“Red didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Kellen knows I don’t like Red or being anywhere near his presence after the first run-in I had with him a few days into my employment at the bar. Red got a little too handsy with me for Kellen’s liking, and he got me out of the situation before it got worse. He’s my savior when it comes to this place.
“No, Kellen. He didn’t hurt me, but thank you for checking on me. Did Ricca go out to the Jeep already?” I ask, noticing I don’t see her standing around outside waiting for me.
“No, Miss Dani. Someone came to pick her up. She wanted me to tell you that she left the keys under the floor mat of the Jeep and to go on home. She’ll get a ride back in the morning,” Kellen says as we near Ricca’s car. He opens the door for me and I feel around the floorboard for Ricca’s keys. I finally feel the cool metal of the keys and pull them out of their hiding spot under the mat, jiggling them towards Kellen.
“Do you want me to follow you home?” Kellen politely asks.
“You don’t have to do that, K. I’ll be fine! I know how to get myself home,” I reply as I step up into the Jeep and settle into the driver’s seat. Kellen shuts the door for me as I slip the seat-belt around my waist. Starting up the engine, I put the car into reverse.
“Lock up when you get home, Dani,” Kellen yells over the noise of the engine. Nodding in agreement, I back the Jeep out of the spot and shove it into first gear, heading for the parking lot exit. I wave to the watchful Kellen as I pull into the street and head for home.
Safely arriving at my apartment a few minutes later, I toss Ricca’s keys on the counter after locking the door. I wonder what the hell was going on that she couldn’t tell me where she was going. Pulling my pay envelope out of the back of my jeans, I count the cash and put half in my secret hiding spot behind a loose baseboard between my bed and the TV stand. The rest of the cash I deposit into my purse on the side table. I discovered my hidey hole after an extreme cleaning session after a particularly bad night of tequila vs. Dani. The tequila won that battle, and I spent four hours on my hands and knees scrubbing vomit stains out of the carpet.
At first, I took to hiding my cash from Ricca because sometimes you just never know about a person’s true intentions until it’s too late, but now I hide it from her elusive boyfriend. I still find it odd that I have yet to meet the man she claims is the love of her life, but it’s not my prerogative to inquire about him. I’m not about to leave my cash lying around when he could stop by any second. I’ve learned my lessons about trusting too soon. Cleveland is proof of that.
Stripping off my work clothes and depositing them into the ever-growing pile of laundry by the door, I slip into a shirt and shorts and climb into bed. An hour or so later, I hear the door of the apartment open and think to myself, Ricca finally came home. Snuggling back into my pillow, I fall back asleep immediately.
“Who the fuck are you?” a male voice screams as I am ripped from my bed and thrown onto the floor. I scramble to get my wits about me, but my attacker doesn’t wait for me to wake up fully.
“I ain’t asking again, bitch. Who the fuck are you?” he shrieks. Before I can even reply, he presses a gun to my temple. “I’m still waiting for that name. I’ll give until the count of three to give me your name or I am going to pump this pretty fucking head of yours full of lead.” Clicking the trigger as he pulls back, I hear, “1…2…”
“Dani!” I yell. “My name is Dani!”
Feeling the gun pull away from my head, I feel like I can finally breathe again. What the hell is happening? Who is this guy? My vision is still blurry from being asleep but I can make out that his muscular, tanned arms are covered in tattoos. His jean-clad legs are muscular and huge.
“Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it, Dani? Where’s Ricca? I know you know where that bitch is.”
“I haven’t seen her since before I left work, asshole. She left me the Jeep and told the bouncer she had somewhere she needed to be,” I yell just before he kicks me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me.
“That’s bullshit. You might try the truth this time. Where the hell is she, Dani?” he says, landing another blow to my midsection.
“I don’t know!” I scream. “I saw her just before I left the bar. She didn’t take her car, so I just assumed she was with her boyfriend.”
Kicking me a third time, I feel something inside me snap as a pain-laced scream rips from my throat. My hands fly to protect my blisteringly painful stomach since I’m pretty sure he just broke one of my ribs. “Well, seeing as how that title used to belong to me, I’m going to call bullshit.” He curses at me in Spanish, striking me with the butt of his gun.
“I swear I don’t know where she is. Please stop kicking me. Please!” I cry.
“Oh, baby girl,” he says, leaning down closer to me. “Please doesn’t work with a guy like me. If you think a few shots to your stomach is bad, just wait until we get you back to the clubhouse.” He calls out the door in Spanish and four more men walk into my bedroom. The men surround me while the man with the gun hauls me up from the ground by my hair. As he rips me from the floor, the pain from my stomach shoots up my torso. It limits me on my ability to fight back, but it’s not going to stop me. I flail my feet outward, hoping to connect to his groin, but I miss completely. One of the other men grabs me to restrain me further but I bite his hand as hard as I can while he tries to get ahold of my shoulder to pin me. Before I can move, a hand grabs me by the throat and squeezes it, cutting off my air supply and killing the fight in me.
“You’re a feisty little bitch. I like that. Maybe there’s some use for you after all since you can’t seem to tell me the truth about where Ricca is hiding. If I can’t find her, I guess you’ll have to pay her debt,” he says with a sinister laugh.
I fidget, trying to break free from his grasp before he chokes the life out of me. “I hope you like dick, baby girl, because you are about to become our newest whore. The guys will have fun breaking you in,” he says evilly, increasing the pressure on my throat. The room begins to blur and his laughter continues as darkness takes hold, then I pass out under his grip.
The hum of an engine fills my ears as I slip back into consciousness before pain shocks me awake. With each jostle of the car, pain radiates across my stomach. I need to calm myself down before I pass back out from the pain. I won’t be taken prisoner by these bastards. My eyes finally adjust to my new surroundings only to discover I am lying on my back in the trunk of a moving car. I try to move my hands but they’re bound together tightly in a prayer position with duct tape.
Shit, this isn’t good. How in the hell do I keep getting myself into these kinds of situations? It’s like bad karma has followed me everywhere since Cleveland. I rack my brain for ideas on how to get out of this when the car suddenly comes to a stop.
I know my time is running short when I hear the doors slam shut and footsteps walking away from the car. I can hear them talking and can only make out bits of what they’re saying, but I think I hear one of them mention food. If they stop to eat, I might be able to escape while they’re gone.
This might be my only chance before they bind me to a bed and make me their sex slave. I’d rather die before letting one of these fucking bastards touch me.
While wiggling around in the car, I discover that they left my feet unbound. I thank God for small miracles or, in this case, their stupidity. I just need to contort myself enough to reach the trunk release. God, I just hope they haven’t removed it.