Chapter Two
One day ago…
Madison
It had been a long, hassle-filled day and now worry is added to the mix. Cori didn’t show for her last appointment and I just got off the phone with the client. Cori never misses appointments and I’m getting worried because she’s also not answering her cell. I lift the phone again ready to call my security team, but I’m startled half out of my chair when it rings in my hand.
“Hello?”
Heavy breathing fills the line and I almost hang up. “Hello, Madison. Are you missing your friend yet?” I hear. The voice is low with a heavy Spanish accent.
No one but Moon calls me Madison or they’d be eating my fist. “Who is this?” I demand while my fingers tighten on the phone.
The maniacal laugh gives him away. I instantly know who I’m speaking with. My stomach clenches before he speaks again and my worry for Cori shoots through the roof. “We’re about to become very good friends, Madison. Now listen carefully… a car is waiting for you downstairs. You will leave your office, take the elevator, walk outside, and get into the back seat.” His demand is recited between heavy breaths of air like he’s sweating profusely because of the Arizona heat. Arizona isn’t hot like Southern California is; it’s hot like hell would be if you visited. My mind scrambles for something to say, when he speaks again. “Hold on a moment, your friend wants to speak with you.”
More of his heavy breathing flows through the line before Cori’s voice fills my ears. “Don’t fucking do it, Mak. Call Mo—” Her words are cut off with the sound of a fist striking flesh followed by a garbled groan. My free hand forms a fist and I want to drive Fernandez’s balls back inside his body and make them a permanent part of his intestines.
Fernandez comes back on the line with a grunt. “Yes, by all means Madison, call your husband. Your friend will die and I’ll find another friend of yours until no one is left. You have three minutes to get downstairs or the car leaves.” The line goes dead and I’m left staring at the front of my phone.
Without a thought, I grab my gun from the bottom drawer of my desk and clip the holster into the back of my skirt’s waistband, pulling out my blouse so it’s covered. I tuck my phone inside my purse and run for the elevator. I need to do this quickly so the security team watching me is thrown off stride and doesn’t react in time. I should call Moon, but the seconds are ticking away. I can’t risk Cori’s life.
I tear out the front of the building and see a black SUV with darkly tinted windows waiting in front. The back door opens when I approach. The seat next to the one they want me in is occupied, and I catch only a quick glimpse of the driver’s face. It’s enough to realize I don’t know him and I’m fairly sure it’s not Fernandez, who I’ve never met in person but I have a description of him imprinted in my brain. Neither man in the vehicle is a fat cow, which is how Melina described her brother. These two are flunkies and knowing Moon, they’ll be dead flunkies before this is over.
The man in the back seat stares at me with dead eyes. He’s definitely too damn young to be Fernandez. His dark skin is similar to Moon’s, but he smells like rotten fish, which would be more of a Fernandez characteristic, according to Melina. The black and white bandana on his head is soiled and sweat lines his brow. His pupils are sharp pinpoints of black, too small. I’m guessing he’s on something. My husband will kill him, the driver, and Fernandez. I just need to stay alive long enough for that to happen.
“Get in,” he says when I hesitate. Knowing Moon will strangle me for risking myself to save Cori, I climb in. The man reaches across me, grabs the door handle, and slams the door. “Hands up, I’m searching you,” he orders as the car pulls quickly away from the curb. I turn around and see my security team clearing the door I just came through. My arm is roughly grabbed and I’m turned in the seat so he can start the search. My time as a police officer taught me to never search someone while sitting, but I’ll be damned if I give him any pointers. It’s frustrating when he does a halfway decent job and finds the damn gun. He laughs throatily and skims his hands over my breasts. It’s almost impossible to remain still while he assaults me. I count to ten in my head and ignore his touch. This is for Cori.
The man finishes the search after he twists my nipple, grabs my arm, and uses his body to press me back into the seat. I’m not expecting the sharp jab of a needle in my thigh and I’m unable to keep him from pushing the plunger all the way down even though I try to turn and kick him.
“Fuck you,” I say, jerking my elbow hard into his neck. His grunt does nothing to stop the flood of wooziness that swamps me within seconds. The slap across my face doesn’t even hurt. I fight against the tide of nothingness, but it’s useless. The world goes black and my last thought is how pissed off Moon will be.
∞∞∞
The rank smell wakes me. I blink my eyes and groan into the muted light.
“It’s nice of you to join us,” a man says; I vaguely recognize his voice as memories flood my brain. This is Fernandez, and I’m instantly aware that I need to be careful. For Cori’s sake.
“Cori,” I yell, looking around the small bathroom. “What have you done to her?” I demand in a gravelly voice desperately in need of water. How fucking long have I been out?
“I’ll take you to your friend now that you’re awake, but we have some business to attend first.”
“The deal was that you would release her,” I all but shout as I realize my hands are tied behind me; my bad shoulder cramps. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing I’m in pain, so I hold back a moan.
Fernandez grabs a fist full of my hair and jerks my face around so I’m looking into his dark, crazy eyes. Melina’s graphic description didn’t quite capture his insanity. “I made no such promise,” he says with a laugh. “I said, ‘Get in the car and I won’t kill her.’ That was the only deal I was offering.” He laughs again and small specks of his spit splash across my cheek.
Two can play this game and even with a dry throat I manage to deliver a wad of spit directly into his face. Fernandez doesn’t slap me like his man in the car did. His fist quickly jabs into my mouth and light flashes momentarily behind my eyes. Pain explodes into my nerve endings centering on my damaged mouth. Blood drips from my split lip and when the agony recedes, I gingerly run my tongue along my teeth to check for damage. They seem to be intact, but Fernandez doesn’t stop there. My head jerks up from his grip on my hair. The room spins and it’s either from the drugs, the punch to my face, or both. Cool water suddenly rains down over me and a startled scream escapes my throat. It’s then I realize I’m sitting in a chair in the fucking bathtub.
The only good news is that Phoenix’s definition of cold water in the summertime is what anyone living outside the state would call lukewarm. The shock of the water wears off quickly and it starts to actually feel good. I move my face out of the direct spray so I’m able to breathe without sucking water into my nose. The fuzziness in my brain is clearing. I need to keep a close watch on Fernandez and the direction of his fists so I can avoid another hit if possible.
Through the shower’s downpour, I watch him pull a knife from the back pocket of his pants and cut the zip ties holding me to the chair. He steps back with a grin that doesn’t hold much joy for me and what will happen next. “Remove your clothes or I’ll do it for you,” he grunts as if slapping me and turning on water is strenuous. He’s a fat fuck and maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll die of a heart attack, which will be my easy ticket out of here.
From Melina’s stories, Fernandez is obsessed with his appearance. She told me he showers and washes his hands constantly. He insists that each item of clothes he wears is starched and ironed. The gold chains he displays his wealth with are absent today, but his dark chest hair shows in the open vee at his throat surrounding the rolls of fat at his neck. Add his small, dark beady eyes and I want to puke.
When I don’t immediately respond to his threat about removing my clothes, he waves the knife in front of my face to gain my attention. I glance down at my dripping wet skirt and blouse. The blouse and my bra are too sheer to offer cover now that they’re wet. Losing my clothes might make Fernandez think I’m more defenseless and he’ll be wrong. I’m more than willing to lose this small battle if it gives me a mental edge. I need to see Cori alive with my own eyes before I fight back.
I pull the shirt over my head, which isn’t easy because it’s sticking to my skin. With perfect accuracy, I throw it into Fernandez’s face. The satisfying splat is only a momentary victory. He reaches in, turns on the hot water, and turns off the cold. When I scream and try to leap out of the tub, he backhands me, sending me to the bathtub floor with hot water pouring over me. My next scramble to get out of the tub is just as unsuccessful and my legs get tangled in the chair and it lands on top of me. The scalding water has me up on all fours trying to slide out of the tub. The stomp on my ribs is so hard it takes the air from my lungs and I land sprawled flat inside the tub.
I manage to scream again when I can breathe, because the fucking hot water is eating through my flesh and all I can think about is getting away. With a grunt, Fernandez reaches in and turns the cold water on again. It takes several minutes to sink in and help the fire on my skin.
His freakish laughter fills the room again. “You think you’ll win but that won’t happen. You and your husband have a lot to pay for. Your death will only be icing on the cake.” His eyes are demonic with no humanity in their evil depths. “Take the rest of your clothes off and understand I’ll punish you for every fuck up.”
With quick determined movements, I struggle out of my skirt and toss it over the tub onto the floor. Burning to death is not in my plans and I need to play this safe and make him think he’s won. He stares down at me through the slits in his red, obese face. His mouth, with flabby damp lips, curls slowly into a smile and walrus comes to mind. Add two tusks and he’d make a great addition to the Phoenix Zoo.
I shimmy from my wet panties and unclip my bra, tossing them out of the tub to join the skirt. For some, nudity might be a problem, but I got over it a long time ago. As a cop, I worked closely with mostly men. Not that I walked around nude, but there were times we geared up for high-risk takedowns and flashes of skin were more normal than not. When your life or someone you’re trying to rescue has theirs on the line, skin isn’t important, or so I tell myself now.
After I’m completely naked, Fernandez wrenches my arm up and jerks me out of the tub. “It’s time to see your friend.”
I only cover my breasts and between my legs so he thinks I care. I awkwardly stumble along beside him because his hand is gripping my arm to the point of snapping the bone. Comply, I tell myself. Rebelling won’t help get Cori out of here, so I do my best to keep up as he leads me through one of the most disgusting places I’ve ever seen. Dead animals with beady eyes follow us. Fernandez’s home with his prized taxidermy collection burned down. This must be his replacement. The hunting trophies give me the creeps and now I realize Fernandez’s eyes look exactly like these animal’s eyes. Dead.
He turns a corner, slips his hand in his pocket, and removes a set of keys when we reach a padlocked door. I keep my eyes down, playing the good little girl for now. When the lock is removed, he pushes the door open and shoves me inside. “I’ll be back soon, don’t miss me too much.” He slams the door in my face before I can say anything.
The whimper behind me makes me spin me around. I see Cori curled up on a mattress, her hand wrapped in a bloody towel, eyes closed and pain in every line of her face. Whatever that fucker did to her, he’ll pay. I approach the bed and go to my knees when I’m close enough to touch her hair. Cori’s beautiful black skin is paler than I’ve ever seen it. “Shh,” I whisper. She opens her dark eyes. She’s one of the most beautiful women in Arizona, if not the country. Tall, thin, perfect breasts, and a great ass. Those body characteristics only enhance the entire picture, and it’s her amazing cheekbones that look like they’ve been surgically sculpted that really draw you into her beauty. Curled into a tight ball, she appears small and helpless, which is not the Cori I know.
“Mak,” she says in a throaty voice before her eyes search fearfully behind me looking for something or someone. The fear in her voice isn’t like her at all. Cori is one of the strongest women I know; badass should be her middle name.
“What can I do to help?” I ask without touching her. I don’t know the extent of her injuries and I know she would put up quite a fight if someone tried to hurt her. I also know that Fernandez wouldn’t go easy on her.
“He… he…” Tears slide down her face, falling on the sheet beneath her. She holds out her hand and pushes the bandage off with the other. A small cry escapes her when the towel sticks to blood, but I don’t think the noise she made was louder than mine.
Her index finger is missing below the first knuckle of her left hand.
Fuck.
“He’s sending it to Moon,” she rasps between sobs. “They… they… cut it off.”
My face sinks into the bedsheet while I try to control the scream building in my throat. I slowly lift my head. “I’m sorry,” I whisper through tears. It’s such a waste of words because sorry doesn’t come close to how I feel. The women at the escort service depend on me to keep them safe. I’ve failed.
Cori’s gruff laugh surprises me. “Be sorry you did what Fernandez said. Moon will kill you.”
I offer a half-smile and watch her grimace again as she covers her hand. The towel is completely inadequate to use as a bandage. I glance around the room. There are two single beds, one occupied by Cori. The room is large, at least twenty feet by twenty. In the corner, there’s a door that I’m guessing leads into a bathroom. Against the wall by the bathroom door is a metal cabinet on wheels. I walk closer and the top of the metal cabinet looks like a surgical counter and is covered in blood. I open the cabinet doors and find the area beneath the cart completely empty.
I check the bathroom next. Flipping on the light, I glance around. It’s bare, with dingy white walls and dark spots on the ceiling. There’s not so much as a towel hanging from the racks. I spot a roll of toilet paper on the floor beside the toilet but that’s it. Not even soap. Cori will die of infection if shock doesn’t kill her first. I need to remain calm and come up with a plan. Stepping out of the bathroom, I walk to the window beside her bed and push back the heavy drape that isn’t allowing light through. Disappointment swamps me when I discover the window is boarded up and nailed shut. I suck in a long, slow breath to keep my cool. I’ll work using the single bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Cori moans.
I walk around the bed and take possession of the floor again. At least the room has cool air coming in from a ceiling vent. It’s over one-hundred and ten degrees outside and being stuck in this room without air conditioning would kill Cori within hours.
“Let me take a look,” I say softly. I need to see if there’s any redness on her hand indicating an infection. I really don’t want to look at it again. She’s my friend and seeing the reason behind this kind of pain isn’t easy. Her whimper makes me rest my palm on her forehead to check her temperature. Her skin is damp but cool to the touch, which is the best I can hope for at the moment. Carefully, I move the cloth on her hand aside. The wound isn’t pretty and the crusted blood and swelling only make it worse. After gently resting her hand beside her, I turn to the other bed and remove the bottom fitted sheet, which is the only thing on it. Using my teeth, I tear the cheap material into strips. I take them into the bathroom and run hot water over one of them.
Cori’s eyes are closed and her breathing heavy when I return. I push a piece of hair from her sweaty face. “This will hurt but we need to get it as clean as possible.”
Her half-closed eyes don’t move. “It doesn’t matter, just let me die.”
I grab her chin and tip her face up until she opens her eyes looks at me. “No one is dying but that fucking piece of shit who did this to you. Don’t even think it, Cori. We’re getting out of here, I promise.”
My entire being is filled with dread. I need to keep my promise. Neither of us have a choice.