily like she belongs to him.
“No part of me has ever belonged to you and I never will,” Emily chokes out.
When I hear the smack and her cry out in pain again, I fucking lose it. I start punching the van repeatedly, wishing it were Prescott’s face. It’s exactly what I’m going to do when I get my hands on him. “Fuck this! We aren’t waiting anymore.” Ripping my jacket off, I grab a vest from the back of the van then look at Higgins and Crowley. “Call the Chief and have him get us more backup from whoever we can trust.” Then I glance at Nick. “We’re fucking going in guns blazing.”
He nods, agreeing we can’t wait anymore. Crowley and Higgins call in for backup and secure the guards in the van.
As I’m suiting up, and loading extra ammo, I hear new voices over the wire. I listen carefully to Benedict, Prescott and Michaels. That bastard is really planning to sell his own fucking daughter. I shake my head, I really shouldn’t be surprised but for some reason I am. The more I’m listening to their plans the more I realize we need to move faster, but we aren’t fast enough.
“What the fuck?” I freeze in fear at Prescott’s shock. “She’s fucking wired!”
“Shit! Move, move, move!” All of us haul ass to the house, my heart in my throat. “Emily, we’re coming, baby, just hold on…” The sound of a gunshot has terror gripping me and almost bringing me to my knees. Then I hear the mic get smashed. “Fuck! No, no, no!”
Once we reach the house, I kick the door in and we rush in guns drawn.
“FBI, nobody move! I want everyone’s hands in the air, now!” Screams sound throughout the house as everyone follows Nick’s order.
My gaze searches for only one person, and when I find her I waste no time. I grab Caroline’s arm in a painful grip. “Where the fuck is she?”
She stares at me in shock, her face pale. “You- you’re a cop?”
Knowing we don’t have time for this shit, I drag her through the house to the hallway where Emily said she was taken. “Show me now! Where the fuck did he take her?”
She glares at me. “I’m not telling you anything.”
The last of my control snaps. Grabbing her by her throat, I pin her against the wall then put my gun to the center of her forehead.
“Easy, Jameson.” Nick warns, but I ignore it. Nothing matters right now except getting to Emily.
Please, God, don’t let that gunshot have been for her or Cassie. “Tell me where the fuck she is or I will put a fucking bullet through your head.”
She stares back at me defiantly, but there’s no denying the fear in her eyes. “What will you give me in return?”
“What?” I ask, thinking I misunderstood her.
“If I tell you where she is then I want something in exchange.”
Unfuckingbelievable. “I don’t think so, bitch. You tell me where the fuck she is, or I will make sure you suffer so miserably that you will be wishing for the fucking death penalty.” I feel her swallow under my hand, but she still says nothing. “Now!”
She flinches. “Okay, I’ll show you.” I release her throat and follow close behind her as she walks down the hall to an arch that’s built into the wall. I notice her visibly shake as she reaches in behind one of the pictures and presses something that has the wall sliding open.
I take in the dimly lit cement stairs before shouting for Crowley. He comes to the end of the hall and I push Caroline toward him. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
He nods. “Go ahead, we got it covered up here. Backup is fifteen minutes away.”
I turn back and start down the stairs with my gun drawn and Nick following close behind me. Everything is silent as we reach the bottom. We kick open every closed door we walk past to see empty bedrooms. My stomach twists at torture devices hanging on the walls.
At the end of the hall we walk into a wide-open room and I know immediately by the set up this is where the bidding takes place. When I spot the open door at the far end that leads into a cellar, I raise my gun. “FBI! Come out with your hands up.”
Everything remains silent. Nick moves to one side of the door and gets into position before I go in. My heart pounds like a fucking drum the closer I get, terrified at what I’m going to find when I walk in.
As soon as I enter I see the body. I’m both shocked and fucking relieved to see it’s Michaels. Nick leans down and feels for a pulse then shakes his head at me.
I continue to move through the room, but I know they aren’t here anymore. “Fuck! Where did they fucking go?”
“Over here!”
I maneuver around the furnace and water tank to the back of the room where Nick is. Looking up, I stare into the dark night sky up to where they made their escape. I put my gun back in place then jump and swing myself up. I draw my weapon again and turn on my tactile light so I can take in my surroundings. I look around the deserted woods and realize we’re quite far from the house.
Once Nick gets up, I shine my light on a path of footsteps in the dirt. “They talked about a cabin, there has to be one around here. Maybe if…” Suddenly another gunshot goes off and I hear Emily scream, not sounding very far away. We haul ass toward the direction of the scream. “You go left, I’ll stay right,” I shout then push myself harder. Please let me fucking make it to her in time.
Emily
“Come on, move faster, bitch.” Kyle spits out while dragging me behind him. I continue to stumble and try to ignore the pain of the sharp earth cutting into the bottoms of my bare feet. My shoes were taken from me when I kept tripping.
Archer leads the way, his gun in hand while he mutters furiously to himself. I look over to see Cassie barely conscious as Vincent carries her over his shoulder. I don’t know what they did to her, but she couldn’t even walk.
Tears stream down my cheeks and my fear escalates the further we get. I’m terrified Ryder isn’t going to find us in time. How can he when I don’t even know where we are? I’m trying to think of a way out of this for both Cassie and me, but it’s completely dark out and I have no clue what direction the house is.
Paul walks not far behind me and I can feel him staring at me the entire time. When I glance back at him, I see him mouth something to me, but as I try to make out what he’s saying I stumble again, which pisses Kyle off. “That’s it, you’re too fucking slow.”
He’s just about to pick me up when Paul runs at him and takes him to the ground. “Run, Emily, now!” I falter for a second, thinking about Cassie, but quickly realize the only thing I can do is get help. So I start running faster than I ever have in my life.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
A gun shot rings out. I scream and cover my head as I continue to run, not knowing if it was aimed at me. I glance behind me to see Archer just shot Paul, and Kyle already up and chasing me. Just as I turn back, another shot goes off, and I feel the bullet whiz past my ear. “Oh god.” I dart left then right, weaving in and out of trees, praying they lose sight of me. My lungs burn something fierce but I don’t stop. It feels like déjà vu all over again.
I have no idea which direction I’m headed in any longer, but I don’t think it’s toward the house. My suspicion is confirmed when I reach an opening that leads to the end of a cliff. I turn around to run in another direction, only to find Kyle charging toward me. I scream again, trying to keep my pace, but I’m not fast enough. He takes me to the ground hard, knocking the air from my lungs in one painful swoosh.
“You fucking bitch!” He rages before sending another blow across my already battered face. I don’t cry out at the pain, because I can’t breathe. “You’re going to fucking pay for that.” He hauls me up by my hair and starts dragging me toward the edge of the cliff.