Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
September 3 rd
6:43 P.M.
“There has to be a connection,” Cade growled in frustration.
He couldn’t believe there wasn't.
And yet, after hours—days—of going through the lives of the ten men who had attacked Connor and Becca at the cabin a couple of weeks ago, they weren't able to identify anyone who was related to them in any way who might be involved in Essie and Gabriella’s abductions.
They’d gone through their lives with a fine-tooth comb.
A finer than fine-tooth comb.
They’d checked into every relative, friend, neighbor, acquaintance, and person the men had served with in any way, and still nothing.
No one had turned out to be a credible lead.
If the only survivor of the attack hadn't taken his life while he was in the hospital under police guard, he would have gone down to the hospital and done whatever it took to get answers out of him.
A name.
A location.
He needed something if he was going to bring his girls home.
“I don’t think there is, Cade,” Jake said, uncharacteristically gently for a man who was so much like him. Both of them didn't bother to waste time mincing words, and while he would never outright say anything to upset somebody, he also didn't sugarcoat things. He wasn't the one who dealt with victims, wasn't the one who could handle their tears and fears. But he loved his family with everything he had and would sacrifice anything for them.
Anything.
But without answers he was stuck.
His hands were tied.
He could not make a move when he didn't know what direction he should be moving in.
Which left his girls trapped.
Helpless at the hands of people who would enjoy tormenting them, who would take pleasure from their terror, who wouldn't hesitate to use them as pawns as though they were no more important than an inanimate object.
Only his daughter and Gabriella were important.
They held more value than anything else in his world.
“Uh, Cade,” Cooper said somewhat hesitantly.
That tone immediately set him on edge.
Something had happened.
Something bad.
Had a body been found?
It had to be Gabriella’s if there was. Essie was his daughter and thus held higher value. He was surprised they’d even taken Gabriella. As an adult, she would be harder to manage than a small child. Then again, Gabriella was a gorgeous young woman, and it didn't take a lot of imagination to see why five men might find kidnapping her and having her as their helpless plaything an appealing prospect.
While he certainly didn't want his daughter to die, he didn't want to lose Gabriella either.
Even if he could never make her his, her presence in his life grounded him, soothed him, and brought him a peace he’d thought he’d never be able to find again in the days after Gretel died.
It should be an easy choice.
Essie over Gabriella.
And it wasn't that he was saying it was the other way around, it was that he couldn’t imagine losing either of them.
“What?” he demanded, much harsher than he’d intended. If there was intel, he wanted it. No matter how bad it was. Like ripping off a Band-Aid it was better to just do it and get it over with.
Saying it gently wasn't going to change whatever horror he was about to learn.
“You just got an email. With a video attachment,” Cooper informed him.
Even if he hadn't grown up in a military family, and even if he hadn't dedicated his entire adult life to his career as a PJ and then working at Prey, he would know what that meant.
This was the reason they’d taken his daughter.
They wanted to show him what they would do to her if he didn't convince his family to back off and stop trying to find the men who had raped their mother.
It wasn't even a question, whatever he saw on that video would kill a part of him.
“Do you want us to watch it for you?” Connor asked softly.
“No,” he shot back adamantly. This was his daughter, his … whatever the hell Gabriella was to him. He had to watch. They were both innocent and they’d been taken because of him. Hurt because of him. The least he owed them was to watch whatever horror they had to endure.
“It won't serve any purpose to put yourself through that,” Jax spoke up.
“We won’t miss anything. Swear,” Cole added. “Any detail in there that will help us we’ll pick up on.”
“Don’t put yourself through this,” Jake said, a slight air of authority to his tone.
Only Cade was the big brother, a year older than his stepbrother, two years older than the twins, three years older than his other stepbrother, and four years older than his baby brother. Perhaps not a huge age gap, especially now that they were all in their thirties, but he was the oldest, and besides, this was his family that had been taken.
“I have to watch,” he told them. “And don’t say it doesn’t serve any purpose. It does. Essie and Gabriella were taken because of me. I owe them this.”
Before one of his brothers could argue the point, he grabbed the laptop on his kitchen table where they’d set themselves up that morning and turned it to face him.
With sighs and understanding looks, his brothers all moved to stand around him so they could watch with him. Offer the only support they could, their presence.
The email came from what was clearly an email address created exactly for this purpose. Since it had been titled lessonsforcade, he wasn't sure if Olivia and the others would be able to trace where it had been sent from, but as soon as he watched the video, he’d forward the email to her.
While he hoped the others wouldn't notice, but sure they would, his hand was shaking as he moved it to click on the video link. There was no text in the email and there didn't need to be. The email address said it all. As did the subject line, which simply read, this was fun.
When he opened the video, Essie and Gabriella appeared on the screen.
His momentary relief at seeing them alive was quickly eaten up by fury at the terrified looks on both their faces. Essie was wearing the same dress he’d seen her in that morning before he left to meet with the man who claimed to be Cassandra’s half-brother, but Gabriella was wearing only her swimsuit. It left her long, lean legs on display for these men, and he could see bruises peeking out from underneath the skin-tight material.
There were bruises on Gabriella’s face as well, but Essie’s seemed clear. Cade didn't need to guess why. The protective way she kept Essie tucked to her side and the glint of defiance in her green eyes said that Gabriella had been doing what they all had expected her to do and protecting his daughter as best she could.
And it had cost her.
“Missing something?” a man dressed in black and wearing a ski mask asked as he strolled into view. The man walked until he was behind the girls and ran a hand down both of their hair, making Cade see red.
Nobody touched his daughter without her permission.
“Unless you want your kid getting a real up close and personal lesson in the birds and the bees, I suggest you back off, stop looking for answers about topics that don’t concern you,” another man said as he walked over to the chairs and shoved Gabriella’s legs apart.
“Close your eyes, Essie. Keep them closed, okay? Until I tell you to open them,” Gabriella’s soft voice whispered urgently, and his daughter obeyed without hesitation.
Even in the face of groping, Gabriella couldn’t stop putting his child first.
The man between her legs laughed and then clamped a hand around her neck. When he leaned in and crushed his mouth against hers, Cade thought he was going to explode with rage. The other man palmed her breasts and began to squeeze them, and even on the video, he could hear Gabriella’s small whimper.
It was the single tear that trailed down her cheek that broke him.
Of course, he wanted his four-year-old daughter safe and protected, but the cost was so high. His Gabriella was being broken in the process.
When Gabriella’s eyes lifted and looked directly at the camera, Cade was unable to bear watching this horrific travesty a second longer. He didn't care if there was more to the video, he didn't want to see it if there was, Cade picked up the laptop and hurled it with all his might across the room.
It spun as it flew through the air, then connected with the glass sliding doors leading out onto the back deck with a satisfying crash as both the door and the laptop shattered.
Then he shoved to his feet, ran blindly toward the downstairs bathroom, dropped to his knees in front of the toilet, and threw up.
September 4 th
7:34 A.M.
Gabriella was unsettled this morning, but she couldn’t tell why.
They were almost seventy-two hours into their ordeal, and while things had been terrible and she’d been forced to allow men to touch her and to touch them, things hadn't been as bad as she’d thought.
Yesterday, after the man kissed her while filming that video for Cade, he’d stopped, they’d delivered a final message to the Charleston Holloway family that if they didn't back off immediately Essie was going to be next, then returned them to their room.
She should be glad it had stopped at that.
Should be glad that she hadn't been forced to do anything to get more food for herself and Essie. When they’d been returned to their room, someone had left behind a huge pile of food for them, enough to last a couple of days.
As usual, they’d been allowed bathroom breaks when needed, and she and Essie had played games until bedtime. Once again, she’d struggled to sleep. Her body cried out for a break, she knew she was teetering on the edge of exhaustion, and she badly needed sleep if she wanted to be able to function, but she just couldn’t seem to let her mind shut off.
Any time she did drift off to sleep, she’d startle awake at the teeniest sound or movement.
Half the time she was sure she was reacting to nothing.
Fear for the little girl who sat before her, happily munching on a candy bar the men had left for them occupied her every second. Candy for breakfast wasn't something she usually allowed, but what did it matter right now? They were prisoners, they were pawns, pain and suffering were in their future, if eating candy for breakfast helped Essie in any small way, she wasn't going to deny the child some comfort and enjoyment.
“Gabby?”
“Yeah, cuddle bug?”
“I’m bored,” Essie whined.
“I know you are, sweetie.”
“I want to go outside.”
“If I could take you I would, but I don’t think we’re going to be allowed.” Maybe it was worth asking, just in case. She was sure nobody was close to where they were being held so they may agree to it. There would be a price to pay if they did say yes, Gabriella was well aware of that, and maybe it was why she held back.
Or maybe it was the oppressive sense of foreboding.
Something bad was going to happen and she didn't want to rock the boat.
This calm before the storm wouldn’t last, and she was so afraid that she knew what the sense of foreboding was about, and that she wouldn't be able to stop it from happening.
Essie.
Next they were coming for the little girl.
Maybe they wouldn't rape her, maybe they wouldn't do anything sexual to her at all, but they’d do something. Hit her, break her tiny, fragile bones, cut her, maim her, something that would show Cade the extent of the consequences of him not doing what they wanted.
What if she couldn’t stop it?
Or what if she tried and they killed her to get her out of the way?
How would Essie survive there alone without anyone looking out for her?
“I want to go outside,” Essie said again, pouting. Normally, she was an easy-going little girl, she didn't lose her temper very often, she rarely threw tantrums, and she was good at listening and doing as she was told although she loved to try to negotiate to get her way. But they’d both been under a lot of stress and it was no wonder it was starting to get to Essie and affecting her attitude. She was lucky the girl had kept her attitude for three days.
“I can ask, but I can't make any promises,” she warned the child.
Pushing to her feet, Gabriella shook off a wave of dizziness as she stood. Besides the lack of sleep, she still hadn't been able to force herself to eat much, her stomach was constantly churning with nausea, and she had no appetite. She was eating only because she had to, but it wasn't anywhere near enough.
Knowing the rules Gabriella had put into place, Essie shifted into the corner, the one furthest from the door. While it wasn't going to protect the child, she always felt a little better when she knocked on the door knowing there was the maximum distance between the little girl and whoever would answer.
Just as she lifted a hand to knock on the door it swung open, startling her.
She stumbled back a step but managed to catch herself before she landed on her backside before them.
The thought of being on the ground in front of these men brought back memories of that first morning when they’d made her suck them all off in return for food. A wave of terror crashed down upon her, almost stealing her ability to breathe as tears flooded her eyes.
Managing to wrangle control of her emotions before they rendered her useless, she saw three men standing in the now open doorway.
That sense of foreboding hovering over her all morning suddenly seemed to fill the room like a thick fog.
Whatever bad thing she’d been anticipating was about to happen.
How was she going to stop it?
Everything in her screamed at her to snatch up Essie into her arms and make a run for it. Logic told her that would never work. There were too many men there and they were all armed. Running would be giving herself a death sentence, maybe handing Essie one, too.
Since running wasn't an option, she stood there, waiting to see what her fate held.
Behind her, she could feel Essie’s terror joining with her own.
Never in her life had Gabriella felt so inadequate. She was doing her best, but she didn't have what it took to protect this sweet, vibrant little girl. There was nothing she would be able to do to stop it when these men decided to shift their attention from her to Essie.
Helplessness buffeted her like a raging storm, and she took a desperate step toward the three men. “Don’t touch her,” she pleaded. While she would have loved to say her voice had come out strong and authoritative, it didn't. The opposite. She sounded as terrified as she felt.
“Boss wants to send a stronger message,” one of the men said, taking a menacing step into the room.
No.
She couldn’t let that happen.
“Please, she’s just a baby. Whatever message you need to send, use me. Please.” It probably wasn't wise to beg these men because it only left her reeking of the desperation she felt. But she was desperate and would beg and plead if it got her what she wanted.
“You really think they care more about you than the kid?” another of the men asked, a chuckle accompanying his words like she was delusional.
Those words shouldn’t hurt her because, of course, Cade and his family would care more about their daughter and niece than someone who was merely the child’s nanny. But they did cut into her heart. Because they reminded her that no one in the world loved her the way Essie’s family loved her.
But this child did have a family who loved her, and she had to do whatever she could to make sure the little girl got home to them.
“No. They don’t,” she said, riding a sudden wave of confidence and bravado. “But I’m prepared to stand in her place.”
More chuckles met her words, and one of the men was suddenly right up in her personal space. A hand circled her already tender neck, and before she knew it, she was shoved up against the wall, her back pressed so tightly against it that her shoulder blades ached.
The first strike to her stomach had her crying out.
“Essie, close your eyes,” she managed to call out before another blow stole her ability to even think let alone speak.
The blows kept coming, raining down on her body like a bevy of hailstones, hitting her over and over again until she couldn’t even tell where they were striking because her entire body ached and throbbed.
It was only because the men were holding her up as they hit her that was keeping her on her feet. If they released her, she’d crumple to the floor, might not even have what it took to curl into a ball to protect her vital organs.
As it was, she couldn’t protect anything, and they weren't stopping.
Above the roaring of her pulse thudding in her ears, she could hear the men laughing and Essie sobbing.
There wasn't much more of this she could take.
Please, Cade, where are you?
Why haven’t you come?
Essie needs you.
I need you.
Please come.
Before it’s too late.