Chapter 36
Chapter 36
“ A hh, you have awakened,” the man standing in the corner spoke.
James and Elliott stirred, glancing around the area. They appeared to be in a cell of some type, but it was not one like they had at home. This seemed to be made of sticks, rather than steel.
James sat up on the bunk then looked over at Elliott. His eyes were still closed. He touched his shoulder to shake him. “You good, man?”
Elliott’s eyes opened. He ran his hand down his face then took a breath. “I’m good.” He said as he sat up on the side of the bunk. “What about you?”
“I’m pissed,” James stated as he slowly stood. “Who in the hell are you and why are we here?”
“We have no intention of causing you harm,” Dakar explained. “We simply must detain you until the marriage contract is fulfilled.”
“What marriage contract?” Elliott asked.
James stared at the man who stood before him dressed in a brown uniform. He had changed from the African attire he wore at the airport. He knew the man was referring to ZsaZsa. So that is why her King came to get her. He had done exactly what James had feared. He had arranged a marriage for her. Was this the man her King had selected for her to marry? “Has ZsaZsa agreed to marry you?”
“She has been made aware of the agreement. King Aswan will order her to do her duty. Her agreement will not be needed.”
“King Aswan and you are in for a rude awakening,” James smirked. “ZsaZsa will not marry you.”
“It is not I she is being ordered to marry. It is my brother.”
“Then your brother is going to need another bride. You will need ZsaZsa’s cooperation, and she will not obey.”
“She must. Our country’s future depends on it.”
“How did you know about me?” James asked.
“We had Princess ZsaZsa followed.” Dakar replied.
“The guy in the car,” Elliott exhaled as he kept his eyes on the man.
“There was more, but yes. The man you captured.” Dakar nodded. “Once we were made aware of your relationship with Princess ZsaZsa, we knew she had to be brought home. It is our hope that you did not dishonor her for that will forfeit her dowry and my brother may call for her death.”
“Touching her will be the death of you and your brother,” James countered fiercely. “It will be my life’s mission to eliminate every member of your family.” The deadly look in his eyes delivered his meaning. When he was certain his message was received, James continued. “It is clear this is not about ZsaZsa. Your interest is in securing the dowry that comes along with her. Does your brother even know Princess ZsaZsa?” James questioned.
“He does not need to know her to marry her,” Dakar avowed. “Here in our country this is the way of life. Marriages are arranged to empower or increase the wealth of the family.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Elliott stood. “So how long do you think you can keep us here?”
“The marriage will take place soon,” Dakar replied. “The moment it is done you will be allowed to return to your country. I will have food and drinks brought to you. My apologies for this inconvenience, however, it could not be avoided.”
The man said something to the guards in a different language then walked away. The guards relaxed their stance, then placed their hands behind their backs.
James slowly looked around to assess the area that they were being held in. The place was dark so he could only assume that they were underground. There were no windows. However, he did see a stairway that the man who captured them had taken.
While James assessed their location, Elliott took a battle stance, staring into the faces of the two guards.
“Is there any indication they understand us?” James asked as he continued to survey the small area.
“Not so far, but closed mouths don’t mean they cannot hear.”
“Understood,” James knew that meant to speak with caution.
“How long do you think we were out?” Elliott asked.
James held up his arm to check his watch. It was gone. He checked his pockets then looked around. “They took all our electronics.”
Elliott checked. “My watch, my phone, my band, our duffle bags are all gone.”
“It makes sense. They don’t want us to be able to communicate with anyone.” James said as he examined the cell they were in.
“So, Panther, we are on our own. They are aware of who we are,” Elliott stated as he watched the expression of the two guards.
“They are aware of our names,” James replied. “They have no idea of our true identity. If they had, we would not be here.”
He tested the bars to see how sturdy they were. There was movement. The guards became alert. One guard walked over shaking his head. The other spoke, but neither of them understood what was being said.
“I don’t think they liked you doing that.” Elliott advised.
“I’m sure they don’t,” James stated. “We are getting out of here before nightfall,”
“Do your keen eyes see a way to get out of here without killing someone?”
“No,” James returned to his bunk and laid down on his back with his hands under his head. To the guards it may have appeared that he was resting. He was not. He was surveying the area of the cell where the wood slats were inserted. He needed to make sure that if one of the wood slats was removed, the area would not cave in on them. Once he had his answer he turned over as if he was restless, then placed his hands under his chin. He looked at the outer wall to determine its thickness. At one time, the place where they were may have been well built. But now there was an area where the wood had rotted and could easily be kicked out. The question was, how big of an area could be opened? Would it be enough for their bodies to fit through and what was on the other side of the wall? Not a good option.
“Jaguar,” he began. “Fight and flight.”
Elliott nodded as he kept his eyes on the guards. “Affirmative.”
A few minutes later, a woman came down with a tray of food.
Elliott smiled. “How you doing?”
The woman returned the smile, then lowered her head. One of the guards came over to open the cell door to allow her entrance. The attack was swift. Before the woman stepped into the cell, James leaped from the bed, grabbed one of the wood slats from the opening and shoved it into the face of one of the guards.
Elliott pulled the screaming woman inside of the cell, out of harm’s way, then jump kicked the weapon from the second guard who rushed over. The man flew backwards hitting the wall.
James kicked the area on the back wall he believed to be the weakest. A portion of the wall fell out, but not enough of an opening for them to fit through. He threw his entire body into the sheet rock. Sunlight filled the dark area.
“We have sunlight, Jaguar.” James turned to see the guard with a knife at Elliott’s throat. “Damn,” he hissed as he stared at Elliott. “Go limp.”
Elliott fell to the ground. The weight of his body caused the guard to waver. James used the wood slat to knock the guard’s legs from under him, then jumped on him punching him in the face several times. Loud voices and multiple running footsteps could be heard above.
Pulling James from the man, Elliott shouted, “Let’s go.” Then ran full speed out the partial opening.
James ran out behind him. “There are more of them coming. I could hear them on the stairs. Keep running and don’t stop.”
The voices behind them were loud and angry. “Run for the trees,” Elliott yelled.
“What trees? All I see is a wheat field.” James yelled back.
“The tall stuff, the tall stuff,” Elliott called out as they ran. “Get low.”
James did as instructed. The height of the wheat gave them cover. However, he was sure the movement of their bodies rushing through the field could be seen.
“Keep moving until we break through,” Elliott advised. “The field has to end at some point.”
They were basically crawling through the field of wheat as fast as they could.
“Go to your right,” James stated. “Those are trees.” He watched as Elliott adjusted to the direction he indicated. “They are gaining on us, keep moving, we’ll make a stand on the other side of the fields.”
“Before we go into the trees lay flat,” Elliott ordered.
“Affirmative.” James replied. “Lay flat, face up.”
“Got you.” Elliott replied.
“Down now, flat,” James ordered.
The two laid on their backs. The wheat flowing around them gave them some cover. They could hear confused voices yelling.
“Easy,” James whispered. “Don’t move.”
“They are separating,” Elliott whispered.
“Good, less for us to have to kill.” James replied. “Get ready, here they come.”
“I’m always ready.” Elliott replied just as a guard reached him. He pointed the rifle at him. Elliott knocked it away then kicked the man into the air. The man fell backwards. Elliott jumped on the man, punched him in the face knocking him out.
James waited for the guard to take a step closer to him. He took the piece of slate he kept in his pocket and threw it into the man’s face with so much force it penetrated the man’s skull. It landed right in the middle of the man’s head. His body remained standing until his brain registered that he was dead. Then his body slumped to the ground.
Elliott grabbed James up, and they ran for the trees. The other guards turned and came towards them.
“What direction?” James asked.
“Keep running away from the building.” Elliott yelled back. “Just keep running.”
They burst through the trees and had to catch themselves to keep from falling. On the other side of the trees was a slope leading down to a river.
“Damn, damn, damn.” James paced. “We need to get to the other side.”
“Hell, we don’t know what’s on the other side,” Elliott stated.
“Yeah, but we damn sure know what’s on this side.” James gritted out just as two guards jumped out from the trees, tackling them to the ground.
The men were pulling them away from the river. One was shaking his head.
Another guard came through the trees causing all of them to look back. James took the opportunity to kick the guard off of him. The man fell into the water. The other guards’ eyes grew wide. They released James and Elliott and were frantically reaching for the man who had fallen into the river.
Elliott grabbed one of the men and was about the throw him in when the other guard waved his hand.
“No-no-no-no-no-no!” He exclaimed in a panic.
That is when James noticed the other man never came back up. James picked up the gun and pointed it at the two guards. Elliott took the other gun.
“What the hell?” Elliott glanced at James.
“I don’t know, maybe he couldn’t swim.”
“No,” one guard frantically shook his head. “Bad.” He said as if searching for the right word.
“The water is bad?” James asked attempting to make sense of what the man was trying to communicate to them.
“Bad-yes-bad,” the guard said with nervous energy.
“Where can we cross?” James asked hoping they understood. The two guards pointed downstream.
“Down there?” Elliott questioned. “Show me. You go there.” Elliott pointed to the guard then to the area he indicated.
The guards stood. They walked a little way down the bank of the river.
“It looks closer from here, Panther.” Elliott stated.
“How many feet across?”
“No more than ten feet across from this point. The question is how deep it is. Something took that other guard down.”
“Bad, no.” the guard shook his head again.
“I swear I think he’s trying to tell us something.” Elliott exhaled.
“The people who took us are on this side. I have no idea what’s on that side, but it has to be better than being captured again.” James asserted with a determined look on his face.
“All right,” Elliott asked pointing to the guards. “What are we going to do with them?”
“Knock them out.” James replied. “It will give us time to put some distance between us and them.”
Without a second thought, Elliott swung knocking one guard out cold. He looked at James. “That one is on you.”
Using the butt of the gun, James knocked out the second guard. The man fell towards the water, but James caught him by the shirt and pulled him back. “All right, let’s get the hell out of here.”