Chapter 25
Lainey
“Lainey. I’m scared.” Nina’s little voice was about to break my heart.
“I know, honey. I know.” I glanced around the room as I’d done hundreds of times hoping to find a way out of our prison.
While we were locked inside a bedroom in some structure, with the single window boarded up and no clocks, I had no idea how long we’d been here.
When I’d come to, we were already inside this room, Nina curled up against me.
Up to this point, no one had said a word to us.
Armed men in uniforms had come and brought us scraps of food and bottles of water from time to time, but had remained silent.
Even when I’d tried to push them, chide them, even yelling at them, the only indication they’d heard me had been their leering looks.
I put my arm around her, holding her close. She’d been so brave, maybe even more than I’d been. She’d only cried once, the forlorn sound breaking my heart.
“Everything will be okay.” I continued to tell her that, maybe in hopes of convincing myself that Sasha would find us.
While I’d yet to find a way of confirming even where we were, I had a terrible feeling we’d been taken to another country.
Little things indicated we certainly weren’t in the United States.
However, there was no way of confirming what my instinct was screaming. Someone had even taken the time to remove tags off the two cheap pillows we’d been provided.
The bottles of water also had their labels ripped off. What the fuck did these people think I was going to do, break out and find an address and a phone?
Despair was becoming more difficult to shove aside, but I had to try to keep Nina from falling into bouts of terror. I could see in her eyes she was losing hope.
Yet I had faith in Sasha. I believed what he’d told me even doing so in jest.
He’d burn the world down to find me.
There was no rock I could crawl under. What about being locked away in an ugly room?
Images of his face popped into my mind as they had a hundred times. They brought me comfort.
“My tummy hurts.” She leaned her little head against me. Our captors had barely given us enough food to sustain us.
“Hold on. I have something for you.” Easing off the bed, I went to the little hiding place I’d created behind the bed.
I’d carefully wrapped up half of my peanut butter sandwich just in case the little angel became hungry.
“Here you go, baby girl. Oops. I guess I shouldn’t call you that since you’re almost an adult. ”
She giggled for the first time since she’d awakened from the horrible fog. The lingering effects of whatever drug they’d used had been terrible. Even now days later, I felt weak so I knew how Nina must feel.
“Are you sure you don’t want this?” she asked in her sweet little voice.
“No, girlie. I haven’t been very hungry.” Sighing, I moved about the room as I’d done how many times. There was a bathroom adjoining but only with toilet paper. We’d yet to be able to take a shower.
The blanket was thin, the sheets rough, and the pillows were crap. There was a table with a lamp and that was basically it. No pictures. No dresser. Nothing that could really be used to defend ourselves if necessary.
“Do you think Daddy will find us?” Her voice was back to being so tiny.
Turning, I offered as wide a smile as was possible.
“I absolutely know he will. You do realize your daddy is a superhero. Right?” Another stab of angst hit me.
I remembered very clearly her calling me Mommy.
Now I knew why she’d been so out of it, but that didn’t make the sentiment any less powerful than when I’d heard it.
Maybe more than a little part of me wanted to be her mommy. That could only happen if we got out of here.
“I don’t know about hero. He snores in his sleep. Do heroes do that?”
Even after all the shit we’d been through, she was still able to make me laugh. The little girl was something else. “I think heroes do lots of things. They are regular people too.”
She shrugged. “I guess. We missed Daddy’s birthday.”
“Well, when we get back, we’re going to have a big ole celebration.”
Her smile faded and she concentrated on her food, taking her time eating every little bite. “What if we don’t.”
I moved toward her again, easing down and lifting her chin.
The tears in her eyes not only broke my heart, the sight of them also infuriated me.
Who the hell did this to a little girl? Who?
Who kidnapped her from her bed in the middle of the night?
I did what I could to keep her from seeing my vast array of emotions, but I was about to lose my cool.
“My sweet girl. Your daddy is a superhero and he will find us. Have a little faith in him.”
“I do. I just worry he misses us.”
“I’m sure he does. Maybe we need to think good thoughts and send them his way.” I tossed my head back and forth on purpose. “I have an idea. We’ll think of the story together and you can draw pictures for it. Maybe we’ll do a book together. Would you like that?”
She sucked in her breath. “Ah. That’s wonderful. I’d love to do that. But we don’t have any paper.”
I tapped my index finger against my forehead. “This noggin has a photographic memory. What do you say? Would you like to give it a try?”
The light almost returned to her eyes. She gobbled the remainder of her sandwich and as soon as she did, my head snapped toward the door hearing a sound.
It wasn’t dinnertime so what the fuck was about to happen?
“Go hide in the bathroom,” I told her.
While her eyes opened wide, she scrambled off the bed and into the tiny space. Maybe what I was thinking was ridiculous, but I had to do something. I moved behind the door, holding my breath as the person unlocked and walked inside.
His exclamation wasn’t in English. Russian. I didn’t wait for him to react, lunging forward and smashing my foot against his back. I was shocked I’d had enough strength left, the force able to pummel him across the room to the bed.
While he was quick to react, jumping off and rushing toward me, I was as well, issuing two hard punches against his jaw.
He tossed out expletives in Russian and the look on his face turned from surprise to a lurid gaze.
His grin was almost as terrifying as the weapon he had holstered at his side.
When he darted to the left, I anticipated the move, able to kick him again, but he managed to snap his hand around my leg, spinning me around.
Now, with his arm wrapped around my neck and squeezing, he nuzzled his face into my ear.
“Tough girl. Eh?” His accent was rough and when he dragged his tongue down my face, I shivered.
“Fuck you.”
“Maybe I’ll have a taste.”
A sound jolted through me, a small warrior’s cry that he hadn’t anticipated. I heard the crash before feeling the shatter of glass cascading down in front of me.
“Get away from her!” Nina’s cry was strong, the hard smash of the lamp jarring him enough I was able to break free.
He lumbered toward her, his face twisting in rage. I jumped in front, throwing out my arms. “Don’t you fucking touch her or I will kill you.”
The bastard grabbed my arm.
“Let her go.” The booming voice had the same accent, the tone commanding.
When the asshole didn’t take direction, the other man snarled.
“I said. Let. Her. Go.”
The soldier instantly dropped my arm, hissing as he did.
Even as I turned to face the stranger, I pulled Nina against me, prepared to attack the son of a bitch if necessary. No one was going to hurt her.
As soon as the soldier left, the other one walked closer. Where the soldier was dressed in a uniform, this man was in a pair of trousers and a gray shirt. If I didn’t know for certain he was a monster, I’d think him a regular guy on the street.
“I’m sorry about his actions. He can be a beast.”
“Who are you? Why are we here?” I threw at him. He was in his early forties, studying me as if I was a prize.
He chuckled. “I can tell you’re a feisty woman. I will need to choose someone wisely. Although I will admit I wouldn’t mind keeping you myself.”
“Over my dead body.”
“Miss Lainey Rose. I know your music. You’re very popular here, but I would be very careful speaking out. Women are to be seen and not heard.”
Was he fucking kidding me?
“Where’s my daddy?” Nina slipped from behind me, the little fighter in her continuing.
A smile crossed his face. “Wow. You are very much like Natasha was even though she was much younger. A little vision.”
Who the hell was Natasha? “Who are you?”
“Let’s just say someone of importance to your wellbeing.
Now, it’s unfortunate that you developed a relationship with Sasha Dmitriyev.
Sadly, you’ve become collateral that my…
employer doesn’t appreciate. But have no fear.
I managed to convince him that you are still of value and will be a true prize for the right bidder.
” He rubbed his jaw, even cocking his head as if sizing up if I was good enough for him. The fucking bastard.
“What are you talking about? What is happening here?”
His smirk was irritating. “What is happening? The beginning of destiny. Long awaited, I might add. That’s thanks in part to treachery that will no longer be accepted.”
While his words made no sense, I realized it had everything to do with a hatred of the Dmitriyev family.
Another sound drew both his and my attention. A sudden look of concern flashed across the unknown man’s face. “If you’ll excuse me.”
He left the door open and there was a quiet yet angry exchange between whoever had arrived. A thud brought a gasp from Nina and she threw her arms around me.
Her tiny moans continued to anger me. More sounds.
Scrapes.
Hissing or wheezing. Slow footsteps.
Another man walked slowly into the room using a cane and wheeling an oxygen tank, sucking down heavy breaths.