Chapter Eighteen
I was yanked from my sleep by a loud bang in the hallway outside our apartment. My heart leapt into my chest as Dean ran into my room and over to my bed. His hands closed around my upper arms so tightly that I was sure to have finger-shaped bruises there in a few hours. I squealed as he pulled me from the bed, shoving me against the wall. My mouth popped open, shocked at the abrupt wake up and the force he was using. Wordlessly, he grabbed the heavy reading chair from the corner of my room and dragged it over to me, placing it in front of me as he grabbed my hand and made us both duck down behind it.
“Dean, what’s-”
“Be quiet!” he interjected. My eyes widened as he pulled out his cell phone, frantically dialling someone. “Shit,” he hissed, before he tried another number. This one must have connected as he spoke words that sent a mortified chill down my spine. “Someone’s here. Get in here, now!”
Someone’s here…
That was when I heard gunshots. I screamed and quickly clamped a hand over my mouth. Dean dialled his phone again, his eyes and gun both trained on the door to my bedroom. “It’s Agent Michaels. The jewel’s in trouble, send more people, now!” he growled as he snapped the phone shut quickly.
I couldn’t breathe. Silent tears were falling down my face as Dean positioned himself between me and the door, with his gun pointed there ready. I heard more shots and then the bedroom door swung open quickly, slamming against the wall. Dean let off a couple of shots and the intruder immediately jumped back against the door frame, out of sight.
My breathing was coming out in pants as panic made my head swim. I tried my hardest to count my heartbeats so that I didn’t have a panic attack. I needed to remain in control in case we needed to run or get out quickly.
“Put your gun down!” the guy ordered from outside the door. I whimpered, and Dean shushed me again. “Put your gun down, and you won’t get hurt,” the guy tried again. A cold trickle seemed to run down my back. I recognised that voice, I couldn’t remember the guy’s name, but he had dark hair. He worked for Carter. “We have one of your agents. We don’t want to hurt him, but we will if we don’t get what we want. All we want is Anna,” he continued.
My blood ran cold in my veins. One of our agents? Oh God, please let us get out of this, please!
Hesitantly, Peter stepped into the doorway, looking terrified, his hands up in an ‘I surrender’ fashion. I immediately saw the reason for the pose. There was a gun to his head. His eyes found us immediately, his jaw tightened, and he seemed to be holding a silent conversation with Dean. I had no idea what the intense look on his face was; all I could see was panic and fear. The dark-haired guy stepped close behind him, using Peter’s body as a shield as they both stepped into the room. The gun pressed harder into Peter’s head, making him wince.
“Come on out, Anna,” the guy sang, his tone amused. “You don’t want him to get hurt now, do you?”
I didn’t know what to do. I was always told to stay behind the agent, keep quiet, don’t answer, stay small and alert and do as I was told. But that was Peter standing there. He was a friend of mine, and they had a gun to his head…
I whimpered, knowing that I couldn’t do as I was always told. I shifted and Dean clamped his hand around my wrist, holding me behind him tightly. “Please don’t hurt them, please!” I begged.
“Shh!” Dean ordered again.
The guy laughed quietly, sending a shiver down my spine as I recognised the laugh too, I definitely knew this guy. “I’m going to give you to the count of three to step away, Anna, or this one dies,” he instructed. I groaned, not knowing what to do. Dean’s grip tightened on my arm; it looked like he was trying to find a shot that wouldn’t hit Peter.
“One,” the guy called.
I shook my head. “Please don’t,” I begged. My heart was hammering in my chest.
“Two.”
I couldn’t let him hurt Peter, not because of me. Another person didn’t deserve to get hurt or killed because of me, I’d already gotten Jack killed, I couldn’t take another innocent life. I shoved off Dean’s hold and jumped out from behind him, holding my hands high. “Don’t hurt him, I’m here!” I cried desperately.
“No, Annabelle!” Dean shouted as he lunged for me again.
I saw the guy behind Peter smile as two others stepped through the doorway. I watched, seemingly in slow motion, as one raised a gun, pointing it in the direction of Dean. I realised too late what I’d done. I’d taken away his only leverage; with me out in the open, there was no reason for them to be lenient on him. The sound of the first gunshot echoed in my ears, it seemed to reverberate around the room, making my ears ring. I didn’t want to turn and look, but I couldn’t stop myself. I turned just in time to see Dean’s body slam back against the wall; the shot had hit him right in the face, leaving almost nothing recognisable behind. His blood stained the wall in an arc-shaped streak as his body slumped to the floor.
I heard screaming, and some part of my mind vaguely registered that it was me doing it, but I couldn’t stop. I fell to my knees and gripped my hands in my hair as I sobbed. Something moved near me, a kind of scuffle, I glanced up just in time for the second gunshot to go off. I whimpered and flinched as my heart broke. Peter’s eyes met mine for a second before he crumpled to the floor, clutching at his stomach as he groaned.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my body hitching with sobs. He made a strangled gurgling sound in response. His pain-filled, frightened eyes locked on mine. Before I could reach out and help him, a shadow fell over us both and another gunshot rang out, followed by another and another. Each time a bullet hit him, Peter’s body jerked slightly; by the time the fourth shot came, he didn’t even flinch.
“Well hello, Anna. Long time no see.”
I registered the voice, but I couldn’t respond. I was so scared that I couldn’t move. My muscles seemed to be made of rock. I couldn’t take my eyes off Peter’s body. He was dead because of me, and so was Dean. This was entirely my fault. Maybe if I hadn’t stepped away then they would still be alive. I thanked God silently that Ashton wasn’t here; I couldn’t see him get hurt. I knew I had made the right choice sending him away.
A hand closed over my elbow, hauling me to my feet. I swayed, my legs almost not supporting my weight. The only thing that kept me upright was the vice-like grip on my arm. I looked up from Peter’s dead lifeless body, to see Jimmy, one of Carter’s men. I remembered him from Miami. Jimmy didn’t like the way that Carter treated me and would always try to help me when he could, which wasn’t very often.
“Hi, Anna,” he said quietly, looking at me almost apologetically.
“Hi, Jimmy,” I choked out. Internally, I desperately fought for control of my emotions. If I had to do this on my own then I needed to snap out of this. I’d grieve later, but right now I needed to focus on trying to get out of here. I took a few deep, calming breaths.
Jimmy smiled sadly and dragged me out into the lounge. I swiped at my face quickly, wiping away the tears, trying to stay strong. “Watch her while I get her some clothes,” Jimmy instructed as he left me in the lounge. I looked around desperately, expecting to see Carter, but he wasn’t there. Instead, there were eight of his men. I knew all of their faces but only a couple of names. These guys weren’t like Jimmy, they were mean and heartless.
“Well, well, well, haven’t you grown up nice,” one of them purred. His eyes raked over me slowly, and my skin crawled. I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing I’d put on more than boy shorts and a tank top to sleep in last night.
One of the other guys quickly stepped forwards and punched him in the jaw. “Don’t look at her like that! If Carter saw that, you’d be dead,” he growled angrily.
I swallowed the bile that started to rise in my throat at the mention of Carter. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked, almost pleading for it.
The same guy that had thrown the punch smiled and shook his head. “No. Carter sent us to collect his wife,” he answered, smirking at me nastily.
“Is he here?” I asked, wringing my shaking hands.
The guy shook his head. “No, he wanted to be, but they’re keeping pretty close tabs on him. He sent us here instead. He’ll be along later, don’t worry.”
I groaned and dropped my eyes to the floor; I didn’t look up as Jimmy shoved a pair of jeans and a black top in my hands. “Get dressed. We need to leave,” he ordered.
I nodded at the guys all standing there watching me. “You really want me to change here, in front of everyone?” I asked sarcastically.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’m sure you don’t have anything we haven’t seen before,” one guy mocked, sneering at me, looking like he was already taking my pyjamas off with his eyes.
I smiled sweetly. “Okay, it’s your funeral, I guess. When Carter finds out you all watched me undress he’s not going to be best pleased. If that’s what you want…” I shrugged and reached down to grab the bottom of my tank top, starting to pull it up.
A collective gasp filled the room. “No, wait! You can get dressed in the bathroom,” a blond guy said quickly; his name was Lukas if I remembered correctly.
I smiled and followed him to the bathroom that was off the hall. There was a small window in this bathroom that led to the hallway at the front. I smiled and locked the door behind me, shrugging out of my clothes and putting the jeans and T-shirt on as quickly as possible. Once dressed, I boosted up on the sink and quietly pried the window open. I stuck my head out and saw there was no one there, so I boosted myself up and over, dropping down to the floor silently in my bare feet.
“Very clever,” Lukas stated from the front door, making me scream as I jumped about a mile into the air. He tossed a pair of sneakers at me. “Better put those on too, don’t want you to cut your feet,” he said sarcastically.
I frowned and pulled them on. There had to be something else; if there weren’t so many of them then I could have fought them. One of their guns would give me a chance, but would I actually be able to shoot someone like Ashton had taught me? I didn’t know the answer. Shooting a human being was miles apart from shooting a paper target.
The blond guy grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the building. My emotions got the better of me again, the tears started to flow when I saw the first body of the new agents that had been sent to protect me. They were all lying, broken and still bleeding, on the way out of the building.
“Are they all dead?” I whispered to Lukas.
He nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, you had a lot of guards, but then I guess you are the first daughter now. It’s a shame that one who was posing as your boyfriend wasn’t here. Carter didn’t like his hands on you, even if it was all a fake,” he said, shrugging casually.
I closed my eyes, thinking of Ashton, allowing myself to be led along. “He wasn’t my boyfriend. We had to act like that. My father made us. He was just a bodyguard,” I lied desperately.
He chuckled darkly. “Oh, Carter knows that, if he didn’t know that then that asshole would be dead already,” he stated, watching me intently.
I didn’t say anything as he led us to a black car at the front of the building and held the door open for me. I felt sick as I climbed in the car.
We drove for about an hour or so through the back streets until we came to a derelict-looking building. I looked around but didn’t recognise the place at all. The sun was coming up just as we pulled into the underground parking lot. As we parked up, I closed my eyes. Please God, let me get through this, I prayed silently.
Jimmy opened my door for me, motioning for me to get out. “Come on, Anna.”
I climbed out and looked around quickly. There were only four of them now; this was definitely worth a try. I knew that they wouldn’t be expecting me to be any trouble, so their underestimation of me would work to my advantage. I punched Jimmy in the stomach, and as he bent over in pain, I kicked the other guy in the groin, hard, making him grunt and fall to the floor in agony. I turned and readied myself as saw another guy approaching, but Jimmy had righted himself and wrapped his arms around me from behind, grabbing my arms and pinning them down. I struggled and thrashed, but I couldn’t get free, so I gave up. I wasn’t getting out of here just yet.
“That was fucking stupid, Anna. Just calm down or you’ll get yourself hurt!” Jimmy growled warningly in my ear. I sighed and nodded as he opened a fire door and started leading me up the stairs.
“Where are we? What is this place?” I asked, desperately looking around. It looked like an old factory or something; there were sewing machines, desks and tables all over the place. A thick layer of dust and dirt covered everything in sight, proving that this place hadn’t been used for a while. Crude graffiti stained the walls, most of the windows were boarded up and the plaster on the walls was peeling and cracked. I had no hope of a caretaker or someone stopping by to check on the building and just so happen to rescue me; this place hadn’t been used in years by the look of it.
My gaze immediately landed on a phone as I was led past one of the desks. If I can just get to one of those phones! But who should I call, and what should I say? I don’t even know where I am!
Jimmy was still holding my arms tightly as he guided me through the different levels and doors of the maze-like place. With each passing step, my hope of ever getting out of here faded a little more. I probably just needed to accept the fact that this was my fate and that I wasn’t going to be able to escape his men, there were too many of them. Jimmy shoved me roughly through another door and into a room that looked like some kind of disused office. I glanced around quickly, taking in my surroundings. There was one window, one door and no phone. It was hopeless. The door slammed shut behind me and I jumped at the click of the lock. Not ready to give up yet, I turned and hammered on the door. “Jimmy, please let me out, please!” I begged unashamedly as tears flowed freely down my cheeks.
“Carter will be here tonight, Anna. Just chill out for a few hours, okay? You hungry? I could get you some food,” he offered from the other side of the door.
“I’m not hungry. Please let me go. You know what he’s going to do to me. Please?” I slumped down to the floor, crying hopelessly.
“I’m sorry, Anna, really I am. But I can’t let you go, he’ll kill me,” he replied.
I nodded. I knew he would. Jimmy was always one of the nice ones. Occasionally he would sneak me food and drink or some painkillers when Carter would starve or beat me. Carter didn’t know, of course, Jimmy would have been dead a long time ago for even talking to me.
“It’s okay, Jimmy.” I wiped my tears on the back of my hand. I wouldn’t cry anymore, crying was pointless, crying was weakness, and I refused to be weak. I wrapped my arms around myself and thought of Ashton. I could see his beautiful green eyes, and how angry his face would look if he was here right now. I closed my eyes and leant my head against the wall, praying that somehow I would get out of here before the inevitable happened. I would actually rather die than go back to living like a caged animal with Carter again.