DYLAN
“What have you got?”
“My men tracked her cell to a pub around Warrington Drive, but they found nothing.” The investigator told me.
“Keep fucking searching!” I snarled. “They should either be in that area, or it’s a whole decoy to throw us off their tracks. I shouldn’t be the one telling you this? Do your fucking job!”
“We’re on it, sir.” The five men walked out of my office.I swept my hair back frustratingly.
If anything happened to Brielle…
She’ll be fine man.
Positive thoughts only.
But how could I do that?
She had been gone since noon, it was almost 10pm, and we still had no idea where she could possibly be. No ransom calls had been made yet, and I still couldn’t reach Madeline.
The door to my office barged open and Ryan Rodriguez walked in. I looked up at him in surprise.
“What are you doing here? Look, now is really not a good time—”
“I’m here to help, Dylan. Savannah told me about Lucia.” He interrupted.
“And just how are you going to fucking do that huh? How are you going to help? Come on tell me.” I exploded. “Do you by any chance have any idea where Madeline could possibly be?” I took a deep breath to calm my racing nerves. “You know what? Just start talking… and for your sake, you better have something good.”
He nodded, his countenance still calm, almost as if he understood how I was feeling and why I was lashing out. “I’ve been keeping tabs on Madeline for some time now, Dylan…” He told me. “…looking for anything I could use as payback for what she almost did to my family—”
“Get to the fucking point, man.” I cut him off impatiently.
“Madeline’s involved with the Russian mafia, they have several warehouses across the state which they use to transport drugs, firearms, and…” He paused uncomfortably.
“And what?”
“…And people, Dylan.”
Fuck.
“You think Brielle’s going to be smuggled out of the country?”
“I’m almost positive, which is why we need to act fast.” He told me. Brielle’s brother Nick, stormed the open office, four other men closely in tow. He nodded at Ryan. “Hello, Ryan.”His gaze shifted to me. “Dylan, meet my brothers.” He introduced. “Have you heard anything yet?”
“We have a lead.” I started, briefly explaining everything Ryan had told me to them. “Well here’s what we’ll do. We’ll all split up and check out each of the warehouses Ryan has told us about.” I elaborated.
“That’s a good idea. I don’t think the police will be of much help, but you can contact them nevertheless if you’d like. I’ll get a head start using my own people.” Ryan said as we all walked out of my office.”
“Everyone should be very alert, we’re dealing with really dangerous people here.” I advised. “Good luck.”
Hang on tight, Brie. We’re coming to get you.
BRIELLE
You could tell that Madeline was pretty shaken by the discovery as well, but she quickly got over it.
“We wanted this, Maddie… remember?” She muttered softly.
Was she trying to convince herself or me?
“We’re not fit to take care of such a precious gift.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “We’ll never be good enough.”
“Madeline…”
“Don’t fucking say another word…” She hissed, still very much in pain. But I paid her no need. In that moment, all of my concerns were on seeing that child to safety. “It’s still not too late, Madeline. You can go to the hospital and have them check you out—”The slap across my cheek landed so fast, I got a whiplash. “I SAID, SHUT UP!!!” She staggered away from me. “VLAD!!! VLAD!!! A LITTLE HELP HERE!” Tattoo Guy approached and swept Anya into his arms without a word. Her last words as she was lifted away were, “Get me to a fucking hospital, and tell Dmitry to gag the bitch.”
*****Potential trigger warning****
After almost thirty minutes of silence, I suddenly heard footsteps advance. “We’re finally alone now, дерзкий.” Creepy guy chuckled darkly as he stood before me twirling a scarf I was assuming he was going to use as a gag.A tornado of fear so great was brewing in the pit of my stomach, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Please, Dmitry… please let me go. I can sense some good in you.” I begged, the tears freely flowing down my face now. “E-even if you’ll not let me go… p-p-please don’t harm me, I promise I’ll not say another word, I’ll be good.”
The portly man only scoffed. “You see some good in me? YOU SEE SOME GOOD IN ME?!” He began to pace. “All my life, everyone has said that I’m not cut out for this line of work, and they might have been right in the past. But I’m way past that now. Oh, I live and breathe crime now, дерзкий… and you’re going to witness this first hand when I sink myself into your warm heat.” He grabbed me by the waist, the action making me arch into him, his nasty breath and tainted teeth making me shut my eyes tight.
No, no, no. This is a nightmare.
Wake up, Lucia!
I screamed inwardly at my subconscious.
Only it was no dream, this was very much happening. And in my tied up state, I was practically helpless against him. His chunky fingers reached for my buttons, trying to get them open so he could bare my torso to his disgusting gaze.
Well, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
I butted him in the head so hard that my nose began to bleed. “WHY DO YOU FUCKING KEEP DOING THAT?” He thundered. “I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU!!!” The vile man landed a resounding blow across my cheek, and I could have sworn I passed out for a brief moment. “Please, please, don’t do this, please.” I begged, but it was as if my pleas were fueling his twisted desire… as if— as if he delighted in hearing me cry out in pain.
This was one sick man.
My buttons came undone and I was bared to him as grubby fingers sought out my bra-clad breasts. He squeezed, hard. “You are exquisite.” He groaned softly. I began to thrash around helplessly, a fresh wave of desperation washing over me, fueling my zeal for survival. Filling my lungs with air, I let out a blood-curdling scream. “HELP MEEEEE!!! SOMEBODY HELPPPP!!!”
Creepy guy chuckled darkly. “Yes, that’s it. Cry out for help. Cry out as much as you want, there’s no one coming to save you.”
Only he was wrong.
We both heard it at the same time, the sound coming in our direction.
Footsteps.
Lots of footsteps.
I was saved.
Dmitry got up to go investigate the footsteps, and I quickly turned to prayer. I wasn’t much of a religious person, but even I knew that at this moment, what I needed was some divine intervention.
Dear God, please let that be help coming my way. Save me from this predicament, and I promise to start seeking you out.
I heard a gunshot, the sound snapping me out of my thoughts.
Who had been shot?
I opened my mouth to shout for help, but realised it was probably not a good idea. For all I knew, it could be the people coming to smuggle me out. What I had to do was try to hide myself as much as I could.
The boxes!
I dragged my butt across the floor as quick as my bound body would let me, and hid behind a clutter of the boxes littering the room. I wasn’t really concealed, but it was much better than just sitting in the middle of the room awaiting my fate. I couldn’t see my palms because they were tied behind me, but I was pretty sure they were torn open and bleeding because of how much they were hurting. Now that I thought about it, my whole body was aching. I think I had nasty gashes on my forehead and cheeks, my nose wouldn’t stop bleeding, and I pretty much had a busted lip as well.
I jumped at the sound of more gunshots, suddenly contemplating my 28 years of existence.
I had so much to accomplish yet!
This couldn’t be the end?
I didn’t have kids; I would have loved to have one, or two, or three— hell, maybe even four, but I’d gotten so warped with work to have pursued an actual relationship that could lead to kids.
I had so many places I wanted to travel to… so many things to do on my bucket list that I had always pushed to the side thinking I could probably do them another time.
I hadn’t seen my dad in almost five years, my nephews and nieces in almost three, and now I probably never will.
I would never see Silvie, and my brothers again. Silvie, who had been there for me since childhood, who had always had my back even when I didn’t believe in myself— my sister from another mother. Matt, Cedric, Nick, Jordan and Ryan… my brothers, my friends— who had always made me feel like I belonged, who never made me feel left out…
And God, Dylan.
Tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of him, the sounds of more gunshots and shouting fading into the distance. I wished we had gotten together much sooner rather than be torn apart by so much distrust and resentment. Dylan had brought warmth into my heart again… he had changed me from a ruthless woman whose only focus was her job and family into a woman who was finally capable of loving again. My heart hurt at the thought of losing him in death, but I realised something in that moment;
That I would do it all over again if it meant having him in my life a second time.
I understood my dad, and all the cheesy romantic movies now. Love was a rollercoaster of emotions… of ups and downs, but the thrill never faded away?
No.
It was always there, pulling you in… drawing you into itself, making you forget that sometimes, it wasn’t such a nice experience. You only remember the pleasurable feelings, practically forgetting about the bad ones until you had to face them head on again. But every single moment was worth it.
Oh, it really was.
“BRIELLE!!!”My head snapped to the ceiling, a wry smile breaking out on my face. Look at delirium playing tricks on me, making me think I’d actually heard Dylan’s voice calling out my name. I wasn’t falling for it.
“BRIELLE!”
Could it be possible that I wasn’t just hallucinating or hearing things?
No, it couldn’t be.
“We’ve combed the whole place, man. She’s not here.
”Wait, Nick?
This was cruel, even for fate.
“This is the last warehouse, if she’s not here… then I’m afraid we’re already too late.”
Ryan Rodriguez!
It crossed my mind how funny it was that I was being able to identify all of their voices so easily.“NO SHE HAS TO BE HERE. SHE JUST HAS TO BE!” Dylan thundered, his voice breaking at the end of his sentence.
He was crying.
My intimidating hunk of a boyfriend was crying. Granted, it was a figment of my imagination, but I didn’t like it one bit.I wanted to put a smile back on his face.That much he deserved. “Don’t cry, Dylan-in-my head. I love you. I will always love you.” I echoed into the darkness.
“Did you hear that?! I told you she’s here.” Dylan said to whoever he was talking to.
“Why does she sound like that? What did they do to her?” Someone else cried out. “BRIELLE!!!”
“DYLAN!!! OF COURSE I’M HERE. I WILL ALWAYS BE, EVEN THOUGH I’M NO LONGER AMONG THE LIVING.” I hollered back, trying hard to fight my tears and exhaustion and dizziness. Maybe whoever was up there would spare me a last glance at his face before I drift off into Thanatos’s hold.
The fates were gracious.
There he was, my prince… my knight in shining armor, looking down on me, his eyes bright with love— and anger. “Who did this to you, Brie?” He whispered as he sought out my hand bindings and undid them, his hands reaching out to fix my dirty clothing. “Creepy guy did.” I told him, reveling in the joy his presence brought to my heart… reveling in our last moments together. He brushed a stray hair away from my face softly.
Wait, all of this suddenly felt too real.
“I’m not dreaming am I?” I whispered. “You really are here, right?”
“Yes, Brie. I’m really here.” He told me with a soft chuckle. “Let’s get you out of here.”