Rami

Chapter 20

The chills wouldn’t stop. Whether from shock or the cold, Ivy’s teeth chattered and her body trembled. Probably enough to shake the damn tree she was tied to and alert her captors she was trying to escape.

Bark rubbed against the back of her head with every movement, making her scalp itchy and sore. If it weren’t for the long sleeves of her sweater, her arms would be raw from jerking and stretching the ropes. Still, her biceps burned as she wiggled and strained against the material.

Huffing a breath, she cast another glance at the two bozos at the campfire. They talked softly, both sitting now—waiting for whoever was coming. The driver dabbed a rag over his eyes, likely mopping up blood from her nails.

Good. Asshole.

She sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to find out who was so eager to see her. No freaking way. She stifled a grunt as she leaned all her weight on the rope.

Crack

She gasped as the rope slackened. Not much, but definitely some.

Halle-friggin-lujah!

The trembling in her limbs abated as hope surged through her. Oh my god, I’m gonna get out of here.

Pinpricks touched the corners of her eyes, but she didn’t dare pause to get emotional. Swallowing, she glanced at the fire again. Gabriel was eating something from a Styrofoam dish and the driver sipped from a paper coffee cup, cloth in hand. Still distracted.

After heaving two breaths to gather more strength, Ivy leaned forward against the ropes and shimmied her shoulders back and forth.

The sounds of the rope fraying reached her ears. Come on, come on!

The muscles in her neck and shoulders strained as she jerked on the bindings.

“Hey!” Twigs snapped, and the beam of a flashlight hit her in the face.

She winced, the glow stinging her eyes. Pain rippled from her temples.

“The fuck you think you’re doing?” The light shifted to land on her body, and a snicker followed.

“She tryin’ to get away?” said Gabriel, the man she’d pummeled—clearly not well enough—with the shovel.

“Trying,” the driver said.

“Glad she’s awake. It’s her turn to get a shovel to the head.”

Ivy wet her lips and bit back a snarky comment. Further angering the men who held her captive wouldn’t serve her. She’d already done more than enough to make them want to torture her slowly. Nevertheless, her glare was hot enough to set a forest fire.

The driver snorted. “Not yet. That’ll piss off the boss. I want my turn with her first, rake up her pretty face like she did mine.”

“What do you want?” Ivy hissed.

Gabriel smirked. “I want to hurt you, puta.” He reached forward and stroked his knuckles over her cheek.

Goosebumps erupted on her flesh and a warning blared in her head. She jerked out of his reach before his fingertips touched her lips.

“Just wait until he sees you,” Gabriel added. His words sent a flashfire of terror through her body.

Who?She swallowed the question. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he scared her. He’d thrive on it.

Gravel crunched beneath tires and headlights lit the forest beyond the fire. A sedan rolled up next to the van and the driver got out. He went to the passenger side and opened the door and another man slid from the vehicle.

“Finally,” Gabriel sighed. His mouth melted into a salacious grin. “Wait with her, Luis,” he told the driver.

Little puffs of air came in and out of Ivy’s nose. She couldn’t stop them. Couldn’t regulate the panic infusing her cells. Gabriel met the two newcomers and Ivy watched their exchange. Gabriel nodded in her direction.

The two men stood in shadows. It was impossible to make them out, but it was unlikely she knew them. She hadn’t seen many faces during her time in the camper, and none of the guards she’d seen when they checked on her had stuck in her mind.

Gabriel started walking toward her. One of the men following him wore pressed black dress pants and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She couldn’t make out his face, but his hair appeared to be neatly slicked back. A red ember burned from the tip of a cigarette dangling between his fingers. The other newcomer wore jeans and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. Not nearly as neat-and-tidy looking as the businessman.

Oh god. This had to be the leader.

All the moisture left her mouth as their footfalls grew closer. Twigs cracked and critters skittered through the trees in ominous warning.

Luis said something under his breath that she didn’t catch. Couldn’t catch. All her senses were focused on the group fast approaching. Her nerve endings sizzled to attention. Her gaze locked on the leader’s every move.

Everything about the man screamed power.

Gabriel stopped a few paces short of Ivy’s feet and the men circled her, their bodies blocking every avenue of escape. Trembles threatened to take hold of her limbs, but she balled her fists against the tree to stop herself.

Weakness would get her nowhere.

Slowly, she dragged her gaze from Gabriel’s face to the well-groomed man next to him who dominated the energy of the trio. The man dressed in jeans stood back, away from the glow of the flashlight in Luis’s hand. Not that her gaze was drawn to him.

Her fate lay in the leader’s hands. There was no mistaking who’d call the shots.

The leader reached for the flashlight and Luis passed it to him. The beam hit her in the face. Sharp, needly pain pierced her eyes, and she turned her head to avoid the blinding light.

“Pretty, ain’t she, Fernando?”

Unease coiled around her spine at the sound of the name she’d heard them arguing about in the car. Once again, she wished she could have understood them. As it stood, she knew very little about the man orchestrating her demise.

Fernando brought the cigarette to his lips and took a slow drag. The red end sent an eerie glow over his face. Ivy was certain that if Satan were a man, he’d look just like Fernando. He took another puff of his smoke then flicked it into a pile of dirt at the base of the tree.

“Hola, Ms. Hastings. Do you remember me?” As he spoke, the rancid, ashy scent of tobacco and burnt paper permeated the air.

She choked back a gag and dropped her gaze to the forest floor, not wanting to give him her focus.

His dress shoe kicked her foot. “I’m talking to you.” All the formality had left his voice. Demand clung to his very essence. This was someone who didn’t like to be disrespected, especially in front of his men.

But bowing to him would show weakness. “No,” she said finally. “I don’t remember you.”

He nodded. “You were high.” He crouched so he was at eye level with her. “Delirious and pathetic. I should have sold you when I had the chance. Do you know how much fucking money I lost when your bastard boyfriend took you?”

She smirked. “I heard he left your compound with a bang.”

The reference to the grenade made Fernando’s smile melt. “The fuck did you say to me?” His deep-brown eyes glowered.

Despite her tough front, Ivy pressed her spine into the tree at her back, willing it to suck her inside.

Wham!

Fernando’s fist clapped her cheekbone. Stars exploded in her vision, and her head snapped to the side. Fire scorched her cheek, but before she could process the pain, his rough hand pinched her jaw. “You will learn respect.”

Ivy pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth. Part of her wanted to spit in his face, just as she’d done to Luis, but since that had almost led to rape, she wasn’t going to try that again. Instead of making them ponder ways to inflict pain on her, she needed to buy time. “What do you want from me?” she asked. This time, she allowed her voice to go hollow.

He released her face and her skin pounded as blood rushed to the injury site.

Fernando rested his free hand on his knee, the flashlight still pointed at her face. Some of his composure returned. She suspected he didn’t like to lose his temper often—in doing so, he relinquished some of his power.

“That’s very simple, Ms. Hastings.” His fingers crawled slowly across her cheek and stopped on her bottom lip. “I want your boyfriend and family to suffer. And there’s only one way to do that.” He turned to Gabriel. “Set up the camera.”

Bringing his attention back to Ivy, his smile returned. “I don’t think you noticed your old friend. He’s very excited to see you again.”

Fernando’s cell phone rang. He stood and paced away from the group. Luis and Gabriel made some comments, but all words were lost on her.

A sheet of ice encompassed her body as the man in jeans stepped forward and into the glow of the flashlight now resting on the ground. The light revealed familiar shaggy brown hair, red-rimmed, coal-colored eyes—and the salacious sneer that haunted her dreams.

Wayne.

Her mouth popped open, and shock sucked the heat from her pores.

“Hello, baby girl. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

***

Rami balled hishand into a fist while he waited for Fernando to pick up. If they had a wrong number or the guy didn’t answer, he’d—

“Hello?” The sound was a smooth, cool purr. The slight Spanish accent told Rami he had the right number.

“Fernando. You have someone I want.” His vocal cords clenched around the words, threatening to waver, but he held his tone strong.

Milliseconds clipped by. “And you are?”

“Rami.” He didn’t miss a beat. “Let me talk to Ivy and we can work out a deal.” Before he divulged that they had money in exchange for Ivy, he needed to know she was okay.

“What makes you think I’d be willing to give her back?” Challenge dripped from his words. “You fucked me. All of you did.”

Rami worked his jaw back and forth. He couldn’t take the bait. If he lost his temper and Fernando’s interest, he’d lose Ivy. “I think you’ll like what I’m offering.”

“Which is?”

“I want to talk to her first.”

Several beats passed. “She’s having a reunion right now. An old friend wanted to pay her a visit. Rest assured, she’s breathing.” A long pause. “Breathing quite heavily, actually.”

“You motherfucker,” Rami hissed. Something snapped in his brain, and the need to kill overtook common sense. “If you touch her, so help me god, I’ll gut you.”

A raspy chuckle entered Rami’s ear. “We’re done here.”

Click

No!

Rami let out a howl of rage and kicked his tire. “Sonofabitch!” His heart spasmed with each pump of the life-giving muscle.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Not only had he lost his chance with Fernando, but he’d pissed the guy off even more. Not smart. Fear gripped his senses as his mind grappled with what he’d done. He’d never get Ivy back in time. They were touching her for god’s sake, hurting her right now, and he was a sitting duck.

“Toth’s coming.” August’s soft words punched through the wall of devastation encompassing him. “He wouldn’t be back if he didn’t have the drone.” His friend’s eyes locked on him. “We’ll find her.”

Toth’s truck rolled to the side of the road, and he got out. “That was fun. Had to throw our lawyer’s name around to be able to take the drone and leave.”

“Good work,” August said, as he rounded the truck and pulled the drone from the back.

Toth’s gaze landed on Rami. “Not good?”

Rami gave one shake of his head.

Toth’s mouth formed a grim line, and he cupped Rami’s shoulder. “We didn’t come this far for nothing. Don’t lose faith.” Gray eyes bore into him, as they had numerous times in the service.

For a beat, Rami was transported back in time. To moments where he didn’t think they’d survive another minute. Yet here they were, years later. The screams of their brothers-in-arms still haunted Rami, but those were nothing compared to Ivy’s screams of terror. They’d latched on to his heart like a lion’s vicious teeth.

If they didn’t get her back, he couldn’t go on. Couldn’t imagine life without her.

Toth tightened his grip as if sensing Rami was about to fall to his knees.

“I mean it. She’s still alive, otherwise they would have sent a smug message—right?”

Having talked to Fernado, Rami knew Toth’s assessment was bang on. “Right,” he said softly. “But the only thing worse than her dying is knowing they’re hurting her.”

“She’s strong. And smart,” Toth pressed. “Look what she’s endured. She’s not going down without a fight.” Toth jabbed Rami in the chest with a finger. “Now you’ve gotta do the same.”

Rami swallowed and broke his focus on Toth’s intensity. “Is that thing ready?” he called to August.

“Ready and waiting.” The machine hummed and August sauntered forward with a tablet in his hand. “Want to do the honors?”

Rami accepted the device and ran a quick check to ensure the drone still operated properly after the collision.

“Works good,” August said.

Rami sent the metal robot into the sky and watched the screen in his hands as he flicked on night vision. Spotting people would be easy since the cameras used a heat-seeking device that would penetrate the canopy of trees. Toth approached Rami’s side and glanced at the screen.

The motor was barely audible at twenty feet high. He sent the drone up another thirty feet for good measure, making it soundless to anyone on the ground.

Rami then sent it whizzing over the trees in the direction the van had disappeared with Ivy. The good thing about the machine was that it could move fast—and heat sources would stick out like a sore thumb among all the black trees.

The cameras picked up the odd critter, but Rami’s eyes quickly moved past heat sources smaller than a person.

“Anything?” August asked, as he peered over Rami’s shoulder.

“Not yet. I haven’t got far though.”

“Go higher,” August instructed. “You’ll cover more ground.”

Rami grunted. He sent the drone up another thirty feet, and sure enough the view expanded significantly. “Good call.”

“No worries. I’m used to thinking for your half-brain.”

Rami ignored the ribbing. No way was he in the mood for anyone’s shit, joke or not. Impatience built inside him as he passed hundreds, if not thousands, of trees over the next five minutes. Hopelessness started to invade him. He fought the need to crush the tablet in his hands.

“Keep going,” Toth urged.

“You look.” He passed the screen to his friend and paced. A glance at Toth revealed that he and August were engrossed in the device.

Thoughts jammed together in Rami’s mind like broken puzzle pieces. She was close. Every fiber of his being confirmed that—and the knowledge made him crazy. The fact that she was under his nose, possibly within reach, and he was clueless was enough to drive him to the brink of insanity.

His remembered the chip in her body and rage scorched his skin. The only thing that made him angrier than the fact that they could be touching her now was the fact that they’d put the tracking device in her in the first place.

And Jesus, she hadn’t even known.

The cartel had watched and waited to make their move and then swept in when they were ready. Christ, he’d never thought to use a tracking device with a client, but if he’d had one sewn into the Kevlar Ivy wore, they’d have found her—

He froze and then nearly stumbled over his own feet as he spun to face Toth. “Hey, any chance Dare is good at hacking?”

Toth glanced up from the screen. “He’s the best. That’s how he gets into street and surveillance cameras. Of course, it moves things along if we have leads.”

Rami wagged his index finger, his mind moving at warp speed. “Could he hack into the cartel’s tracking system?”

Toth’s gaze sharpened. “Holy shit. Yeah, I bet he can.” Before Rami could even give him the go-ahead, Toth shoved the tablet at August and dialed his brother.

It was a stretch. The cartel had probably shut down the signal for the tracking device when they stole Ivy, but it was worth a shot.

It might be their only shot.