Chapter 28 Tyler
TYLER
“You shrimp dick motherfucker.”
The guy shoves me into the back of the van, ignoring my protests. With my arms zip tied behind my back, I can’t catch myself before I faceplant on the floor. “I’m going to gut every single one of you assholes.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I don’t see the guy in the back until it’s too late. I get a boot to the ribs, and roll over onto my stomach. The guy jumps on me and straps my lower legs to my wrists so I’m hog tied. Fucking awesome.
I’m still pissed as hell that they even got the drop on me, but so much was going on.
People were materializing out of nowhere, gunshots were echoing through the night, Tivon was barking orders into the headset, and some asshole just grabbed me.
I couldn’t react before my wrists were tied and they gave me a vicious punch to the gut.
I’m still wondering if all the guys got out.
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask, shuffling away from the asshole in the back with me. “Torture me? Send me back in pieces? I just like to be prepared.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I’d like to disagree. I’m the one tied up back here.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“That’s ominous. At least make sure it’s somewhere warm. I get cold easily.”
“Do you realize what you’re involved in?”
“Do you?” I counter. I still have my tracker, but they could be jamming it.
I’ve fought my way out of worse situations, and I don’t plan on laying down and taking it this time.
“For some reason, you assholes think you have the upper hand, but you have no idea what we’re capable of. You keep thinking you can beat us.”
“We can.”
“Blindly following a psychopath is sad. Do you guys even know these people? Or is the money all you care about?”
“I said to shut the fuck up. If you don’t, I’ll tape your mouth shut.”
I shrug and close my eyes. I need a plan, but if they leave me like this, I’m low on options.
Maybe they’ll take me to the prison that Abraham is hiding in so I can get a shot at him, or maybe get a layout of the place.
I refuse to fucking die like this so I keep calm, letting the sound of the tires lull me into a peaceful state.
Fucking Keon. I learned that shit from him.
The man is never ruffled by any goddamn thing, and he taught me ways to keep my mind from wandering.
We hit some rough patches in the road, and it jerks me back to reality. The van comes to a stop, and the guy in the back cuts the ties on my legs, but not before he aims a gun at my face. “One wrong move, and I’ll shoot your pretty boy face off.”
“Oh, you think I’m pretty?”
The door opens before he can reply or react, and I’m pulled to stand.
They shove me toward a rundown building, and I curse that they aren’t taking me to the prison.
I’m pushed inside and quickly ushered down a long hallway with no less than four guns pointed at me.
Good. They know what I’m capable of. We come to a stop at a door, and one guy opens it while the other grabs my arm to drag me inside, pushes me to sit and zip ties my arms to a pole.
They leave without a word, shutting the door behind them.
“You have to get out.” The voice comes from fucking nowhere and everywhere all at once, and I about jump out of my skin. I search the room and find a camera in the corner. “They fully plan on killing you after they lure Ari out.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
There’s a long pause, and then the speakers crackle. “Cryptic.”
“Why the fuck would you help me?”
“Because your guys just saved my little brother.” So, they did get out. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time, because they’re going to start making calls soon. Can you get out of those zip ties?”
“How do I know this isn’t another trap?”
“You don’t. But I really am trying to get you out.”
“Why are you doing this, anyway?” I ask, pulling on the ties. I brace myself and pull with all my strength against the pole until the tie snaps, but that still leaves my hands tied behind my back. If they were in front of me, they would be easier to get out of because I’d have more leverage.
“I don’t have a choice. You can believe me or not. That’s up to you. But your team knows what they did to my parents.” His voice cracks on the word parents, and it makes me even more curious. “There’s some rough wood on the other side. Try to saw your way through.”
I look around until I find what he’s talking about and jump to my feet. I line up and start moving up and down. If I can make them weak, then I can snap them. “How much time do I have?”
“Not long. They just made contact with Abraham and he gave the all clear to call Ari.”
“Can you get a message out to them?”
“No. I already risked my ass to get you guys to my brother. I can’t do that again. I locked everything back down.”
I start moving faster, and feel the ties start to weaken. Summoning every bit of strength I have, I push down on the splintered wood and pull my hands apart at the same time. The ties snap, and I pull my hands in front of me, rubbing my wrists. “Now what?”
“They didn’t lock the door. Go to your left. When you get to the hallway, turn right, and there’s a door right there that’s the opposite way of them. Then, run like hell, because the calvary is coming.”
Something in his voice makes me trust him.
He sounds young, way too young to be tied up in this bullshit.
We’ve seen it so many times over the years; the bad guys grabbing the kid who is good at computers and can’t stand up for themselves.
Holden and Nolan are proof that it happens.
“Were you serious about doing this against your will?”
“Yes.”
“We can help you.”
“No one can help me now. Please just take care of Eric.”
“Is that your brother?”
“Yes. Now go.”
Taking a deep breath, I reach for the doorknob and open it just enough that I can peek out.
Just like he said, the voices are coming from the opposite way that Cryptic is sending me.
I open the door fully so I can slip through and press myself against the wall.
I follow his directions and lean out when I get to the hallway, but that’s when I see three guys coming my way.
I pull back and roll my shoulders, more than ready to fight my way out.
They underestimated me. Again. My mind goes to Gavin, and I know he’s blaming himself somehow because that’s what he does.
I shake those thoughts from my head. I’m coming back to you, Baby.
I look again, and the hallway is empty. I turn right and open the door that Cryptic indicated. It takes me straight outside, so I slip into the night. I make it three steps out when shit erupts around me. Lights come on, shouts fill the night, and right behind me is the sound of a gun cocking.
“Where the fuck are you going?” A guy growls. I spin around without blinking, lift my foot, and kick him right in the chest. He stumbles back, and I turn on my heel.
I start running, dodging bullets as they whizz past my head.
One slices through my arm, but besides a hiss of pain, I don’t stop moving.
I can see a tall chainlink fence in the distance, and that’s my goal.
Up and over so I can disappear into the cover of trees.
I can hear boots pounding behind me, and I push my body to its limits, to run faster.
The fence is within touching distance when someone tackles me from behind, and we slam into it.
“I’m getting real tired of your shit,” I grunt, pushing back against him.
I spin and punch as soon as his face comes into view.
His head snaps to the side, and I scramble for the fence.
I make it halfway up when someone grabs my foot to try to drag me back down.
“Not today, asshole.” Clinging with one hand, I twist and jerk my foot free.
For all the days I cussed Ari out for the strength training, I could kiss his fucking mouth right now.
I climb to the top, spin over, and start climbing down the other side.
I get almost to the bottom when more people come running.
I glance down, check the distance, and drop, making sure to bend my knees for the impact.
My ankle protests, but I can’t stop now.
I push off the fence and take off into the forest. I don’t even try for stealth until I get far enough that they can’t see me anymore.
I slide behind a tree to catch my breath and listen for any noise.
A twig snapping to my right makes me move around to the other side of the tree.
I can hear them talking in hushed voices, so I wait for my chance.
They move further away, and ignoring the throbbing in my ankle, I take off running at full speed, pushing branches away from my face as I go.
I can hear them closing in behind me, and there’s a drop off in front of me. I skid to a stop and look over the edge, and it’s further down than I originally thought. I have two choices; stand here so they can grab me again, or go down. I do the only thing I can think of.
I close my eyes, and jump.