Rescuing Melissa (ALPHA TEAM: Guardian Hostage Rescue Specialists)

47. Locks

FORTY-SEVEN

Locks

MELISSA

Pierce and Scott talked about dungeons and abductions like it was the weather. Pierce held Melissa, cuffed and chained, with the hammer of her heart rattling her teeth while he droned on about the dungeon downstairs.

Scott cocked his head. “I’m interested to see how you improved my design.” His gaze roamed her body, lingering on her breasts, and sent a chill up her spine. The tortured screams of his victims reflected in the depths of those eyes and echoed their never-ending torment in her mind.

And was that the smell of dead animals creeping up from the basement?

She tugged on her chains, caged more by Pierce’s unwavering grip than by her bonds.

Scott pumped Pierce for information about the dungeon. Didn’t Pierce realize why that might be? His body would be left down there with hers, and others, if she understood about these princesses. Dear God, this was worse than her most terrifying nightmare.

Her vision zoomed in on Scott’s twitchy hands. All she could see were fingernails caked in more blood than she ever wanted to think about. The bead of sweat forming at his hairline betrayed his unease, and his eyes shifted to the knife block behind Pierce. Melissa took a quick inventory, and the knot in her stomach eased, seeing all the spots still sported knives.

Scott would need an alternate weapon, but he would find one.

Pierce shifted back, and the creak of the floorboard beneath his foot had her jerking against her restraints. The wind howled outside and rattled the window panes. Her heart pounded, and her breathing deepened when Pierce gestured for Scott to head to the basement. Pierce followed, carrying her in his arms.

Her opportunity to escape had come and gone. And she’d done…nothing! Nothing but sit like a sack of potatoes in Pierce’s arms. Why hadn’t she tried to scream?

Scott would be allowed ten strikes, and although she’d vowed not to give him the satisfaction of her screams, he would drag agony from her body until he satiated his sadistic needs.

Putting up a brave front would only intensify the beating to come.

Pierce stepped between rows of shelving filled with crates of supplies that extended into the gloom of the dark basement. A single incandescent bulb lit their way.

Scott turned in a slow circle, admiring the ordered boxes. “Where’s the entrance to the dungeon?”

Melissa twisted her wrists. Locks bound the cuffs, and more locks attached the chains connecting her hands to her feet. She’d been trussed up and immobilized.

“This way.” Pierce headed to the back wall.

There were enough supplies to last for years. Pallets of bottled water formed a wall to the left, stacked beside them were filters of various types. More shelves stood to the right. There was barely enough room for Pierce to carry her between the shelving units. Her toes brushed stacks of water, crates of canned goods, and vacuum-packed food. The basement ended at an impressive wine rack. Hundreds of bottles lay on their sides.

Pierce jostled for position in the narrow confines and snagged his toe under the wooden wine rack. He activated a lever of some sort. The wall of wine slid to the side and revealed a heavy wooden door hidden behind. A combination lock barred further progress.

He jostled her, freeing one hand to spin the combination. The lock released with asnick,and he pushed open the door. Carrying her further underground, the concrete floor of the basement gave way to hard-packed dirt. Behind them, the wine-wall slid back in place with a churning of gears.

Cops might come, but they’d never find this entrance. Fear pulled a whimper from her throat, and she curled inward, pressing her eyes closed. But she wouldn’t face her fate afraid or blind. Melissa blinked and forced herself to take in her surroundings.

Poured concrete of the basement no longer held back the dirt or stabilized the ceiling. Instead, a mixture of soil and rock, shored up with timber, formed the passage, making her think of a mining tunnel. A string of incandescent lightbulbs marched off down a tunnel longer than she imagined capable of lying beneath a home. A yellow glow lit their way. Pierce’s breathing changed, becoming deeper with each pull of his breath until the tunnel ended abruptly around a sharp bend. A rough wooden door covered in locks waited.

“Take her,” he said, spinning to Scott and thrusting her into her ex-husband’s arms. “I have to open the next lock, and I can’t do it while holding her.” His lips twisted as if he didn’t appreciate having to relinquish control to Scott.

She cried out when Scott’s fingers dug into the bruising down her side. He held her with much less assurance than Pierce had, and, within moments, Scott’s hold slipped. He hefted her weight and readjusted his grip. Prison must have weakened him more than she thought.

The feel of Scott’s arms wrapping around her had her heart leaping to her throat. He smelled different from what she remembered; stale, like a cold prison cell. He placed more pressure on her bruised ribs, causing her to wince in pain. Pierce worked at the lock to an ominous door.

“Did you miss me?” His sour stench infiltrated her nostrils.

She clenched her teeth. “I mourned the loss of the man I fell in love with.”

He tilted her and pressed his lips against her forehead. “Nonsense. I love you with every fiber of my being, just as you still love me. Why do you think I did those things to those girls instead of you?”

“You don’t have to do this.” Rationalizing made no sense, but she had to try.

Laughter bubbled in his chest, chilling her blood, and slowing the beat of her heart. His fetid breath had her cringing.

“Don’t worry, love, I don’t want to kill you. You belong to him now, my gift to my protégé. He treasures hisprincesses. That’s what he calls his little whores, and you’ll become his majestic Queen. But you need to pay for what you did, and Pierce will make sure you suffer a very long time. Much more fitting than death for what you did.”

His words chilled her soul.

“He’s right about me hanging around. I can’t stay. They’re probably subpoenaing my mail as we speak. Pierce has been smart, but they’ll follow his trail. The police will come to see if I’ve stopped by. He knows this, but Pierce has prepared. They’ll never find this underground retreat. But one night among friends is a twist of fate I can’t ignore. I’m honored to spend this day with him…and you.”

Pierce returned from unlocking the door. He gestured for Scott to give her back.

Scott tightened his grip, the muscles of his jaw clenched.

“We spoke about you in our letters,” Scott said. “I thought it fitting you belong to a man like him. He knows how to punish you for your betrayal.”

“I never betrayed you.”

“You took vows,” Scott said with a growl. “To love, honor, and obey. You did not honor me or obey me when you handed over the keys to the shed. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I had no choice.”

“You should have protected me.”

“They had a search warrant,” she argued.

“You done chatting?” Pierce yanked her out of Scott’s hold.

Melissa’s stomach flipped as Scott released her back to Pierce, who cradled her in arms much stronger than Scott’s.

Pierce handed Scott six locks. “Pull the door shut behind you. I lock the door from the inside.” He ducked inside the next room.

Melissa gasped at the size of the place. A king bed dominated the room, two rows of what looked to be cages ran down the sides, and what was chained against the far wall? Her chest tightened, and she struggled to breathe. Not what, but who was chained against the far wall.

Scott grunted with the effort of pulling the thick door back into position. He slid the bolt into place and locked them inside.

“Check it,” Pierce demanded.

He spun to face the door, taking away her vision of the horrible room.

“They’re locked,” Scott said. “All of them.”

“Recheck them.”

Scott pulled and tugged on the locks. “Satisfied?”

“Again,” Pierce insisted.

“Seriously?” Her husband frowned.

“Again.” Pierce’s voice was low and flat, lacking all the overtones she had noticed before. It made him appear even more lethal than Scott.

Melissa peeked over Pierce’s shoulder. She didn’t pray for strength. She hoped for a quick death.