Chapter 50
CHAPTER FIFTY
Savina
I OVERHEARD MY kidnappers talking. They’re going to ask my father for twenty million dollars for my safe return.
Normally, someone in a hostage situation would probably feel relieved that the kidnappers only want money.
But I feel anything but relief in this moment, because I know my father, and I know that he will never pay them.
Instead, he’ll try to get me back on his own, the much more dangerous but cheaper option, and who knows what will happen to Darby and me by then.
Would my father even care if they killed me?
His money is the only thing he’s ever cared about, so I highly doubt he would part with such a large sum in exchange for my life.
“It’s been over twenty-four hours,” I hear one of the men mutter as he checks his watch. There are three of them huddled in a corner playing cards on top of a beat-up table. One of them wins his hand, and then they all walk out of the room, leaving us alone once again.
It’s only been one day since my father received that ransom note, but it feels like an eternity that I’ve been tied to this chair.
My entire body aches with fatigue and stress.
The only time I get any sort of reprieve is when they untie me to eat and go to the bathroom a few times a day.
I take those opportunities to get the circulation back in my limbs, which are constantly tingly and numb from being tied up in the same position for hours on end.
Darby is restless beside me, her knee nervously bouncing as much as her bindings will allow. “We need to get the hell out of here,” she whispers to me when the men walk out of the room, leaving us alone. “I can’t spend another night in this place,” she whimpers, her voice trembling with fear.
Darby is really starting to worry me. She’s always so damn strong, but I know her ultimate weakness is the dark.
At night, they turn off all the lights in here, bathing us in total darkness, and that’s when she loses her shit.
It’s as if her fears are slowly eating away at her from the inside out, and I worry she’s going to lose it soon.
There’s nothing I can do or say that seems to help her when she’s in that obscure place inside her mind.
“I know, Darby, but we’re not in a position to do anything right now,” I try to explain to her, but she has this look in her eyes right now that tells me all I need to know.
She’s cooking up a scheme or some kind of plan that’s probably going to end up getting us both hurt.
“Whatever you’re planning is not going to work,” I warn her.
She turns to me, cocks her head to the side and grins.
“Maybe not, but it’s better than waiting for them to kill us,” she hisses.
“They need you for the ransom. If I can get out of here, I can go get help and come back for you,” she says, trying to make me understand the plan that she has formulated in her head.
“Darby, please, it’s too dangerous,” I plead with her, but she shakes her head in determination.
“Hello? Mr. Kidnapper, I really need to pee!” she yells, and I wince.
Once Darby has her mind set on something, there’s nothing talking her out of it; but I still try. “Please, Darby, don’t do this,” I beg her in a hushed whisper.
The heavy metal door squeaks open, and my heart sinks.
One of the men, who enters the room, grumbles, “Again? We just got done tying you back up.”
“I’m so sorry,” Darby drawls, batting her long eyelashes.
The man groans in protest but stomps over to her and begins untying her. As soon as Darby is free, she throws her hand forward, palm up, straight into the man’s face. An audible crunching sound fills the room before he screams.
Holy shit, those self-defense classes she’s been taking really paid off.
“You bitch!” he screams, trying to grab her, but Darby manages to stand up and evade his grasp.
She then takes off running towards a door, clearly thinking she’ll be able to escape. But I watch despondently as she pulls and pulls at the handle and nothing happens. It’s locked. She moves quickly to another door but gets the same result. It’s locked too.
As she tries to find another exit, a few men rush into the room, evidently having heard the commotion. “What the hell happened?” someone asks the injured man.
“Bitch broke my fuckin’ nose!” he hollers.
That’s when the men barrel towards Darby, surrounding her. I watch powerlessly from my chair, wishing I could have talked her out of doing this; and wishing now that I could help her somehow.
“Shit,” Darby says right before one of the men grabs her. He hauls her backwards and tosses her to the ground like she’s a ragdoll. She collapses on the hard concrete, groaning in pain.
“You’re gonna pay for breaking my nose, lass,” the first man says, stepping forward, his nose bleeding. “Grab her, boys,” he instructs the men.
Two of them grab Darby, hauling her up into a standing position. She’s barely upright when the man with the bloody nose slaps her hard in the face.
Darby’s head whips to the side, her long hair hiding her face. Tears stream down my face as I holler at them to let her go.
And then I hear…Darby laughing. She turns to face her attacker with a smile on her face. Blood coats her teeth as she beams up at him. “That the best you got? You hit like a girl,” she taunts him.
Grimacing at her words, I watch in horror as the dirtbag hits her again, harder this time. Darby collapses against the punch, and the men drop her to the ground like she’s a piece of garbage.
I begin to scream at the top of my lungs until my throat is raw. “Don’t hurt her!” I yell.
The man with the bloody nose stands over her and chuckles. “Feisty bitch, I’ll give her that,” he comments. “Kinda turns me on.”
The blood in my veins turns to solid ice when I see him reaching for his zipper.
“No, no, no, no!” I scream, fighting against my bonds.
I try to make as much commotion as I can, drawing their attention to me.
I don’t care what happens to me in here, but they will not hurt my best friend.
But they only glance over at me for a few moments before their gazes drop back to Darby on the floor.
“I’m gonna show this bitch what she’s been missing her entire life,” the man she hurt earlier says as he lowers his zipper.
“Well, if it’s your micropenis, I haven’t been missing much,” Darby sneers.
That causes the man to just get even more angry, and I curse under my breath. Damn it, Darby.
“Hold her down, boys,” he hollers.
Suddenly, two of the men pin Darby to the ground as she kicks and screams and fights for her life.
“No! Please!” I yell, my voice going hoarse. “Take me! Take me instead!” I plead, pulling against my restraints. I would rather take every ounce of pain they’re willing to dish out if that meant that Darby was safe and unhurt.
Suddenly, Darby kicks her foot out, hitting the man in his thigh, barely missing his groin, and he takes a step back and says, “Try that again, bitch, and I’ll carve my initials into your feckin’ face.” He pulls a switchblade out of his pocket, sliding it open and showing it to her.
Suddenly, Darby is quiet, so quiet, and it scares the hell out of me.
“Hey, asshole!” I shout as I buck around in my chair, the screeching sound almost deafening, but nothing breaks his concentration. His sole focus is on Darby.
I hear footfalls enter the room, and I look up to see a shadowed figure. He steps into the light, and I get a better look at him. He’s tall and built with shaggy, dark brown hair. His green eyes take in the situation before him as he says, “I thought we weren’t supposed to hurt them.”
“Just that one,” the man says, pointing the blade at me.
The new guy turns and looks at me, and I can see the concern written all over his face. If I can get through to anyone, perhaps it’s him. “Please,” I beg him. “Please don’t let them hurt her!”
He closes his eyes for a moment and turns away from me.
At first, I think he’s going to leave and let them have their way with my friend.
But then suddenly, he shouts, “That’s enough!
Leave her alone.” He starts pulling the men away from her and ends up getting a fist thrown in his direction.
He expertly dodges it, however, and lands one of his own on his colleague.
They scuffle for a bit, and I find myself rooting for the new guy.
He seems to come out on top, taking one down expertly in the brawl.
“She broke my feckin’ nose! Bitch is gonna pay for that, Cillian,” Darby’s attacker sneers.
Cillian. The man who might be Darby’s saving grace is named Cillian.
“She’s been a problem ever since she got here,” another says.
“Let me handle her,” Cillian speaks up. “I’ll get her out of your hair,” he offers.
The men consider this, but the one with the broken nose shakes his head. “Still gotta make her pay first. Eye for a feckin’ eye.”
“Enough!” a deep voice roars, drawing everyone’s attention, including mine.
He’s an older man with brown hair graying at the temples, and he’s wearing an expensive, tailored suit.
Power clings to him like a second skin, and I realize this must be their boss.
I was wondering when he would finally make an appearance.
I look down at his dark brown Oxford shoes, which are polished to perfection, as he walks past me without even so much as a glance and stands a few feet away from his men.
“What is all the racket, you feckin’ eejits? ” the man asks in a gruff voice.
“This bitch is actin’ up,” broken nose says before grabbing Darby’s face roughly and squeezing her cheeks together until she’s whimpering in pain. He releases his grip before backhanding her, sending her head flying to the side.
“Leave her alone!” I scream.
The boss pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. “This is the kind of shit I don’t want to deal with today, boys.”
“I can take her to the safehouse. Deal with her there,” Cillian abruptly offers, and I narrow my eyes at him, not knowing if he’s doing Darby a favor or wanting to get her alone so that he can hurt her too.
“Good idea. She’s too much of a distraction here,” the boss agrees.
“Fine. Let The Carver take care of the bitch,” broken nose says.
Oh god, they call him The Carver? I thought Cillian was our saving grace, but now I think I was horribly mistaken.
I watch in dismay as Darby is hauled upright by her hair and pushed in the direction of Cillian. He manages to catch her in his arms. With one steady arm behind her back, he gently sweeps her hair away from her face and stares down into her eyes. “Let’s go, love,” he whispers to her.
“I’m not leaving without my friend,” she says stubbornly before turning, pleading to me with her eyes.
I don’t want him to take Darby away, but I know she’s better off not being with these men who were about to rape her.
At least she can take one man on by herself.
Darby has more of a possibility of getting away if Cillian takes her away from here.
Darby is resourceful. She’s the strongest person I know.
And so that’s why I find myself saying, “It’s okay, Darby.
I’ll be f-f-fine.” My voice is shaking, but I hope that she can read my face.
The odds are way better for her out there than in here.
Darby shakes her head slowly as tears fill her eyes. She opens her mouth to protest, but the boss says with finality, “Get her the hell out of here.”
Cillian drags Darby away and out the door while she fights him. And that’s the last image I have of her in my mind. All I have to hold on to is the hope that I’ll see my best friend again someday.