Chapter Forty-Five
Amelie
The kidnappers tie me to a chair. Bex has been struggling and cursing the entire time but I think they managed to do the same to her too.
She definitely landed a few good kicks, while I decided I wouldn’t fight this.
It’s smarter to conserve energy. Save it for the one and only attempt at escape that might materialise.
The itchy sack on my head is ripped off – thank fuck – and I have to blink a few times to adjust to the sudden, harsh light.
“What the fuck?!” Bex screams from beside me, causing me to flinch.
Somehow, without the sack over my head she sounds a hundred times louder.
I blink and look around the room while Bex rants.
We appear to be in a small cottage that feels vaguely familiar.
“Why are we here, you sick fucks?! You’re after Debbie aren’t you?
I hate to break it to you but we’re probably the wrong people to snatch if you want to lure her out!
You could have just come back here and waited. ”
Ah, that’s it. This is where Camilla, Bex and Debbie have been staying. Why are we here? It’s the last place I’d take someone I kidnapped.
But then again, if we weren’t kidnapped, why were we grabbed, blindfolded and tied up?
What the fuck is going on?
“Tape her mouth shut, she’s giving me a damn headache!” The largest of the three men in the room demands.
The one with long hair tied back behind his head and glasses picks up a roll of duct tape and walks towards us.
I’m grateful when they don’t tape my mouth together.
Aadi did that enough times to me as a kid to know that shit burns like hell when it’s ripped off.
I guess good behaviour – namely, keeping my mouth shut for once – does have its perks.
The front door opens and closes, and I turn my attention to the walkway. The three men in the room don’t look overly concerned that someone has joined us.
A moment later Camilla and Debbie walk into the room.
Camilla pulls out her gun and aims it at the largest of the men, clearly sizing him up as her biggest target.
“Put the gun away, Camilla,” Debbie snaps. “They are just doing their job.”
“Tying up my granddaughter was not part of their job.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? This is why I should listen to my guys!” I snap, finally breaking my silence. “They didn’t trust you, yet I wanted to give you a chance and you fucking have me kidnapped!”
“Are you done?” she asks. I stare at her wide eyed. “I didn’t kidnap you.”
“Could have fooled me, this feels very kidnappy.” I shake side to side in my seat a little to show that I’m definitely tied up and not just enjoying a little BDSM with three strangers for shits and giggles.
“This was for your own good,” Debbie replies.
“Those men you claim to love have been lying to you and keeping secrets. They knew something was going to happen today and they used you as bait, deliberately keeping you in the dark. The second they let us have our guns despite the security check, we knew something dodgy was going on. Luckily, I’d already arranged for my friends to watch my back, not trusting anyone to have good enough security to go up against Harold.
I’m not safe until he’s dead, so I always take extra precautions if I have to go out in public.
My men had orders to extract my daughters if anything went down, and it did.
I can’t and won’t be sorry for that. Where were your guys?
You were left open and all I have ever wanted is for you to be safe. ”
“Untie the girls,” Camilla demands.
“No. They’ll run the second we do.”
“She’s right. You can’t keep me here. I have to make sure the rest of my family is safe.”
“If you don’t let her go, you are as good as dead. It’s your call.”
Debbie thinks it over. “I can’t,” she whispers.
“Your safety is more important, and I hope your board will take that into consideration when the time comes. This was all done with your best interests at heart. I’m not sorry that they took you and kept you both safe…
I’ve sent a message to your friend. When I hear back from him, we’ll know what to do. ”
“At least take the tape of Bex’s mouth,” Camilla insists.
“Please don’t! She talks and talks and talks. One person should not have that many thoughts in a day,” the third fucker in the room pleads. He is the most handsome of the group. His black hair and espresso eyes give him a dark and dangerous vibe.
Camilla ignores his request and walks over to Bex, where she unceremoniously rips the tape from her mouth.
“Asshole, motherfucker, son of a bitch that hurt! Once I get done ass fucking them with these handcuffs, I will tie you up and make them tea bag you with their sweaty nuts! And they can run their assholes over your nose, that’ll be an experience you can never unsmell!”
Bex continues her rant for a full minute, so the men in the room all walk into the living room, clearly exasperated by Bex’s theatrics.
I sigh. “You should really call Baxter. He isn’t so forgiving, and it doesn’t matter what your intentions were, he’ll hide in the shadows and you won’t see him coming. He is one of our best, and I wouldn’t take that lightly.”
“And I will wear your skin as a damn suit at our next event!” Bex declares, making me wonder if she and Baxter have been spending time together. It’s the sort of thing he wouldn’t just threaten, but would actually do. “I wouldn’t even mess with him, he’s legit.”
“He would kill just for fun if I allowed it. Apparently, and weirdly, he says it calms him, which after today makes no sense to me.”
A sense of dread washes over me as I remember what I’ve done, what I need to deal with when I get back. Thankfully though, I don’t have long to mull it over because Debbie is stepping close to me, holding her phone in front of my face.
“What?” Baxter snaps. “This better be fucking important! I have an extraction team in the air and you’re wasting valuable time.”
“Awesome! So you do love me, Batman.”
“Amelie, where are you?”
I hear Onyx trying to take the phone from him. There’s a scuffle, someone swears, and then Onyx is on the line.
“Are you hurt?!” Onyx demands, worry filling his voice. “Please tell me that you’re okay, baby.”
“I’m fine. I’ll explain everything later. For now you can call off the search and come and get me. I’m at Camilla's house with her and Debbie. Oh, and Bex is here too.”
“If they hurt one hair on your head, I’ll kill them.”
“Onyx, you’re not killing them.”
“I’ll help you!” Bex screams.
“Ignore her. She’s pissed they had to tape her mouth shut because she talks too much. Just come and get me, quickly please. I need to tell everyone what happened but I want to do it when we’re all together…everyone is okay, aren’t they?”
“Of course. We’re on our way, baby,” he says before the call goes dead.
“Untie us. Now. We can wait in the living room until they get here. I doubt they’ll be long.”
Debbie nods at my demand and starts to untie us both. Bex jumps from her chair and stretches out her body before she waltzes straight into the other room.
“Go and stop her. Those guys in there are mercenaries, she’ll get herself killed with that mouth.”
I shuffle into the living area and find Bex is chest to chest with the biggest one.
“Bex, back off,” I shout half-heartedly. I mean, if she’s stupid enough to go up against a guy three times her size, who am I to stand in stupidity’s way?
As expected, she ignores me. The big dude smirks. His friends don’t even get up from where they are seated because she clearly isn’t a threat to them. She’s probably like an annoying, tiny mosquito constantly buzzing in their ear.
I sigh.
“That’s an order. Go and take a seat.”
Her shoulders relax and she turns to face me. She opens her mouth, but I shake my head sharply, eyes flashing in warning, and she hastily closes it again.
She bounces towards the three seater couch and plops herself down between the other two guys.
“Hi, I’m Bex,” she says with a flirty grin.
Fuck my life, I think I liked it better when we were kidnapped.