Twenty-Three
The rocking woke me. The room was light and then dark, and the third time it lit up I realized I was in a van. I had to work to get my mind to focus so I could figure out what was going on. What I did know was that Dominic Kairov had taken me. For what purpose, was the question.
I could tell from the speed that I was on a freeway, but there was no way to gauge a direction.
The fact that I was freezing didn’t help my focus one bit.
I realized my coat was gone. All I was wearing were my corduroys and the sweater I’d put on that morning.
My hands and feet were tied behind me, and I was bent backward in an arch.
It was uncomfortable, but not painful. I was afraid of what my ankle would feel like, though, once I was released.
Would I even be able to stand on it? And then I wondered if I would be released.
How did kidnapping work? What could I expect?
Having never been kidnapped before, I had no idea.
For some reason I thought about my brother then.
What would Dane say if he could see me now?
It would be one more stupid mess that Jory had gotten himself into.
And then I thought about Sam and how much I loved him.
Funny all the things that swept through my brain.
The van stopped, and I could barely breathe. The door slammed open, and I was faced with Dominic and a man who looked familiar but wasn’t instantly recognizable. He was dressed well, in a three-piece suit, topcoat, and a long scarf.
“See?” Dominic gestured at me. “You send me and the job gets done.”
The other man nodded. “I do see, very good. Now I want him shot and—”
I gasped, and he scowled before he turned sideways and saw what I did—Dominic holding a gun to his head. He reached for the gun at the same time it went off. There was blood everywhere, and I screamed.
“Shut the fuck up,” Dominic yelled at me as two other men came to stand with him.
“Toss that asshole in the ravine, but don’t forget to put Jory’s coat next to him.”
I watched him wipe my thigh with the coat, and only then did I see that my pants were torn and I was slightly bleeding.
“Don’t worry, J, it’s only a flesh wound. I just needed to cut you a bit so I could smear some blood on Roman. You’re not gonna bleed to death or nothing.”
So odd that he was talking to me like we were buddies. He tossed the coat to a guy wearing gloves and then slammed the door of the van shut after he got in with me. He sat down as the van started moving again.
“You’re wondering why the hell you’re not in the ditch too, right?”
I nodded.
“Well, because I still need you to show to Roman’s old man. Once I tell him that you killed his son, he’s gonna gut you, and I’m gonna get out from under all this bullshit.”
I just stared at him.
“Do you have any idea how pissed Maggie is at Sam?”
It was a weird segue, but I went with it and shook my head.
“She’s so mad that she agreed to call him for me and get him over to her place.”
I was silent, just keeping my eyes on him.
“You know, with you dead, J, Sammy’s gonna go back to being the way he was. With Roman gone, all evidence of my involvement goes with him. They suspect me now, but without witnesses, I get my life back, my partner back—everything with just you and Roman turning up dead.”
What did one say to that?
“Your ankle hurts, huh?”
I nodded.
“Sorry. I’ll untie you when we get to the warehouse.
I’ll get you some blankets too. I don’t want you to freeze before you see the old man.
” He studied me. “You know, just so you’re prepared, the old man, he might not kill you fast. He’s got some old-world ideas about revenge, and with you being the one that killed his kid an’ all… you might be in for a long night.”
I felt my stomach heave.
“I won’t be around for that, J. It’ll be weird, though, to know for the rest of my life what happened to you and never tell Sam. He’s gonna be so happy to get me back when all they find is pieces of you.”
Hard not to break down, but if I did, I was afraid of what would happen. It seemed like he got off on seeing others suffer. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction…at least not until I absolutely had to.
“Sammy’ll be all devastated, and I’ll be there to see him through it. I’ll even find him a new girl.”
My eyes filled instantly. It hurt my heart just thinking of Sam ever loving anyone but me.
“Faggot piece of shit,” he snarled at me before he leaned forward and drew back his fist. I never even felt the punch.
My whole body hurt. I felt cold even through two blankets, because the wall I was lying beside was like a block of ice.
I could hear things scuttling around in the darkness and knew it could only be rats.
I tried to calm down so I wouldn’t hyperventilate.
I felt the rope between my hands and saw that it ran behind me to the wall.
It was knotted over my head to a pulley.
Looking at it, I realized I could be strung up by my wrists if someone wanted it that way.
Moving my legs, I felt my ankle throb with renewed pain before I felt in my pockets for my phone.
It wasn’t surprising that it was missing.
What kind of cop would Dominic be to miss my cell phone?
I lay back down because my head was pounding and I was dizzy.
I didn’t want to throw up. I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t faint. It didn’t work.
I was nudged awake, and when I looked up, Dominic was standing over me. He had a gallon of water and a bucket. When I lifted my head up off the floor, he squatted down and put both close to me.
“Drink this and use this to piss in.” He smiled lazily. “Don’t mix ’em up.”
I just looked at him.
“Are you hungry?”
I shook my head.
“You will be. And I have something to ask you. Did Sammy meet with IAD?”
“What’s IOD?” I asked deliberately.
“IAD,” he corrected me. “Okay, guess not. IAD is the Internal Affairs Division, J.”
Again it was funny that he was calling me J like we were buddies, like we were just sitting around talking, nothing at all like the life-and-death situation it was.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah.”
He chuckled. “You know, my buddy Marco says if you blow him, he’ll get you some more blankets. I think ya should. It’s like a meat locker in here, J. I mean, we’re sittin’ in the office where it’s warm. Down here in the warehouse, you’re gonna fuckin’ freeze your ass tonight.”
I shook my head.
“Come on, J, think about it. You’re not gonna see Sammy again anyway. He’d want ya to at least be warm.” He said it like it was obvious. “And what’s suckin’ a little dick to a guy like you? I’m sure you’ve blown hundreds of guys.”
“No.”
“C’mon, J, I bet you give a great blow job.”
“Sounds like you wanna know,” I said to antagonize him. I was afraid that the way we were going, I would be forced.
“Fuckin’ cocksucker!” His voice went flat and cold before he stood and kicked me in the ribs.
I rolled up into a ball and saw his boot coming for my face. My head felt like it exploded, and then it was dark all over again.
It was so cold. I couldn’t remember ever being so cold.
My teeth chattering woke me. Sitting up almost made me vomit, but I bit back the nausea, and when I moved my hand to touch my hair, I realized it was caught in something.
I pulled and used my other hand to free it.
Like a heavy, tight-fitting bracelet that slipped off painfully, chafing, but feeling better in seconds.
I jerked suddenly and held up my hand in front of my face.
“Oh shit,” I gasped, realizing the rope was off my right wrist. In the cold, my hands had shrunk, and the rope that had been tight wasn’t any longer.
It took only seconds to get it off my other hand.
This, then, was one of the many benefits of being a small guy—ropes and handcuffs had to be constantly tightened.
I found that I couldn’t stand. Even sitting up almost made me swoon.
So I crawled to the edge of the wall and moved through the darkness.
The floor was covered in gravel and sand and smelled like manure.
There were furry bodies moving just feet from me, but I heaved silently, determined not to vomit.
When I felt a blast of cold air on my face, I looked out and saw the moon-washed snow and a car.
And I thought that running would be good, but at the same time I knew that I was already cold and outside would just be that much worse.
Staying with Dominic would get me killed, but so would wading through snow in just my jeans and a sweater.
When I brushed up against a rope, heavier than the one I had been tied with, I felt up the length and found a knot.
A foot above that, another…and then another.
I couldn’t follow it in the darkness, but it had to lead somewhere.
It was dicey, though. I could barely stand, let alone climb, and depending on how far up it went, I might fall.
These were decisions I had never imagined making, even in my wildest dreams. Did I climb the rope ladder or stay where I was?
The choice was made for me, however, when I heard a heavy door slide open and a shaft of light cut through the darkness.
When I looked, I saw no one in the doorway, so I rose to a hunched position and scrambled back to where the blankets were still piled next to the wall.
I collapsed onto the floor hard and saw lights in front of my eyes.
My body felt heavy, and waves of nausea pounded through me.
“Hey.”
I rolled my head and dimly saw the man looming over me. I was thinking that this had to be Dominic’s friend Marco.
“I’m bored.” He slurred the words before he grabbed me.