32. Chapter 32
Kingsley
You have to protect them. Those same words ran through my mind over and over as I shoved Harley behind me, trying to shield her as much as possible from the intruders cutting off both our exits.
Eight in total, all armed. The only weapon available was a large porcelain vase on a dresser next to us. I stood no chance.
Lord, whatever happens, keep Harley and the baby safe. A father. I was going to be a father.
“On your knees!” The guy who’d come first through the door kept training his rifle at us. The balaclava he wore didn’t allow me to see his face, but his eyes looked Caucasian.
Harley clawed her fingers into my T-shirt at my back.
I wanted to tell her that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her but feared any wrong move would cause a hail of bullets flying our way.
Then again, they would hardly take a shot as long as there was a risk of hitting one of their own.
So maybe being cornered from both sides wasn’t all that bad.
“Don’t even think about touching her,” I said with a calmness I didn’t feel. Whoever those men were had no right to point a rifle at my woman and baby.
“I said on your knees!” the guy barked.
In my periphery on the left I registered something move toward us.
My body snapped into defense mode. I went for a side kick.
Nailed the guy so hard in the chest that he stumbled back into his buddies.
My bare foot throbbed from the impact with his body armor, but my attention was already back on the threat coming from the entrance.
I had no chance to take on all of them, but maybe I could keep them occupied until Rome and his reinforcement showed up.
The guy who’d barked commands at us stabbed the muzzle of his rifle at my throat like a bayonet.
I swerved around it and grabbed his extended arm, bringing myself to his side.
Since his body armor protected his torso and kidneys, I stomped my foot into the side of his knee.
A nasty crack and howl echoed in the marble hallway.
In one swift move, I wrapped an arm around the guy’s neck while grabbing the knife from his belt and bringing it inches from his carotid artery.
“No one move, or I’ll make him a head shorter!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. What was taking Rome so long?
“Kingsley, please don’t hurt him.”
Harley’s whispered words barely made it past the red clouding my awareness. I wasn’t planning on killing anyone.
Not as long as they didn’t touch her. And the baby.
“Easy there, Monk Boy.” Fuller stepped from behind the hounds lingering in the hallway.
He, too, wore black tactical gear. No balaclava, but a sneer.
“The only reason you’re still kickin’ is because I told them to keep you alive.
So don’t get too cocky.” He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Imagine all the fun I get to have with your girlfriend once you’re out of the way. ”
I tightened my grip around the knife. “Let Harley go. Then you can do with me what you want.”
“No!”
The desperation in her cry cut into me. I wanted to wrap her into my arms, but then I’d lose my leverage. We need Your help here, Lord.
“I can’t let her go, and you know that, Monk Boy.” Fuller took another step closer. Raindrops glistened on his bald head. Or maybe it was sweat.
Movement to my right forced me to respond.
I removed the knife from my hostage’s throat, grabbed his head, and slammed it down on the dresser next to me.
He hadn’t even hit the floor yet when I snatched the big porcelain vase and tossed it at the next attacker charging me.
It shattered on his skull, and he collapsed to the floor, out cold.
Electricity crackled somewhere behind me.
A shock of pain hit me and shot through my entire body, locking up my muscles. Stiff as a board, I went down.
Everything went black.
When I came to, impenetrable darkness surrounded me. What was that sound?
Crickets. Loud. So I had to be outside in the jungle. The smell of wet dirt confirmed my assumption. Something else stung my nostrils. Musty fabric. My clothes were soaking wet.
Harley! Where was she?
“Boss, he’s awake!” a guy barked.
Something was pulled from my head. A flashlight blinded me. Out of reflex I lifted a hand to block the glaring light. Both arms came up. My hands were tied together with a rope.
“Where is she?” I demanded. “Where is Harley?” I knelt, then tried to stand, but a strong hand pressed down on my shoulder, forcing me back to my knees. My body still tingled from being tased.
“Give me some credit, Monk Boy,” Fuller’s drawl came from somewhere behind the blinding light. “I don’t hurt women.”
What about having “fun” with Harley once I was out of the way? The guy didn’t make a lick of sense.
“I wanna see her.”
The light beam dropped to the leaf-covered ground. My eyes needed a moment to adjust. The first thing I recognized were trees and wet foliage illuminated by flashlights. Where were we? Which part of the island? For how long had I been out?
Harley came slowly into view. She sat only twenty feet away, duct-taped to a metal chair, a gag in her mouth.
Her hair and clothes were plastered to her, but other than that she seemed fine.
No signs of crying either. Her steady gaze rested on me, so much love in her eyes that a warm sensation spread in my chest.
I gave her an almost imperceptible nod. It’ll be okay, Sweetheart. God is with us.
“She never looked at me like that,” Fuller muttered as he stepped between us, cutting off my view.
I wonder why. I kept the comment to myself. Didn’t need to meet Jesus sooner than necessary.
Blood dripped from Fuller’s nose. With a curse, he wiped it away. “She sure can throw a punch.”
Surprise rippled through me. That had been her?
My chest puffed up. That’s my girl. She was brave. A fighter.
Fuller hunched over, hands planted on his knees so he was at eye level with me.
“You know which part of the Bible always fascinated me the most? Jesus’s flagellation.
I always wanted to know what it’s like. So .
. .” He gestured into the dark, and one of his masked gorillas stepped forward with a whip in hand.
Fuller turned back to me. “How about we give you the same treatment they gave your Jesus? The Bible doesn’t mention the exact number, but apparently He got thirty-nine lashes.
I read that forty are deadly. Let’s find out how long you’ll last, Monk Boy. ”
My heart rate started picking up speed. I’d read a lot of history books in my teens and knew a thing or two about whipping. Some whips had metal pieces attached to them that ripped out whole junks of flesh. Organs could be damaged.
Fuller nodded at his gorillas. “Strip him and hang him up.”
They grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and pulled it over my head, then tied my wrists to a rope hanging from a thick branch.
Cold air taunted my wet skin as they pulled my arms over my head.
I didn’t even try to fight them. I’d volunteer to be their target any day if it meant they left Harley and the baby alone.
Fuller strolled over to her and squatted behind the chair. He whispered something in her ear, then removed the gag.
“Leave him alone, Craig. Please!”
He chuckled. “I told you not to involve anyone. And what do you do? You get the Mafia involved. I can’t let that go unpunished.”
Pain exploded across my back. I’d been so focused on their conversation that I hadn’t seen the guy standing next to me letting the whip fly.
If I hadn’t been hanging from a tree, I would’ve folded under the fire.
I bit back a groan, gritting my teeth until the burning simmered to stinging.
I could literally feel where my skin had split—
The next whip came, burning even harder. The excruciating pain stole my breath.
“Stop it, Craig!” Harley screamed, her voice pitching. “You can’t do this to him!”
“Sorry, honey, that was only number two.” Craig didn’t sound sorry at all. “Thirty-seven more to go.”
Another whip cracked, ripping my back open some more. I couldn’t hold back the groan. Number four hurt even more.
I closed my eyes. Lord, give me the strength to endure this like You endured it. Protect Harley. Protect the baby.
Whack.
More pain. I growled. Gritted my teeth. Breathed through the excruciating torment and rising nausea.
I opened my eyes again, searching Harley. Agony was written all over her beautiful face. It’s okay, Sweetheart. Everything will be all right. I promise.
Another whip cut into my flesh, and I arched my back. The movement turned me around.
Harley gasped when she saw my back. “Craig, please stop it! You’ll kill him!”
“You think? He’s a pretty tough cookie, if you ask me.”
“What is wrong with you?” Her tone sounded level, but disbelief clung to her words.
Fuller’s gorilla grabbed my shoulder and turned me back around. Harley’s lower lip quivered when she looked at me.
“You have a spider on your head,” I said between labored breaths.
“Liar.” But she laughed.
I gave her a smile. There you go, Sweetheart.
Another whip cut into my flesh. My vision grayed. What number were we on? I’d lost count.
“Wait.” Fuller held up a hand. “We forgot something crucial.” He stalked to one of the trees and picked something up. Came sauntering back to me with a crown of thorns. He lifted it like he was crowning a king, then pressed it onto my head.
The thorns bit into my scalp. I welcomed the different kind of pain, the distraction from my burning back. I was really getting the Jesus treatment. Was crucifixion on the menu, too?
Fuller took a step back and regarded his work like a painter admiring his masterpiece. He smiled. “Perfect. Keep going.”
The next whip elicited a strangled roar from me. I could feel the blood running down my back. Lord, I can’t . . . I let out a growl. Give me the strength to endure this.
Here I had my desert thorns and briar treatment. The punishment I’d thought I deserved. Yet it changed nothing. It didn’t erase my sins or make me feel better. Neither did my self-imposed proverbial flagellation—
Hold up. I almost laughed out loud at the revelation that had just hit me.
It was a shaky analogy at best, but the truth finally hit home.
The reason I got this whipping was because of Harley.
Her actions had me hanging here. At least that’s what she was saying, even though I didn’t quite agree.
Either way I gladly took the whipping upon me because I loved her and our baby, and I would volunteer to do it again and again and again, no matter how many times Harley got us into this situation.
That’s exactly what Jesus had done for us.
He’d taken the humiliation and excruciating pain on Him so we could have eternal life, even though we didn’t deserve it.
After the flagellation He’d carried the heavy cross, then been nailed to it.
All that because He loved us so much and wanted to pay for our sins.
Rejecting His forgiveness by not forgiving myself meant He’d gone through all of this torment for nothing. How arrogant and idiotic I’d been.
I lowered my chin to my chest. Lord, please forgive me for being so blind. For not appreciating what You’ve done for me. Despite knowing that I couldn’t earn my salvation, my heart couldn’t grasp it. It does now. Thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You for the high price You paid for me.
My hearing hollowed more with every merciless whip. Darkness crowded out consciousness until I teetered along the abyss.
Not much more was needed, and blackness would swallow me whole.