Chapter 16 You’re Criminals
You're Criminals
Suzie jolted awake, her mouth so dry she had to swallow four times before anything happened. Thirst was a nagging craving, and it affected her thought processes. Where was she?
Memories came crashing down on her without warning. She tried to sit up and flapped about like an ungainly fish because someone had bound her feet and her hands behind her back. Suzie ceased wriggling and took a deep breath to counteract the panic gathering in her.
Someone had drugged her.
Euan and Colin. She’d thought she’d caught a whiff of their scents before someone had clapped that stinky cloth over her nose.
In the dark room, Suzie couldn’t make out much. She got the impression of furniture, dust, and decay. A deserted building, perhaps?
Footsteps sounded outside the room. Suzie tensed. Dithered. Should she pretend to be asleep, or should she hurl insults at her captors and scream for help? At the last second, she feigned unconsciousness. She could always magically awaken if she judged that wiser.
Suzie closed her eyes not a second too soon. The door flew open. Her heart leaped, adrenaline surging through her. She fought the urge to give her visitor a tongue-lashing.
Their scent gave them away. Colin and Euan.
Niall’s brothers were causing trouble again, and it was no wonder a younger Niall had given up on his family and left home.
It must’ve been difficult for him at the start, and she respected him for the success he’d made of his life.
It made her even more determined to help him get his honey to market.
Footsteps came closer, and a lamp switched on. Suzie found it difficult not to lash out with a pithy diatribe about why Colin and Euan were useless individuals.
“She should be awake by now,” Euan murmured, his voice sounding close. Too close. “I thought the boss said it was a weak dose and wouldn’t hurt her.”
Suzie stopped herself from giving an indignant sniff. He sounded as if he cared.
“Doesn’t matter,” Colin said. “She’s breathing, right? As long as she’s alive, we have a bargaining chip. We can’t fail.”
Euan sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. We have half our payment. Ma should’ve paid off our debt by now.”
“We should’ve kept some back and booked a room in a decent hotel.”
Whiny brat. Distaste flowed through Suzie, but she remained still.
Niall was worth ten of his siblings. He never acted as if the world owed him.
He’d worked hard and forged his path. Suzie hesitated, wondering if she should pretend unconsciousness for longer or magically awaken.
No, she’d try to learn more first. Like, who was this mysterious boss who’d issued orders?
“What are we gonna do? We need information, or we won’t receive the rest of our money,” Colin said.
Huh! You and me both, buddy. Suzie relaxed and settled in to wait for them to discuss their situation. She hoped her bladder got with the program and didn’t force her to beg for a restroom.
Much to her disappointment, Euan and Colin fell silent, although Colin, judging by the waft of scent, was driving her up the wall with his incessant pacing. Time passed so slowly she wanted to scream, and finally, she’d had enough. Her eyes flew open, taking precious seconds to adjust.
“I knew it,” Colin cried. “You were pretending.”
“Arsehole,” Suzie spat, not bothering to deny his accusation. He hadn’t known at all, otherwise, he wouldn’t have paced like a caged animal.
When the two bear shifters stared at her, she growled, the catlike sound making them both flinch.
“Are you intending to explain your actions?” she asked, not holding back on the snark.
While she waited for a reply, she scanned the room.
The furniture was unloved, with broken legs and frayed upholstery.
A thick layer of dust covered every surface, and Colin’s footprints were easily discernible.
A ratty, sheer curtain covered the sole window.
It was high up and not an easy method of escape. The door, then.
The brothers exchanged a glance. Neither spoke.
“I’ll begin,” Suzie said. “Why have you kidnapped me? And why am I trussed like a Christmas turkey?” The rope binding her feet had loosened slightly with her wriggling. She’d keep them talking while subtly trying to free herself.
“You smell like my brother,” Euan said.
Suzie’s heart skipped a beat, but she controlled her expression.
Because they were mates. Yeah, she’d fought this, but her inner soul understood the truth.
Niall was her mate, which meant—if she survived the experience with these two dunderheads—she’d stay in Scotland and wouldn’t get to take up the scholarship she’d worked so hard to win.
She hesitated, instinct telling her to lie.
“Because we decided to have fun together and share a bed until I fly home next week.” Good grief.
So much had happened to her and her friends during the gathering.
They’d need to organize a reunion to catch up.
That thought brought a frown because she still hadn’t spoken to Edwina.
She hoped her friend was safe and she’d truly found a mate.
“You’re sleeping with him?” Disbelief sounded in Colin.
“Why not? We’re single without ties. He’s rich and attractive.
A fantastic lover.” She met Colin’s gaze and then Euan’s.
Although every word was accurate, what she liked most about Niall was the true heart he hid beneath his grumpy exterior.
Despite the knocks he’d received as a youngster, he’d come out the other side.
Niall was all that was decent. She paused.
And he was a considerate and fantastic lover.
“You’re with him for the money,” Colin said.
Let them think that. She didn’t care because it wasn’t the truth. One didn’t need money to be happy. Happiness came from small things. Friendship. Love. A touch of hands. Togetherness.
“Why am I here?” Suzie ground out, impatient with the two gawking idiots.
The brothers exchanged a glance before turning back to her.
“You’re going to write a note to Niall,” Euan said.
Suzie held up her bound hands. “How?”
Euan had the audacity to roll his eyes. “We’ll untie your hands.”
“Excellent,” Suzie muttered. The rope binding her feet was almost loose enough for her to slip one foot free.
“Don’t you be getting no ideas of escape,” Colin warned. “It’s two of us against you.” He sniffed. “You’re a kitty cat. Bet you transform to something small and scrawny. A lap pet.”
Suzie bared her teeth, but that was her only reaction.
“Get the paper and pen,” Euan ordered.
Colin stalked over to the other side of the room and fumbled with a brown paper bag. He returned, carrying two pens and a lined pad.
“Why should I write a note to Niall?”
Euan’s eyes flared amber before settling back into plain brown. “Because if you don’t, you’re not leaving this room alive.”
Suzie made a scoffing sound that echoed in the locked room. “You won’t hurt me. If anything happens to me, Niall will go to the authorities.”
“I thought you said you and Niall are casual lovers,” Colin said. “Why would he care if anything happened to you?”
“Because he doesn’t claw over others to get ahead.” A subtle dig. Too subtle since neither of the bears even blinked.
Interesting. They didn’t consider their actions immoral or outside of the law. As far as they were concerned, every penny Niall earned belonged to them. Anger flooded Suzie. Sorrow, too, for the small bear who couldn’t fight back, so he’d left and found another family in a lonely old Highlander.
But Niall wasn’t content to kick back and spend his inherited money. He continued to work. Although he hadn’t told her, it was clear Niall donated some of his spoils and allowed the shifters to use the castle for the gathering.
“You disgust me,” Suzie snapped, not holding back her ire. The rope around her wrists snapped.
“Crap,” Colin said, freezing, his eyes wide when she kicked one foot free.
“Grab her,” Euan ordered.
Colin snapped out of his shock and pounced.
He grasped her, and she lashed out with her fingernails, gouging lines on his meaty forearm.
He cursed up a storm. Suzie instinctively elbowed him in the guts and stomped on his foot.
While he swore and hopped ungainly, she kneed him in the balls and silently thanked Isabella and her take-no-prisoners training.
Anger flooded her, counteracting her previous distress.
Euan’s brows rose as he observed his younger brother writhing on the floor. “You can’t get past me to escape, and I’m not leaving this room until I have your letter.”
Suzie thought quickly. They weren’t telling her why they wanted this letter. Maybe she’d cooperate and lull them into a false sense of security. Even if they left her alone, locked in this room, she thought she could pick the lock or use her strength to break down the door.
“What will happen after I write the letter?” she asked.
“We’ll keep you locked in here while we deliver it to Niall. We’ll release you once he follows our instructions.”
“What’s stopping me from going to the cops?”
An expression of shock slid across Euan. “You’d turn us into the human cops?”
“In a heartbeat. You’re criminals, and I bet you entered the country illegally.”
He didn’t react much, but she caught the twitch of his eye and knew she was right. He wanted nothing to do with the law.
“How did you get into the UK?” she prodded.
“Friends with a boat,” he said.
“Ah. So once Niall does whatever you want, you’ll disappear until you need more money. Then you’ll find another way to extort his wealth.”
Euan ignored that dig, too, but Suzie sensed the truth of her words. To them, Niall would always be the runt and someone for them to bully. They held no respect for his accomplishments. For him.
“Enough,” Colin snarled.
Euan prodded the paper and pen toward her. “Write.”
Suzie gave a long-suffering sigh. “Very well. What do you want me to write in this oh-so-important letter?”
“Write this: They want to exchange me for your honey and reschedule your product release date until next year. Bring the honey to the end of the lake at ten tonight. If you fail to comply or contact the authorities, you’ll not see me again.”
Suzie lifted her head to frown at Euan. “I told you I’m flying home next week. If you check with the airline, you’ll find I’m booked on the Air New Zealand flight from Heathrow. Niall doesn’t have feelings for me. We’re friends, that’s all.”
“I don’t believe you,” Euan said. “Finish the letter.”
Suzie shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you.”
She continued to write, not using Euan’s precise wording, but it was close enough and meant the same thing.
Now that she knew her kidnapper’s identity, she wasn’t as frightened.
No, they’d irked her fiercely, and she longed to knock their heads together.
She handed over the note and watched Euan read it.
Satisfaction slid over his smarmy face, and she trembled with the urge to strike out physically.
Suzie batted down her fury, and once she’d forced her muscles to relax during a casual stretch, she focused on information gathering. “I’ve told you Niall and I are nothing more than friends. We’ve enjoyed ourselves with a vacation fling, and that’s all we’ll ever have.”
She silently apologized to Niall because their night together had been everything. She missed him like crazy.
“If you want to believe otherwise, this cluster is on you. Now go away. I’m tired, and I want to sleep.” She stood and went to the room’s largest, most comfortable-looking chair. A spring jabbed her in the back when she plonked onto the dusty cushion. It was difficult to hide her grimace.
“You’re a cool one,” Colin said. “I thought you might cry the entire time. Blubber like a baby.” He shot a glance at his brother, and Suzie didn’t have to be a mind reader to interpret his thoughts.
Colin was speculating if they’d made a colossal mistake. He was wondering if they had the wrong lever to make their little brother follow their orders. And most of all, he was questioning whether she was telling the truth.